Landscape Design & Maintenance
Selected Readings and Content
UMaine Extension Bulletins
- Adding a Rain Garden to Your Landscape: Landscapes for Maine, Bulletin #2702
- Common Problems in Container Gardens, Bulletin #2765
- Debunking Old Gardening Myths — Caring for Woody Plants in Your Maine Landscape, Bulletin #2512
- Designing Your Landscape for Maine, Bulletin #2701
- Gardening in Small Spaces, Bulletin #2761
- Gardening to Conserve Maine’s Native Landscape: Plants to Use and Plants to Avoid, Bulletin #2500
- Pruning Forsythias in Maine, Bulletin #2513
- Pruning Woody Landscape Plants, Bulletin 2169
- Selecting, Planting, and Caring for Trees and Shrubs in the Maine Landscape, Bulletin #2366
- Mosquito Management, Bulletin #5110
- Trickle Irrigation: Using and Conserving Water in the Home Garden, Bulletin #2160
- Tick Pest Management Fact Sheet, Bulletin 5407
UMaine Extension Videos
- How to Prune a Crabapple Tree
- How to Prune a Forsythia
- How to Prune a Lilac Bush
- Pruning Ornamental Trees
Additional Resources
- Maine Yardscaping Links Page — For topics like Pollinators and Plant Selection
- Cornell Guides on Growing Flowers and Color in the Garden
- How Many Plants Will Fill an Area?
- Massachusetts Extension Guide on Planting Trees and Shrubs in the Landscape
- Mulch, Soil, and Compost: Amounts Needed
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map for Maine
- Useful Measurements
Master Gardener Volunteer Training
Core Competencies
At the end of these sessions you will be able to articulate and explain:
- The elements of the art of landscape design
- Color, texture, form, line, space, pattern, and light
- Basic steps of landscape design based on biology, site analysis, engineering and project management
- Assess the site in relation to the goals of the project
- Define the environment both above and below the ground
- Consider the function of the space-function before form
- Make a list of the things you would like to include in the final plan
- Develop a theme/themes for the landscape for filtering decisions
- Design for beauty using the elements of art in the landscape
- Determine which functions would be best served by hardscape and which by plants
- Design the structure and layout of the landscape
- Assess the factors influencing the design
- Assess what is good in the existing landscape and what needs to be eliminated
- Develop a budget (labor and materials) for the entire project and sub-projects
- Consider labor and financial costs of long-term maintenance
- Create an installation timeline where hardscape precedes planting
- Installation: Select plants and use proper planting practices
- Assess the site in relation to the goals of the project
- Filter plant choices by theme
- Choose plants by function and suitability to site
- Consider hardiness, size, color, texture, and seasonality
- Develop effective, scaled, sustainable plant combinations
- Follow good planting and establishment practices
- Applying landscape design principles to projects
- Balance/Style
- Dominance, focal point, focalization
- Scale and proportion Rhythm and repetition
- Transition/Tension
- Contrast
- Unity
- Simplicity
- Evolution of landscape design in reaction to environmental stewardship
- Sustainability
- Appropriate use of native and non-invasive exotic plants
- Water quality and conservation
- Energy conservation
- Developing sustainable landscapes that have long term, low carbon footprint.
- Awareness of what practices will help meet the goals of the space and sustainability
Practical Skills Gained and Strengthened
- Be able to assess a landscape design – highlighting strengths and offering areas for improvement
- Be able to draw a bubble diagram of a home landscape design.