The Art of Landscaping

Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including: living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape. natural elements such as landforms, terrain shape and elevation, or bodies of water; human elements such as structures, buildings, fences or other material objects created and/or installed by humans; and
abstract elements such as the weather and lighting conditions.

Landscaping is both science and art, and requires good observation and design skills. A good landscaper understands the elements of nature and construction and blends them accordingly.

Thales, an early Greek philosopher known for his view that “all is water,” spent a considerable time thinking about the nature and scope of landscaping. Some of his students believed that in order for human activity to be considered landscaping, it must be directed toward modifying the physical features of the land itself, including the cultivation and/or manipulation of plants or other flora. Thales rejected this notion, arguing that any aspect of the material world affecting our visual perception of the land was a proper subject for landscaping. Both Plato and Aristotle praised Thales’ analysis as a model for philosophy. In the early 20th century, British philosopher G.E. Moore cited Thales’ reasoning as one of the few historical examples of how philosophical inquiry has led to genuine human understanding and progress.

Philosophers in the 17th century debated whether visual beauty was a necessary goal of landscaping. With the advent of the positivists by the early 20th century, however, most western philosophers had rejected the notion of an objective aesthetic standard for any form of art, including landscaping. Practitioners since the mid-20th century have experimented with jarring visual panoramas that are now generally accepted, at least in western societies, as falling within the scope of landscaping.

Understanding the land
Landscaping requires study and observation. It is not same in different parts of the world. Landscaping varies according to different regions.[1] Therefore normally local natural experts are recommended if it is done for the first time. Understanding of the site is one of the chief essentials for successful landscaping. Different natural features like terrain, topography, soil qualities, prevailing winds, depth of the frost line etc must be taken into account. Sometimes the land is not fit for landscaping. In order to landscape it, the land must be reshaped. This reshaping of land is called grading.

Removing of earth from the land is called cutting while when earth is added to slope, it is called filling. Sometimes grading process may involve removing of excessive waste, soil and rocks, so designers should take into account while at planning stage.

Tools
In the start, the landscaping contractor makes a letter which is a rough design and layout of what could be done with the land in order to achieve the desired outcome. Different pencils are required to make graphics of the picture. Landscaping has become more technological then natural as only few projects begin without bulldozer, lawnmowers and chainsaw. It is estimated that 40 million lawnmowers consume approximately 200 million gallons of gasoline annually. Different areas have different qualities of plants. Fertilisers are required for this purpose in excess amounts as natural landscaping is done. Some landscapers prefer to use Mix gravel with rocks of varying sizes to add interest in large areas.
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