Do It Yourself: How To Landscape Straight Edges, Square Corners, Curves And Other Shapes

Ideas and suggestions on how to make perfect outlines for gardens, such as squares, rectangles, circles, or random shapes.

Doing your own landscaping can be challenging, but there are some steps you can take to make it easier to section out areas of the lawn for planting shrubs or flowers. For starters, it's helpful to draw your ideas out on graph paper, or even plain paper, so you'll have a general idea of what it will look like and how you'll shape it. There's no need to stick with traditional shapes like squares or rectangles. You can be bold and design unique shapes for gardens, perimeters or even a play area for the children, or you can stick to basic shapes. If you have the space and the time, any shape will work. There are any number of ways to begin outlining the perimeter for the shape you want. A large stick will work okay to begin. Walk around the intended section, using a stick to draw the shape you desire. If you make a mistake, you can easily erase part of the shape and re-draw. Another way is to use a ball of yarn to mark the area. Simply walk around the section, letting the yarn out onto the ground until you have the desired outline. Other ways of outlining are flour, chalk powder, paint, or the use of a hoe. Some people also set up stakes, then stretch string between them. Although some of these methods might not work as well as others on a slightly windy day, for the most part, any of these methods will give you a sufficient outline. After outlining the section, use a hand trowel or hoe to dig out enough dirt for placing landscaping materials such as rocks or metal. If you're using something like rocks, of course, you'll need to dig out more dirt than you would if you'll just be tapping in some metal landscaping straightedge.

Using materials like bricks or metal are great for straightedges, but can be a little tricky when it comes to outlining certain shapes. The metal landscaping, for instance, is not as easily bent and shaped like other landscaping materials, so it can be challenging to use it for unique shapes. On the other hand, metal is the ideal landscaping material for corners, since the ends of the metal landscaping are fastened together, creating a perfect corner practically every time. The same can be said for bricks. They can be laid end-to-end for a perfectly straight line, then lay bricks at a 90 degree angle for a satisfactory corner. One shape that is a little harder to create is a perfect circle. You can draw the circle, then using a tape measure, check the diameter at several different points and extend or shrink the circle if necessary. You can also shape something, like a garden hose, into a circle, measure its diameter, then draw the outline around the hose with a stick or chalk dust.

Of course, you don't have to use a landscaping material to outline your garden or perimeter. You can use the plants or flowers themselves for the outline. This includes shrubs and trees. You can stretch a string between some stakes to mark a perfect straightedge for planting trees or bushes. You can also arrange flowers around the perimeter of the section, but the outline won't be as distinctive, once the flowers begin to grow and "travel". Unless they're kept trimmed, most flowers will grow up and over the perimeter, making a definitive outline nearly impossible. Your landscaping designs are your own, so almost nothing is taboo. Choose the shapes that suit you best and select landscaping materials, or none at all - the choice is yours.

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