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Landscaping is a HUGE title. Garden walls for example are perfectly within our scope. Grading, drainage, soils, climate, weather, chemistry, siting buildings are all so very much part of landscaping. This should probably be a site unto itself. Possibly with more than asking simple questions. Plants or 'soft scapes' are but a SMALL part of landscaping. This title has got to change or we need more landscape PROFESSIONALS involved. Period.

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    What are some suggestions for a better title?
    – kevinskio Mod
    Aug 13, 2015 at 2:10
  • Landscaping needs a separate site. This will probably cross over with DIY, homeimprovement and design as well as gardening. Exterior home design...maybe a better title for a new site would be Landscape Design or Integration of Home and Garden? To encompass soil, weather, zones, architecture, hardscapes for sure, hiring contractors/subcontractors, irrigation, lighting (out of doors), grading/drainage, how to select plant material, how to lay out for planting, how to plant B&B, bareroot and different sized plants, how much is too much or where devaluation of landscaping occurs, MULCH...
    – stormy
    Aug 13, 2015 at 23:04

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It's like going upriver when you try and move away from the SO question and answer format. The focus for all SO sites is questions that are focused and have one correct answer.

That is not an easy fit. See this question here which has been closed as too broad. This would be a great exam question for a landscape design course. You could get a different answer from every student and they could all be right.

Landscape design does have a technical basis. Hardscaping in particular has a limited range of techniques to build something that will not fall down. This type of question fits. Design is more of an art and subject to interpretation. That's why we read about gardens designed by individuals or done in a particular style. The range of correct answers to many landscape design questions is large and not a good fit for a web site.

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  • Yes and no...good landscape design is low maintenance and follows rules all artists use. Truly NOT subjective. Beauty is really not in the eye of the beholder. To make beautiful things they need to fullfill certain rules such as limiting stimulation, being functional, abiding by environmental and legal rules and my favorite 'test' is LOW maintenance. Non-artists and laymen won't know WHY a design is great but normal humans will always sense the 'beauty'. Landscape Architects aren't 'artists' more akin to 'problem solvers'....then there are the weird humans who think astro-turf as beesknee
    – stormy
    Aug 15, 2015 at 19:44
  • I realize this is a tough...problem. I don't know how I would change things at the moment. I am working on a second design via this site and the internet. Soon, you'll be able to see results from the first design 'help'...getting ready to actually install this next month. Perhaps that will highlight ways to make changes, fewer the better. Scoring and grading landscape design has shown me that there are different graphics, ideas but a good design is more universal than you think. Each project however is totally unique as are the clients and environments.
    – stormy
    Aug 15, 2015 at 19:54
  • I would not call Versailles or the gardens of the Italian nobility to be low maintenance but they are called good design and written about in every garden history book. Would you call the Gardens of Bomarzo en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_of_Bomarzo that look better with a few centuries of neglect to "follow the rules"?
    – kevinskio Mod
    Aug 15, 2015 at 20:40
  • Grin...one of the parameters of design IS 'how much maintenance can you afford'? That is always factored in...lots of clients have personal full-time gardeners. Changes the design a bit...but I don't get those kinds of clients that often. To allow a garden to go neglected truly proves whether or not it was a great design...I think it DOES get subjective when people don't care about money necessary for maintenance. Those Italian gardens to me AREN'T great design. I wouldn't do that to anyone! Maybe a taste of hedge plants and they are satisfied/humbled.
    – stormy
    Aug 15, 2015 at 20:47
  • Gotta understand the mentality of these...nobility. Very into CONTROL. Man OVER nature not Man WITH nature. We understand a heck of a lot more than they ever did. Hopefully we've evolved!! Grins!!
    – stormy
    Aug 15, 2015 at 20:50

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