Additional Resources	planning a landscape project	installation and care of hardscape elements
			installation and care of softscape elements
	First steps to any landscape project: Sketch out a plan or design on paper. File for any needed permits with your local municipality or homeowners association. Order materials. Round up; leftovers are better than than running out. Gather tools. What you can't borrow from the neighbor you can rent from a local tool and equipment rental shop such as Sunbelt. Call OUPS at 800-362-2764. This is very important so you don't hurt yourself or your help. The locating service is free, the repairs are usually as well, if you called first. And then there is also a law. Lay things out on the ground. Use spray paint, string line, garden hose, anything handy, just not the flags marking the utility lines. Make adjustments as needed. Sometimes what looks great on paper, or CAD, looks different on the ground.
	Plant installation: A healthy garden starts with good plant choice and placement. Whether planting one tree or an entire garden, take extra time in the planning stage. Shady plants get planted in the shade, sunny plants go in the sun. Utilize OSU's Plant Facts website or the books listed below learn about the preferences of your favorite plants as well as the ultimate size. A tree that gets 20' wide and 50' tall should not be planted 5' from your house. Ignore the tags with the sun/shade icon in the pots at the nursery. It is my opinion that they are purposely vague, like the weather forecast in the newspaper, part sun/part shade can mean almost anything. Keep your plants happy while they are waiting to be placed in the ground - water. Dig big holes, use plenty of soil amendment such as peat moss or manure. Do not stomp around the plant with your boot; new roots like to find loose friendly soil not a compacted wall of dirt. Once all of your plant material is in the ground, spread a liberal amount of mulch and water it in.
	Plant care and maintenance: Assuming you planted your sunny plants in the sun and shady plants in the shade, the next dilemma for most people is how much water to use. The best thing to do is to watch the plants and experiment with the amount of water. If your mulch and annuals are floating across the yard you might cut back on the irrigation. The first two years are the most critical for watering. After those first two years you are usually safe depending on nature, except during droughts. Almost all pruning should be done with a sharp pair of bypass hand pruners and loppers. I use Buzz's Saw Service, 740-369-5886. Leave the hedge shears hanging in the garage until you get to the Taxus or Boxwood hedge. Fertilization is usually not be needed unless the plant is under stress. Try to diagnose the problem before shooting it up with drugs. Bugs and disease are usually specific to the species and variety of plant. If you see a problem it is a good idea to treat it early. A certified arborist is the best source for diagnosing most problems.
	A few gardening books that you may find useful: Tracy Disbato-Austs' books such as The Well-Tended Perennial Garden Michael Dirr's books such as Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs Denny McKeown's, The Gardening Book for Ohio Donald Culross Peattie's, A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America
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