Pond & Landscaping

While the above furnishes a straightforward, working definition of the term, "landscaping," first-time homeowners will often profit more from an overview of the kind of work that they can do (or hire a professional to do) in order to improve their yards.
Some homeowners like to color coordinate their house and their landscaping. That is easy enough, but how far should you go to harmonizing house and yard aesthetically? For example, if the style of your home does not qualify it as a "cottage," can you still landscape in the cottage-garden style? Yes, but only you can decide on the degree to which you should strive for such harmony because everyone's taste is different. There's no doubt that some types of hardscape features fit better with some houses than with others. A rustic-style deck, for example, will look much better attached to a log cabin than to an ultra-modern contemporary.  
Achieving harmony is sometimes possible intuitively. But if you are more serious about complementing your house with your landscaping, you really need to take matters to the next level: landscape design, which is essentially an art form (although this discipline never loses sight of practical considerations, as well).