If you have an interest in improving the design landscaping that surrounds your home but you are at a loss for knowing just where to start, then you can easily find numerous inspiring examples.It could be as simple as driving around a neighborhood you like and stopping to take a picture of a landscape design that appeals to you. You might even knock on the door and see if the owners will tell you if they used professional or did it themselves.garden landscapingYou can also get many ideas from the numerous books and magazines that are published on the topic of landscapes and design. And, these days there are many resources available online for designing and embellishing the landscape around your home.Many of these websites even offer sample garden landscaping Ideas design plans, pictures of various ideas, tips from the experts for do-it-yourselfers, and contact information for professional landscape designers in your area.Some of the most common features in landscaping for homes are decks and patios. They are very popular because they not only create a wonderful focal point for a landscape design, but they provide additional space and functionality to the home.landscaping lawnPatios and decks give you a wonderful place to host family gatherings and other types of entertainment. At the same time, a small patio can be added to a special garden area to create a place to get away to relax and be refreshed by the beauty of the natural surroundings. Adding decks and patios, or making improvements to existing ones, is also a great way to add value to your home and increase your equity.More and more often, fountains are becoming features of home and garden lawn maintenance landscaping. There are the traditional, multi-tiered fountains that are reminiscent of country estates and European villas and which can bring old world charm to your surroundings.There are also the more modern fountains that utilize unique rocks and stones or huge ceramic pots which are becoming very popular in some types of landscape architecture. Of course there are many other beautiful and creative styles available to meet any taste and style.Rock gardens are becoming quite popular as well. These have the benefit of being very attractive, but they generally incorporate very few, if any, plants. This makes them very low maintenance as they require either no watering, or very little, virtually no weeding, and in general need almost no attention, except to sit back and admire how your rock garden adds to your overall landscape design.garden lawnEmulating an English cottage garden is another popular inspiration for many home and garden settings. Such gardens are particularly noted for their overall lack of a formal plan.There is very little rigidity in design with English cottage gardens because the whole concept behind them is to let the plants "just grow" and develop in a more natural, or organic, way. These gardens have a certain special charm to them and often make people feel more relaxed and embraced by nature.The most common of all features in landscaping plans are the lawns. Almost all landscape designs include a garden lawn in some shape or size. Lawns are also one of the easiest of landscape elements to take care of and they stay beautiful for many years with simple maintenance routines.