Few things are as wonderful - or terrifying - to a gardener than starting over with a new landscape.

For the past two years, our family has watched as close friends from down the alley moved next door. After renovating the property's barn and adding a second-floor addition, they've spent the past year gutting and meticulously renovating the site's 1929 bungalow.

With just a few weeks of interior finish work left, the couple - both avid gardeners - are finally able to envision how the outdoor landscape will tie the entire project together.

Our friends are in their mid-50s and retired. Unlike their previous garden, which was fairly labor intensive, this time around they hope to create an equally beautiful but less needy outdoor space.

They've started by using tinted, sand-washed concrete to create easy-care flooring for both their front porch, walkways and back terrace. The sealed material is relatively maintenance-free and should last for decades.

A waist-high raised bed along a walkway to the barn provides easy access to salad vegetables. Planting is a snap in the two-foot wide, 30-foot-long strip. No bending, no reaching. Even weeding is easy!

A great deal of thought has gone into the overall feel of both front and back gardens. Out front, where their yard blends into ours, are large boulders and natural contours. Soon, natural grasses and a swath of mixed conifers, evergreens and woody shrubs will be planted near the house. Also planned is a curve of lawn closer to the front steps that moves gracefully around back, providing a nice touch of solid contrast to the various plant textures.

In the back garden, grass will spread from the terrace out to a shrub/perennial border circling much of the yard. A larger vegetable plot behind the barn is being set aside for sprawling plants such as squash and pumpkins.

As the plants arrive and get moved around, space will be set aside for a new gate between our two gardens and both families will get a better idea of what kind of fencing - if any - we want between the two properties.

All plant choices are being picked with ease of maintenance in mind. Doug and Linda want species that are colorful and fragrant, clumping rather than spreading, with good four-season interest and texture.

It's going to be such an amazing transformation - I can hardly wait!

If you, too, are planning a new garden or simply revamping part of your current space, here are a few additional guidelines to consider, courtesy of author Veronica Sliva, who writes extensively about horticulture for various garden-related web sites:

• Lines: The lines that you create are bound to trigger responses from the viewer. Straight or curved, your eye automatically follows a garden's line. Gentle, curving lines are relaxing and restful. Straight lines create excitement and "tension." Not surprisingly, whatever lines you choose to work into your garden say a lot about your personality.

• Form: Form is the shape of the different elements in your garden space, such as the outline of the different plants, trees and shrubs. A variety of shapes gives character to a garden and determines its style, whether formal or informal.

• Proportion: Keep the size of the garden bed in proportion to what surrounds it. A small round garden in the center of a large yard will be ineffective. When you have a small space to work with, consider using vines on trellises to give an extra dimension to the garden

• Texture: Texture provides visual excitement. The variety of textures of flowers, foliage and tree bark provides interest and establishes a mood. Rough textures create a casual atmosphere. Smooth, velvety surfaces like that of a rose petal create a more a formal and elegant feeling.

• Scent: Fragrance in the garden creates yet another dimension. Locate scented plants near a path or sitting area where they will be most appreciated.

• Color: Use color to manipulate space. If you have a large space, plant flowers in warm hues like red and yellow to make the landscape seem more intimate. If you have a tiny space, cooler shades such as blue, purple, green and white make the garden seem larger. In a small space limit the varieties and colors of plants you use. Masses of one tone are more effective.

• Repetition: Repetition in the garden is the most overlooked element of all. You create a more pleasing picture when form, line, color and textures are repeated several times within a space.

• Focal Point: Use an interesting shrub, piece of garden art, a small pond or even gazebo as the focal point around which to develop your garden.

• All-Season Interest: Try to plan your garden so that something interesting is going on year round. Plant a few fall blooming plants early in the season and you'll be rewarded with vibrant splashes of color up until frost. During the winter months ornamental grasses provide elegance when everything else is dormant. Garden ornaments and statuary that can stay out of doors also spruce up the winter landscape.

• Personality Plus: Time-tested guidelines are certainly a safe way to plan a garden, but where's the zing?! Allow your personality to reflect your garden's ultimate design and don't ever be afraid to flaunt what you love. Adore clean, sparse lines? You'll probably want lots of open space in your garden. Love being surrounded by keepsakes? Make sure you create secret nooks, and tuck in a surprise (a bubbling fountain; a fire-engine-red statue) into an unexpected corner.