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Tips to Landscape a Yard

Tips to Landscape a Yard

So you’ve decided your yard could use a little work. Maybe you’ve just moved into a new property and found the previous residents have left you an impenetrable jungle as a moving in present. Or maybe you’ve left yourself the gift of uncontrolled weed growth through a bit of good old-fashioned neglect.

Well, no matter – there’s no time like the present and, with a bit of work, you can have a beautiful, landscaped yard too. Here a few tips to help you along!

 

Start with the clean up. It might not be much fun but you need to know what you’ve got to work with. How much of a clean up of course is up to you. You might just need to clean back the growth and tidy up any left over debris from winter or fall to unearth a beautiful, tidy yard waiting underneath or maybe you want a completely blank canvas, and are going to strip everything back to the very beginnings – either approach is fine! Checklists are also great to stay organized.

Just make sure you are careful and methodical. Ensure you remove every part of the weed, not just what you can see above ground (and believe me, some weeds can have extensive root systems growing away out of sight). Be through now and you’ll be rewarded later with far less grow back of pesky weeds.

In a traditional garden with a central lawn edged with flowerbeds, make sure you take the time to edge your beds and lawn. Essentially this is creating a clean break between the lawn and the flowerbeds themselves. Simply take a flat edged shovel and carefully cut the lawn into a neat line where is meets the beds.

This is both appealing to the eye when you look at your yard, and also creates a clear divide between flowerbeds and lawns, making it a lot easier to see which parts of the garden require weeding.

Whilst you’re at it, also consider edging the lawn where it borders paths and driveways. Again, this nice clear break between vegetation and pathway will create a pleasing image to eye.

Running into unwanted trees? Check out my page about removing trees for great DIY tips or visit http://www.treeservicesofmobile.com-tips.

 

Next comes the fun part – selecting the flowers! But wait, don’t rush out the nearest garden center and fill your trunk with any old, random plants and flowers. Instead, take a moment to decide on your style. Do you want an informal, organically growing yard or a more formal, manicured version?

By this, I don’t mean to ask if you’re willing to use certain chemicals or not – though of course this is something you should consider. But rather, do you want a yard where you carefully decide where plants will go and then keep them rigorously trimmed into shape, or do you want to plant flowers and shrubs and mainly let nature take over – with perhaps just a lightly guiding hand from yourself now and then?

 

Finally, and by far the most important consideration – make sure you take time to enjoy your creation! All too often a gardener will spend so much time and effort working in their yard, planning the next steps of renovation or re-planting they will neglect to actually enjoy the yard itself!

So make sure you take the time to snooze in the sun, have cocktails on the patio and, every now and then, simply pause, take in the sights, sounds and smells and just enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Is Hardscape Design Worth The Money

Is Hardscape Design Worth The Money

If you are a homeowner or if you are in search of a new home one of the first things you will notice about the house will be its curb appeal. Hardscape design has a lot to do with that.

 

When you properly care for your yard and come up with a well thought out design that works with the overall architecture of your home, you will find that people will be drawn to your home and offer you many compliments on it. It might even earn you bragging rights as the nicest home on the block.

 

So, what helps to make a good and smart design?

One of the biggest things to consider is the cost. How much are you willing to spend to make your home worthy of drawing the attention of salivating drive-by onlookers and dreamy-eyed house hunters? Simply put, the more you put into the design, the better your outcome. It doesn’t mean that you must spend ridiculous amounts of money, but naturally, the more you DO spend, the more options you will find that will be available to you. This is where the assistance of a professional hardscape contractor might be of great assistance to you in figuring out just what you want to add to the overall look and make it uniquely yours. Some designs can cost in the thousands, while others, depending on the size of the area, might not cost nearly as much.

 

It has been widely debated on whether these services are worth the money that they seem to cost. I guess it depends on the family, the know-how and of course, your budget. Some people choose to do their own maintenance and installations. It can be a pride thing, a crafty thing or even the most meticulous of folks who would rather do the work on their own because “no one will do as good of a job.” Folks who might decide to pick up the phone and call in a professional might not have a ‘green thumb’ and feel a little out of their element in trying to make it look good. For others, they simply might not have the time to put into seeing it through, so the idea to pay someone to make their vision a reality is money well spent.

 

Hardscape design is a business that seems like it would be on the ‘low priority’ level when you are a homeowner, but maybe there are other things to consider before you dismiss the idea. For more on this, check out this video.

What if you are trying to sell your home? If you are trying to turn it around on a quick timeframe and spending hours on the looks isn’t in the forecast, you might consider spending some money to have someone come out and give your property a little curb appeal. What if your property has drainage issues? It might be necessary to have someone come out and fix it to allow proper drainage and give you something aesthetic and pleasing to look at, thereby, removing the eyesore. If you are a real estate developer or if you own several properties, you might not have the time to work on the landscaping and yardwork for every property you own. In this case, hiring a design professional might be a good option to you, which helps to alleviate the amount of work you will have to do to maintain the properties.

 

All in all, hiring a skilled professional or firm is a personal choice. It comes down to the needs and desires of the individual homeowner. Not everyone has the money to afford such services, but if you do, you might think it was the best money you have ever spent on your home. Little touches and changes can have a big impact on resale value, curb appeal and peace of mind.

 

Landscaping Ideas For Your Backyard

Landscaping Ideas For Your Backyard

It’s not often when you get to rethink you home’s landscape, may that be front or back yard. One of the reasons is because it can get costly, depending on what you’re looking to have done and the scale of the whole projects.

One thing I’ll tell you for sure is it can be tough settling on a particular design that you absolutely love. Often times you’ll have several ideas that you like, and will have to either combine parts of them or settle on just one.

If you simply don’t have enough design ideas, then it can be tough since you don’t really know what is all out there.

Sound familiar?

If so, then I’ve found the perfect video just for you. It quickly covers 50 backyard landscaping ideas, that will turn any house into a home.

Comment, send feedback and let me know which ones you loved.