Pruning Rose Landscaping made easy…well easier anyway
Okay, so you aren’t a landscaping expert. Or maybe not even a gardener. Maybe you don’t have time or the ambition to maintain a yard that requires a lot of upkeep yet still want an attractive yard and increase your curb appeal. It’s okay! Here are some steps you can take to make your landscape more low maintenance.
Evaluate your current landscape. Note the types of plants and vegetation that are currently growing, as well as any hardscaping, existing flowerbeds, and any areas of excess sun or shade. If you are thinking of big changes, sketch out your plan and write down your ideas.
What do you need and want? Houses with small children may need open, grassy areas that are safe and easily monitored. In that case, grass seed and lawn mowers/trimmers may be in your future. If you like to entertain, you may have an established patio area which also reduces time spent mowing and maintaining gardens. Hardscaping requires much less maintenance than grass or flower beds and laying a patio can be a weekend DIY project. You can rent much of the equipment needed at Longenecker’s Hardware. If you have pets, you may want to create a separate fenced space or make dog run where they can do their business. If you don’t want to spend time watering your garden/lawn, consider installing an underground sprinkler system. All the choices are yours to make. And your dream landscape can be accomplished one step at a time.
If you like plants but hate the hassle, use only a few low-maintenance plant species bunched together to decrease time spent on upkeep. Get to know the plants you want to use. Read the tags to see how they grow and to what size. Do they require full sun, part sun or shade? Will they work in poor soil or do you need to amend your soil with peat, compost, garden soil, etc.? Find out if they are evergreen or deciduous, annual or perennial. Choosing native plants means much less maintenance. Garden beds benefit greatly – and so will you with less weeding – by adding 2”-3” of shredded bark mulch on top of the soil to prohibit weeds and insulate plants from extreme temperatures and keep moisture in. Edging your flower beds will make it look neat and there is a multitude of edging materials from which to choose.
Shrubs, groundcover plants and perennials are good low-maintenance picks. Trees and shrubs generally require less care than flowers and other plants. If you don’t like raking or blowing tree leaves in the fall, choose evergreen shrubs and trees. If you’re unsure how much maintenance is involved with any plant, just ask someone in our greenhouse.
