Want Beautiful, Yet Low-Maintenance Landscaping? 2 Tips For A No-Fuss, Attractive Yard
Posted on: 13 September 2016
Do you find yourself gazing longingly at those neighbors' yards that are filled with plush plants and beautiful flowers, but just don't think you would be able to find the time or energy to maintain beautiful landscaping like that around your home? The truth is that your yard can look just as beautiful with little to no maintenance when you choose the right features and plants. Here are two tips to creating the yard of your dreams that is as beautiful as you desire, yet needs little to no daily maintenance!
1. Have An Irrigation System Built Into Your Yard So You Never Have To Water by Hand
Your biggest fear may be that having a yard filled with bushes, plants, and flowers means that you must make the trek outside in the early morning, mid-afternoon, and late evening to water all of that foliage every day. Yes, plants need water, but that doesn't mean you have to provide it by hand. There are several types of irrigation systems you can have your landscaping professional install that can lead to you never having to pick up a hose or fill a watering can to provide the moisture those plants need manually.
While automatic sprinkler systems are popular and can be set on timers (or even connected to your smartphone), the most water-efficient and low-maintenance way to water your landscaping is to have a subsurface drip irrigation system installed. Often called micro-irrigation systems, due to the fact that they are smaller-scale versions of the underground watering systems that have been used by farmers to water their crops for decades, this system involves the installation of a series of connected underground pipes hooked up to your outdoor water spigot.
The underground tubes are filled with tiny holes that release water into the soil underneath your grass to keep your lawn plush and green. However, this system does not just water your lawn, but also plants and flowers; sprinklers that direct water at bushes, flowers, and even trees can be connected right to the piping in strategic locations that deliver moisture to all foliage that needs it.
In addition, many micro-irrigation systems even offer a special feature that allows you to mix plant fertilizer right into the water being delivered to your flowers and greenery; this can save you from the additional hassle of spraying fertilizer by hand to keep your greenery and flowers healthy and strong.
2. Use This Tip To Choose Attractive Shrubs That Don't Need Pruning
Another fear you may have is that while those bushes and shrubs may look perfect when first planted by your landscaper, they will quickly begin to grow out of control if you don't prune them regularly. This doesn't have to happen, and the key to choosing shrubs that don't need constant trimming to maintain their height and shape is to find out what the "mature size" of the shrub is before it is planted. The mature size is the size that shrub will grow to when left alone with no trimming. So, if you want a border of attractive shrubs along the front of your home, but never want them to grow tall enough to block the view outside your front windows, then measure the distance from the ground to the base of your windows and choose a shrub to plant that has a mature size slightly less than this measurement.
The Oakleaf Hydrangea is a beautiful ornamental shrub that blooms with white and pink flowers in the spring, and then in the fall, its leaves turn to rich hues of purple and red. It's mature size is from 4' to 6' high and 4' to 6' wide (width is called spread). This is a larger shrub (and there are many more), but when you need shrubs with small maturity sizes, look into the many dwarf shrubs. Some have maturity heights as low as 1.5', but there are so many that you can find one that is the perfect height for any place in your yard you would like them to be planted.
You can have beautiful landscaping that needs little to no maintenance when you follow these two tips. Your landscaper can give you other tips on how you can have a beautiful, yet no-fuss, yard you are proud to show off to your neighbors. You may be surprised to find out that when the right features and plants are used to create your beautiful new landscaping, you may never even have to lift a finger to keep it looking amazing! For help with landscaping your yard, contact a residential landscaping company like Boyer WH.
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