Control Erosion With Smart Plant Choices
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By being proactive and taking measures before erosion occurs, you can save yourself a lot of maintenance later. Runoff coming down a hill can have devastating effects not only on your landscaping but even on your home. So it’s important to practice erosion control with your plants. Select plants that can grow on slopes, holding back soil and sucking up water. Creeping junipers are commonly used for this purpose.
Use Garden Edging To Zone Your Front Yard
If you want to use most of the limited space available to you as a lawn, you can still get in some fun landscaping with plants if you create small zones dedicated to planting. Yard edging will help here: once it is in, it will require no maintenance and help keep your lawn nicely shaped and give your front yard great curves.
Small front yards will benefit from invisible steel edging because too much brick or stone can look too bulky.
Evoke Movement With A Herringbone Pattern
A millennia-old motif, this pattern consists of bricks laid in a repeating L-shaped arrangement so that the end of one vertical brick meets the side of a horizontal brick at a right angle. The resulting design, resembling a fishs skeleton, adds an energizing sense of movement to the surface. The interlocking arrangement of bricks also makes it one of the strongest and most impact-resistant patio designs, capable of withstanding even the heavy weight of lawn equipment with less risk of the bricks buckling underneath.
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Pick Coordinating Brick Colors
When deciding on patio brick color, aim for harmony with other exterior features. For example, if your home has a rusty-red brick exterior siding, opt for light red, pale pink, or burgundy bricks for the patio to achieve a palette thats monochromatic but overpowering. If you prefer a multi-colored exterior, choose light or dark neutrals, including gray, tan, beige, sand, or dark brown, for added contrast between the patio and the home. Or introduce color variety into the patio by alternating bricks in complementary tones. For example, you might alternate red and pink bricks in a straight set patio, or use dark brown full bricks and tan brick slivers in a whorled motif.
What Is The Cheapest Landscaping For Portland Oregon
Many low-maintenance landscaping techniques are also low-cost because they are easy DIY projects, use less water, and wont require replacing plants frequently. Try out some of these options for cheap landscaping in Portland:
- Mulch is a great way to spruce up your landscaping. Costs range from $17 to $68 per cubic yard. There are also ways to get free mulch in your area.
- Add native plants to bring color to your yard and keep money in your pocket.
- Landscape lighting is a great way to add to the aesthetic of your yard without breaking the bank. Prices will vary depending on the size of your project. Average rates are around $188 to $325 . Or hang a few outdoor string lights yourself for an inexpensive weekend DIY project.
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Create A Haven By Hardscaping
Hardscaping can refer to any non-living facets used in landscaping. This can include gravel, patios, pergolas, and much more. The more hardscaping elements you include in your yard, the less work youll have to put in tending to plants. Here, hardscaping has been used to craft a soothing retreat. The minimalist gray slate tiles in this multi-tiered backyard are framed on all sides by a high wooden fence which provides ample privacy, while gravel-filled planters feature sharp rows of topiary shrubs.
Trade Turf For Flowers
Lawns demand a lot of time and attention to look their best. Mowing, weeding, feeding its a year-round effort to keep grass gorgeous. One way to reduce your time investment in lawn care is to limit the amount of lawn you have. Trade turf for pretty planting beds stocked with shrubs, perennials and ornamental grasses. This bed happens to be a rain garden, which means its beauty is more than petal deep. It also helps to disperse rainwater runoff.
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How Do I Landscape A Small Front Yard So That It’s Low Maintenance
Smith has a very important top tip for keeping small front yards low maintenance: ‘It’s most important to remember that simpler is better, and the lower maintenance requires less foot traffic in the landscape which will reduce compaction and wear and tear on small plants.’
Basically, this means that a low-maintenance landscape design will have a hardwearing walkway and plants either on the sides or on a dedicated plot that isn’t walked on. You also may choose to reconsider that lawn lawns just aren’t low-maintenance, ever, so you may choose to replace yours with extra plants or a rockery.
Well-mulched borders or xeriscaped front yards are also extremely low maintenance. Xeriscaping is specifically aimed at making your front yard drought-tolerant, by choosing plants that don’t require much watering and surrounding them with gravel for added water retention. You don’t have to live in an arid climate to enjoy this type of landscaping, either, and it looks very good with both traditional and contemporary home exteriors.
Replace Lawn With Hardscaping
How much lawn do you need? It may seem obvious, but reducing the amount of grass and other plant growth by expanding paved patio areas and hardscaping features can decrease the amount of yard work you do while also expanding your outdoor living space. Current trends see many homeowners forgoing a traditional backyard lawn and replacing it with expanded patio/outdoor kitchen setups and the like. Hardscaping requires less maintenance than a lawn or flowerbeds and can be the perfect choice for someone who wants to reduce their work in the yard to the bare minimum. This also is a great alternative to annually trying to make grass grow where it always has trouble doing so. Stop trying to make grass happen in troublesome patches of your property and replace it with hardscaping.
Keep in mind that even hard surfaces made of concrete, stone, and brick will need maintenance periodically, just not as much as your grass and flowerbeds. Concrete surfaces can last many years without maintenance. Paver and brick patios and walkways often need some kind of maintenance every three to five years depending on how much the ground settles. Keep this in mind when deciding on your materials.
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Opt For Native Plants
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Plant selection directly impacts the time and effort it takes to keep a great looking yard. Some of the most resilient, easy to grow, beautiful plants are those that originated locally. Native plants require little, if any, extra watering rarely succumb to harsh weather patterns, and have natural defenses against local pests. Plus, they are easily recognized by birds and pollinators as habitat, adding another dimension of interest to the landscape.
Private Piece Of Paradise
Vertical gardens also known as green walls are popular in urban landscaping, because they make a striking visual statement without taking up a lot of space. Here, a green wall is used as a partition to create a secluded escape in the middle of a city. Vertical gardens are incredibly versatile as they can sustain several different types of plant life. Certain herbs like mint, thyme, and rosemary are particularly easy to maintain as part of a green wall. As a bonus you can harvest the herbs and use them in your cooking, making this outdoor feature as practical as it is pretty.
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Put Your Plants In Containers
Using pots or containers to keep plants in your landscape not only makes your yard low maintenance but also provides you more versatility. Potted plants are mobile and can be kept anywhere in the yard depending on the plant needs. You can also color the pots and the containers to match your landscape surroundings.
There are other advantages of putting your plants in pots, which include no weeding, flexibility, fewer disease problems for plants, time-saving, and many others. You can grow flowering plants, vegetable plants, bushes, shrubs, and many other kinds of plants in containers or pots that will make your yard beautiful and low maintenance.
What Are The Benefits Of Adding A Border To Your Garden
From an aesthetic perspective, adding a border to your garden helps bridge the gap between your landscaping and your lawn. But garden borders arent just meant to look pretty. They serve a purpose, too.
Using low-growing hedges and ground cover plants to trim out the edges of your flower beds prevents weeds from popping up in between plants. They also cast shade on the ground below, protecting it from the suns harsh rays so it can hold moisture in longer.
Greenery provides ornamental plants with an understated backdrop while flowering shrubs can help draw more local pollinators to your backyard. Overall, creating a border for your garden saves time and labor, while making your backyard more beneficial to the ecosystem.
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Landscape With Traditional Cottage Garden Plants
English cottage gardens tend to be on the smaller side, so cottage garden-style planting schemes are very easy to implement in small front yards. Go easy on the hard landscaping if you’re going for this look instead, lay a gravel path and let cottage garden plants, such as rose, lavender, and hedging, do the rest.
Sculpted shrubs like box, juniper, or thuja will give your front yard a manicured look, but they’re not really high-maintenance. An annual trim is the most these easy-going evergreens will need.
How Can I Fertilize My Front Lawn Without Chemicals
If youre using fertilizer with chemicals, you should start using low nitrogen organic fertilizer. To make the switch, wait until early spring after your soil is warmer to apply organic fertilizer on your lawn. Youll need to do it again at the end of the fall season. Organic nutrients are released throughout the growing season, which means theyll be available as needed.
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Grow A Tapestry Of Hassle
Miscanthus sinensis, also known as Chinese Silver Grass
If you love the look of full, abundant flowerbeds but cant spare hours to tweak and nurture them, try using a mix of ornamental grasses as the basis of your low maintenance garden border ideas.
Coming in all shapes, colors and sizes, they are ideal for creating a stunning year-round display in just about every location and climate. Tall, airy plants such as deschampsia and miscanthus will form a handy living screen and introduce graceful height and movement, while low-growing, clump forming grasses such as carex and festuca are perfect for ground cover and textural interest.
Most ornamental grasses need little more than the occasional comb through to remove dead thatch or, if they are evergreen, a quick snip to tidy up. Deciduous varieties require a yearly cut back usually around early spring to ensure they look their best.
Low Maintenance Landscaping: 14 Ways To Create A Plot That Needs Minimal Upkeep
These low maintenance landscaping ideas will quickly transform your backyard and free up your time
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On the hunt for low maintenance landscaping ideas to spruce up your plot and free up your time? Well, weve called on a wealth of industry experts to share their labour-saving tips and the latest product knowledge.
With home and work boundaries blurring and lives getting back to busy, its important we continue spending more time enjoying our gardens rather than adding to our list of chores. I mean, wed all rather be kicking back and catching up with friends than mowing the lawn or repainting the fence. The good news is that just a few simple changes to your backyard can help free up valuable extra leisure time.
From swapping short-lived bedding plants for the best low maintenance plants and perennials to replacing timber decking for easy going composite designs, you can create a super stylish outside space thats a joy to spend time in.
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Say Yes Please To Trees
Trees are a great way to make the front of your home feel more private while still honoring nature. Mature trees can be expensive and difficult to plant. Luckily, there are many fast-growing trees available you can incorporate into your landscaping. Hybrid poplars, quaking aspen, and pin oaks are just a few examples. The shade they cast as they grow may even lower your energy costs.
Plant Wildflowers And Create Perennial Beds
Replace existing trees, shrubs and plants that are heavy drinkers, invasive species, and pruning nightmares with low-maintenance foliage. Native plants like wildflowers and grasses that can be as ornamental and hardy as their more expensive counterparts, are growing in popularity.
Native planting is crucial to the surrounding wildlife and other species of plants. Beds loaded with perennials cut down the need for planting every year. This also gives a landscape area the advantage of being used for experimenting with newer, drought-resistant plants and low-water plants.
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As the perennial plants are selected and planted and grassy areas are replaced or covered with ground covers, research irrigation methods to create a mostly hands off landscape.
Smart irrigation controllers are the new water and time saving super-heroes of the landscaping arena. Technological developments with soil moisture censors, that water base on moisture levels, are great time and money saving fixtures for any size of landscaping area.
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Achieve A Lush Lawn With Artificial Grass
Are you looking to create a lush green oasis without getting into trouble with the water police? Landscaping with artificial grass is a great way to go. Synthetic turf is made from fibers designed to look and feel like natural grass. Its highly durable and low maintenance, making it ideal for yards in arid climates. So if youre looking for a yard that will stay green all year long, consider installing some artificial grass.
Simplify Your Small Yard
This quaint tiny house makes the most of its minuscule side yard. Despite the lack of a lawn, theres still plenty of greenery to be found. The low row of evergreen hedges helps create a distinct boundary between the house and a snug seating area. Over time, the young olive trees will grow to cast plenty of cool shade.
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Design A Beautiful Terrace
Sloped yards are exceptionally difficult to care for, as they are prone to erosion. They are also difficult to mow and retain moisture unevenly. Installing terraced flower beds is a great way to create level planting spaces in a sloped yard. These beds are built out of massive natural stone slabs, which helps this stately structure blend into the landscape. As a bonus, these beds will help protect the environment by preventing fertilizer runoff.
Go For An Artificial Landscape
Fake or artificial grass is the quickest idea for a mower-free life. And theres no shame in cheatingartificial turf has come a long way in recent years, looking and feeling like the real thing.
An artificial lawn can be just as beautiful as a naturally growing lawn with shrubs and flowerbeds, Guzior says.
Picture it: uninterrupted greenand no watering required!
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Try Large Scale Pots With Textural Planting
Reduce time spent maintaining your outside space by restricting planting to key areas. Super-sized garden planters are a great way to do this and can make a dramatic statement in even the tightest of spaces.
For a truly contemporary look, think big when it comes to choosing plants for your container gardening ideas. Look for one large hero tree or shrub ideally with a standout shape, bark or foliage. Use this as the main focal point and underplant with two or three groups of low growing plants, each offering a contrast of textured leaves, flowers or berries.
What Can I Do With A Small Front Yard
A small front yard doesn’t have to be a limitation for your landscaping ambitions. However, Zachary Smith, Founder of San Francisco Bay Area landscaping companyZachary Smith Arboriculture , advises to start with small ideas and build up, explaining that in his experience, ‘people tend to try to do too much, and with smaller spaces, simpler can be better.’ He recommends starting with ‘decorative gravel and interesting succulents. When some fancy agaves and cactus-like plants are installed in a bed of unique gravel or stones, it can be a surprisingly impressive look, with very very low maintenance requirements.’
Another option is ‘to use a ground cover cotoneaster, or creeping juniper ground cover around several large and unique boulders.’ Rocks, obviously, don’t require any maintenance whatsoever but look great in most front yards, helping you create a look that’s completely individual.
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Bring Your Yard Into The Era Of Automation
An automatic irrigation system can help your landscape through dry spells without you having to get out in the yard with a watering can every day. Simply set the timer so your sprinklers know when to come on, and theyll handle the rest. If you want a traditional lawn and garden but dont want to tie yourself to a watering schedule, an automatic irrigation system might be for you.
The convenience of an automatic irrigation system comes at a cost, though. Installing sprinklers can get expensive, especially since theyll send your water bill through the roof. The average price of a sprinkler system ranges from $2,539 to $4,773. The good news is theyll pay you back in their own way by increasing your homes property value.