Landscaping is a big job, which consumes your hard-earned money, as well as your energy and enthusiasm. Before you set out to beautify your home, make sure you don’t attempt haphazard, unplanned landscaping projects to avoid these common mistakes that many homeowners make.
1. Cutting your lawn too short.
Mowing your grass at the proper times and to the proper heights is necessary if you want a lush, green lawn. Cutting grass too short will result in a less-developed root system, bare patches, and an inviting location for both pests and disease. Every grass has a different requirement, so research the variety you have growing in your yard to find out what the appropriate mowing schedule should be for spring, summer, and fall.
2. Not planning ahead.
A common problem that homeowners encounter after they have started landscaping is surprising growth patterns of plants. Not thoroughly accounting for this before you put plants in the ground can cause problems, or they can make your landscaping ventures look unsightly. Another problem that arises with not planning ahead is unwanted maintenance that can’t be kept up. When planting, always make sure you know what kind of maintenance the plants will require. Gardens will need to be weeded at least a few times a month. You’ll also need to prune, water, and fertilize what you grow.
3. Not designing for all seasons.
It’s easy to get carried away at the nursery or garden store, buying what looks pretty in bloom; however, if you plant everything that only looks good during one season of the year, you’ll have put a lot of work into a yard that will look terrible the rest of the year. A wise landscaper designs a yard with all four seasons in mind. A mixture of evergreens with plants that bloom at different points throughout spring, summer, and fall carefully planted together is a way to solve this problem. And even if you don’t want flowers all year long, you can still choose plants that have interesting foilage.
