Achievement in home landscape design is definitely realizable for do-it-yourselfers, but there are some pitfalls that must be avoided if maximum satisfaction is to be achieved. Thus the requirement for this list of 10 mistakes to avoid in home landscape design. The boo-boos covered range all the way from miscalculations that have practical ramifications to more refined mistakes that adversely impact your delight in your home landscape design.
1. Random Planting: Failing to Have a Plan
Many home landscape designs develop helter-skelter. A plant is planted somewhere in the yard simply because there is room for it there at the time. Ideally, it’s best to begin from scratch, draw a plan for the entire yard, and stick fast to it. Short of that, try at least to sketch a rough plan for one huge area of your yard, and put every last drop of your energy into implementing that plan this year.
2. Having a Lawn Just Because “Everyone Else Does It”
Many homeowners make the mistake of assuming that having a grassy area in the yard appointed as “the grass” is somehow an obligatory part of home landscape design. But historically speaking, the greensward as we all know it is a comparatively new introduction to landscaping. For those not attracted to that rather dull “green carpet” look or who hate having to mow grass each week, it’s important to know that other acceptable options exist, particularly for little spaces. Whose yard is it, anyway?
3. Insufficient Fall Colour in Your Home Landscape Design
Spring and summer receive the majority of our attention when it comes to planting. Unfortunately, it’s easy to forget to plant for fall. Yet the fall season holds outstanding promise for those landscaping enthusiasts willing to prepare plans for it. Don’t allow your home landscape design to miss out on the colors offered by autumn’s bounty!
4. Absence of Winter Interest in Your Home Landscape Design
If the fall season is typically neglected in home landscape design, matters stand twice as bad with the winter season. Yet in the North, it is exactly in wintertime that we most need a yard decor that will bring us cheer.
5. Failing to Irrigate
Many people face a dilemma: we enjoy having plants in our yards, but we also like to travel during the summer. So how do the plants get watered while we are gone? Sometimes a mate or relative can come to the rescue, but why chance it? There’s a lot tied up in your home landscape design, both in terms of cash and sentimental value. But don’t ditch your travel plans! Just install an automatic watering system in your home landscape design.
6. Planting on a Hillside Prone to Erosion
Do you have a near vertical slope in your yard? Is it tough to retain your topsoil there during a torrential rain? Have you tried growing your favourite plants there pointlessly? The problem is that you didn’t fix your erosion problem prior to planting. Build a supporting wall first, then do your planting afterwards.
7. Failure to Work With What You HaveDo you have a rocky yard? A yard with lots of shade? Or perhaps your yards problem is a punishing summer heat that scorches all in its path? Often you can successfully fight the terrain you inherit in your yard, as in the case of building main walls for slopes to combat erosion. Other times, rather than fighting it, it’s better to go with the flow and work with what you have. The key’s to know what you’re up against and what options you have.
8. Failure to Incorporate Deer-Resistant Plants in Your Home Landscape Design
You may well think you’ve turned up at the perfect home landscape design. You meticulously drew up a plan and stuck to it. The soil is fertile, you have installed automatic irrigation, you’ve followed directions faithfully in planting your examples, and you’ve applied a generous layer of mulch around them. But you come out of the house one day” and find your plants in shreds! What occurred? You forgot one thing: deer can make a snack of your plants faster than you can say, “Bambi goes to market.”
9. You Never Get Anything Done in the Yard Because Tools Are Never Convenient
The most certain way to get little done in the yard is to realise you want a tool” only to find that you cannot find it! If you don’t have enough space for storage, chances are your tools will all be jammed into one little area (maybe a corner of the garage), making it difficult to keep the area accessible and the tools organized. What you need is a storage shed. The more you put off getting ample storage, the longer you will be disorganised” and the further you may fall behind in your yard work.
10. Forgetting Functionality in Home Landscape Design
When one thinks about home landscape design,. It is aesthetic considerations that immediately are evoked. Functionality , however , has priority over aesthetics. There is no reason you should not be in a position to have both; but when push comes to shove, one needs to be more interested that a home landscape design is safe, convenient and usable.
Now you know a couple of the pitfalls and what to try to avoid, you need to determine if your landscaping is a do-it-yoursef project or if it might be best to hire a professional landscaper.
Jim Bextermueller is the owner of HomeServicesLink, a Cincinnati, Ohio firm that connects homeowners to landscaping and home-improvement contractors and repair service suppliers they can trust to do the work and trust in their home.