Landscapes that require minimum money and time to keep require thoughtful preparation and installation. Choose structures, plants, ground-coverings and systems that will assist to reduce watering, weeding, cutting, painting and mowing.
Consider Your Available Time
Identify just how much time you spend keeping your lawn at various times of the year. Consider mowing, planting, pruning, weeding, watering, raking, snow shoveling and other seasonal tasks. What do you want to alter?
List Your Needs
How do you plan to utilize your yard-- for grilling, vegetable or flower gardening, kids' play activities or just viewing from the windows? Different activities need different ground surface areas, structures, or plantings.
Pro Tip
Decrease or remove your lawn. If you have kids or enjoy lawn video games, about 600 square feet of turf is normally sufficient.
Evaluate Your Landscape
Make a rough map and list of existing functions, such as fences, trees and shrubs, buildings and paved surface areas. Note problem locations, such as poor views, sound, absence of privacy, high slopes or locations where plants grow badly or water collects.
Choose Time-Saving Systems & Surfaces
Think about lower-maintenance options to solve landscape problems, such as an automated irrigation system for watering the lawn and garden; a deck, paved patio area, or ground-covering plants instead of a mowed lawn; and a fence or vine-covered trellis instead of a clipped hedge. Select brick or stone instead of wood surface areas to eliminate painting chores. Group shrubs and trees into mulched beds to minimize mowing, cutting and watering. Mulch gardens to prevent weeds.
Select Low-Maintenance Plants
Pick just plants that fit the area available. To decrease planting time, plant flowering shrubs or seasonal plants that grow back each year rather of annuals that just last one season.
Pro Tip
Plant perennials that die to the ground in autumn, instead of shrubs, in places where snow accumulates or slides off the roof.
Choose plants with features that look good in more than one season, such as flowers in spring, good-looking leaf color in fall and appealing bark in winter season.
Low-Maintenance Plants for Easy Landscaping
Think about these easy-to-grow shrubs, trees, and perennials to produce a stress-free foundation in your landscape. For each, we've included planting, watering, fertilizing, and pruning suggestions for every gardening zone.
Shrub: Barberry
Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) is deer-resistant and deciduous, with thorny stems that make it a good foundation plant for increasing home security. Once established, this compact, dense shrub is dry spell tolerant. We like the range Sunjoy Tangelo for its intense orange brand-new growth that turns chartreuse on the leaf margins as the season progresses.
Some barberries are invasive and may not be grown in some states. Check with your regional extension service workplace before you plant.
Plant barberry in spring in part sun, or full sun for the best foliage color, and in moist however well-drained soil. Sunjoy Tangelo grows to 3-4 feet high and broad and is sturdy in USDA Zones 4-8. Prune to shape in summer, if wanted, and fertilize in spring after the last frost and when brand-new growth appears. In all zones, mulch in fall; in Zones 4-5, mulch heavily after the very first frost and draw back the mulch in spring.
About Austin Tree Services
Austin Tree Services is a family-owned tree service with over 25-years of experience click here to find out more caring for the natural landscape of communities in Austin. Our goal is to provide exceptional tree service to all residential and commercial clients looking to maintain or improve the natural surroundings of their homes and businesses. We always use the SAFEST tree removal methods for your property's safety, to ensure efficiency, and to promote safety! We strive to save every tree we can, but sometimes tree removal is necessary.
For more information contact:
Austin Tree Services
5555 N Lamar Blvd #111
Austin TX 78751
512-982-4843
http://www.treeexpertsaustin.com/