By HILARY JOHNSON
Planning for a Low-Maintenance Landscape Design
When you decide to have your property undergo landscaping, you do not only think of the final appearance and the total project cost of the project, you also have to consider how demanding the maintenance would be. And this is not something that you put into your second priority.
Since you have things to do, time is always essential, thus, you need to have a landscape design plan that does not demand you to pay more time that you should have. You need to have a low-maintenance landscape design plan!
Here are some tips that would help you plan a low-maintenance landscape design:
1.) Buy high-quality and long lasting landscape materials.
If you are trying to limit your budget, you may end up purchasing cheap landscape materials. This is okay as long as they are of high-quality and long lasting. But in most cases, you get what you have paid for. And if you purchase cheap landscape material, you may end up spending more.
Buy high-quality and long lasting landscape materials right from the beginning – those that do not require frequent replacement. Fences, sidewalks, seating structures, furniture items steps, decks, patios, trellis and gazebos, and furniture items should be sturdy and durable.
2.) Keep your lawn area to the minimum.
Landscaped yard with lawns are beautiful. But lawns are both expensive and high-maintenance too. Raking and edging consume an incredible amount of money and time not to mention the regular liming, fertilizing, mowing, watering, rolling, thatching, pesticides and fungicides, and herbicides requirement just to keep lawns well-maintained. Use plants, ground covers, shrubs, and easy to care trees to substitute for the excessive open lawn space.
A good low-maintenance alternative to lawn is moss. Moss can adapt to areas where grass refuses to grow. Another low-maintenance grass alternative is the clover. Clovers are cost-effective, insect-resistant, and drought-tolerant ground cover and an excellent alternative for grass.
3.) Avoid high-maintenance or problem plants
Live oak, red maple, butterfly bush Virginia willow, dwarf bamboo, sedum, gardenias, rain lilies; these are some of the hard to maintain trees, shrubs, perennials, and ground covers you want avoid. Instead, look for landscape plants that can adapt to extreme temperature, more tolerant to dry or wet periods, more resistant to fungal problems, disease and insects, and more adaptive to poor soil conditions.
4.) Consider a rock garden.
Instead of using greens, why not use grays? Rock garden is an ideal substitute for high-maintenance plants, shrubs, lawns, and even trees. Rock garden does not require regular trimming, mowing, watering, etc.
5.) Place plants in masses.
Planting in masses not only assures that the plants grow and dense consistently but also makes mowing and trimming edges easier.
6.) Place the right size plant in the right places.
Tall trees or large plants placed underneath the electrical and utility lines, view sheds, home windows, and doorway entries often need constant pruning to prevent them from exceeding the desired height and thickness.
The problem is, during the planning, this is not thought about since any tree or plant is yet to be seen as a problem. Nonetheless, it is important to know the characteristics of the plants that you are planning to use in your landscape design.
Ask the nursery owner for plants that grow within your desired height.