Few things are more frustrating than a messy front yard. In addition to disrupting your curb appeal, overgrown, messy landscaping can also harbor pests and make it look like you don't care about your property. Fortunately, tidying up your yard doesn't have to be difficult. I have spent years learning more about landscaping, and this blog is all about how to become a landscaping enthusiast. Check out these articles about fun topics like planting flowers, perfecting pruned trees, and decorating your yard with whimsical additions. After you know more about landscaping, your yard might become the talk of the town.
Maintaining your yard requires balance. You must balance ease of maintenance with your budget and allotted time. This can be a challenge, particularly if you are a novice to lawn and garden care. The following are a few techniques that can help you master this balancing act.
Have a passive weed plan
Pulling weeds requires no money, but it costs you in time. Herbicides require minimal time, but they have both a monetary and an environmental cost. Passive weed control does have a small initial investment, but it requires very little time or money going forward. For this method, you begin with fully weeding your garden beds and non-grass planting areas. Then, you lay down weed cloth to suppress weed growth. Finish by laying an organic mulch, such as chocolate brown wood chips, over the cloth. Going forward, you will only need to pull a few weeds each year and invest in fresh mulch as the old biodegrades. Fortunately, you can save money on the mulch by purchasing wholesale mulch pallets. If you only need a small amount, go in with a neighbor and split the cost.
Mulch instead of bagging
Mulching is also an answer when it comes to your lawn. Remove the bag from your lawnmower and use the mulch setting. This setting chops the grass more finely so it can be left on the lawn. You don't have to spend time emptying the bag and hauling it to the trash or compost pile, plus you get to save on the disposal fees. Instead, the grass clippings settle down to rest on the soil at the base of the grass blades. Here it will act as a mulch, helping to conserve soil moisture and to suppress weed growth. As a bonus, the clippings will also release nitrogen as they decompose, which will save you on some fertilizer costs.
Automate your irrigation
Water can be a huge waste of time and money. Irrigating by hand takes time, and both hand irrigation, as well as many automatic systems, waste water. Make an initial investment in a drip system for flowers and trees and in new low-spraying sprinkler heads for the lawn. Low spraying heads result in less water loss to evaporation. Finally, hook the system up to an automatic water meter. This affordable device measures soil moisture and only allows the automatic sprinklers to turn on when they are needed. This way you will never need to worry about over or under watering your lawn again.
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