Create And Maintain Your Ideal Yard For Your Home In Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia
You can use these landscaping tips to make your yard look amazing (or help keep it that way). Here you can find tips on creating a design that fits your needs, improving your curb appeal, designing for small yards, and landscaping to save money.
CREATING A PLAN FROM LANDSCAPING TIPS
“Remember when our landscape used to look amazing,” Megan sighs into her morning coffee.
Kevin, her husband, looks up from his morning paper. “I know that sigh, dear.” “It means I’m going to have work to do,” he thinks. “Why don’t we spend the weekend maintaining our yard so it can go back to being as amazing as it was,” Megan suggests.
“Well,” Kevin says thoughtfully, “looks like we just made our weekend plans. Let’s do it!” Megan smiles, “Wonderful! I’ll get out our landscaping tips and tricks list so we can make a gameplan.”
She goes to their filing cabinet and opens the top drawer, leafing through the manila folders, “Medical, wills, emergency plan… landscaping!” she says triumphantly.
Megan walks over to the kitchen table, sits down, and opens the folder to the first page.
4 TIPS TO DESIGNING A LANDSCAPE THAT FITS YOUR NEEDS
- Study your yard
- Work around a focal point
- Start small
- Sit on your ideas for a while
Megan smiles as she remembers using these landscaping tips to create their ideal outdoor area.
She thinks about when they were planning their yard, “Studying the yard was fun because we would just sit outside and look. Where was the sun shining in the morning, afternoon, and at night? What spots were mostly shaded? Were there any wind tunnels?”
“Kevin, remember what we did to plan our yard when we first started?”
Kevin looks up at the ceiling as though seeking the answer before looking at Megan. “We decided to start with a fountain and work out from there, starting small with a few plants. Then we went bigger and better from there.”
“Yeah, and we waited and thought about it for a while to make sure that was really what we wanted.” Megan finishes.
She looks back down and flips to the next page.
4 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR CURB APPEAL
- Flowers are always a welcoming sight
- Dress up your driveway
- Add color higher up
- Trim your plants
“These landscaping tips are why we have flowers lining the driveway and two planters on either side of the front door,” Megan remembers.
The flowers add splashes of color along the grayish concrete driveway along with a couple of trees and bushes. Hanging plant baskets can also create a balance of color with what’s on the ground.
“The plants may need trimming as well Kevin,” Megan reminds him.
“Yes, and I remember the 4 D’s to trim: Dead, Damaged, Dried, Displaced, or, well, going in a weird direction or something.”
“Perfect,” Megan beams. She goes on to the next page.
6 TIPS FOR SMALL YARDS
- Use window boxes for plants
- Built-in seating
- Create expanding visuals
- Reconsider grass
- Use small decor
- Pick the right plants
“Wow, this list of landscaping tips for small yards is still in here! Even though we have a bigger yard now, some of these ideas aren’t bad, actually…” Megan says thoughtfully. Kevin looks at her and says “Will you read the list you’re looking at out loud?”
“No problem,” Megan replies.
“Use window boxes for plants. It can save ground space, but for us, it’d be better for beautifying our windows. Plus we can have fresh herbs on hand.”
“Built-in seating, which is basically building a bench into a wall or fence.”
“Create expanding visuals, like a walkway with diagonal bricks. Diagonal patterns make places seem larger. Paver stones are good for this too, so maybe we should make a paver stone walkway around the yard or something.”
“Reconsider grass. Less to take care of plus we can replace it with plants or that paver stone walkway. 2 birds, 1 stone right there.”
“Use small decor. Ok, so that would mean little statues, maybe a small coffee table with stools, and smaller plants in general.
“Pick the right plants. It really depends on if the yard is sunnier or shadier. We just watched for a few days to figure it out.”
Kevin sits back in his chair and says, “I like the paver path idea. It’ll look nice and give us a way to walk around without stepping in mulch or grass or dirt.”
“Great minds think alike, hon,” Melissa says back.
“Oh, here’s a landscaping tips page we haven’t used yet or looked at really.”
5 LANDSCAPING TIPS FOR SAVING MONEY
- Build in phases
- DIY where you can
- Work with a professional
- Time your purchases
- Specialty stores over big box stores
“We certainly phased our project out. It was all DIY up until we had to call in the pros for a few of our ideas. They helped us create a budget and plan so we could have everything we wanted.”
“Yeah,” Kevin responds, “and they even told us the best times to purchase materials. How are we supposed to know lumber is cheaper in winter?”
“And it’s a good thing we went to specialty stores instead of those lumbering big-box stores. Their level of service was remarkable, they had high-quality materials, and their guarantees were great.”
The couple sits in silence for a minute, thinking about the work ahead of them. “Well,” Kevin sighs, breaking the silence. “At least we pretty much have the planning done. Let’s get down the last few details before work.”
They put their heads together and put the finishing details on their plan.
