What sounds better to you: toiling away in the yard under the brutal summer sun, struggling to weed flower beds, mowing a yard full of half dead grass week after week, or enjoying a cool drink in the Texas heat on your patio, listening to the soft babble of the fountain in your rock garden?
Although yards that look impeccable often seem to require constant attention, the truth is that you can establish a low-to-no-maintenance yard that is equally impressive. A bit of focused attention in a couple of areas and some initial costs will set you up with a yard and garden that’ll make you the envy of friends, family, and neighbors.
Garden & Yard Infrastructure
Proper infrastructure can dramatically change your yard care experience. When implemented appropriately and installed correctly, the following components can yield a no-maintenance yard that sets the new neighborhood standard!
Watering System
A complete sprinkler system can carry a heavy price tag and its construction take time and lots of digging. However, there are ways to implement the components of a professional sprinkler system that will really give you the edge in your garden and flower beds.
Soaker hoses and automatic timers will see to it that your vegetables and flowers receive daily watering at the most appropriate time of day. All you have to do is set it up once and forget about it. Ryno Lawn Care proudly offers Lawn Irrigation Services to several cities in the D/FW metroplex.
With all that free time, you can concentrate on your next low-maintenance project or have all the members of your garden club over for lunch on your patio, leaving them wondering where you find the time to tend to such meticulous yard components and host a party.
Weed Barriers & Ditching the Mulch
Weed barriers are essential in your flower beds and gardens. They allow you to plant in-ground or utilize potting plants, without having to work the soil or fight an infestation of weeds or intrusive grasses. As long as you’re diligently picking the weeds as soon as they sprout, not letting them mature and produce seeds, your flower beds and garden produce strong, healthy plants year after year with nearly no effort.
While we’re setting out weed barriers, let’s go ahead and ditch the mulch and use some decorative or river rocks in your garden. No more back-breaking spreading and hauling in new mulch, no more dreading having to clear out your beds each year.
Consistent and labor-free beds for thriving plants are no longer going to take up so much of your time. Plan out the look you want, set it, and forget it!
Makeover Projects
Depending on your budget and how radical you want to get, a few makeover projects might be the change you need to make to go from yard slave to king or queen of your castle.
Artificial Turf
This is going to be the most intrusive and expensive option. Depending upon what product you want installed and the current condition of your yard, beneath the surface, landscapers might have to come and
completely revamp your natural drainage or just install proper components. Pricing generally ranges from $2-$8/sq foot for the product and $3-$13/sq foot for the labor.
You’ll have the benefit of a year-round, green, healthy looking lawn, free of any watering restrictions and no mowing whatsoever. All artificial turfs are safe and kid- and pet-friendly. If you do have pets, there are specific turfs that make cleaning up after them easy as turning on the hose for a couple of minutes.
The heavy initial cost of product and labor may seem daunting, but the benefits sure do make this a considerable option. Furthermore, if you decide you want to add some trees, flower beds, or a vegetable garden, the process of installing the artificial lawn gives you a yard that provides proper drainage for the other plant life to thrive.
Rock Landscaping
If a minimalist approach is what you’re after, this might be your best option. Ranging from an entire rock-covered yard, to a few flower beds of rock and a paver stone pathway or patio, the options are almost limitless.
Generally, your material cost here is going to fall in the $3-4/per square foot range. You might need to hire some landscapers to properly set up the weed barriers and spread the rock out, especially if you’re doing a whole front or back yard.
Shopping around and
hiring the team with the most diligent and well-developed process to prepare your yard for these options can really go a long way in making sure that your initial investment pays off as it should, in the long run.
The goal here is establishing a no-maintenance and consistently worry-free, appealing, and functional yard space. No matter how minimal you want to function in that space, it’s worth making sure it’s thoughtfully implemented. For more ideas about hardscaping, check out Landscaping Ideas on a Budget: Hardscapes.
Outdoor Living Areas
In one self-satisfying project, you can provide yourself with a fully equipped kitchen, a patio space that utilizes health and relaxation equipment such as a hot tub, or a space for movie night in an outdoor living area. The limitation on this is your imagination and your budget.
Your home, both inside and out, should be a space you take proud ownership of. The more creative and unique you get, the more resale value you’re storing up. Not to mention, you’ve got the joy of providing family and friends a private, safe gathering area to really bond in, opposed to the loud, crowded, bustle of a restaurant.
Patios and outdoor kitchens may be the most expensive possibility in this article, but they definitely set you up with a maintenance-free outdoor space.
Plant Choice
Plant choice is a big key in establishing a low-maintenance yard. Use the following as a guideline as you put the final touches on your little corner of Mother Nature. Then you can sit back and enjoy your outdoor experience and not spend the whole time laboring away in that hot Texas sun!
USDA Hardiness Zones
The USDA has designated geographical zones based on specific plant life of that area. Utilizing this information, you can select plant life that naturally thrives in your area. This provides the opportunity to have a healthy lawn that doesn’t require constant attention.
Think about it this way- plant life developed long before we settled all 4 corners of the earth, doesn’t it seem to reason that we can use that to our advantage when planning out our yard? Using native plants is one of the best ways to establish a self-sustaining yard.
Regardless of what you choose to plant, Ryno Lawn Care is always eager to help you bring your vision to life. Click here to learn more about our prestigious landscaping services!
Native and Perennial Plants
Native and Perennial PlantsAs I mentioned, selecting the naturally occurring plants in the specific region you live in will give you the opportunity to designate your time more productively. Instead of constantly tending to one or two plants or beds, you can shift your attention to creating more maintenance-free areas.
Go ahead and plant some shade-hardy perennials in those flower beds you’ve established with rocks and weed barriers. They’ll provide you with years of worry-free space and add exceptionally more aesthetic value than just regular old green grass ever could.
Other Plant Choices To Consider
Lavender is a multi-functional addition to just about any space you’ll be spending time near. Planted near patios, decks, and other outdoor living spaces, lavender not only provides an aromatically pleasing experience, it naturally drives insects away from that area.
Evergreen shrubbery and trees provide distinct, consistent, and attractive boundaries to a fence line or within a yard, bounding walkway, or a garden. This is a great way to really establish your space by letting Mother Nature work for you instead of you trying to tame her.
Clover and moss provide an attractive alternative to grass and yard space that needs constant attention. These ground covering plants can really distinguish one’s yard while alleviating the constant labor of a grassy lawn. They both spread quickly and require no nurturing to remain hardy.
These options can really put the exclamation point on your front, side, or back yard and set you up for years and years of enjoying, rather than laboring for, an outdoor space to enjoy. There’s no reason to spend year after year trying to merely maintain a lawn. Droughts, infestations, a neighbor with a wandering pet…the opponents are infinite!
By deliberately planning out and implementing certain elements, you can transform your outdoor space into a relaxing environment where Mother Nature does her thing and it works to your benefit. If you do the right hard work, everything works out just right.
One Response
I was really interested when I read how you can use other materials like rock and wood to come up with a low-maintenance design. I can bet that this will be a great thing to make use of and pull off since having plants and grass everywhere will end up making everything hard to grow all the time. As soon as I find a landscape timber provider in the area, I’ll ask them for the supplies I need to work on a project like that.