For most homeowners, their yard is a source of pride – but it can be a hassle. Maintaining a beautiful landscape, especially in a fertile climate like Florida sometimes puts a strain on your most valuable resource – time. However, there are several ways to maximize the aesthetic of your landscape while at the same time minimizing the amount of effort involved in keeping it beautiful. Check out these options for planning a landscape that suits your busy lifestyle.
Low-Maintenance Plants
It’s no secret that some plants are needy. They might require lots of water or only a little bit. The same goes for sunlight, fertilizer, and for trimming. Planning a landscape that makes the most of your time is much easier if you pick plants that don’t ask for too much maintenance. Here are some options:
- Go local – Maybe the smartest move you can make is choosing plants that are native to your area. Because they’ve evolved to flourish in the sunlight, climate, and rainfall you experience locally, you won’t have to plan for watering/drainage or spend lots of time fertilizing. Make sure to ask your landscaper about local plants when designing your lawn and garden.
- Shrubs are your friends – Unlike grasses and flowers, shrubbery doesn’t require nearly as much tinkering and work. They normally don’t require much trimming, and they grow to their full size quickly and then stay at that size. Bonus – many shrubs will flower once a year without much assistance, so you will still get the colorful flourished that flowers would provide.
- Think perennials – Another way to add color to your landscape in a relatively effort-free fashion is to plant perennials. These flowers, once planted, will bloom once a year without re-planting or special care. In northern Florida, some perennials that should flourish include buttercups, heather, bougainvillea, periwinkle, and blue salvia.
Hardscaping
As easy as perennials and local shrubs are to maintain, there is an even more hassle-free way to design a landscape. That way is to include lots of hardscaping. Hardscaping is the inclusion of non-plant elements in a garden or landscape. Think Japanese rock gardens or seashell-dominated lawns at the seashore. Hardscaping may have a slightly higher initial investment, but since it requires no maintenance afterward, it’s a real time-saver. Some hardscaping options include:
- Retaining walls – These can be straight, curved, tall, or low. You can use them to provide outlines for your garden or even as a home for climbing plants.
- Stone paths – Pathways built out of cobblestones, gravel, or brick can take space in the garden, providing visual cues as well as replacing high-maintenance lawns. A curving path or geometrical shape can make your landscape unique and provide lots of unique views.
- Decks or patios – Combined with planters and potted plants, a deck will prove a centerpiece of your landscape and a place to take it all in, while still displaying greenery and the hue of perennial flowers.
Take Advantage of Time-Savers
There are both high-tech and low-tech ways to make the most of your landscaping time. To save yourself time with watering and drainage, you might consider installing an irrigation system. With timed sprinklers and an advanced drainage plan, you’ll spend less time working in the garden and more time appreciating it. Be careful if you’re on a strict budget, though. It might impact your water bills.
For weed and pest control, you can maximize your time with an old-fashioned method that still works today. Mulching helps to stop weeds from growing in your landscape and provides fewer opportunities for pest animals to interfere. Consider wood chips or homemade mulch recipes for your garden and lay it down 4 – 6 inches twice a year. These measures will help you get the most enjoyment out of your landscape with the least time investment.
Softscapes
Hardscapes