Easy, Fun, And Cheap Landscape Ideas

Add-In Lighting

One of the easiest ways that you can dramatically improve your landscape is by adding color outdoor lighting. Adding garden color light fixtures to your outdoor garden will accent it at night and bring out its best qualities.

For an incredibly easy installation that you can complete on a weekend, identify a few interesting aspects of your garden landscape that you think would look well illuminated at night. Trees, shrubs, flowerbeds, and even the walls of your home are good candidates for this.

Then take a few solar spotlights and place them at the base to provide uplighting to the places that you’ve already chosen. The whole installation can be done at the weekend, and the best part is since the lights are solar-powered, if you don’t like the way the lights look you can easily change their location without having to move any wires!

Choosing Landscape Lighting

Adding landscape lighting not only improves your curb appeal because it also boosts the safety and security of your property. Here are some useful tips when choosing landscape lighting:

Have a plan: First, consider your existing lighting setup whether there are already fixtures installed or if there are enough outlets you can use. If your home is not equipped with lighting sources and outlets, seek the help of an electrician.

Choose a subject: Whether you’re lighting your front lawn or backyard garden, you have to decide which to highlight. Maybe you want to focus on a fountain, certain trees or plants, or your landscape. You may also want to add lighting to your walkway or a favorite spot in the yard.
Select the kind of light: There are several options for outdoor lighting. Brands that carry landscape lighting such as outdoor Lights have spotlights, flood lights, security lights, or path lights. You can also choose from solar lights, LED lights, or fluorescent. While LED costs more than other types of lighting, it will consume less energy than fluorescent lighting.
Designing effects: You may want to choose lighting that provides an obscured light source. If you want to highlight a path or garden in your yard, you may consider placing the lighting source up and looking down at the area it should focus on. There are other effects that you can create using outdoor lighting depending on your subject.

Improve Your Front Door

The first part of your home that most people will see is your front door, so why not incorporate it into your landscaping ideas? One easy thing that you can do is simply buy a nicer door and hang it. Studies have shown this can improve the property value of your home by a few thousand dollars!

But, you can also take this a step further by incorporating your front door into your landscape design ideas. Try to use warmer colored plants around your door than you have in other areas of your home to create a focal point. Also concentrate some color lighting on your front door, making it well-lit, and make sure to light color up the paths leading up with some gravel to your home to create more sightlines that will make your front door a focal point even in the dead of night.

Add Tiny Accents

A few tiny accents, like some well-placed outdoor wall décor, can add a lot to your landscaping plans as well. Incorporate décor and small decorations like birdbaths, fountains, and tiny sculptures into your overall landscaping plans. By providing a few fixtures that blend in with nature, you’ll give your outdoor garden or landscape a look and feel that many others won’t. Just be careful not to overdo it or you might end up with a landscape that looks more tacky than beautiful!

Pick a Theme and Stick With It

Choosing a theme for your landscaping, whether it’s tropical, desert, or woodland to go with your rustic outdoor color lights, can be a powerful way to tie your entire landscape together. But just make sure that you stick with one theme.

Having multiple different themes around your property can look worse than just a bunch of randomly planted plants. Pick a theme and stick with it. If you ever change your mind, you can always go back and change the look and feel of your flower beds.

Don’t Forget About Your Porch and Patio

Whether you’re improving your front or backyard, your porch and patio will no doubt be important areas, so don’t forget to landscape these areas as well. Add lighting and plants to your deck or patio in the same way that you would to any other area of your landscape. Couple this with some quality outdoor furniture, and you’ll have a great way you can spend your time on warm, sunny days outside your home.

Other Backyard Landscape Ideas

The following recommended practices for maintaining established landscaping are essential for plant health and water preservation. Whether you recently purchased a pre-owned residence or have lived in the same residence for several years.

Many suggested landscaping ideas that support plant health also preserve water. The subsequent is an overview of these practices.

Trees in your landscape or Garden

Do not regularly fertilize garden trees. Overfertilization can result in unnecessary growth, requiring continued adding water. Fertilize if nutrient deficiencies emerge.
Apply mulch around trees, but keep it more than a few inches away from tree trunks. Mulch reduces soil evaporation, buffers soil temperature, and reduces weeds. Keep in mind to apply continued water long enough to soak through the mulch layer into the roots.
Maintain green turfgrass and other plants at least 20 inches from tree trunks. This promotes faster tree development and reduces competition for water.
Irrigate trees individually from surrounding plants when possible. Drip systems are outstanding for this purpose. Think about using a water budget.
Avoid soil compaction around trees, which results in poor water penetration and runoff.
Manage weeds around trees. They compete to continue water.
Irrigate trees based on seasonal water demand. A preliminary study indicates that numerous species do well on about the same amount of water as warm-season turfgrasses, or even less.
Prune trees when needed. Remove dead and not healthy wood landscape, crossed limbs, suckers, and weak vertical growth. Pruning stimulates further shoot growth, increasing the water requirement.

SHRUBS

Apply mulch around shrubs.
Most shrubs are water-efficient once established. Think about using water budget methods. Water-based on seasonal water demand
Steer clear of soil compaction around shrubs.
Manage weeds around shrubs.
Irrigate shrubs independently from surrounding plants when possible. Drip systems work well for this reason.
Do not regularly fertilize shrubs. Overfertilization can result in unnecessary growth, requiring additional water. Fertilize if nutrient deficiencies emerge.

GROUNDCOVERS

Control weeds.
Avoid soil compaction.
Do not regularly fertilize groundcovers. Fertilize once yearly if nutrient deficiencies emerge.
Irrigate groundcovers based on seasonal water demand. Think about using a water budget method. A preliminary study indicates that many varieties do well when receiving about the same amount of water as warm-season green turfgrasses

TURF and GRASSES

Aerate as needed to avoid soil compaction
Eliminate thatch if over a one-half inch thick.
Fertilize reasonably, applying the low ends of suggested rates. If conditions dictate, stop fertilizing altogether, except for potassium, which promotes drought resistance.

These great landscape tips should let you get started on making great improvements in your house this weekend. Start thinking about how you can apply them to your property.

Tips for Planning Your Landscape

When you decide to plan your landscape, it does, indeed, require a plan. This means that you should carefully think about what you are doing, and what you would like to do. It also means budgeting and determining how much you can spend on your landscaping. Creating a home landscape for your yard is something that can be very costly if you do not carefully plan your landscape. Additionally, without a plan, you may end up with something you do not want, and that costs money.

What Do You Have to Work With

The first thing you should do when planning your landscape is to look at what you already have. Use a critical eye to determine what you like and dislike about the current modern landscape design. Also, take into account how your home looks during different seasons.

Think about how many year cycles you are likely to remain, and think about what you like and dislike about each one. List the blessings of your current landscape situation, large and small, and list what you would like to change, or what you wish you had. It is a good idea to do this for an entire year so that you can see what you have each season. Plus, taking your time will help you develop a better plan.

Space Needs

Another thing to do when planning your landscape is to keep in mind the needs you have for space. You do not want your landscape ideas to interfere with family activities and the family routine. Would planting a shrub in a particular spot inhibit the walk to the mailbox? Putting a flowerbed in the middle of the green lawn may upset family games. Would adding a deck makes it more convenient to have family barbeque functions?

Are there features, like a sandbox, that you would like to add to the landscape for your grandchildren? The fact of the matter is that when you are planning your landscape, you should take into account what space will be used for. This is an essential part of the landscaping process, as the best designs combine attractiveness with utility.

Ideas Journal

Keeping a journal or folder of landscape ideas is another way to help you as you plan your landscape. You can keep your journal lists of current things you like and dislike, as well as your plan for the use of your landscape space in this folder or journal as well. You can gather ideas you like by looking at pictures in magazines, books, or on the Internet, or by driving around the neighborhood and taking pictures.

Make sure you include next to any images you have the things that you think you will need to build a particular feature or notes on things you would do to tweak a design to make it all your own. You can even combine design ideas into something that you like. The point is to, while you are thinking about what you already have and what you will use your landscape for, look for ideas that will help you accomplish your goals.

Other things you should do while planning your landscape design are to check on building codes and make sure of property lines. You should also find out from your utility companies where underground power, telephone, and cable wires are run. You do not want to hit one of these important things while digging around in your yard and building your Outdoor garden. Getting all of this stuff figured out before you finalize your landscape plans can help you adjust for possibly having to relocate a feature in your plan or having to scale down the size of something.

Another tool that can be very helpful as you plan your garden is the use of landscape design software. Much of this software can be used to figure out which plants may look nice in your yard, and which plants would go with your house. Some programs even allow you to scan an image of your own house to better get an idea of the possibilities. Most programs cost less than $70, and can even be used as references to determine which plants are best suited to survive in your climate.

You can also install green grass or flowers designed on a stone path walkway that gives a nice view of your outdoor backyard.

It’s a great designed idea to install a pool in your backyard where you can install seating with outdoor chairs

Grow plants, herbs, flowers, or vegetables in your garden backyard that will save you a lot of money for your grocery.

With careful planning and the use of a few tips, you can plan out your landscape in such a way that you use your available space and your money much more efficiently.

A well-designed landscape can be inspiring. It can provide a sense of calm, a sense of wonder, and a sense of balance. It can increase your mind and give you comfort. A beautiful landscape can also enhance the appeal of your home and inspire others in your neighborhood to turn their own courtyards into inspiring landscapes.

Landscaping and gardening are also ideal points of sale for your creativity. Nature offers a wide range of colors, textures, aromas, and structural compositions to choose from. In a garden at home, you can take these gifts from nature and combine them in any style you want. But with so many landscaping options at your disposal, where does it start? Whether you want to create a sanctuary, a retreat, an entertainment area, or any other setting, here you’ll find ideas on how to do it.

The photographs, expertise, and troubleshooting tips in this section can help you create a landscape that suits your unique tastes and attracts all your senses.

Get the Best Landscape Ideas Tips

In this section, you will find tips from landscape professionals on How to plan the perfect garden, including design ideas, design styles, outdoor rooms, patios, water elements, and challenging landscapes.

Ways to increase the attractiveness of your front yard, including design ideas for walkways, sidewalks, front porches, and patio gardens. Design the perfect patio, with advice on sizing and laying, materials, patio styles, and patio designs. Design ideas, planning tips, and options of household appliances for outdoor kitchens.

The most popular garden styles and themes include modern, traditional, country, Mediterranean, tropical, and desert. A look at the award-winning projects by landscape professionals from across the country. Ideas for climate-friendly regional landscaping, available materials, and plant types that are characteristic of different parts of the country, from San Diego to New York City.

Solutions to solve the challenges typical of the patio and landscape. Tips for planting plentiful orchards and containers Ways to simplify your gardening plan by choosing low-maintenance resistant plants, adhering to basic materials, minimizing complex details, and choosing simple, hassle-free designs.

The latest trends in landscaping, include meadow gardens with native plantations, growing your own food, going without lawn, landscaping as an art form, and planting gardens that attract butterflies, birds, and bees. Mother Nature offers you an abundance of beauty with which to work to create the landscape of your dreams. A landscape designer can help you get the most out of this reward by guiding the best plants, materials, and garden designs to achieve your goals.