What are the biggest landscaping mistakes?
Landscaping can be both expensive and labor intensive so it is important to try and avoid making mistakes you just can not live with. By following these tips you can avoid some of the most common landscaping mistakes and save yourself both some money and some back breaking labor fixing them. So if you are about to landscape here is the information you need to answer the question-What are the biggest landscaping mistakes-
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- Not having a plan-Do not make the mistake of thinking you can just landscape as you go along. Just like an indoor home renovation you need a plan to see the whole picture. Failure to have a plan will have you ripping out plants or other landscaping and having to start all over again. Many nurseries have free consultations with licensed landscapers who can give you some great ideas or for a small fee draw out a plan for your yard.
- Failing to be family friendly-Have you always dreamed of a formal English garden with manicured beds and formalized plantings? That should work well if kids or pets do not need to be considered. It is important to understand how your yard will really be used versus just how you see it. While you may want exquisite and complicated landscaping if it is not family friendly it just is not practical and you will soon find yourself having to change it.
- Impulse buying-Keep in mind that everything can look within the walls of the nursery or garden center. You may feel your cart with everything you love only to get home and find that you do not really need it, do not like it in your yard or it just will not work. It is important again to go with a plan, do some research before heading out and determine what will really work well in your landscape plan.
- Too much of the same thing-While you may love a certain kind of plant you should keep in mind that to much of a certain plant can look boring and worst of all can rob your soil of certain nutrients. Make your landscape plane with the idea of varying plants, textures and colors to add interest to your home.
- Overlooking needed maintenance-It may be surprising to learn that many people who do not even like to do landscape maintenance end up buying plants and trees that must be highly maintained. If you only want to do the minimum amount of maintenance to your landscape be sure and mention that to the landscape designer who will be suggesting plants. If gardening and landscape maintenance is your passion then go crazy and put in whatever you want.
- Overlooking the seasons-Too many people select plants for their landscaping based on what is in season at that particular time. It is important to understand when your plants will look their best. If you want a year-round landscape (for climates that do not have a lot of snow) then you should work with a landscape designer or knowledgeable consultant to select plants that will bloom and look at varying time thus making your landscape look great all year around.
- Overlooking the costs-Many people think that landscaping really cannot be that expensive because it is just a bunch of plants. The reality is that home improvement experts state that landscaping is about 30% more expensive then other types of home renovation. It is crucial to have a budget and clearly determine how much you want to spend overall on your landscaping. While you can landscape in sections (as opposed to finishing a room inside) knowing how much you want to spend can be critical in determining the success of your landscaping.
