Simple Steps to Having a Beautiful Yard

Nothing enhances a neighborhood like landscaping.  Lush lawns and attractive plantings lend a bucolic feel that naturally make people feel good about the place.  The first step in making your yard attractive should therefore be to view it as a stranger would seeing it for the first time.  Go across the street, look back towards your house, and then ask yourself if this is a place where you’d like to live.  The process is well known among realtors and is often termed “curb appeal.”  A good design eye is needed to see how well planting compliment or contrast each other.  Is the lawn well maintained?  What would make the place more attractive?

The second step in making your yard beautiful should be to come up with a maintenance plan for keeping it looking its best.  Flower beds and islands plantings can be more attractive and simpler to keep up than a carpet of grass.  The trees you plant must not interfere with power lines and should be easy to prune.  Plants must be selected that fit with the weather in your region, or it will be tough to keep them looking healthy.

Your yard should function as a reflection of yourself and your family.  If you have children, there should be play areas.  If you are a bird lover, there should be bird feeders and places where they can get water.  Rock lovers can have rock gardens.  Ponds are for those who love water gardens.

Trees not only will beautify a yard; they will also result in saving on utility bills.  The shade they provide will cut down on the need for air conditioning and lessen the need for heating as well by providing shelter from wind when it is cold.  Trees can add color in autumn, and flowering types can really enhance a yard.

Know something about the plants that you put in your yard.  Seek expert advice or study up on them.  It is important to consider how large they will get particularly in the case of trees.  Something that looks just right at the start may grow into a monster that will eventually have to be removed often at considerable expense.

Remember that different plants require different watering schedules as do different regions.  Drought resistant plants work best in hot arid locales where they will aid in keeping water bills down.  It is best to keep a conservative approach on watering as it is easier to tell when a plant is suffering from too little water than to tell when root rot or some other problem is occurring due to too much water.

Application of chemicals should be kept to a minimum.  Always keep in mind that they will runoff into whatever storm runoff system is in place where you live.  They will hence cause downstream pollution of some sort.

The last point to keep in mind for a great looking yard is to reuse your organic material.  Start a mulch pile of grass clippings, leaves and other materials that you rake up, and the smaller branches you prune.  They can be formed into a pile of compost that will make a healthy addition to your lawn saving you on the cost of fertilizer.

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