What YOU Need to Know:
“How should I go about beautifying my yard in a nutshell?” That’s a tricky question to answer. There are various variables in do-it-yourself landscaping, such as budget, abilities, the temperature of your region, your particular design preferences, how you’ll use your yard, and so on. Still, there are some actions you may take that are so obvious that they frequently offer themselves as answers.
1. All-year interest
Here’s a must-do for beautifying your yard: make sure you have something interesting to look at in each of the four seasons. A well-researched plant selection plan is the first step in do-it-yourself landscaping for four-season enjoyment. The idea is to have flowering trees and/or shrubs in the spring and summer, fall foliage in the fall, and firm structure in the winter.
2. Aerial view of a multi-colored flower bed in the backyard
Layer your flower borders in three rows: a back row (ideally facing north) with the tallest plants, a middle row with the next tallest, and a front row with the smallest plants. Use repetition to create uniformity in your yard, both in the planting bed and elsewhere.
3. Establishing continuity
Many DIY landscaping ideas focus on deciduous trees and shrubs but don’t overlook evergreens and other plants valued for their foliage as much as their flowers. Deciduous plants provide greater color and diversity, whereas evergreens offer continuity.
4. Annuals as a perennial color supplement
Perennial flowers are wonderful for planting beds, but they would only bloom for a short period. In May, you can have perennials blossoming in your bed, then nothing until July. When included in a do-it-yourself landscaping plan, annuals will “fill the gaps,” providing consistent color in the yard. Use picture galleries to get inspiration for color palettes in landscape design.
5. Include hardscape
Don’t limit yourself to only plants when it comes to do-it-yourself landscaping. Include hardscape elements as well. They, like evergreens, provide structure in winter and much more. As they frame your property, walls and fences create an important design statement. When driving through the countryside, you may observe how much more “finished” the properties with fences appear. Other prominent hardscape components are decks and arbors. Patios and decks serve as transitional spaces between the indoors and the outside.
6. Installing water features is easier than you think
The focal points of good landscape designs serve as anchors. Using water features as focus elements is one of the latest trends. This trend has “sound” reasoning: water features are visually pleasing, but they also create calming noises. They’re also a lot easier to install than you think, thanks to preformed rigid plastic liners, long-lasting pumps, flexible tubing, and low-cost fountains. After you’ve played with ponds, you might want to go on to the next level: basic waterfalls.
7. Making Use of Form and Texture
Flowers are lovely but don’t overlook a plant’s branching pattern and foliage. Changing form and texture in landscape design is one technique to provide variety to a yard. While evergreen conifers do not have flowers, they have foliage that comes in various shapes and textures. While perusing these do-it-yourself landscaping ideas, you’ll discover a plethora of methods to improve the appearance of your yard.
8. Make your life easier by having a low-maintenance yard
You can follow all of the do-it-yourself landscaping advice above and still be dissatisfied with your yard. Because, in addition to making your yard look nice, you must also plan for its maintenance. Whether it’s beautiful or not, you’ll detest your yard if it’s too difficult to maintain. Plan your design for minimum maintenance unless you don’t mind spending hours each weekend on upkeep.
9. Plant drought-tolerant plants
Many newcomers to do-it-yourself landscaping have great aspirations in the spring, only to see them dashed in the summer. Why? Because the summer heat wilts all of their plants’ promising spring vigor! What is the solution? Instead, choose drought-tolerant plants to grow.
Conclusion
A fundamental rule to follow in do-it-yourself landscaping is to carefully match the flower types you’ll be planting with the location where they’ll grow. Before selecting the types of flowers to buy for your yard, you should constantly consider light and soil requirements. Garden retailers frequently provide discounts on repeated plant purchases, so don’t be hesitant to ask for one if you’re buying many plants. Ask friends and family who have gardens whether they have any plants that they have divided or removed. Inquire about discarded or neglected plants; you might be able to revive them with a good watering or a new pot of soil. Gardeners enjoy sharing their bounty of plants and flowers.
This article was written by Melissa Hansen, a seasoned writer with contributions to niche BC outlets like Epic Firms, Forever After, and Bridgewell Group. When she is not crafting content, Melissa enjoys her time with a hot cup of coffee in one hand and an inspiring book in the other.
