10 Things I learned From Landscaping My Yard
We just completed the 3rd phase of our landscaping project. It’s been a LONG time coming, 2 years to be exact, and we learned some things along the way. Here are 10 things I learned from landscaping my yard!
10 Landscaping Tips
- First and foremost, landscaping is expensive, especially if you hire it out. We got a quote for over 30,000 dollars for our yard, not including a fence, and we died a little inside. If you have the patience and are willing to work REALLY hard, you can save a TON of money, but you’re still going to spend more than you expect.
- Weed mat isn’t a cure-all for weeds. It’s sad but true. Even after painstakingly rolling out your weed mat and stapling it down, those dang weeds are still going to breakthrough. Our neighbors tried to warn us, but I still wasn’t prepared for the weed problems.
- You’re going to need to pull weeds every week. Really. This is our first big landscaping project, and we’ve learned that it’s almost a full-time job keeping the weeds in check. It’s depressing, but we love our big yard.
- Do some research on the plants you want before you go to the nursery. We had no idea what I wanted before we started landscaping. I spent many hours searching for plants that would do well in my zone. You’ll want to know how big the plants are going to get, how much sun or shade they’ll need to thrive, and what plants grow well together.
- Know your zone! Not all plants grow well everywhere. A quick google search will help you to determine what zone you’re in.
- Plants are expensive. There are even designer plants! What the?!? I had no idea before. Do some shopping around and make sure you know what you’re getting and compare prices. Maybe you want the designer plants, and maybe you don’t, but make sure you know what you’re getting.
- Drips lines aren’t that hard to install and you’re going to want them for your plants unless you want to be a slave to watering every single plant every day. Trust me on this one, install drip lines.
- Trees are WAY expensive. If you’re patient you can save a lot of money by purchasing smaller younger trees and waiting for them to mature.
- Hauling rocks is tough work. Our yard kind of looks like a gravel pit right now. We have a half-acre and placing the rocks took forever. We even rented a mini excavator to help spread the rocks, which I would highly recommend.
- Finally, patience is key. DIY landscaping can be super rewarding. You can save a ton of money doing it yourself. Tackle one section at a time, as you can afford it, and buy smaller plants to save money. In about 5-10 years your yard will be an oasis!
What are some things you’ve learned from landscaping your yard? Is there anything you’d add to the list?
Click here for a list of the plants we used in our yard, and here for before pictures of the landscaping project.
Jessica
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Yes, I totally agree about these! Weeding is really a full-time day job for me once a week and I cannot stand the weed mats/protectors. They only give the roots a place to tangle themselves up in which is overly frustrating. It was one of the first things to go from our yard when we bought our new house. But your yard looks amazing!
YES! The weed mat isn’t helping much and I keep having to rip it to get the tangled weeds out of it. Weeding is the worst right now!
Thanks for the tips! Designer plants, who knew? I’ll take the Kardashian maple tree, lol.
I know right?!? That would be awesome!
We are building and will have to put in landscaping pretty quick. This is helpful. Thankfully we never plan to move so buying smaller plants is a great suggestion.
The good news is a lot of the plants we chose are already growing quickly! You can save a lot of money that way!