You may not think you can landscape your front yard yourself, but it is the most inexpensive way to make it look more attractive. Flower beds, shrubs, stone paths, and fences give curb appeal to any home. Turn your dream into a reality by landscaping on a budget. Here are some landscaping ideas to help you get started.
With a piece of paper and a pen, you can plan your landscaping design. After much consideration, decide where to place flower beds, shrubs, rock or stone edging, sidewalks, and garden paths. Large plants go in the back, small plants in the front. Research your flowers for the appropriate climate and types of soil that you have at your house.
Stone paths and borders look great around the edge of flower beds, around trees, and near garden trellises. With such a great variety to choose from, you should have no trouble turning your front yard landscape ideas into a reality. Have fun, ask for help, turn your landscaping ideas into a family affair.
For those who aren’t real nifty at do-it-yourself projects, landscapers may be able to help, especially for large projects such as removing scraggly bushes and small trees that are an eyesore, although employing landscaping services may call for a larger budget.
The Benefits of Landscaping
- Most people think of curb appeal first when landscaping their front yards. A beautiful front yard will increase the value of your home if you should ever decide to sell it.
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Every time you go outside you can enjoy watching butterflies and hummingbirds that are in your flower gardens.
- Trimming trees is an important part of beautifying your yard. Take appropriate safety measures to keep branches of larger trees from falling on your roof.
Planting Your Flower Garden
You have your plan in hand; now it’s time to get to work. Research the price of flowers, soil, fertilizer, mulch, sidewalk stone, and fencing.
Check prices at large gardening stores, area landscaping services, and wholesaler’s businesses. A landscape nursery will probably be more expensive, but they will have the right plants for your type of soil. Local gardening centers may not have what you need in terms of flowers, but a wholesaler probably will.
You will need soil, compost, fertilizer, and mulch. Once again, do your research for the best prices to fit your budget. You may want to buy soil in bulk; it depends on the size of your garden. Buying soil by bag is more expensive.
Before digging holes, set your plants where you want them. You shouldn’t dig the holes first, then change your mind and end up having to move them later. Plant your plants, cover them loosely to let the roots breathe, then water them. Some people place a layer of newspaper on top of the soil to cut down on weeding, then cover it up with the mulch.
Flowers- Annuals or Perennials?
Annuals are flowers and plants that don’t come back each year, while perennials do. The difference is this- do you want to replant your flowers every year, or would you rather grow perennials that come back year after year?
An annual will bloom abundantly and some of them will reseed themselves. Their energy goes into blooming. A perennial may not flower the first year or two. It takes a while to get them established, and most perennials only flower for a month or two.
Annuals to consider: Petunias, begonias, impatiens, nasturtium, cosmos, dahlias, marigolds, calendulas, and hyacinths.
Perennials include peonies, salvia, foxglove, black-eyed Susan, daylilies, daffodils, salvia, larkspur, and lavender. Peace lilies are also perennials. Some are spring flowers, some are not.
Think about the design and natural flow of the front of your home. If there are areas where there are no windows, a nice flower garden with tall bloomers in the back would be attractive, and small trees would also look great. If you have low windows, flowering shrubs would work well, although peonies draw ants so don’t plant them near the house.
To plant an interesting flower garden consider a flowing outer edge, and outline it with stones or some other type of edging. Create a peaceful garden area with a bench, a trellis, or maybe a birdbath or some other type of water feature.
Fences for Privacy
A tall fence will cut off the view of your front yard from the street but will work nicely to give you privacy in the backyard. There are fence lovers who enjoy a simple white picket fence for that down-home cozy look, a split rail fence for a ranch look, or a stone wall for a country cottage feel. Wood fences may need to be stained once every few years, and picket fences will need to be painted.
Fences come in all shapes and sizes. White vinyl, wrought iron, and chain-link fences are other considerations. Chain links may create a border between your home and your neighbors and need little in the way of upkeep, but it’s not very attractive. White vinyl fencing may need to be cleaned periodically, especially if you have trees in your front yard, and a wrought iron fence may rust, which means you will need to clean off the rust and prime and paint it.
Landscapers can give you excellent advice and great ideas for an appealing landscaping design, but if you’re a budget-minded person, you may want to do it yourself. With so much information available at area nurseries, local gardening stores, wholesale businesses, and on the internet, you can learn how to plant a beautiful flower garden. There’s no place as comfortable as your own home, so why not turn your front yard into a place that you and your family can enjoy for years to come?
