If your home has seen better days and is in a state of disrepair, there’s never been a better time to do some DIY home landscaping. It’s estimated that nearly 60% of homeowners have plans to spend money on their homes this year to improve them. If that includes you, the possibilities are endless.
Looking to put up a new fence? Are you planning on doing some planting? Do you have eyes on removing some trees from your property? With time and money, you can accomplish just about anything you want. You can make your property look brand-new and refreshing.
It’s possible to do just about anything with DIY home landscaping, but you want to make sure that your time and money are well spent. No matter what project you undertake, you want to make sure it’s done correctly. With that in mind, here are some dos-and-don’ts to keep in mind as you get to your landscaping work:
Have a Plan
Before you get started with any kind of DIY home landscaping, you’re going to want to have a plan. Not having a plan can lead to wasting a lot of time and spending a lot of money without actually getting anything done. With a surefire plan, you can make sure that your landscaping project has manageable goals that you can accomplish over time, and ultimately you’ll be satisfied with the results.
Play The Long Game
No matter what kind of DIY landscaping work you’re doing, you need to think about your actions and any long term consequences that may result.
A prime example is if you plan to plant anything. It’s easy to select plants that look nice and have them accumulate, but plants grow over time. Little seedlings look great, but fully mature plants can lead to a whole host of problems, including growing into your areas for water runoff and growing into and around your home’s foundation.
The same thing can be said for trees around your property. If you have dead or dying trees in your yard, it may be best to call a tree removal service and have them removed. Likewise, if you have tree branches that are closer to your house than you’d like, get in touch with a local tree trimming service to make sure those branches aren’t going to come into your bedroom window.
Home Remodeling
Your home is your safe space, a place where you can be comfortable and relax. But if your home has seen better days, particularly the outside, then a perfect DIY home landscaping project is to spruce up your home’s exterior.
If thorough exterior home remodeling is your project of choice, don’t afraid to seek out the advice of experts. While you may be undertaking this project yourself, contractors and landscaping companies may be able to offer some helpful tips and tricks to keep you from overlooking even the simplest of details.
Exterior home remodeling can include just about anything, from putting a new coat of paint on your house to re-roofing, to putting up new siding to adding a front porch to your home. These can be great ways to give your home a facelift, but you want to make sure you’re working safely and not neglecting your home as you work. Before you get started, it might be a good idea to have some inspections done so that you know the extent of any issues you may need to address.
Keeping Pests At Bay
If you have problems with pests, you need to get them under control before you undertake any DIY home landscaping projects. There’s nothing worse than spending time on a project, being proud of your work and having mice or termites or other pests undermine everything you’ve worked on.
So what do you do? The first thing you absolutely need to do is identify your problem. There are a lot of pests and a lot of pest control methods, but you need to know what you’re dealing with so you know how to proceed.
You don’t want to leave any chemicals or traps within reach of those who shouldn’t touch them, such as children. You also don’t want to mix any products. Different products manufactured for different kinds of pests are made for those pests only. Mixing products can lead to potential health issues in the future—such as spraying pesticides inside and outside of your home—and might also decrease the potency of a particular product, thereby not really fixing your problem.
When it comes to pest control, you also need to worry about pests if you have a garden. Nothing can guarantee that bugs and critters will stay out of places they shouldn’t be, but these do’s can keep your garden healthy:
- Let your plants breathe: It can be tempting to make a garden as full and lush as possible, but this can make a perfect environment for insects. Instead, space your plants out and keep monitoring for pests.
- Don’t forget to water: By watering in the morning, you’ll give your plants plenty of hydration and make them less exciting for bugs, who loved stressed plants. Morning water also gives your plants time to dry, which keeps slugs, snails, and other moisture-loving bugs away from the garden.
- Be inviting: You can also keep bugs and pests away by attracting birds and frogs. Birds love eating insects as do frogs. By planting some food sources for them, you’ll create a welcoming environment and keep pests away.
- Keep the good guys: Not all insects are bad and some of them, such as nymphs, can help reduce the insect population in your garden very easily.
- Be proactive: The entire purpose of planting is to harvest what you grow. When harvest time comes around, make sure you harvest your fruits and vegetables right away and make sure to clean them. Waiting gives insects time to take residence in your harvest and that’s something you want to avoid.
Installing Fences
Fences are a great DIY home landscaping project because they can give you and your family so much needed privacy, and even increase the aesthetic appeal your home.
Even if mixing concrete and digging post holes isn’t the most glamorous of DIY projects, you’ll feel very accomplished when it’s all done. If installing a fence is on your to-do list of DIY projects, here are few common pitfalls to consider:
As far as do’s and don’ts go, you absolutely do want to prepare your yard. That includes putting in a call to utility companies and having them come out to inspect your property. The reason for this is because utility companies often bury lines around a property, and you don’t want to start digging without knowing what’s underneath the ground. If you hit a utility line, you may risk injury or even death.
In the process of working on your fence, you absolutely don’t want to install your posts too close together. Some kinds of fencing can withstand elements very well, but installing posts too close together can cause your fence panels to become very rigid and limit their ability to withstand things like wind and rain, and other elements.
On your list of don’ts, you also don’t want to dig holes that are too shallow. It’s important to remember that your fence installation is only going to be as strong as the posts holding it up, so it’s important that each post is planted securely in the ground. If you’re not sure how deep a hole should be for your fence, consult different contractors and get an idea of what you might want to be doing. It’s really going to depend on the soil conditions around the area you want to put the fence in and the climate you live in.
As you put your fence up, you absolutely do want to install your corner and end posts first. Installing a fence can be a difficult process, but by putting up a corner and then post first, you’ll have a guide to work with and ensure that you won’t have to start removing posts if you mess up.
Gardening And Planting
If you’re trying to get away from the stresses of everyday life, there’s no better DIY home landscaping project than starting your own garden or planting flowers around your property.
Gardening gives you a chance to grow and harvest crops for yourself and your family and also gives you a nice hobby that you can enjoy year after year. But if you’re going to start a garden or plant flowers, here are some do’s and don’ts to be aware of:
On your list of dos, think about the big picture. Your garden is going to be made up of more than one flower or one bush, but you need to think about what you might want to plant and how easy things are to plant.
You want to avoid planting without a plan. It’s fantastic if you love gardening and want to see a garden filled with roses, tulips, and geraniums, but you need to have an idea of what you’re going to do before you do it. As you plant different fruits, vegetables, and flowers, you may find that aids such as garden wood chips can keep pests away, protect your soil, and help your garden hold up against different elements. Plan everything out first and then get to work.
Gardening and planting can be one of the more fun DIY home landscaping projects you engage in. Think about how excited you’ll be when you visit one of your local home improvement stores, load up your utility trailer with all your materials, and head home, ready to make your property beautiful. But before you do, think about how much time you want to invest in it. Think about what kind of climate you live in. Think about what plants are native to your area.
By taking these factors into consideration, you can ultimately plant flowers and crops that are going to work in your garden. You can plant annuals and semiannuals that look beautiful and plant crops that work well for your climate. You can go in the opposite direction and plant whatever your heart desires, but you may be in for some more work if you have flowers and crops that require constant attention.
Caring For Your Lawn
If you’re planning and plotting a comprehensive DIY home landscaping project, you can’t go wrong taking care of your lawn. Nothing can make your property pop like a lush, green lawn. Fortunately, you can create one with just a little effort and hydroseeding; a process where you spread a seed and mulch slurry all over your lawn. In this way, you will make sure no spot is missed on your lawn and you get nice, even growth.
It’s recommended that you start the process in the summer or the spring, so your lawn gets plenty of sun along with regularly watering your lawn. Hydroseeding is a cost-effective way to breathe new life into your lawn and once you’ve spread the seed, you can keep your lawn looking great by mowing, watering, and taking it easy on using any pesticides.
Reaping The Benefits
Any DIY home landscaping project you take on can go a long way toward improving the way your property looks. Whether you need to pull out the chainsaw and do some tree cutting to remove hazardous trees, or seeding your lawn, or planting a garden or flowers, or even finding ways to keep pests away, your projects will make your property look better and you’ll be doing a lot to help the long term health of your property.
It may seem like a lot of hard work, but when you’re eating fresh vegetables from your garden or admiring your lawn through your big bay window or planting new trees for future generations to enjoy, you’ll know it was all worth it. As the old saying goes, hard work does pay off, and by doing a simple DIY home landscaping project, you’ll be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.