One of the greatest joys of owning a home is building a landscape that enhances your family’s lifestyles while beautifying the property. That can be quite difficult to achieve, however, when you’re constantly worrying about maintaining plants and other landscape features - it seems that the minute you take a trip or life gets in the way and you don’t have time for constant landscape maintenance, you come home to a jungle. For enjoyment and practicality, make sure your landscape is as low-maintenance as possible. Here are five ways landscapers can create a low-maintenance outdoor space in the Wescosville, PA area.
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Choose Native Plants
When you choose plants for your landscape, you may have a lot of favorites in mind. Some of those plants, however, are likely not very well adapted to your environment. They will need extra watering, maintenance, and care throughout the seasons and may not even have a high rate of survival. Instead, plants that are native to your region are specially adapted to the demands of the climate. There is an incredible variety of native flowers, shrubs, trees, and ground covers that will enhance your landscape.
Resurface with Permeable Pavers
A smaller eco-footprint is top-of-mind for many homeowners. One way to reduce runoff after heavy rains or spring thaws is to install permeable pavers on your driveway, walkway, patio, and even pool deck.
Permeable pavers look just like traditionally installed pavers, but they feature slightly larger joints that allow surface water to seep between them instead of pooling or running off. This will prevent water damage to the surrounding landscape while returning water naturally to the aquifer.
Permeable pavers may be thought of as a luxury, but they last much longer than asphalt or poured concrete, and require virtually no maintenance. And, you can install a snowmelt system beneath the pavers to keep your driveway and pedestrian surfaces free from ice and snow all winter.
Install a Smart Irrigation System
Smart irrigation means you don’t have to think about keeping your landscape thriving in times of drought. Professional irrigation systems consider watering zones to ensure each type of plant gets the right amount of water at the right intervals. They also consider rainfall and soil moisture levels to save water (and money). No more risking that the neighbor kid forgets to turn on the sprinklers while you’re away or if you’re just too busy with other things.
Reduce the Lawn’s Footprint
A lawn is important to many homeowners. The lawn is definitely a major component of many front yards, but it actually may not be the best use of space in the backyard. A great tactic of reducing landscape maintenance is by reducing the lawn’s footprint in the backyard and giving the space to a larger patio (or series of smaller patios) that house your family’s favorite outdoor activities. As a result, you can dramatically reduce watering, fertilizing, mowing, and other necessary lawn maintenance tasks. Landscape designers have a lot of tricks up their sleeves!
Apply Landscaping Stones to Plant Beds
One of the most difficult, yet necessary maintenance tasks in a landscape is making sure that planting areas are free of weeds. This is partly to keep the area looking beautiful, but also to keep the wanted plants healthy. Mulch is often used, but must be replaced every couple of years - and it has a tendency to “migrate” onto the lawn or paved surfaces. Using landscaping stones instead of mulch lets you keep your plant beds weed-free and looking good year-round.
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