Costly Landscape Mistakes

We all make mistakes from time to time. All of us do.Some mistakes are trivial, some are gigantic. If you make a landscaping mistake it has the potential of being one of those huge mistakes. Landscaping mistakes can require a great deal of work, time, and money to correct. Here are common landscaping mistakes that you should avoid:

Landscape does not complement home

Landscaping is all about complementing your home.  Your landscaping should complement your home’s style, scale, and color, versus taking away from, or clashing with, your home. Your property should be an extension of your home, not something that looks and feels like a totally different world. Also, landscaping should flow around your home, not hide your home.

Failing to plan

Before you do anything to any area in your landscape, make sure you have your entire landscape planned out. No matter how great a landscaping idea may seem for a particular area, never rush out and purchase anything or begin working on your landscape until everything is sketched out on paper. Having an idea of the finished product will enable you to see if that idea you have for a particular area of your property will flow into its surroundings.

Not taking plant growth into consideration

Before you purchase and plant anything, make sure you know the mature size of everything you are considering for your landscape—whether it’s shrubs, trees, or plants. A common landscaping mistake is to purchase plants and plant them too close to the house. Once the plant life matures, it could pose a problem such as growing over walkways, or touching the home. Knowing the mature size of everything will enable you to properly place it while leaving enough room to keep up any maintenance on your home’s exterior.

It’s especially important to keep in mind the mature size of any trees that you are planting beneath power lines. Trees that are planted directly beneath power lines may have to be topped off later. This is a big chore and one that could be avoided by choosing a different tree species, or just placing them a few yards from where you had originally intended them to be.

Be mindful of where you are placing things in your landscape. Keep in mind that your lawn will have to be maintained for years to come. Planting things at random may look nice in the beginning, but having to mow and trim around these areas year after year may become bothersome.

Every property is enhanced by trees and shrubs. How many will be dependent upon the size of the lot. Most landscapers alot around 1/3 of the tree/shrub population to evergreens. Evergreens enhance a landscape during the cold months when deciduous trees are standing stark and bare.

Redoing a landscape is time consuming and it can be very expensive. Who wants to find out that their hard landscaping work is now causing problems. Keeping these few details in mind can go far in having a landscape that is enjoyable for years to come.