Top 5 Ways Custom Landscaping Saves Money

Gardens are for us to enjoy and any prosperity gained whether through spiritual enrichment, nurturing the balance of your land, growing food to feed your family or a desire to investment in the future sale of your home, proper landscaping can yield many benefits. Save yourself time and money with these top five ideas to customize a landscape design plan that plays into your yard’s strengths and sets you up for future growth.

Assessment and Objectives

It is important to evaluate your landscape at the end of each season. Think back to the issues that popped up during the summer like hours of weeding or watering, issues that arose in the winter such as cracked sidewalks, problems during fall like tree damage, and spring issues such as flooding to complete a comprehensive list of areas that need work. Acknowledging the parts of your yard you don’t like and deciding how much yard work is too much will help you make better choices for your future design.

Trees Planted on East, West, and Northwest Side of Home

Make Your Landscape Work for You

No matter where you live, one of the biggest expenses all homeowners have is the cost of heating and cooling. Choosing to plant deciduous trees on your home’s east, west and /or northwest side will aid in blocking the blaring sun during the summer heat.  This provides shade and keeps the inside of your home cooler. Conversely, in the fall when the trees drop their leaves, the sun’s rays are able to stream into your home, providing warmth. Evergreens planted on the north side of your yard will block the harsh winds of winter and assist in keeping heating bills down. Save money on other utilities throughout your home by installing solar power and low voltage lighting. The minimal cost of these bulbs and the longer life span will keep money in your pocket. And it creates safely lit walkways and a unique allure to your garden areas.

Creating Compost

Recycle This Year’s Garden for Next Year’s Success

Composting is not only nature’s way of fertilizing; it’s a smart way to use every day food scraps, paper refuse, and lawn trimmings in an eco-friendly manner. There are many DIY ways to create a compost pile on your landscape that will produce enough nutrient rich soil for your flower or garden bed. By incorporating a custom-built composting system in your landscape design by landscape professionals, such as Tode Landscape Contractors, you will be able to create enough fertilizer for all of your trees, plants, and grass for years to come.

Mother and Daughter Watering Garden

Become Self-Sustaining

What’s more satisfying or delicious than having your dinner table filled with vegetables from your own garden? Believe it or not, one of the most expensive sections in the grocery store is the produce aisle. If you have always wanted to try growing your own veggies and fruit but aren’t sure where to start, a landscape professional can help you devise a plan. You can begin small and increase your yield each year. Fortunately, there are many vegetables that require very little help to grow.  Broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, corn, and fresh herbs, like basil and cilantro are good choices for getting started.

Plan for Your Landscape’s Future

If you have a species of plant that ended up being a lot more work than you wanted or if your flowers didn’t yield a full bloom, it is important to make more informed purchases in the coming year. Research different varieties of plants before placing them in your space. Get a general idea of what will perform well in shady, sunny, wet, or dry areas. Make informed decisions. If you know there were one or two plants this year that just never took, then ask a professional for guidance about ways to alleviate stress on your plants for future plantings. Make a mental note, take a picture, or create a list of some of the beautiful flowers that you see throughout your daily commute to gain inspiration. Don’t forget, all the flowers and plants in your garden, come from seeds and fall is a great time to harvest and dry them out for next spring’s planting season.

The best resource of information about designing a custom landscape that will save you money and time is a landscape professional. Landscape designers have detailed knowledge of the plants that will thrive in your yard and can provide insight and direction about creating a landscape that will be able to sustain its beauty for many years to come.