Landscaping is an incredibly important aspect of home maintenance.
Proper landscaping practices help improve the appearance of your home and maintain the value of your property. Both of which are important if you ever plan to sell your home.
However, there are a lot of mistakes that homeowners tend to make when landscaping. These mistakes often lead to damage and leave your home’s landscape in worse shape than it was before.
In order to properly maintain your home’s appearance, you should be sure to avoid these top five common landscaping mistakes.
Don’t Forget to Fertilize
One of the most common landscaping mistakes homeowners make is forgetting to fertilize their yard. Alternatively, some homeowners over-fertilize, which can also be very harmful.
Typically, you should fertilize your yard twice per year — once during spring and once in the fall. You should also be careful to avoid fertilizing when the sun is too bright and be sure to water your lawn after fertilizing.
You can always consult with an employee at your nearest appliance or landscaping store to find out which fertilizer is best for your yard, depending on the weather and climate.
Trim Your Hedges
Growing a hedge can be a great way to improve your home’s appearance and make it stand out amongst the other houses in your area.
However, if you don’t remember to trim your hedges on a regular basis, they can grow out of control and make your yard look messy.
Fortunately, trimming your hedges is easy. Just grab a pair of shears or an electric hedge trimmer and get to work.
Don’t Cut Your Grass Too Short
For most homeowners, the height of the grass in their yard probably isn’t a concern. As long as you cut it regularly and it looks neat, it’s fine, right?
However, it’s important to keep your grass healthy by making sure to leave a certain amount of height when mowing.
The height depends on the type of grass, but it should generally be between one and three inches.
Don’t Overwater
Too much of anything can be bad. This applies to landscaping as well. Overwatering is a common landscaping mistake made by inexperienced homeowners.
Generally speaking, your yard only needs about an inch of water every week. Don’t drown your landscape by overwatering.
You should also try to water early in the day so that your plants have time to dry.
Your Landscape Should be Functional
Of course, we all want our home to look as great as possible, but your lawn should also be functional.
Don’t overcrowd your yard with plants, trees, shrubs, etc. While it might look great, it can prevent your lawn from being as functional as it should be.
You should try to find a good balance between beauty and usability. This also means that you should research plants that you want to put in your lawn to make sure they won’t be too large once they reach full maturity.
These five landscaping mistakes are incredibly common. By learning to avoid these when taking care of your lawn, you can maintain your home’s beauty and value easily and effectively.