Landscaping Designs with Minimal Maintenance Requirements

Have you ever thought about landscaping the exterior of your home, but opted against it because of all the maintenance it would require? If so, you’re not alone. Many people would like their home’s yard to look nice, but they don’t want to have to spend hours every weekend maintaining it.

Luckily, not all landscape designs are so involved. There are several landscape designs you can implement without the help of a landscaping company, and that don’t require excessive upkeep. For the homeowner lacking a green thumb, here are some landscape designs that don’t require exorbitant amounts of care.

Try Astroturf

If you live in a desert climate like Los Angeles, simply keeping your lawn alive and green can be a tall task. So instead of struggling to fight against the climate, try a more practical solution like fake grass. Also known as Astroturf, fake grass has become much more technologically advanced and lifelike, and its look and feel can successfully mimic that of real grass, without the hassle of watering.

Implement native plants

Trying to go against nature can sometimes be a futile battle. Conduct some research on the area where you live and its native plants. This information can help you craft a landscaping design with plants that naturally thrive. Native plants will be better suited to the environment and subsequently won’t need as much watering or fertilizing, making them a viable low-maintenance option.

Consider hardscaping

While this landscaping design will require the help of either a landscaping company or a hardscaping specialist, it will minimize the amount of landscaping maintenance you’ll have to do in the long run. In addition to providing a solid look and feel for your patio, hardscaping using any material you like (concrete, decorative stones, bricks, pavers) will reduce the size of your lawn, making it easier to care for the lawn that you do have. The only upkeep needed for hardscaped surfaces is the occasional sweeping.

Plant perennials

Annuals are plants that you must plant every year, while perennials are plants that you put in the ground once, and they keep coming back year after year. There’s a wealth of options available to you depending on the climate you’re in. For arid climates like Los Angeles, you should think about planting sedum, yarrow, California aster, Indian paintbrushes or some California lilacs. With these plants, you can give your landscaping some color without much of the hassle of planting and pulling every year.

Select your trees carefully

This includes what kind of trees you elect to plant, and how many. There are many low-maintenance trees like shade trees and evergreens that you could use sparingly to reduce your workload. If you do opt for more labor-intensive trees, you could plant one or two instead of seven or eight. It’s possible to strike a balance between having trees you like and keeping the amount of necessary care for them at a reasonable level.

Call today for your landscaping needs

No matter what landscaping design you choose, if you need a landscaping company to assist you, give us a call at RainforestLA, Inc. We have two decades of experience in the landscaping industry, and we can help you tackle anything from planting succulents near your sidewalk to putting a fire pit in your hardscaped backyard patio.