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Your home’s front lawn is the first impression you make on your visitors, so it makes sense to spend time and money on making it beautiful. After some careful planning, you decide to make landscaping your yard a personal project.
But even after reading up on some of the best up-to-date guides out there, even experienced gardeners can make mistakes. Here are 9 of the most common ones you should keep in mind while landscaping your lawn.
1. Neglecting the Soil
Your soil is quite literally the foundation of your gardening efforts. Keep your soil fertile by adding 2 or 3 inches of compost at the beginning. Remember to go easy on the fertilizer. While moderate amounts can help plants grow, too much will cause water pollution. Find out how to test your soil to determine how much is needed.
2. Overdoing the Mulch
Mulch is a common yet effective tool to control soil temperature and moisture. Avoid putting too much however, as tightly-packed mulch can:
- Suffocate your plants.
- Collect rot.
- Attract insects.
Also avoid the “mulch volcano” phenomenon, where too much mulch is used at the base of small trees. This surprisingly common setup generates heat at the base of the tree, causing the bark to rot. Damaged bark prevents the tree from protecting itself against insects and disease.
3. Overdoing the Gravel
Gravel is a drought-proofing measure commonly deployed in drier climates. Gravel tends to absorb heat, so be careful not to use too much, or you risk overheating your plants. Plus, gravel can find its way into the underlying soil, making it difficult for nearby plants to seep in water through their roots.
4. Planting Too Close to Buildings
Whether you’re planting near a backyard shed or the side of your house, make sure any trees aren’t planted too closely. You don’t want tree roots to intersect with these buildings, nor do you want a tree to potentially fall onto your house during a heavy storm.
5. Choosing the Wrong Plants
You might consider seeing a professional landscaping service to choose the right ones.
- Some plants are seasonal and thus only grow in a specific climate. Have a variety of seasonal plants so your lawn doesn’t look too bland at a particular month.
- Don’t use too many evergreens, as seeing nothing but green throughout the year makes your garden unappealing.
- Other plants might even grow too quickly and overtake parts of your garden. Try using smaller plants such as dwarf trees.
6. Failing to Deal With Weeds
Weeds are the bane of any homeowner’s existence. They pop up everywhere and they are difficult to deal with. Still, they have to be dealt with. Here are a few tips:
- Pull them out before they get bad.
- Plant ground covers, or low-growing plants that spread across the ground to stop weeds.
7. Shrub and Tree Pruning at Bad Times
There certainly is such a thing as too much pruning. In general,
- Prune in the winter while the plants are dormant to prepare for the growth spurt in the spring.
- Prune in the summer after the seasonal growth ends. This is your chance to remove defective limbs and direct the growth where you want it to go.
- Avoid pruning in the fall, as certain species of decaying fungi spread their spores around this time, which you certainly don’t want near recently pruned plants.
8. Know Your DIY Limitations
Rest assured, you don’t have to worry if a job seems too difficult to do on your own. Jobs like constructing patios or removing tree limbs can be difficult without the proper training and equipment.
Knowing when to hire a professional tree pruning or landscaping service can save you a ton of time, money, and energy in the long run. Do not hesitate to contact Harmony Tree Services if you ever need help. We specialize in pruning, stump grinding, and snow removal among many others. Overall, we can help get your landscaping job done right, giving you the results you need the exact way you want them.
