Landscaping for a new home or a home you’re looking to sell is probably one of the simplest things you can do to spruce up your home’s exterior.  Landscaping can be inexpensive and fairly low maintenance once you’ve put in the preliminary work of getting your landscaping in order.  Here’s our list of landscaping tips and designs.

Keep it Simple

Landscaping can be as simple or complex as you choose, but if you’re just starting out with landscaping your home do yourself a favor and keep it simple.  Even minor landscaping projects such as adding a garden, replacing withered or out of season vegetation, and trimming hedges and trees can make a big difference in your home’s appearance.

Remember, you can always add more landscaping over the course of the year as you see fit, so there’s no need to knock it all out in one fell swoop.

Add a Garden

Gardens in general are a great way to keep constantly refreshing your home’s foliage, plants, and even give you and your family a source of food.  As with any landscaping project, gardens can be as simple and maintenance free as you’d like.  But in keeping with our first point, consider making your first gardens raised beds.

Unlike in-ground garden beds which are notoriously difficult to keep clear of invasive lawn grass, a raised bed will give you far more control and raise the garden surface to save your back as well.  Raised beds can be made of bricks, stone, rocks, or even wood and can be sized as large as you’d like.  Do some research and experiment with raised beds on a small scale then upgrade as you see fit.

Mulch Your Trees

Young or newly planted trees are somewhat at the mercy of the weather, your soil, and you as a homeowner.  This is why it’s important to protect young trees from the elements in their early years by mulching.  Not only does mulching give young trees a fighting chance to grow and thrive, it can give older more established trees and your lawn a needed facelift.

Start by digging down and removing any grass within a 3-10 foot radius of your tree’s trunk.  From there, fill that void with 2-4 inches of natural mulch while avoiding direct contact between the mulch and the tree’s trunk.  You may even want to add a stone or brick border around the “well” you’ve created in order to further spiff up your landscaping.

Consider Xeriscaping

Xeriscaping, often mispronounced and misinterpreted as “zeroscaping,” is the practice of using drought tolerant plants that require little water in order to transform your home’s landscaping.  Xeriscaping may or may not be right for your climate or your home, but similar practices can be employed to lessen your physical lawn space and add desired color and plants.

Again, start with a small experimental area and use plants that fit with your local climate and add to your home’s appearance.  Xeriscaping can lessen the amount of maintenance you have to do on your lawn area and lower your water usage making the practice a desirable one to many homeowners.  Plus, you won’t have to mow nearly as much of your lawn!

Get in a New Home

With the spring just around the corner and the summer selling and buying season following closely behind, now is the time to start preparing to buy a home.  Getting pre-qualified for the line of credit you need to buy a home now will save you an abundance of time down the road giving you a head start on landscaping your new home.

And if you’re looking for the best financing option for your new purchase or if you need to use your existing mortgage to make improvements to your home or landscaping, then get in touch with Tidewater Mortgage.  Apply online and get pre-qualified in as little as 24 hours!