AVOIDING COMMON LANDSCAPING MISTAKES

We live in a do-it-yourself culture. The upside to that reality is that many of us get tremendous opportunities to try our hands and new skills and to learn interesting things while saving money. The downside is that we sometimes trade expertise and quality for that experience and cost-effectiveness. Landscaping is a perfect example of this. Everyone wants to take care of the job without calling the professionals, but their lack of expertise can create problems.

Professional landscapers know the business inside and out. They understand composition, they know which plants will compliment others. They understand the soil, the elements and what things will actually compliment the design of your home. You might think you have a “great eye” and you may be a quick study. However, the average do-it-yourselfer is not an expert landscaper.

As such, several common mistakes are repeated over and over again across the nation’s lawns. Let’s look at four common landscaping mistakes. By understanding the errors of others, you might be able to avoid doing the same things!

RULING WITH A RULER--ERRORS OF LINEARITY

Many self-styled landscapers approach their projects as if the world functioned exclusively along the rigid lines of grid. The natural world, however, isn’t flat or square. It’s bumpy and curvy. It undulates and sways. Professionals understand that and they try to work within natural lines and to use the “imperfections” of nature to heighten aesthetic appeal. Amateurs, on the other hand, often have a preoccupation with trying to make everything square and straight. When everything is straightened, it tends to create an uninviting and severe atmosphere. Play with nature as much as you play against it.

NEGLECTING THE FRONT--FORGETTING TO PUT YOUR FACE ON

Most of us prefer some degree of privacy. Thus, we tend to spend the bulk of our time in our back yards instead of in front of the house. As a result of that preference, we also tend to have much larger areas with which to work behind our house. Thus, it does make sense that most landscaping work will occur in the back. However, too many amateurs focus on the back yard to the near-exclusion of the front. There is no “harm” in that, per se, but it does represent a wasted opportunity to improve the value and attractiveness of your home. Make sure you plot a course of landscaping success in the front yard, too.

LIVING IN THE MOMENT--IGNORING FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

Those shrubs you plan on planting right under the bay window will look great this year. And the next. After that, though, you had better plan on a weekly trimming. You have three feet of clearance between ground and window, and those cute little shrubs will grow ten feet high if not held in check. You get the idea, right?

That’s just an example of a common problem experienced by do-it-yourself landscapers. They aren’t forward thinking enough and that can cause problems. You need to understand your plants, how they will look now and how they will grow in the future. That kind of knowledge can help you create better look and can save you tons of work in the end.

IT’S YOUR LAWN--NEGLECTING THE REST OF THE FAMILY (AND THE WORLD)

A common amateur error is to design a landscaping plan without taking the usage patterns and desires of other family members into consideration. That wonderful winding path to the garden might cut right across the kids’ favorite place to play ball. That five-foot retaining wall may create an attractive vista, but it may not be attractive to a potential buyer with three small children a few years from now. Consider what others will appreciate and don’t assume your amateur vision is perfect.

You can do your own landscaping. If you work hard enough you may even produce some professional results. Your odds of getting the job done right will improve considerably if you learn to avoid some of the common errors of do-it-yourselfers.