Lazy Landscaping
We all would love to have perfect landscaping, but it’s not exactly at the top of our to-do list unless we’re improving curb appeal to put our house on the market. In fact, landscaping ranks right up there with cleaning out the gutters.
Don’t despair – you can improve landscaping and redecorate your yard for the season while maintaining the lazy status quo.
Container Gardening
Add color and texture with flowers without the sore back to show for it. Try containers to provide just the splash of color you need and just in the place you need it. New containers for gardening are now offered in great looking lightweight construction to make them pleasantly portable.
If you’re landscaping on a budget, nothing beats the terra cotta pots – don’t be afraid to decorate them yourself – stencils and lettering add appeal, and for the artistically challenged, wall decals aren’t just for walls – try them on your containers, make sure they’re durable vinyl to hold up to weather and watering.
Hanging Baskets
Like any accessories, grouping hanging baskets adds instant impact. Porches, patios and decks are perfect for baskets, and window baskets add appeal to the home exterior, taking the focus off the unmowed yard. Use a mix of trailing vines, sweet potato vine comes in a multitude of shades, everblooming annuals such as petunias, and accent plants like grasses and tropicals to get the professional look.
Avoid plastic hanging baskets, a wire basket with natural lining lends an expensive look. Buy the less expensive plastic baskets and transplant the whole thing in one fell swoop to the better baskets for a budget project with an expensive look.
Bulbs
They’re easy and inexpensive and perfect to welcome the spring or summer. With a simple auger attachment to any battery powered drill, dig a 3-4 inch hole and throw in a bulb. Group them for impact. For Spring bulbs, plant in the Fall, when the weather’s nice and cool. Summer bulbs are planted in the Spring when the weather first turns warm. Avoid summer heat exhaustion with bulbs such as tulips, hyacinth and gladiolas.
Seeds
Growing annuals from seeds is not only cheap, but amazingly easily. After the last frost of the winter, which depends on your gardening zone, sow seeds directly in to the ground, there’s much less digging than transplanting annuals.
Annuals that grow easily from seed are morning glory vines, sweet pea and larkspur. Self sowing annuals are even better, they do the job themselves by dropping seed at the end of their growing season for seed to come back with no help from you for the next growing season. Self sowing annuals include snapdragons, nasturtium and alyssum.
Bed in a Bag
My all time favorite lazy landscaping tip. Buy some bagged topsoil or fertilizer-enhanced soil – slice open the top face of the bag straight down the middle – pull back to expose dirt – drop anywhere – plant flowers and cover with mulch.
Don't break the budget or your back, try lazy landscaping to avoid the aches and pains of yardwork.