Five Landscaping Mistakes

Landscaping Mistakes

Any time is a great time to get your lawn in order. When landscaping, here are a few things to avoid.

1. Choosing the wrong plants

One of the biggest mistakes you can make while landscaping is choosing the wrong type of plants. Invasive plants, such as bamboo, fountain grasses, or pampas grasses quickly grow out of control. Additionally, grasses like the fountain grass, pampas grass, and Mexican feather grass can be fire hazards, as they have dry leaves and flowering stalks. There are also several types of trees you should be wary about planting in your yard.

2. Not planning

Like anything, planning is necessary when landscaping. Not planning can lead to improper use of your space. Work out a design on graph paper to properly understand your space. Include perennials in small areas of your lawn and skip over large shrubs. If you plan on using plants of varying heights, place the taller ones toward the back and smaller plants up front.

3. Too much mulch

Too much mulch around trees can suffocate them. Mulch must be applied loosely to control soil temperature and keep it moisturized. Tightly packed mulch can soften the root collar, resulting in a rotted tree. Rotted trees can bring insects, suffocated roots, and make the tree more prone to falling during storms or strong winds.

4. Too much gravel

Many people use gravel in their gardens because it helps to save water. That’s true, however, it also reflects heat towards plants nearby. This can damage these plants. The heat that is not reflected gets absorbed into the gravel, which can bake the roots of your plants. Additionally, gravel mixed into the soil can make it too hard to absorb water.

5. Improper installation of artificial grass

Artificial grass is becoming more and more popular as a landscaping option and is looking more like real grass every day. However, if you don’t properly install the grass, the expanding and contracting of the soil can cause wrinkles, soft spots, and an uneven surface. To avoid this, install a sub-base three inches below the finished grade. The sub-base will give you a great base to ensure that your artificial grass will continue to look nice for years to come.