If you’re the type of person who hates doing yard work, the idea of cementing your whole backyard becomes more and more appealing with each weed you pull and blade of grass you cut. The endless cycle of mowing, pruning, watering, raking? Yeah, we’ll pass.
Fortunately, plenty of companies offer residential and commercial mowing services, pruning, clean-up, and other lawn care services so that homeowners and business owners alike won’t have to worry about doing the work themselves. But unless you have an endless amount of money, hiring a lawn care company every time your grass needs mowing is simply not practical.
So, yes, you’re going to have to get your hands dirty at some point. But before you shiver at the idea of doing manual labor, why not make your lawn easier to take care of? The lower the level of maintenance your yard needs, the less work you have to do to keep your lawn healthy and presentable.
With that, here are some of the most effective ways to create a low-maintenance lawn.
1. Build a patio or deck
The less ground covered in grass, the less you have to mow. One of the best ways to replace some of your turf is to build a deck or patio in your backyard if you don’t have one already. Aside from reducing the lawn area that you have to mow every week painstakingly, a patio or a deck gives you a nice outdoor living space where you can relax amidst nature and entertain guests.
2. Plant native trees
When planting trees in your backyard, choosing the right type of tree species pays off in the long run. Avoid trees that are flowering and generally messy, especially in the fall. Instead, choose native trees that will grow well in your soil and won’t wreak havoc in your yard come autumn.
If you aren’t sure what kind of tree will grow well on your property, go to the local nursery and consult experts. It’s a good idea to have a rough estimate of how big your yard is, as well as several pictures of the space, to help the nursery staff recommend the right type of tree for you.
3. Choose low-maintenance plants
Unless taking care of plants is the exception to your hate for yard work, it’s always a good idea to choose low-maintenance plants when designing your landscape. Pick plants that require little effort to keep healthy, such as native perennials and hardy grasses. Here are a few examples of some plant types that don’t need a lot of TLC to flourish:
- Feather reed grass
- Peonies
- Fescue
- Juniper
- Hardy germanium
- Hydrangea
4. Hardscape
Similar to the principle of building a patio or deck in your yard, hardscaping also reduces the amount of grass you need to mow. There are plenty of ways you can hardscape your lawn; you can create stone or gravel pathways, build a stone garden, or perhaps even install a water feature surrounded by small landscaping stones.
Aside from making your lawn easier to maintain, hardscaping is also a surefire way to add aesthetic value to your property.
5. Lay down mulch
Mulch is a material that helps lock moisture in the soil, thus preventing the water from evaporating too quickly. The slower the water evaporates from your soil, the less frequently you have to water your lawn. In addition to making your life easier, the moisture-trapping action of mulch helps prevent weeds and improve the health of the soil—all while making your lawn look good.
Spread mulch wherever you have trees or plants. However, be careful not to lay down mulch too near the foundation of your house. Mulch can attract pests such as earwigs, ants, and cockroaches; if you spread mulch near your home, you may very well be calling in pests to your door.
6. Consider artificial turf
Are you tired of mowing your lawn every week, watering the plants, and pulling out weeds time and time again? It may be time to start considering artificial turf. Unlike natural turf, synthetic turf does not need watering, mowing, and aerating—only a bit of hosing and scrubbing from time to time. And apart from making yard work a hundred times easier, your artificial turf will stay looking healthy all year round.
The Bottom Line
Yard work is messy, dirty, and tiring. There is also a good chance that you’ll find a creepy crawly while pulling a stubborn weed out of your plant bed. If you would much rather coop yourself up indoors than touch the lawnmower again, try applying these strategies to make your lawn way easier to maintain. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up loving yard work when it’s made easy?