Got a free Saturday? Sprucing up the front yard or making the backyard more comfortable are great ways to invest in a home’s curb appeal, and it doesn’t have to take all weekend. Here are 9 easy landscaping ideas for beginners that will give any yard a quick pick-me-up!
1. Freshen Up the Mulch and Gravel
Ground cover like mulch or decorative rock are great ways to keep a yard looking tidy. Unfortunately, ground covers will look tired with time and weathering. The sun causes colors to fade, and river rock and pea gravel can get shuffled around, leaving it too thin in spots.
Adding a new layer freshens up the look and helps keep down weeds and mud. Plus, it’s a super simple landscaping idea for beginners. Most landscape supply companies will deliver to the curb, and with a wheelbarrow, shovel, and a rake, it’s straightforward to make ground cover good as new.
2. Add a Flowerpot or Two on the Front Porch
One of the best easy landscaping ideas is to add pops of greenery beside the front door. Homeowners can buy annuals already planted in a cheerful container at the store or come up with a creative way to repurpose old containers into an eye-catching flowerpot. Further, these easy diy projects can be replanted year after year for an improvement that lasts.
Flowerpots are also a great (and cheap!) way to make a porch festive. In the summertime, beautiful flowers like petunias, lantanas, and geraniums are great. Looking to autumn, long branches of fall foliage can be “planted” in the soil. During winter a display could include a dwarf Alberta spruce or a boxwood. Both small front yards and large look fantastic with this project.
The front porch and yard are the face of the home and the first shot (sometimes the only shot) at making a great impression. This is especially important for homeowners looking to sell. For more ways to increase your home’s value, check out this advice from Redfin.
3. Add a Stepping Stone Pathway
Love the idea of a new walkway but not the idea of the back-breaking work required to install one? It’s easy to create a quaint walkway in just a couple of hours with stepping stones instead of something more elaborate like pavers.
The options are plentiful to suit any home style. Consider large flagstones for a nature-inspired look or rectangular concrete slabs for a modern appeal. Tamp down the soil beneath them and use a level for an even application.
Stepping stones are used around the yard for defining garden paths along flower beds, leading to focal points like fire pits or water features, and guiding around landscape structures like retaining walls. They are also useful for creating a visual connection from the landscaping design at the front of the house to the backyard.
4. Add Solar Accent Lights
No list of easy landscaping ideas would be complete without solar lights. These handy devices come in a wide variety of styles, allowing homeowners to create different moods and looks with their outdoor lighting.
Conveniently, they can also be placed anywhere since there’s no need to worry about wiring. Wonderfully, they are even available as solar powered string lights, making them ideal for many applications. This is a simple backyard landscaping project that looks great and increases evening entertaining space.
5. Backyard Patio Vegetable Garden
No backyard patio is too small for growing things — vertical vegetable gardens on trellises prove that! Plus, anyone can start growing a delectable little vegetable garden by buying already-established plants in pots and setting them on the patio. Similarly, herbs are another edible option that can do well in small containers.
In addition to being delicious to eat, patio vegetable and herb gardens have other benefits. They’re pleasant to look at, enjoyable to watch as they grow, and attract wildlife like butterflies to a small yard. To make it low maintenance, consider drip irrigation.
If room allows, larger varieties like pumpkins are great choices for garden beds. Moreover, planting them in the ground helps incorporate the garden into the overall backyard landscaping. Lastly, gardening makes for a fantastic hobby.
6. Polish Up Existing Lawns
Firstly, how’s the lawn looking? If it’s a little overgrown, it only takes an hour or two of mowing, aerating, fertilizing, trimming, and edging to perk it right up. Certainly, this one low budget project can totally transform the landscaping’s appearance!
7. Hide the AC Unit
Is the AC unit sticking out like a sore thumb? Cover that thing up with decorative store-bought screens or strategically plant large bushes or plants to block the view. This is one of the simplest easy landscaping ideas and makes the whole space look better. Just be careful to follow the manufacturer’s recommendation on how far away screens and plants should be and don’t interfere with the unit-usually a gap is necessary for air circulation.
8. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel When Choosing Perennials
The average person may not know what types of perennials grow best in their area, but there is an easy way to find out. Take a stroll around commercially landscaped spaces in the area and pay attention to the kinds of plants that are being used. Often, these are easy landscaping plants that naturally do well.
Next, take a pic to a plant expert or use a free plant identification app to figure out what they are. Alternatively, most plant nurseries are happy to provide recommendations for a few tried and true workhorses.
For a low maintenance landscape design, look for fewer perennials with big impact. For example, choose perennials in bold textures and colors. Additionally, look to the rest of the yard to choose plants that tie outdoor spaces together and compliment hardscape.
9. Add Patio Furniture for an Easy Upgrade
Easy landscaping ideas don’t always mean back-breaking work in the sun. Sometimes, it’s a simple trip to the store to pick out new patio furniture for the backyard.
There’s a whole world of colorful patio furniture out there. Plus, the furniture comes in different materials and textures that allow homeowners to showcase their own aesthetic. Finally, for style that changes each year, go with neutral furniture and save the color experimentation for cushions that can be easily switched.
Got a Project in Mind?
Atlanta Turf & Tree is happy to assist, and our landscaping services experts are here to help. We are a Georgia-based company specializing in lawn care and landscaping tailored to the unique opportunities and challenges of the greater Atlanta area. We have over 35 years of combined experience in the industry, and we combine that expertise with a deep appreciation for landscaping as art.
