3 Ways To Save Money On Landscaping

Looking to save a little extra on the landscaping bills this spring and summer? Take a look at some of these tips:

Efficiency is Key

Let’s get right to the point. If you’re not irrigating your lawn, flower beds, and container plants using the most targeted, time-efficient methods possible, you’re wasting water. Here’s what you need to know to conserve valuable water, time, and money on your yard and garden maintenance.

Reduce Your Lawn

Limit the expanse of yard devoted to perpetually thirsty turf grass. Less lawn can result in outdoor living spaces that demand less of your time and energy—not to mention less water, gas, and electricity.

If you live where every house flaunts an immaculate, weed-free front lawn, giving up grass entirely might read as an act of rebellion. But you can gradually shift toward a front yard that’s more garden than lawn by establishing deep planting beds that curve along the front and sides of the house. See more on reducing lawn in Lawnless Yard Solutions.

Water Smart

Cut back on fertilizer, mow high, and leave mulched clippings on the lawn to shade the soil and reduce evaporation. When you set up the sprinklers, make sure water is being absorbed; if you see runoff or puddles, you’re adding water too fast.

According to TOH landscape contractor Roger Cook, the main question people usually have about watering, is: how much? The simple answer is that lawns require about an inch of water a week. The tricky part is to figure out how to translate that inch of water into minutes on your sprinkler. There’s no way around it, you have to measure. Set up your sprinkler as usual and put out a rain gauge, which can be as simple as an empty coffee can. Water for 15 or 20 minutes, then check how much water is in the can. If you water for 15 minutes and get 1/4 inch of water, you know you need four times that amount of time to get to an inch. That means you need 60 minutes of watering a week to keep the lawn healthy. For more of Roger’s advice, see Garden Watering Tips.

Read more at This Old House

This entry was originally written by Brook Reilly.