Category: Landscaping and Garden

“A gardener’s recipe: One part soil, two parts water, three parts wishful thinking.”

If you love a beautiful landscape but your thumbs are less than green, low maintenance landscaping may be for you. Many novice gardeners are surprised to learn how many low maintenance options exist for those lacking the time or the skill for complicated gardening.

Low maintenance landscaping ideas will vary depending on where you live. Certain low maintenance landscaping ideas, such as xeriscaping, can be tweaked to work in any climate. Scroll through our low maintenance landscaping gallery and start dreaming again of creating your ideal garden.

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1. Backyard Oasis: Low Maintenance Designs

The best way to create a low maintenance backyard is to convert as much of it as possible into outdoor living spaces.

A large stone patio means you’ll spend less time mowing grass and more time relaxing. Instead of maintaining a flower bed, keep a large shade tree as the backyard focal point. Build a deck around it and add a few low maintenance potted plants.

Surround your patio or paving stones with mulch instead of planting grass. Mulch is delightfully low maintenance, especially if you spread it over a good quality weed barrier material.

It’s an inexpensive way to cover a lot of ground and usually only needs replacing each spring. Rubber mulch can look as attractive as the real thing but won’t break down like wood mulch.

2. Creative Corner Landscaping Solutions

The corners of your yard are great places to cut down on landscape maintenance by planting evergreens. These often slow growing plants stay green year-round and add beautiful texture to your garden.

Evergreen plant hues vary from pale green to silvery blue, making them an excellent way to add color variety to the yard without increasing your workload.

Clumping monkey grass does well wrapped around corners and along borders. It is hardy and grows well in most climates and soil types.

Design a low maintenance but high curb appeal corner on each side of your front steps by laying a curved line of brick pavers. Fill it with crushed stone, monkey grass and dwarf evergreen shrubs.

3. Effortless Country Style Landscaping

Country dwellers with large acreage may wonder how to cut down on mowing, watering, and other time-consuming landscaping tasks.

By converting more areas into low maintenance landscaping zones, even rural homeowners can reclaim more hours of relaxation each weekend.

Plant creeping groundcover on sloped areas of your property, and don’t be in a rush to clear wooded areas. Be generous with the amount of land you allot for a patio or a deck, as hardscaping equals less grass to maintain.

If your country home doesn’t feel like home without flowers, opt for carefree perennials such as penstemon or brilliant blue-violet pasque flower.

4. DIY Low Maintenance Garden Projects

If you want to DIY a hassle-free garden, start by learning which low maintenance landscaping plants thrive in your area. A few minutes on a search engine will provide you with dozens of ideas to DIY a low maintenance garden guaranteed to grow in your yard.

Advancements in artificial grass production have resulted in a product that looks and feels more like real grass than ever. Although it is an expensive carefree landscaping idea—around $10 per square foot—just think of all the time you’ll save on mowing the grass!

5. Desert Landscaping

A desert landscape with native plant selections might be the original low maintenance landscape. Desert plants are well adapted to their environment and have minimal watering requirements. While there are still desert gardens that include grass, more and more people are choosing natural xeriscape garden options.

Succulents, including cacti, come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes and colors. In the proper desert climate, all you need is a variety of succulents and crushed rock mulch to create a colorful, low maintenance yard.

6. Front Yard Beauty with Minimal Upkeep

A beautiful landscape doesn’t have to be complicated. A tidy front yard may consist of a shade tree or two and some shrub clusters surrounded by mulch.

You’ll need to rake leaves in the fall, and trim shrubs occasionally, but the mulch will cut down on weeds and watering. Organic mulch also adds a nice woody fragrance to your yard.

If you decide you need a burst of color in the front yard, plant lavender. These durable perennial plants return year after year and spread over time. Unlike many flowering plants, lavender only needs watering once or twice a week, and their strong fragrance is a pleasant natural bug repellant.

Read more: 79 Landscaping Ideas for The Front of the House

7. Large Area Landscaping with Less Work

Whether your yard is large, average, or small, the same tips apply if you wish to have a low maintenance garden experience. Add a firepit with seating, a large deck, and a gazebo to add more living space and less plant space in a large yard.

If you just can’t live without annuals and perennials that require frequent watering, you can use a drip irrigation system to help them thrive without direct assistance. A sprinkler system can make lawn maintenance easier, especially if you have a large grass yard.

8. Modern Minimalist Garden Ideas

Low maintenance landscaping can be ideal surrounding a modern home, where less is always more. A rock garden in many shades of grey is a modern welcoming touch, especially when accented with a gazing ball or modern-designed fountain or sculpture.

Oversized square concrete pavers follow the simple lines and angles of modern architecture. Create paths with them across your backyard, connecting the patio and other living areas. Simple trees, unfussy hedges, and crushed rock borders in black or white come together in an impressive contemporary garden.

9. Rock Landscaping for Easy Care

Natural stone is an ideal material for a low maintenance landscaping. Not only is it attractive year round, rock never needs replacing. You may have to pull the occasional weed out of a crushed stone garden bed but using a strong weed barrier beneath the gravel keeps that task to a minimum.

Consider a rock garden to add dimension to a dull or flat area of the yard. Although you can add some ornamental grass or low maintenance plants, the easiest rock gardens are made from only hardscape materials.

Vary rock colors, textures, and sizes for visual interest. Surround paving stones with pebbles and outline different areas of the garden with river stones in complementary colors.

10. Shady Retreats: Simple Landscaping Tips

Shady garden zones don’t have to remain barren to qualify as low maintenance. Climbing ivy is a great plant to use in a shady, low maintenance garden. Plant ivy along a dividing wall or long fence to create a living barrier that will not require much attention from you. Mix variegated and solid color varieties to make it interesting.

Many evergreen varieties thrive in shady garden areas, including hemlock, boxwood, holly, yew, and nandina.

Many of these come in full size and dwarf size varieties, allowing you to add a variety of heights and textures to the shady parts of your yard. Plant shade-loving, lower maintenance perennials such as spiderwort, viola, astilbe, and hosta.

11. Simplifying Garden Design for Easy Care

You may feel that roses and other flowering plant varieties are out of reach if you need a lower maintenance garden. However, there are types that require less care than others. For example, Knock-Out roses are known for their ability to bloom with little attention. Their simple beauty can launch a garden from basic to beautiful.

Keep your garden simple by only choosing plants that do well in your USDA hardiness zone. Replace grass with no-effort ground covers like moss and low-growing clover. You’ll still enjoy a blanket of green in the yard, but you won’t have to mow it, ever.

“Florida is a strange place: hot, beautiful, ugly. I love it here, and how nothing makes sense but still, somehow, there is a rhythm.”  –  Roxane Gay

You love your Florida home, but the outside of it could look a bit nicer.

Isn’t it time you embraced the outdoor living lifestyle and upgraded the landscaping around your home? Do more than just some lame rock garden.

Grow a natural living wall, increase curb appeal, or create a backyard garden oasis.

Thanks to Florida’s warm and humid climate, you have plenty of options. From lush greenery to brightly-colored blooms, you can create an impressive landscaping design in your front and back yard.

These Florida landscape ideas will have your home looking like a tropical escape.

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1. Create Natural Privacy

Choose plants that have large leaves or dense foliage to create a natural barrier between you and your neighbors. This helps to block sound and sight, so that you can enjoy your outdoor space in peace. For the most coverage, it helps to layer plants of different heights. This creates a visually appealing display while also creating an effective privacy barrier.

2. Pave a Scenic Florida Walkway

Adding a walkway to your Florida landscaping gives you a place to walk without having to trample your lawn or plants. It’s also a nicer place to walk when it’s just rained, and the ground is wet. This is called hardscape.

You can build your walkway out of concrete, but this is less attractive and can be quite expensive. Instead, build a walkway through your backyard out of pavers, stones, or bricks.

If you want to use concrete, skip having it poured by a professional and mix your own. Then use a concrete mold to create a more decorative look.

3. Budget-Friendly Florida Landscape Makeovers

You don’t have to spend a fortune or hire a professional landscape designer to have a beautiful landscape.

Stick with native local plants that tend to have a lower price point than a rare exotic. If you don’t already have a lawn, skip the sod and look for alternatives.

You could create a landscaping design that uses pine needles, crushed shells, or pea gravel.

Using a combination of these materials will add color and texture variety.

To prevent weeds from growing up through laying down landscaping underlayment. It allows for drainage while also preventing weeds.

Read more: 45 Backyard Ideas on a Budget

4. Blossom with Florida’s Vibrant Flowers

Embrace the vibrancy of life that’s present in Florida. Annuals are flowering plants that give you a burst of color for the season.

You can easily drop them in your soil and enjoy the variety of colors. They also attract pollinators like honey bees and butterflies. This brings life to your flower bed.

If you prefer to not garden every year with annuals, then consider planting perennials instead. These are plants that will continue to bloom season after season.

You’ll find perennials that flower and come in a variety of plant types. You could choose a ground cover that will spread out on its own.

Or plant a shrub that will remain compact and low. Some trees will grow tall and provide you with multiple blooms.

5. Boost Curb Appeal with Florida Charm

Your front yard landscaping design can make or break your home’s curb appeal.

You don’t want to be the only home on the block with dead plants and brown grass. So embrace the Florida climate and create a design with native plants.

Start by adding flower beds along the front of your home. Line the flowerbeds with stones or pavers for a decorative edge. Using native plants here will keep the maintenance to a minimum.

If you have a small front yard, you could plant a single palm. Larger front yards can support something more elaborate with multiple palms or a ring of flowering plants.

Read more: 79 Landscaping Ideas For The Front Of The House

6. Showcase Iconic Florida Palm Trees

Palms are a smart option for your Florida landscaping ideas. There are a ton of options beyond the typical palm tree.

Choose one that fits the space you have available and the type of look that you’re going for. This could be a few shorter palms that are full with leaves that extend in every direction.

Consider the upkeep and maintenance requirements for the palms that you choose. Some have razor-sharp thorns that will make caring for your plant a nightmare.

Others drop thousands of seeds seasonally. This may not be an issue if they drop into the landscaping, but it could be a major pain if they drop onto the walkways and require cleaning.

7. Cool Off with Shade-Loving Greens

The sun shines bright in Florida, and it can make spending time outside sweltering. Adding shade plants to your landscaping will block the sun and give you a place to escape the heat.

The right plant for creating shade is one that grows taller with large leaves. An elephant plant is a good plant for this because the leaves are large and flat, like an elephant’s ear.

Another creative landscaping idea is to plant vine plants. You can then let them grow up and over your pergola. The pergola is a wood structure that you’ll have built over your patio or deck.

It’s open on the top so that it won’t block the sun on its own. However, letting a vine plant make its way over it will create a natural shade that allows the sun to filter through.

8. Craft a Lush Natural Privacy Barrier

If your neighbours are closer than you would like them to be, consider using your landscaping to create a natural barrier.

This is a beautiful alternative to building a fence. Once you have more privacy, you’ll be able to enjoy your Florida yard more.

A simple idea is to choose plants with dense foliage. Let the plants grow and prune them to encourage branching and fill the area. You can use the plants to form a natural wall around the outdoor space.

Another option is to create a more abstract design. You don’t need to build a full all, but you can create landscaping designs in key areas to block the sightlines of the neighbors.

9. Dive into Florida’s Tropical Essence

You don’t have to live in southern Florida to have a tropical garden or grow tropical plants as a part of your landscaping. Most of the state is classified as humid subtropical.

There is a long and warm summer with high humidity. Then the winter is cool yet mild.

So while southern Florida has the official tropical climate, you can still grow tropical plants in the majority of the state.

Birds of paradise are beautiful and can come in bold colors or pure white. Hibiscus comes in a range of colors, including red, orange, pink, yellow, and white.

You can trim the bushes to keep them small or let them grow large to be a natural fence or privacy barrier.

Trends are not limited to inanimate home decor. If you follow the plant world in any capacity, you already know how popular succulents have become in recent years!

It’s easy to see why succulents are so enchanting. Not only do avid gardeners love these curious little plants. They’ve captured the hearts of interior decorators and crafters, as well.

Of course, using succulents in your home and garden decor isn’t just about knowing what looks good. You also need to know how to care for these plants so they can truly flourish.

Keep reading for some of our favorite succulent garden ideas and tips for how you can incorporate these plants into your own decor.

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1. Get Creative with DIY Ideas

Because of their unique structure and coloring, succulents are just as much decor as they are living things.

All you need to do is open social media to see how popular these plants are for things like centerpieces, bouquets or even creating a succulent wreath!

Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box when coming up with succulent garden ideas. And if you love the look of succulents but lack a green thumb, there’s no shame in using faux succulents in your garden design.

The fleshy leaves of living succulents are almost indistinguishable from plastic replicas. Faux plants are an excellent option for an indoor succulent garden that doesn’t require any upkeep.

2. Select Stylish Pots for Succulents

Do you have a habit of buying cute pots that you don’t have a plan for? Are you unsure what plant will look best in your favorite container? Succulents are the answer!

Succulents love being on their own, so there’s no better option for a tiny pot that won’t fit a standard houseplant. You can also plant several succulents in a single planter for a one-of-a-kind arrangement.

A draping succulent like strings of pearls (Senecio rowleyanus) or burro’s tail is the perfect addition to a head-shaped pot. Over time, these plants will resemble leafy hair coming out of the planter.

3. Creating Charming Dish Gardens

Dish gardens are a great way to add some color to your porch, patio, or backyard. If you have space, you can even install a dish garden full of succulents indoors.

Succulents have very short, delicate roots that hate excess moisture. So while many ornamental plants will outgrow a shallow dish planter, succulents thrive in these conditions. Be sure to use a dish with plenty of drainage holes.

You can fill your dish garden to the brim with a variety of succulents for a diverse arrangement. Or you can mix-and-match succulents with statuettes and other decor for a charming fairy garden.

4. Design Captivating Hanging Gardens

Succulents come in all different sizes, colors, and shapes. So why not combine these plants with macrame, chicken wire, or even a decorative birdcage to create a hanging mini succulent garden?

Some of the most unique succulents grow in trailing patterns, making them excellent filler for hanging planters.

If you want to try growing succulents in a hanging pot, popular varieties like strings of beads (Senecio herreianus) and strings of bananas (Senecio radicans) are excellent starter plants.

Planting succulents in hanging pots outside isn’t an issue because you can let excess water drain right onto the ground. But if you plan to keep your hanging succulents indoors, be sure to keep an eye on the soil’s moisture level!

5. Landscaping with Succulents

Many homeowners are surprised to learn that succulents make great landscaping plants. While succulents thrive in arid climates, you can grow outdoor succulents almost anywhere.

Varieties like agave, aloe vera, and cacti are foundational in desert landscaping. Small succulents like echeveria, haworthia, and aeonium make excellent filler.

If you live in a more temperate climate, you can still grow many succulents as annuals. However, there are multiple species that can survive winter temperatures below freezing. Look for hardy varieties of sempervivum and sedum for your outdoor succulent garden ideas.

6. Diverse Succulent Planters

As long as you can accommodate your succulents’ needs, nearly any planter will do. Ensure your container garden design has plenty of drainage, sun exposure, and isn’t too deep for your succulents’ root systems.

Succulents, especially cascading varieties, look incredible in window boxes. You can also use tiered or wall-mounted containers to show off your succulents’ unique growth patterns.

When planning out a succulent planter, you can use the same design principles as you would with any garden arrangement.

Place tall succulents in the middle or back of your planter. Frame the edge with cascading succulents and fill in the gaps with vibrant varieties of echeveria or haworthia.

7. Decorating with Individual Potted Succulents

Potted succulents make great decor for any indoor or outdoor space. Keeping your succulents in separate pots is also an excellent way to keep track of your collection and ensure every plant gets the proper care.

It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of a unique succulent pot or planter. But it’s crucial that you only plant succulents in containers with adequate drainage. Succulents are very sensitive to root rot, and soggy soil will spell the end for your succulent garden.

Shallow pots are ideal for most succulents. If you fall in love with a planter that’s too deep, add a thick layer of loose pebbles to the bottom to encourage efficient drainage.

8. Artistic Succulent Arrangements

As we’ve mentioned, you can use succulents just like you would any flowering plant. You can keep things simple with a potted arrangement, add your favorite succulents to a rock garden, or even design a magical fairy garden.

The great thing about using succulents over traditional annuals is that you don’t need to wait around for them to bloom to enjoy some color! Plant a variety of species to maximize the vibrancy and diversity of your succulent garden design.

You can also use succulents to practice more avant-garde planting styles. Flex your green thumb by creating a living succulent ball or filling a one-of-a-kind reclaimed planter.

9. Build Your Own Succulent Terrarium

The compact growth habits of many succulent varieties are perfect for terrarium gardening. Before you jump into creating your own self-sufficient succulent planting, however, it’s important to know exactly what these plants need.

While succulents can do quite well in terrariums, you can’t treat them like just any old plant. The condensation found in most terrariums is a death sentence for succulents that prefer dry air.

Arrange succulents in a terrarium with an open top to prevent moisture build-up. Use a sandy potting mix and layer rocks underneath for drainage. Keep close tabs on how your succulents respond to their new home and don’t hesitate to make adjustments as needed!

10. Space-Saving Vertical Succulent Gardens

Gardening can take up a lot of space. If you’ve put off expanding your succulent plant collection because you’re not sure where to keep them all, vertical gardening is the solution.

It can also be a great way to ensure every succulent in your care gets enough sunlight when space is tight.

You can install a vertical garden almost anywhere. Many home gardeners have success using an old bookshelf, wooden ladder, or set of tiered flower pots. Others opt to build a setup from scratch.

Building a vertical garden does not need to be a huge project (though it certainly can be if you’re so inclined!). You can easily DIY your own setup using a reclaimed pallet or wall-mounted shelves.

11. Succulents as Unique Wall Features

It’s possible that you’ve never thought of using living plants as wall decor. But we’re here to tell you that potted plants (especially succulents) are an excellent way to breathe life into your home’s interior or exterior walls.

Wall-mounted planters are a no-fuss way to add natural color to your home’s vertical spaces. You can mix different planters or install a matching set for all of your succulents.

Succulents are also a popular choice for so-called “living walls.” These installations can range in size from a few inches to several feet in either direction.

Large-scale living walls are normally created by landscaping professionals. You can construct your own version out of a shadow box or using a stacked rock wall.

To have a beautiful design for your backyard, you need to use a combination of soft and hardscaping. Soft landscaping is the soft materials, such as grass, mulch, shrubs, trees, and soil.

The hardscaping is the concrete, stones, pavers, and gravel. When you combine them, you create varying textures and variety that adds visual interest.

These hardscaping ideas will get you inspired to upgrade your backyard. Perhaps you’d love to add a fire pit to your backyard. Or maybe you’ve always wanted a water feature.

Turn your small yard into a useable space and increase the value of your home with luxury materials.

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1. Incorporate Natural Stones

Using large boulders and rocks as a part of your landscape design can give your property a natural and rustic feel. This is perfect if you want to create a natural feel to your outdoor space. Look for large natural stones that you can have brought in and professionally arranged.

You can look at landscape ideas to get inspired. Use the large stones to build a privacy wall. Pile earth behind them to build a retaining wall. Stack them around a pool and build a fountain into them.

2. Create Inviting Outdoor Fire Pits

Adding an outdoor fire pit to your concrete patio can give you an additional outdoor entertaining space. This hardscape design is perfect for adding an outdoor entertaining space to your backyard.

Build your firepit out of paver or natural stone. Then have a flat stone pad around it that’s large enough to place chairs on. Make it larger so that people can move their chairs closer or further away to adjust how warm they get.

Consider building a stone bench around the fire pit. It can have a curved shape that matches the curve of the fire pit. Building the bench out of stone makes it look like it’s a part of the landscape.

Read more: 49 Fire Pit Ideas

3. Enhance Curb Appeal with Stylish Driveways and Paths

Don’t forget about landscaping your front yard. You can use hardscape ideas to add curb appeal to your home. Start with the driveway.

A basic option is to have a concrete driveway. This isn’t very stylish, but you can make it look nice by pressure washing it and keeping it looking fresh and clean.

For a modern and elegant look, replace the concrete driveway with natural stone tiles or pavers. This can improve the look of your driveway while also improving drainage and having a long usable lifespan. Be sure to pick a stone with a tumbled or hammered finish so that it isn’t slippery when wet.

Read more: 79 Landscaping Ideas for the Front of the House 

4. Elevate Garden Spaces with Decorative Elements

Having a garden is about more than growing plants. You should create an atmosphere by developing a landscape design theme. You can incorporate this into your garden for a cohesive look throughout the entire yard.

Start your hardscape project by building solid concrete or stone planter boxes for your garden. Then build off of these with stone or gravel walkways around them.

If you prefer a more freeform style of garden, you can add hardscape elements to it. Place a bench among the flowers. Add a few statues to fill in empty areas.

5. Maximize Small Yards with Clever Hardscaping

Using hardscaping in your small backyard can help you make the most of your space. Build out your backyard patio with concrete pavers. This lets you smoothly transition from the seating area to the lawn. Now you can have a diverse outdoor living area, no matter how small it may be.

Build raised garden or flower beds along one or two of the walls. This adds varying heights to the space and makes it feel bigger. You’re also adding built-in decor. Install a pole or column and string lights from it overhead. This illuminates the entire space and helps it to feel bigger.

6. Build Opulent Outdoor Spaces with Premium Materials

Turn your hardscape into a luxurious outdoor lying space. Build large patios that you can turn into an outdoor kitchen, swimming pool platform, or outdoor living room.

Cover these areas with a pergola and create some shade. This makes them more enjoyable to use during the hottest months when the sun is shining bright.

Use more expensive materials that you would traditionally find in higher-end homes. Pavers are a popular choice. You could also use slate tile. If you want to create a traditional look, use red bricks.

7. Modernize Your Yard with Contemporary Hardscaping

Give your outdoor living space a modern feel by incorporating landscape lighting. Add lights in the ground that will point upward to brighten up the landscape. Have the lights line the walkway to help people navigate your yard.

To make this hardscape feature work, you should use a variety of hardscape materials. White or dark grey gravel works well as a ground cover around square concrete pavers and blocks of lush green grass. Line the different elements with a solid black piece of metal instead of pavers.

8. Transform Patios and Walkways with Elegant Pavers

Use brick pavers to cover your plain concrete patio. This dresses up the patio and makes it look more luxurious. You can also cover the patio in flagstone for a natural feel of rustic stones arranged together to create a smooth surface.

If you need to create a walkway in your yard, consider using concrete pavers. These are large square or rectangle-shaped pavers that you sink into the ground. Leave some space between them for a modern look.

Properties that have drainage problems need permeable pavers. These leave gaps between each of the pavers to allow water to flow through. This prevents standing water from pooling on the pavers.

9. Functional Elegance with Retaining and Garden Walls

Property that isn’t perfectly flat presents a unique challenge. You can accept the property as-is and its limited use. Or you can build a stone wall to function as a retaining wall. This levels the ground and allows you to create a step-down design.

When building your retaining walls, you can use metal, wood, stone, or concrete. The height and thickness of your retaining wall will depend on how much earth it needs to hold.

If you aren’t experienced, it’s smart to seek out the assistance of a professional experienced in building these walls. Otherwise, you risk the wall collapsing under the weight of the earth it’s holding.

10. Creative Solutions for Sloped Yards

Instead of building retaining walls, you can embrace the slope in your yard. Create a backyard hardscape design that slopes down the property. You’ll need to build water channels into the hardscape to allow for property drainage.

Build it into your lawn to encourage rich growth of the lawn and prevent depriving your lawn of moisture. Steps can also look good because they will follow the slope of the ground.

Large natural stones are perfect for this because they can be set into the earth. You could also use concrete to form the steps.

11. Design Distinctive Walkways for Practical Elegance

A stone walkway gives you a designated place to walk through your yard. This prevents your yard from getting trampled on or killed. It also helps you define the space by having paths that lead to each area of your yard.

Start the walkway at your back door or leading off of your patio or deck. Then have it end at your raised planter garden, fire pit, pond, or pool. You can also have it wrap around your house to the front of your yard. Lay a walkway down in your front yard to increase your home’s curb appeal.

12. Introduce Serene Water Features for Relaxation

Adding a water hardscaping feature to your backyard adds a natural soundtrack to your yard. You can do this with a fountain or small pond. Add natural stones around the edge and under the running water. This tumbles the water and creates more sound.

Scale the water feature to the size of yard you have. A small patio with limited space will look good with a pedestal fountain. A large sprawling property can support something larger, such as a koi pond.

For a modern look and increased privacy, add a water wall to your patio or deck. The cascading water will block your neighbor’s sight while also creating a relaxing atmosphere.

“All gardening is landscape painting.” –  William Kent

Landscaping transforms your property into a stunning creation that welcomes people in. It’s the difference between a dull property you don’t notice and one that’s abundant with curb appeal.

Adding some landscaping to your property can increase its value by up to 13%, so it makes for a great home improvement project.

So what does your landscaping look like? Perhaps the front of your home could use some flower beds. Or your backyard could benefit from some raised garden beds.

Try these simple landscaping ideas on your property and give it a long-overdue facelift. Start on one side of your home and work your way around until you’ve created a cohesive landscaping look around your entire home.

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1. Maximize Backyard Potential with Smart Landscaping

It doesn’t matter if you have a large or small backyard, the right landscaping can make or break the space. Create a landscape design that embraces what you already have, such as building off your patio or hardscape.

You could turn your small yard into an oasis with flowering bushes along the walkway and large plants around the perimeter. For larger backyards that have a large patio or deck, you can place planters.

You could have a small one that’s full of fresh herbs. Or you could have a larger one that runs along one of your fences. Use it to grow fresh vegetables and greens. 

2. Enhance Curb Appeal

Your home’s curb appeal can make or break how others see and value your home. Plant perennials and native plants around your home’s exterior. These plants will look beautiful throughout the year and year after year. This makes them lower maintenance.

Add flower beds along the front of your home. This helps to frame your house and add color. If you live in an arid climate, you can use grasses instead. These are hardy and will thrive with less water. Frame these beds with a decorative stone edging.

3. Create Privacy and Beauty with DIY Landscaping Structures

While you could hire professionals to come in and redo your landscaping for you, this isn’t necessary. With a bit of labor and know-how, you could build a pergola to cover your patio, a fence around your property for privacy, and a trellis for growing plants that vine.

Before you get started, come up with a landscaping design. Plan out your projects and work your way through them one by one. This will take some time but also helps prevent you from becoming overwhelmed or over budget. It helps to create a scale drawing of your backyard and then sketch in your ideas. 

4. Enhane Front Yard Charm with Floral Accents

Boost the curb appeal of your home with plenty of flowering plants. Larger front yards could have an island flower bed in the middle of the yard. Smaller yards can benefit from a small flower bed that lines the front of the house. 

If you have a front porch, place flower pots on it. You could hang flower boxes on the railing. You could also have hanging planters. This creates a more welcoming presence for those that visit you. With these plants, you can use annuals. Then change them out with the seasons.

5. Expanding Your Garden: Diverse Produce and Raised Beds

If you love gardening, then consider expanding your small garden into one that’s much larger. You could have a vegetable garden in one area, another for growing greens, and another for fruits. This would give you a variety of fresh produce throughout the year.

Use raised garden beds to make caring for your plants easier. You won’t have to dig around on the ground, and you can better control the soil composition. Build your beds out of stone, wood, metal, or anything else that will create the right look for the garden style you’re aiming for.

6. Select the Ideal Grass for a Lush Lawn

Having a lush green lawn is the hallmark of beautiful landscaping for many people. The trick is choosing the right grass for your climate and region. While grass may sound expensive, it’s actually one of the most affordable cheap landscaping ideas.

Think about the amount of light and water your yard gets. Then consider the yearly temperatures. You want to choose a grass that can thrive in these conditions. Otherwise, you’ll be fighting nature to keep it alive. Nothing is worse than dead grass that’s crispy and brown. Care for your lawn with regular mowing, weed killing, and fertilizing.

7. Effortless Landscaping with Low Maintenance Designs

If you don’t enjoy gardening or are too busy to regularly maintain your landscaping, then you need to strategically choose low maintenance designs. Instead of choosing plants that need regular trimming and pruning, choose a dense ground cover.

If you have a large deck or patio, place potted plants around the perimeter. Choose ones that flower or are small shrubs. They’ll only grow as big as the pot you put them in.

If you don’t want to deal with any plants, you can skip them altogether. Build a rock garden instead. Place large boulders around the yard and then surround them with pea gravel or sand. Use large stepping stones to create a walkway.

See more low maintenance landscaping ideas for your home here.

8. Maximizing Plant Health with Mulch Choices

Mulch is a must-have for insulating and protecting your plant beds. This applies to both raised beds and garden beds. Once you’ve created your beds, adding plants, and finished the edging, it’s time to add mulch. It will help retain moisture and insulate the plant’s roots from cold and heat.

Several varieties are available. There are large chunks, bark, or finely shredded types. Then you can choose a color; they range from natural light wood to dark brown and even red. Be sure to buy enough to create the right depth. Then check it seasonally to ensure you don’t need to add more.

9. Create Defined Outdoor Pathways

Adding pathways to your backyard gives you and your guests a designated place for walking. This prevents people from trampling over your lawn or gardens.

Mark out your pathways from the exterior door of your home, patio, or deck. Then have the path loop around your backyard or even around to the front of your home.

Finish your walkway with outdoor lighting to make it safer to walk at night. You could use stepping stones or pea gravel to pave the walkway. This will give it a more polished look than simply digging out the grass and creating a dirt path.

See more garden path ideas here.

10. Sloped Landscaping with Retaining Walls

If your property slopes, you have two options. You could embrace the slope and allow it to roll downward. However, this isn’t very useful. Instead, consider building a series of retaining walls. These will gradually step your property down and create several flat usable areas.

You’ll find that this is one of the more popular backyard ideas because it makes previously unusable space functional. Create several outdoor spaces, such as one level for a fire pit, another for dining, and another for a garden.

“Fresh herbs really belong anywhere you put them.”- Alex Guarnaschelli

Whether you’re a beginner learning how to boil water or prepare eggs or an expert with many recipes under your belt, fresh herbs will make your cooking better. There’s no denying that fresh herbs give your food an intense flavor that blooms in the food for an explosive medley in your mouth.

Growing herbs indoors is the easiest way to start incorporating fresh herbs into your cooking. You just need to figure out the best way to grow those herbs in your kitchen. These indoor herb garden ideas will help you take your dishes to the next level.

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1. Simple and Budget-Friendly DIY Herb Garden

You don’t have to spend a lot of money or build an elaborate setup to have fresh herbs growing in your kitchen. All you need to do is create a simple DIY herb garden. You could use some old glass jars and fill them with dirt and add your herbs. You could use jars of different sizes to match plants that may vary in size. For a uniform look, you could collect your jars over time so they all match.

Another option is to save several cans and use them as your planters. If you have more coffee mugs than you know what to do with, why not use them for your herbs?

Whatever you decide to use, consider labeling your herbs. You should also consider decorating your DIY planters to mask their original purpose and turn them into decor. You could wrap them in fabric, paint them, or slide a fancy sock over each one. Use fancy sticker labels that you write each herb’s name on and then stick to your planter. Or buy small plant stakes that you can write the herb’s name on and stick in the soil.

2. Creative Hanging Herb Garden for Small Spaces

If you don’t have a lot of counter or wall space, you’ll have fewer options in where you can set your plants down, so it’s time to get creative. A hanging herb garden eliminates the need for a flat surface. You can put your herb planter anywhere as long as there’s a ceiling.

Why not have flavorful herbs within arm’s reach by hanging a planter next to your stove or workspace? You could have a solid board with notches that you hook your pots onto. They stay in place by counterbalancing against the board. Or you could have multiple baskets that connect by chains or rope.

If you have empty wall space, you could mount several bars or a rack. Then hang individual pots from it. Try to match the style and materials to the rest of your kitchen’s style and decor.

3. Innovative Hydroponics and Aquaponics for Herb Gardening

Not all plants need potting soil to grow. If you aren’t crazy about the idea of having dirt in your kitchen, why not try hydroponics? There are several kits that will make it easy to start growing your own herbs in water. However, this isn’t your only option.

You can easily build your own hydroponic DIY indoor herb garden. You’ll create a mason jar herb garden where the jars are full of water, with small baskets in the top that hold the plants. Skip the herb seeds for this one. This growing method is best for clippings or when you’re growing from the stalk of an old plant, such as chives.

There are some things to watch out for with your water garden. You want the roots to grow into the water, but you’ll need to watch for root rot. This is when the roots see too much water. Another problem is when you don’t maintain the right water level, and the plant dries out. Algae is another common problem that develops with this type of gardening. It occurs when your water sits stagnant for long periods of time.

4. Kitchen Herb Garden as Decorative Accents

Your indoor garden can be more than just a place to grow perennial herbs. You can turn it into the decor. The natural greenery will enhance the look of your kitchen and give it a natural warmth. Look for a place that you can arrange your herb garden to create a decorative accent while also being a good spot for your plants to grow.

Choose a planter that will complement the rest of your kitchen design. A rustic kitchen could have a vintage tin planter. A farmhouse kitchen would look cute with a shallow basket holding a few porcelain or ceramic jars.

For those with a modern kitchen, you could choose a sleek glass or black planter with a square shape and crisp corners. Earthy or bohemian kitchens will look right at home with terra cotta pots. The idea is to create a garden that’s both decorative and functional for growing herbs.

5. High-Tech Modern Herb Planter for the Tech-Savvy Gardener

If you love technology and innovation, consider buying a modern herb planter. These are more than just pots. They are a complete growing system. What makes them stand out is that many come with a grow light. This lets you enjoy the hobby of indoor gardening, no matter what kind of light your kitchen has.

Look for herb garden ideas that will work with the design of your kitchen. You could have a small modern planter that sits on the counter and grows a handful of small herbs. Or you could have a full-sized planter that sits on the floor and grows many herbs and plants.

There are other modern planters that take the guide work out of caring for your herbs. They have a double-walled design that suspends the plant above the water level. Then if you over water the plant, you won’t drown it. If you forget to water it for a while, the plants can still reach the reservoir and pull from the excess water.

6. Diverse Planter Ideas for Unique Herb Gardens

Your options are limitless when it comes to creating your kitchen garden. Sure, you could have your standard windowsill planter where you plant herbs in several small pots and line them up on a shelf. Or you could have a single trough-style planter that you place several herbs inside of.

If you’re handy, you could build your own planter to fit the exact size of the space you have available. Use some spare wood you have lying around and attach a few pressure clamps. Then you can adjust their size to hold a pot suspended in place.

Another cute idea is finding a vintage milk bottle carrier to place mason or other glass jars inside. You can then move the carrier about with the handle. This makes it easy to move your herbs about the kitchen or house to get the ideal amount of light.

Look for ways you can customize your garden. Maybe there’s a sign on it with your name or an inspirational saying that speaks to you. Don’t forget to add the herb labels as the finishing touch.

7. Create a Thriving Herb Oasis in Containers

If you decide to put your herbs in pots, make sure you set them up for success by planting them correctly. You’ll want to use the right type of soil or potting mix. Not all herbs enjoy rich dirt. Some prefer a more arid and sandy composition.

You’ll also want to have proper drainage for your herb plants. You can achieve this with a hole in the bottom of the pot. If this isn’t possible, create a layer of rocks on the bottom. This will create drainage space under the soil for the water to drain away from the roots. However, it doesn’t completely remove the water, so if you forget to water your herbs, the roots can still reach the excess moisture.

Place your potted herbs in an area where they will get as much natural light as possible. This will help them to grow with plenty of leaves.

8. Maximizing Space with Vertical Herb Garden Designs

The beauty of herbs is they don’t need a lot of space. These aren’t like the plants outside in your landscaping or garden; you only need small herb plants to have plenty of fresh seasoning for your cooking. If you lack square footage, then the only solution is to create a vertical garden.

These indoor gardens use the often unused vertical space in your kitchen to grow your plants. You could put this garden idea to practice in your kitchen by hanging a vertical planter on your wall. If you don’t have the wall space, there are tower planters that can hold multiple herb plants on various levels.

To make your vertical planter a success, place the plants that like drier soil on the top and plants that prefer more water on the bottom. Then place the plants that enjoy the sunlight towards the light and those who prefer indirect light on the other side.

9. Wall-Mounted Herb Garden for a Modern Twist

The traditional method for growing herbs and other plants is in pots or planters. However, herb pots aren’t your only option. Instead, you could grow your favorite herbs in a wall hanging. Some planters have multiple spaces for growing several herbs. They are sometimes made from cloth or fabric but can also be wood or plastic.

Mount the wall hanging planter on a blank space on your wall. Then dedicate each compartment to an herb plant. You could have parsley, lemon balm, and basil, to name a few. This keeps all of your plants contained in one easily maintained planter. The separate compartments also ensure that one plant doesn’t infringe on any of the others.

Another option for your wall hanging is to mount bars on your wall. They might look similar to a towel rod. Then hang small pots on hooks from the bar. Ikea has kitchen organizational kits that make this idea easy to implement in your kitchen.

10. Grow a Windowsill Herb Garden

Just like all other plants, your herbs will enjoy the sunshine. If you want your indoor plants to flourish, consider building a windowsill herb garden. The easiest way to do this is by building a single trough for planting different herbs in. This gives you one pot to maintain and water. The downside of this garden is that you risk one plant taking water and nutrients from another.

Your other option is to build a shelf on which you can place several pots. This gives you the freedom to move the plants around as needed to find the perfect growing spot for each one. You can also easily bring the pot with the herb you want to cook with over to your workspace. This eliminates making several trips back and forth as you’re cooking.

If your kitchen faces the wrong direction, your window may not get enough light. You could compromise by putting your herb garden in a different windowsill that does get the right amount of light.