If you own a yard, you can make it your workplace, your territory… or your inspiration. But what does it take to make the yard of your dreams? There is more to it than the equipment you can select by reviews on bumpercroptimes.com: it takes understanding what and why you do. So, here are some ideas on how to make your yard look beautiful and tidy with minimum effort.
1. Lean and Green
Without greenery, your yard will look either too exotic or strictly functional. The perfect option, shaped by centuries, is an area covered with grass and pathways paved over it. No matter if you have a gazebo in the middle, just some benches here and there, flowerbeds, or cute trees you keep at bay to prevent your yard from becoming a garden – green is the color.
When it comes to flowers, it’s the flowerbeds that deserve the most attention. Composing a flowerbed can be quite an art even for amateurs, as it leaves a lot of place for creativity:
- Play with colors and textures. Make distinct borders and sections within flowerbeds. This makes them look exquisite.
- Flower clocks have been made since long ago. Why not select the flowers that open and close at certain moments to form a dynamic picture, text, or ornament?
- Pots can help you structure outdoor greenery as well as indoor plants. Just position them right and conceal if necessary, set them deeper, or hide with plants themselves.
- If you introduce some exotic plants to your yard, make them look like they belong in their spots. Form some landscapes like waterfalls, stone mountains, seashores – small but recognizable. It will take some time to create them and much less to maintain.
- Annual plants that self-seed will minimize your effort on sowing or planting each spring. All you will have to do is fertilize and remove the remnants of last year’s ones.
2. The Path of the Pure
Going along all the pathways of your yard with a broom every morning can be a good meditation, but it takes time. A lot of time. Cleaning the paths manually should be left as a choice, not as a necessity. So getting a leaf blower is a great idea, as it helps you keep clean rather large areas. In addition, it can be used as a snow blower, unless there is too much snow, or it’s wet already.
It is a great idea to leave a paved space for socializing. Not necessarily a gazebo or something roofed at all, but you can have two or more benches there, or just enough space to place a table and a few chairs. This place usually remains empty unless inhabited by guests or family on purpose. For the rest of the time, its work is to be clean, and yours is to clean it.
You can provide some places for solitary enjoyment as well. They will never deceive anyone into thinking they appeared accidentally. So such a spot requires a path to it and a beautiful view from it. It can be made in the same style as, say, flowerbed borders, paved with the same sort of stone, and be the same contrasting color for better styling.
3. I Like to Mow It, Mow It!
What gives the yard the tidiest look is probably its lawns that surround every other object, from trees and flowerbeds to stone hills and fountains. Without mowing, the grass quickly grows wild, so everything looks abandoned and neglected.
While flowerbeds and trees require some special care, flat spots can be processed with a lawnmower on a daily basis. If you don’t have enough time for that, you better opt for a more powerful lawn mower that can handle higher and thicker grass. Go to Green New Lawn for reviews on the latest lawn equipment
Another great idea is using a yard edger, so you can cut the grass at the very edges of the pathways. This way, you can make the internal borders more distinct (as for the outer ones, there are other inspiring ways).
4. Go 3D
Adding height makes a difference. A garden or a park with high trees is far from what you dream of, okay. But adding some cypresses or other vertical trees, a hill at some distance from paths, or a fountain will act as the third dimension. If you choose artificial elements like pillars, you can plant vines nearby, so they will climb up these and make them come alive.
A great thing about these vertical elements is that they don’t require much area to provide the effect they are supposed to make. Taking care of the area around them will not take a long time and much effort. And if you surround them with contrasting plain flat lawns, it will be even easier to process with a simple lawn mower.
5. Borderless
Your yard will look larger if you use its borders as design elements. For example, you can decorate them with flowers, vines, or succulents. It does not necessarily have to be a living fence if you want to minimize the effort required for maintaining it. There are also ways of organizing space so that it looks more spacious. For example, you can change angles, adding extra perspective to the area.
As for the border between the yard and the house, you can play it nice with a greenery garland. This sort of decoration makes the transition between the house and the yard smooth, forming a unified space that embraces both. Not only will it make your yard visually bigger but it will form something more than both your yard and your house. It’s called a microcosm.
6. Living in a Box
Boxes are not only meant for candies and cats. All the equipment you need in your yard, from water hoses to power sockets and extension cords, needs to be kept in special boxes unless being used. Not only does it make them safer but also makes your yard look tidier. When all these tools stand or lie in plain sight, they form the “under construction” sort of impression, causing cautiousness instead of relaxation. On the other hand, keeping all the tools hidden but within your reach makes your yard a place that someone else (gnomes? fairies? little green men?) take care of. You are only here to enjoy.
Looks like an Invitation
These are just basic rules, and applying them takes some more imagination and even more effort. Some of the ideas might be just out of your preferences. Still, we hope these ways would be great for making your yard a real paradise for your soul.
If you liked these ideas (or want to hint to your friends it’s time to get busy with their yards), share this article on your Facebook or Twitter and add your opinion to start a discussion. Or you can make it down here in the comments. You are welcome! Drop your line, relax, and smell the flowers.