The outdoor landscape of your home is more important than you’d think. Not only does it create the first impression people have of your home, but also gives you access to a private outdoor space where you can recline and relax.
Here are a few landscaping errors you should avoid when redesigning your front yard.
Ignoring Functionality
We all want our landscape to look beautiful and make a great impression on guests and onlookers. However, if you focus solely on the aesthetics, your front yard may look like something you’d see in a garden magazine, but could also create quite a few challenges for you and your family.
By all means, beautify your landscape. What you shouldn’t do is forget how you plan on using the area and the functionality it’ll have. For example, if you have kids, you don’t want to take away all that outdoor space from them and make it a no-playing zone, do you? Make sure you leave some grassy areas for them to kick around a soccer ball or make snow angels. Similarly, adding one too many pathways or steps along the yard will just make it more difficult for people to get across the landscape, especially during winter when everything’s covered in snow.
As you customize your landscape, make sure you keep its functionality in mind.
Cluttering the Space
Another landscaping mistake homeowners tend to make is cluttering their space with too many plants and decorative accessories. Yes, adding plants and shrubberies is a great way to brighten up your front yard. That doesn’t mean you need to cover every corner with potted plants or urns, though. And adding a fountain in an already small yard isn’t exactly the best idea either.
When redesigning your landscape, remember: less is more. A sculpture in the corner with colored mulch and a few plants around will give your front yard a classy look. Three different sculptures, a miniature waterfall, a birdbath, and a bunch of hanging and potted plants spread out across the area will make it look cluttered.
Neglecting Your Hardscape
Finally, don’t forget about the hardscaping features of your landscape. While beautiful plants and garden accessories sure liven up the space, the hardscape structures are the ones holding them all together.
Poorly planned paving, sidewalks, pathways, decking and stonework aren’t just aesthetically unappealing, but also serve as injury risks. You don’t want to trip on uneven pavement, and you definitely don’t want a guest sustaining an injury on your premises.
Make sure you hire professional landscaping services to design your area or smoothen out any uneven turfs and surfaces. Our team at Stone Solutions Maine can help you with your custom outdoor services and hardscaping, call us today for more details!