Landscaping?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-05-2004
Landscaping?
5
Wed, 05-03-2006 - 10:14am
Last Fall we took out all of our landscaping, it was AWFUL! Now, we need to replace it, and we're thinking about doing it ourselves. We know someone that could do it for us at a reasonable price, but I think I would like to help my dh with it and see what we can do. We really dont have that big of an area to fix. Has anyone done their own landscaping before? Any tips or advice you would like to share?? Any bushes/plants/flowers that you love? Thanks!
Kate

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: kate923
Wed, 05-03-2006 - 11:20am

Well, I'm one to kill plastic plants. I am totally clueless when it comes to this stuff, although I love nature (go figure). My DH did all the landscaping himself on our property, and we have an acre+, but much of it is pine trees. I watch him put down mulch, mow the grass, trim stuff, etc. just because I like to see the muscles in his arms when he works physically ;) (hey, I'm just being honest!! LOL!) but I have no clue what he's doing. The lawn looks great, though, as of this week!!

One thing that I think has helped Michael keep the yard looking nice is that we had a built-in sprinkler system put in in 2004. It keeps the grass very lush and dark green and thick. He also uses that Miracle Grow (or some organic derivative) that he hooks up to the hose. Other than that, I'm pretty clueless.

Wish I could help you more! I know my husband loves to work out in the yard in the sun, and he does a beautiful job all by himself with a lot of property, so I'm sure it can be done between the 2 of you. Good luck!!

Sofia




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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2006
In reply to: kate923
Wed, 05-03-2006 - 11:43am
depending on where you live, dogwood trees are pretty an so are bradfer paers (tree)an elephant ears, the big ones are nice an grow quickley make anice border too an the smaller ones you can get in diffrent color. hope you have fun , i like to do that kind of stuff, later, bethney
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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-31-2006
In reply to: kate923
Wed, 05-03-2006 - 11:51am

Hi, Kate. I'm a little like Sophia in that I let dh do all the lawn work. Our house has a lot of landscaping. The previous owner actually had it professionally done. We think they got ripped off! We've pulled up a lot of the stuff this year and are planning on planting replacements soon. They had a lot of pidly little ugly bushes and some larger bushes full of thorns. Some of the other stuff is nice though. Decorative grasses are pretty popular. They're very easy to care for, no pruning, you just chop them off in late fall or early spring and they grow right back. I also love lilac bushes. I have one out front in front of my dining room windows and it's blooming right now. I have the window open and it smells so good. I've also noticed the trend of using large rocks. It's very pretty and you don't have worry about it dying or needing pruned. We'll probably be putting in a few. There are some beautiful flowering trees in the neighborhood, but I'm not sure what they are.

Erin

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
In reply to: kate923
Wed, 05-03-2006 - 2:19pm
Good luck with your efforts! When we built our home in Indiana we did all of our own landscaping and bought all of our shrubs, trees, and flowers through an landscaping auction. We save a lot of money by doing it ourselves and had fun doing it...(per kids!)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: kate923
Wed, 05-03-2006 - 2:28pm

In the midst of our own landscaping at this time. We just bought an absolutely adorable tree. It is a dwarf pussywillow. It looks like a miniature weeping willow, but with pussywillows on it. I just love it, and we put it in the middle of the area we are landscaping. It will be the focal point of that garden. We are doing all of our own landscaping, too. We are actually enjoying it. I highly recommend using as many perennials as you can. That way, you don't have to plant every year, as you do with annuals. Another thing I can recommend, is invest in some nice landscaping books that are geared for your area. Home Depot has especially nice ones. Good luck and have fun, Kate!!

Wendy

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