Landscaping with the Whole Family

Landscaping doesn’t have to be something that is left to the professionals. It’s something we can do on our own or even as a family. Here are some simple landscaping ideas that are so easy the whole family can help you do it. So get the family together next weekend and work together making your yard the best in the whole neighborhood without having to spend a whole lot.

1. Start a garden. If you already have a spot without grass, then that’s perfect – if not, then you will need to kill your grass in the area you want your garden. To do this, lay a thick layer of newspaper over the grass where you want a garden and then put a layer of mulch on the newspaper. Once the grass is killed you can remove the newspaper and place fresh soil and begin planting.

Know the type of environment you’re planting in. Is it sunny or shady? What is the soil like? When you go purchase your plants or bulbs, ask at the nursery for help in choosing plants that grow best given the conditions of your yard.

2. Create a landscape design. This isn’t just for the professionals. They all use five basic things when designing a landscape. Color, form (shape of the plant), line (how the grouping of plants makes the eye move), scale (size of the area you work in), and texture.
3. Water the lawn and the plants. You can do this with a sprinkler, but for the garden you might want to consider a more hands-on approach. A watering can and a small child are great at watering the garden. And they usually love it!
4. Remove weeds. You can use a weed whacker for bigger jobs, but in the garden, good old-fashioned weed pulling will keep your garden healthy and looking good. Another great job for children.
5. You can create a great backyard space on your own by adding simple things like a fire pit. Just dig a small round trench and layer it with gravel and sand. Then place large stones around the perimeter to create your fire pit to use for backyard barbecues or just sitting around the fire.
6. Build do-it-yourself walls and patios. This might not seem like something you can do yourself, but the benefits of the internet are that there are all sorts of tutorials and easy-to-follow videos for doing this stuff yourself. With the proper space carved out and a nice sunny Saturday afternoon to work (and a few friends), you can really create your own little patio or rock wall to really add pzazz to your landscaping design in your yard.

Don’t go at any of this alone. Have a plan in advance and talk to some friends and family who have done some things you like in their own yard and see if you can get them over to help you. Remember to give age-appropriate jobs to the kids like weeding and watering for maintaining certain parts of your landscape.

You can really create your own beautifully landscaped yard by yourself for much cheaper than hiring a professional – if that’s what you want to do, that is. It’s a great way to begin working together with the family and do something you all can have pride in and sit around and enjoy together as a family. So what’s your next do-it-yourself project with the family?