If you’re like me, you work hard all week, and the last thing you want to do is spend your weekend doing yard work week after week. Last summer, during a particularly brutal heat wave, I reached my breaking point and decided enough was enough – I had to do something about the amount of time I was spending taking care of my lawn.
There are lots of products out there that are advertised as making yard work easy and less time consuming. After lots of research I made a plan to change my approach to yard work. The changes, products, and services I now use make it easy to take care of my lawn and keep my home looking great.
I know I’m not the only one who loathes cutting the lawn only to have to cut it again next week so here are 6 reasons I don’t hate yard work anymore. Try making any of these changes to your lawn care routine and get your weekends back.
1. New Landscape Design
Perhaps the simplest way to make lawn care easier is to reduce the size of your yard. No, I don’t mean selling off your property. Instead, consider increasing the size of your existing landscaping. You can do this in a number of different ways.
One way could be to install a large patio or fire pit. This will help reduce the green area that must be taken care of and mowed. But, it can also be costly by the time you factor in cement, pavers, etc. A more affordable solution is to simply make larger walkways and flower beds. By expanding the size of your flower beds you can keep greenery without the work (it’s much simpler to manage plants than use the weed trimmer every weekend. Just make sure to use landscaping fabric to prevent weeds.
If you need more ideas for simplifying your yard maintenance, consider hiring an online landscape designer. They’re much mire affordable than their off-line counterparts, and just as professional.
2. Plant with Purpose
When choosing plants for your lawn you want to pick your plants with purpose. You can do this by sticking to native plants as much as possible. Why native plants? Native plants are more likely to do well in your yard’s conditions than some exotic variety. Plants require a specific type of soil composition, acidity level, moisture level, temperature, etc. Choosing plants already growing in your area ultimately means less work for you.
When it comes to flower beds and hedges, you want to pick bushes and shrubs that are low maintenance and evergreen so your home is always looking great. Selecting the correct bush can make your life so much easier while adding the pop of color you want. Popular bushes that are low maintenance include Azalea, Boxwoods, Forsythia, Heather, Hydrangea, Juniper, and Weigela.
3. Deliberate Mulching
Trimming can be fatal to your plants and young trees in your yard. A single nick in the trunk of a young sapling can be a death knell. One way to prevent this from happening is to simply keep the trimming action away. This can be done by adding a ring of mulch around your trees and shrubs you want to protect. You can make these mulch rings as large as you want and edge them mowing borders for further convenience.
To make the mulch ring, first decide how large you want the ring around the tree. Next lay down landscaping material. This will help prevent weeds from popping up through the mulch. Once you have the landscaping fabric laid, you can add the mowing border, which will help keep the mulch contained.
When adding mulch, be sure to take into consideration the drainage in your yard. If your yard is well-drained or dry you can add a layer of mulch that is between 2 to 4-inches deep. However, if your yard tends to be damp, you want a layer that is no more than 2 inches deep. As you lay the mulch, be sure to keep it away from the base of the tree (approximately 3-inches away) to avoid root suffocation, disease, etc.
4. Low Lying Walkways and Mowing Borders
The reality is that the more things in your yard to mow around, the more time it will take to deal with your yard. Rather than just mowing, you’ll have extra trimming and edging that must be done on a regular basis. Instead, consider installing a paver path that goes along with the contour of your lawn. This walkway can be installed at such a height that a mower can simply pass over it without damaging the blades. Plus, this type of walkway is affordable to install.
Another way to reduce the amount of trimming and edging is to install mowing borders along the edge of your flower beds, fences, and buildings. Again you would want these to be installed at such a height that the mower can simply pass over top of them without damaging the mower. Mowing borders let you simply use your mower to keep your lawn trim plus gives a nice polished look to your landscaping.
5. Lawn Care Subscription
Keeping your lawn looking great means understanding what it needs and how to take care of it. But, the reality is that most homeowners have no idea what kind of grass is in their yard or how it should be tackled for maximum health. Enter lawn care subscription service.
Rather than play a guessing game of which product will work with your yard, services like Sunday take the confusion out of the equation. When you get a Sunday subscription you’ll get a soil, climate, and lawn analysis that will determine what care your lawn needs each season. Once your lawn’s needs are determined, you’re sent a box with the products you need to maximize your lawn’s health, all you have to bring is the hose.
The products that Sunday sends are customized to your lawn’s exact needs. Plus, once it’s delivered you’ll know it’s time to fertilize your lawn. Another plus side of using Sunday is that their products are made with bio-based formulas using ingredients such as molasses, seaweed, soy protein, and beets. These bio-based formulas help nature do its work while staying safe for your family and pets. This is true for all of Sunday’s products including lawn nutrients, weed control, grass seed, and pest control.
If the thought of fertilizing your yard or figuring out which pesticide to use is overwhelming to you like it was for me, then Sunday’s smart lawn plan is the perfect solution.
6. Using a Robot Lawn Mower
Everything is being automated these days, but perhaps the thing I’m most excited about is the robot lawn mower. Buying a robot lawn mower was by far one of the best purchases I have made. For starters, I no longer have to spend an hour or two every weekend mowing the lawn, getting extra gas, etc. I just set it and forget it.
You can find a variety of robot lawn mowers available in the market for lawns of all sizes. Plus, most of them are incredibly easy to set up using perimeter wires or GPS technology. Once you’ve set the boundaries, simply schedule the mow time. Because robot lawn mowers are electric they are far quieter than a regular lawn mower, meaning you can start early in the morning or run later in the evening.
You’ll be able to get the perfect cut since you can adjust mowing height, cut pattern, etc. If safety is a concern you don’t have to worry. Robot lawn mowers are designed with numerous safety features such as bumpers, collision sensors, pick-up sensors, and GPS theft sensors.
Yard Work Doesn’t Have to Suck
Finding the solution to make you not hate yard work anymore is not going to happen instantly. It is going to take some trial and error to see exactly what works for you and your budget. Some of the solutions are simple, while others require a massive overhaul of your existing yard, so you ultimately have to decide which solution is going to give you the most bang for your buck.
Some homeowners have a relatively simple yard and therefore don’t have as much stress about the amount of edging and trimming they have to do. However, if your yard has lots of obstacles, trimming may be a higher priority to address. You’ll also need to make the decision of whether you’re going to tackle these projects head-on in a DIY manner or if you have the budget to call in a team of professionals.
For me, I found that a little bit of grit and hard work at the beginning has paid off. My yard work now takes me a fraction of the time and my yard is looking better than ever. I highly recommend sitting down and making a plan of what changes you can make to your yard to simplify your yard work and get your weekends back.
