Low-Maintenance Ways to Add Character to Your Landscape

Photo by Chen Liang-Dao via Shutterstock

As a homeowner, sometimes you want to change things up about the appearance of your home, and a terrific way to do that is with a slight change to your landscape. Here are a few ways to make a positive, aesthetic impact on your landscape and keep your home fresh and new.

Mix in Mulch

One colorful way to make a significant visual impact, and help provide sustainably healthy soil, is to introduce some new mulch into your garden beds. There are distinct types of mulch that you can use depending on the design, color scheme and types of foliage in your landscape. There is natural bark mulch, chipped cedar or other softwoods, which look great under a more rural-looking scape.

If you have a more modern look to your landscape, you can always go with painted mulch (several brands make varied colors including red, brown and black painted wood chips) that add a great color pop. And of course, you can always go all natural with your mulch, by saving your grass trimmings, fallen leaves and other yard scraps and spread it in garden beds for a nutrient-rich natural mulch.

Try a Rock Garden

Another sustainable way to change up the visual impact of your landscape is to convert a garden bed (or garden beds) into rock gardens. A rock garden is a beautiful, minimal maintenance, easily sustainable option that is also very drought-friendly. You can make a rock garden with several large boulders or stones surrounded by smaller rock, different types of gravel or crushed rock. You may even opt to add a couple of succulents or hearty, drought-tolerant plants (like rosemary or boxwoods), and you’ll have a beautiful landscape that is very water-efficient and low maintenance.

Plant a Tree

A new tree in the yard makes a big addition to your landscape that will last for many years to come. A beautiful, leafy maple or malleable, cypress tree can add variety, color and shade to your yard. With your innovative ideas on sprucing up your landscape, all you need to do is get your gardening gear and get to it! Your family, friends and neighbors will all be sure to notice your new rock garden, mulched beds or new tree next time you have company. And you’ll get that incredible satisfaction that comes along with a visually stimulating addition to your landscape.