5 Tips for Landscaping Your New Home

by David Search

If you've just purchased a new home, your home's landscape is a blank slate for you to shape as you see fit. Completely overhauling the landscaping may feel overwhelming at the beginning, but with a few helpful tips, anyone can make it a manageable task.

1. Plan Your Landscaping

If you've decided to start from nothing with your new landscaping, make a detailed plan before you begin. You can look at other landscapes around your area to get inspiration for your own design. When you start to get an idea of how you want your landscape to look, sketch it out carefully. In your sketch, makes notes of which areas of your garden receive the most sunlight. This is a great time to start thinking about what you plants you intend to use.

A good landscaping plan can take you a lot of time, but it will help your garden succeed and flourish.

2. Investigate Your Irrigation Options

If you plan an ambitious landscaping project, you will need to explore your irrigation options. Your new home may already come equipped with a thorough network of sprinklers, or you may need to install more. Your watering options will significantly impact how well your new plants will thrive.

3. Examine the Soil

The soil surrounding your new home may require some extra help and nurturing before you can begin to plant. If you are buying a newly constructed home, the dirt around the house may be low quality and have suffered the ill effects of nearby construction. You may need to replace this soil with more suitable and fertile soil to give your new plants a chance to grow.

4. Buy the Right Plants

If you haven't already carefully researched the plants you want to use, do so now. If you're new to landscaping and gardening, avoiding buying difficult plants that need frequent care and attention. Native plants are ideal because they require little special care from you. You should also look for the healthiest plants you can find. Avoid purchasing any plants that look sick or tired. You are likely not yet familiar with how well plants will grow around your new house, so choose hardy plants that can survive most conditions.

5. Develop Over Time

After your plants have began to take root and your landscape has started to form, don't hesitate to edit. Over time, as your experience grows, you may find that some plants and flowers just aren't working in your design. Landscaping presents a unique living canvas that you can continually modify. Don't be afraid to try new things and make mistakes. You can always try again with a different plant.
Some individuals quickly discover they undertook more gardening than they could handle. An ambitious project has the potential to go awry and turn into a mess of weeds. If your garden is becoming too much for you to handle, consider hiring help or removing some of the more difficult plants. Your landscape should be a joy and not a chore that consumes all of your free time.