Affordable Landscaping Alternatives For Your Lawn
Having the perfect lawn has been the mission of many homeowners. Pulling crabgrass and dandelions has become a weekend chore. Watering daily and fertilizing until the green practically glows at night. It is labor intensive and can become costly to maintain the perfect lawn.
There are alternatives that will enhance the landscaping, help the environment, and save money. Planting clover is one alternative it is low-maintenance and attractive. It has small flowers to attract honeybees, and butterflies. Clover also helps maintain the soil by extracting nitrogen from the air and putting it back in the soil by its root system. Clover does not require regular watering because of it longer root system. Clover thrives in well-compacted soil, whereas traditional grasses will thin out. Clover will over run any weeds making it practically maintenance free.
Decorative colored stone is ideal for flowerbeds or walkways. River gravel is small quarter inch stones that many homeowners are using in lieu of grass. River gravel is ideal for parts of the country that do not receive much rain. Pea gravel though smaller is perfect for flowerbeds, and around trees. It is too small for entire lawn coverage because it will wash away in heavy rains.
Evergreen dwarf trees are ideal they stay green year around and can be used as noise and privacy barriers. They do not require pruning and water only when extremely dry. Purchasing smaller trees and shrubs is economical. Buying trees and shrubs already matured is costly and hard to plant. Use shrubbery instead of fencing for that privacy barrier. Flower bearing shrubs not only enhance the yard they help the environment.