As trends change and landscaping becomes overgrown, older homes begin to look outdated and out of place. To give them a fresh look and eye-catching appeal, consider sprucing up your yard with a landscape makeover. You can easily improve the overall appearance of your home and make your outdoor living space an inviting place
Recreating your landscape may seem like an overwhelming mission, however, you’ll see this task can be a rewarding experience that greatly impacts the usability and value of your home. To begin the process, decide on the type of look you’d like to portray in your yard. If you need help visualizing, then turn to a professional landscape architect or designer for ideas and a landscape plan.
When starting your outdoor remodel, be sure to think ahead. If you also intend to renovate the outside of your home, it may be best to complete that work prior to installing a new yard. It is important to ensure one project’s success will not impact the other or you can end up spending more time and money than you planned to complete each project.
There are many new considerations to be contemplated in a landscape design. A very real concern in our area is fire safety in the landscape. Choosing fire-resistant plant material and mulch for the areas around your house can be a very important decision. For example, junipers that were used as foundation plants in many older homes should be replaced because they are highly combustible. If your home is located in a high wildfire hazard area, be sure to visit www.livingwithfire.info to get more information on creating defensible space to protect your home from wildfire.
It is also important to incorporate water conserving ideas for a more affordable and efficient yard. Consider water-wise plants — those that don’t require a lot of water once they’ve been established. A well-designed, efficient irrigation system, installed by trained specialists is a must for conserving water and maintaining healthy plants.
With the hectic lifestyle that most of us live, many homeowners are also focused on creating a low-maintenance landscape. Use plants that are hardy for our high desert climate, slow-growing, and require minimal pruning. Ask an experienced plant specialist to suggest the right plants for your particular yard and tell you how to care for them before making your plant selections. Although no yard is maintenance-free, good choices and planning can free up time working in our yards and reward us with time to enjoy them.
The process of removing, replacing, and choosing new materials can be fun, though overwhelming for many. There are a few ways you can approach your landscape makeover. To begin with, you can find a landscape architect to design the yard of your dreams. A landscape architect is a licensed professional who will work with you to create concepts, sketches, detailed plans, and construction documents that are used for installation. The landscape architect may manage the project for you, or you can select a licensed landscape general contractor to install your project, or you can consider doing it yourself, depending on your skills.
Another option is to work directly with a licensed landscape contractor. Many landscape contractors utilize design professionals or their own talents to a create plan for your yard. The contractor will then use the concept that you chose and install the landscape materials. A landscape contractor can not sell you a landscape plan but will work with you to create a design/build project.
Choosing a licensed professional will provide you with a competent individual to install your landscape project. When choosing a licensed landscape contractor you should look for their Nevada contractor’s license number on their advertisements and business cards. If in doubt, check with the Nevada State Board of Contractors.
For some the idea of design and installing their own project is a challenge welcomed. A select few will have the will and incentive to perform the mental analysis and physical labor associated with a landscape installation. There are many landscape magazines, books, and web pages that can be used as inspiration for your new yard.
A good place to start is Plan & Plant with its simple, four-step approach to a do-it-yourself landscape plan.
Take the time to search out knowledgeable professionals with experience, reliability and awareness of our local plants and climate. Work with your licensed professionals to design and incorporate all these elements into your new design. With a little bit of planning and understanding you can be on the way to transforming your outdated landscape into a something extraordinary.