Simple Ideas for Taking Care of a Big Yard

Native Plants

• Instead of fighting with Mother Nature to keep your back yard lawn or ornamental garden green and lush, try native plants that are naturally adapted to thrive in your location with little to no involvement from you. With so many native flowers, shrubs and ground-covers available, a low-maintenance native alternative to what you currently grow in your big yard is out there. Not only are many native plants aesthetically attractive and self-sustaining, they generally require less irrigation and no fertilization, therefore drastically reducing the amount of time you'd need to spend managing your big yard. Even if you don't want to overhaul your entire yard, consider converting at least a portion of your lawn or garden to native plants. Even small changes can help simplify your landscaping maintenance.

Wildflower Garden

• If you struggle to find something to fill a big, empty patch in your large landscape, a wildflower garden may be a potential solution. Compared to a traditional landscaping element, such as a lawn or ornamental flowerbed, wildflowers require significantly less maintenance. Once established, a wildflower patch generally self-seeds, keeping itself sustained while attracting beneficial insects that may enhance the health of the rest of your garden. Once established, a wildflower patch typically doesn't suffer from serious disease or insect problems and requires only occasional weeding, depending on how dense the flowering plants grow.

Mulch on Bare Soil

• Weeds are often one of the biggest time-drains when it comes to garden maintenance, and the problem is magnified considerably in a large landscape. Using mulches, such as shredded bark and leaves, helps to reduce maintenance in a big yard; they cover bare soil and prevent weeds from growing. Mulches also can save you watering time because they help conserve soil moisture. Additional benefits include reduced soil erosion, improved soil fertility and a general improvement of the yard's appearance. Apply mulch anywhere you have bare soil, including in garden beds and around trees and shrubs.

Hardscapes

• A hardscape is simply a hard-surface element, such as a brick pathway meandering through a wildflower patch or a hardwood deck where you can comfortably relax among your plants. Hardscaping reduces maintenance needs and provides a durable surface for areas of landscape that get a lot of foot traffic. Converting some of a big yard's green areas into hardscapes can drastically cut back on the amount of time that needs to be spent caring for the yard. Then elements of greenery can be reintroduced into the hardscape areas. For example, adding flower pots or a planted herb container to your patio can soften that hardscape without sacrificing all greenery. The added benefit is that container gardens allow you to enjoy your plants up close without the full maintenance required by an in-ground garden.