Landscaping Ideas: 100+ Ways to Transform Your Yard
Next, you’ll need to decide on a material for the privacy fence. Basic wood and vinyl fences remain popular choices, but modern ideas that include basket weave designs, chevron shapes, and horizontal wood planks have been popular in recent years. Bamboo, repurposed pallets, and other recycled materials are certainly a go-to for sustainable and inexpensive solutions.
Once a privacy fence is built, you can further dress it up to make it stand out from the rest in the neighborhood. Hanging baskets provides a spot to display cascading flowers or succulents, and a colorful mural can liven up an otherwise dull façade. Plantings at the base of the fence soften hard lines and add to your home’s curb appeal.
If you don’t want to put up actual walls, privacy fencing can be disguised as part of natural fencing. A streamline of boxwood creates a manicured surround. Evergreen plantings, like gorgeous cypress trees, evoke Mediterranean vibes. And a large flowering hedge, say with magenta azaleas, is something out of a botanic garden.
A patchy lawn is a telltale sign of neglect. No one wants to be that house on the block. Regular mowing, watering, and weeding are all helpful, but they can’t guarantee a lush and green lawn. The trick to an emerald yard is seeding grass.
Even if your house started out with a good—or even great—lawn, you’ll need to reseed it every three to four years to keep it healthy. Luckily, it’s a fairly straightforward DIY-type task that doesn’t take too much time or effort, at least not if you have an average-size yard.
To determine the type of grass seed you need, consider your local climate. There are two main types of grasses: warm-season grasses that begin active growth in late spring and are more heat-tolerant, and cool-season grasses that grow better in cooler climates. From there, you’ll have several varieties to choose from like Bermuda, fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and more. It’s best to plant warm-season grasses in the late spring or early summer, and cool-season lawns should be seeded in the fall.
You’ll also want to take note of how the grass is used. Are kids running around playing tag or ripping up the turf in a weekly soccer match? The functionality may also affect how you want the grass to look and feel. Sturdier grass varieties tend to be less silky.
Once your lawn is seeded, focus on watering. The first few days and weeks post-seeding grass require a daily dose of water, possibly more if you’re in a hot and dry climate. Once the seed is established, grass will need less water, especially if you get regular rain showers.
