As you know, I can be quite handy when it comes to DIY projects, woodworking and tiling, but I can’t keep a plant alive! This stands true for inside but outside, believe it or not, is a different story!! Two years ago, when we bought this house, we inherited a property that was pristine! The landscaping was perfect; plush grass, bright flowers everywhere, big bushy….bushes! I knew that I had big shoes to fill to make sure I kept it this way and coming from an apartment in Hoboken to nearly an acre of property…we had a lot to learn…the first thing being, how expensive plants can be! With winter [hopefully] nearing end and Spring right around the corner, I’m going to provide you with some tips for cost effective yet beautiful landscaping ideas!!

Depending on what you’re in the market for, compare prices at your local nurseries, but a big tip is go directly to the source. We have an actual farm about 45 minutes away that supplies all of the nurseries in the area with their goods. While this can be a tad inconvenient, it’s worth it for the big ticket items like trees, boxwoods or grasses to line the house or property. We did a mixture of dwarf boxwoods [I wouldn’t recommend] and graziella aka maiden grass to line our porch. We chose these because boxwoods are what you call forever greens, meaning, they stay as they are all year round. The maiden grass is big, hearty, tall sea grass in the later spring to summer and then turns brown and blooms these gorgeous plumes [I’ve pictured them on my instagram] in the fall into winter. If we didn’t get all of this heavy snow, they’d still be that way! The boxwoods and grasses cost us about $12/pc, which is great considering they’re a forever plant! The reason I wouldn’t recommend the dwarfs, are because while they cap out at our desired height and width of 2-3’, we didn’t realize until after the fact, that means that they only grow about an inch a year and will take almost 12 years to mature! We would have rather gotten the next size up, about 3-5’ and trimmed them to what we needed.

The next tip is regarding privacy and aesthetics. Grasses, all the grasses! Now, I am from the beach, so I definitely have a bias towards dune grass, but these bad boys are so beautiful and inexpensive! The best part is, once they’re rooted, you can split them and turn one into 1000! You can cut these down in the fall or the spring, but because I like the plumes, we keep them until spring. As soon as the weather turns, we will cut them down to a little hay bail size and then literally take a spade and split them up! I am moving some hydrangeas and replacing them with the grass along our back fence line. They also grow so quickly, that by summer, they will be large bushes already, perfect for keeping privacy between us and our neighbor!

If you’re looking to bring in some color, Petunias, Impatiens and Begonias have become three of my favorite annuals, specifically New Guinea Impatiens. For perennials, I love Lavender and Astilbe! I spent $600 our first spring here [and yes, I remember the price because my husband reminds me of it often] but since then, I have learned what works and what does not in our hardiness zone. If you don’t know what zone you’re in, google it! It’s so helpful to avoid certain plants not taking and doing well! Now, at most, I spend $1-200 a year on our light landscaping and they grow nice and hearty and stay well into the fall!

Another project that we are in the beginning stages of is planning our hardscaping! We are redoing our patio, pool area, driveway and walkway. It seems most people prefer to have natural stone, such as Travertine or Bluestone; we have friends who have this and it is no doubt, beautiful! Unfortunately, these price points don’t fit into everyone’s budget and for larger projects, like what we’re looking at, we found some more affordable options that provide the same look but offer an added benefit. Since natural stone isn’t as durable in the changing seasons, here in the Northeast, as the engineered materials, options like high-density concrete are nice to have. We will definitely be bringing in a professional for this job!

Some projects can be fun and are well worth the invested time but some can become quite the headache! We choose to have a landscaper mow our yard weekly because it is well worth it for the time saving aspect. Our biggest takeaway, when we think of landscaping, is 1. Can we do it ourselves? and 2. How long will it take us relative to the cost of hiring someone. I enjoy planting but when it comes to edging or prepping our larger garden beds, we bring in the pros for that too. Get a free estimate for your Spring landscaping ideas from Onorato Landscaping LLC to complete your dream outdoor living space. This lawn service company is located in Bergen County, NJ and offers all of the services listed below:

• Lawn Care & Maintenance
• Yard Drainage
• Retaining & Rock Walls
• Walkways & Masonry
• Stairways & Stoops
• Commercial Landscaping & Snowplowing
• and MORE!

Thank you to Onorato Landscaping LLC, for sponsoring this post! As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

XO Kelli