A nice little low-maintenance backyard pond sounds lovely.
So you head out back with a shovel and a garden hose and wonder out loud where you can get a few pretty fish to toss in.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Building a backyard pond is a bit more complicated than that.
Does landscaping increase your home value? It absolutely does.
But some improvements are worth more to home buyers than others.
Add a deck or patio? People love that.
Tear up the lawn and install a skateboard park? Only your 14-year-old loves that.
You want to be smart with your landscaping so you get a good return on investment (ROI.)
Landscape planning? No problem. It’s well underway, right? You’ve been pondering this for years.
Let’s see, your dream landscaping includes a multi-level patio; fully equipped outdoor kitchen with pergola; a stunning grove of river birch; luxury lighting; an expansive fire pit; a babbling brook with a splashy waterfall; and a mini golf course. The heliport might have to wait till Phase 2.
Pretty much everything needs an update once in a while, right?
Your car. Your phone. Your hairstyle. (No offense.)
Same for your irrigation system. Unless it’s pretty new, you should upgrade your irrigation system so it can work its best out there, giving your lawn and landscaping the water it needs to thrive, without wasting water — and your money.
Some of the best flower garden tips come at the very beginning, long before the first purple coneflower blooms.
They’re all about taking time to properly prepare the planting bed, to make sure those cheerful Shasta daisies and pretty pink phlox really thrive.
Then what? What about weeding? Feeding? Burping? (Nope, that last one’s just for babies.)
How do you maintain a flower bed?
