Homeowners have active lives — too much to do and too little time to perform it. What better way to save valuable time than to have a lawn which needs little effort or care, leaving individuals with more opportunities to work on important jobs, spend family time together or increase job hours to provide for a family. There are many methods of decreasing and sometimes even eliminating yard work. Some are very simple, while some need an initial outlay of work and cost.
Xeriscaping
“Xeriscaping” means planting and increasing leaf and plants which require little if any water and minimum maintenance. This is particularly well known in climates with year-round warm weather or desert locations. Plants to think about include shrubs, climbing vines, flowers and herbs. Some popular choices include rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), dusty miller (Senecio cineraria), aloe (Aloe vera) and the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica). Mulch in the kind of bark chips, gravel or small stones can also be used widely in xeriscape landscaping to prevent moisture loss and grass growth and to maintain soil temperature.
Alternative Ground Covers and Surfaces
Planting a ground cover other than conventional grass that requires constant mowing greatly increases personal moment. Certain kinds of ornamental grasses are alternate suggestions for plant life that does not require mowing or raking. Choose from varieties like fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides), mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus) or blue fescue (Muehlenbergia rigens).
Flooring or Patio Space
Covering a huge portion of your lawn using a wooden deck, flagstone, brick, concrete or other permanent materials also makes mowing nearly obsolete. Choose a surface that is compatible with your house structure and other regions surrounding it. Though these surfaces can be quite pricey and require periodic cleaning, sweeping or blowing, they need nowhere close to the high maintenance and strenuous effort that a lush grass lawn requires.
Use Proper Tools
Sometimes the simplest alternative is merely modifying the tools employed for lawn maintenance. If you have several acres, that stodgy push mower has to be replaced using a riding mower. On the flip side, in case you have a very small lawn that hardly has room to flip a mower around in, it may be much easier to replace it with a lightweight grass eater. If trees are part of this natural landscape, put away the small pruning tools and replace them with a rugged chain saw. If evenings are spent hand-watering flowers and plants, it might be logical to set up an automatic sprinkler system.
