Spring Landscaping Tips for Beginners

Spring has sprung, and while the flowers are pretty, lawn maintenance can be overwhelming. If you’re new to homeownership or yard maintenance, we’ve got some easy spring landscaping tips for beginners. Make your yard look amazing all year long—without spending hours on maintenance.

Spring Landscaping Tips for Beginners

Lawn and garden maintenance doesn’t have to take up your entire weekend. It’s quite possible for homeowners to increase curb appeal without spending much time or money.

1. Be Realistic About Your Time and Space

Whether you’re a new homeowner or you’ve had your property for decades, the first rule of landscaping is to set realistic expectations. Consider your space: do you have a large yard that requires you to spend your time mowing and edging? Or do you have a small yard where you can spend more time tending to plants? Do you want to dedicate a few hours a week to your outside space? Or would you rather create a low-maintenance outdoor space that requires no time at all?

It’s easy to go all-in when starting your spring landscaping. “This year will be the year,” you think to yourself. “I’m going to grow a garden, keep my yard mowed and trimmed, and have the greenest grass in the neighborhood!” But alas, by summer, your planters are dead, your grass has several yellow patches, and your herb garden died months ago.

Don’t set yourself up for failure. Be realistic about how much time you want to devote to your yard.

2. Start with Fertilizer and Weed Control

The easiest way to mitigate weeds is to fend them off early. Apply a weed killer, available at your local home improvement store. Weed killers come in both liquid and dry forms, so choose whatever method works best for you.

A strong, healthy lawn can also keep weeds from taking over your yard. Consider adding fertilizer in the spring to give your grass a healthy head start.

Follow all manufacturer’s directions and choose products designed specifically for your type of grass.

3. Add Fresh Mulch

Fresh mulch adds a bit of freshness to your space while also serving several other important functions for your flower beds:

• Blocking weeds
• Controlling moisture
• Enriching the existing soil
• Protecting plants from frost and freezes

Whether you have a few low-water plants in your yard or an entire flower garden, mulch will be beneficial all year long. For best results, apply mulch early in the spring, before your garden really starts to bloom.

Mulch is an inexpensive landscaping staple; your city might even have free mulch available.

4. Brighten Up Your Space with Potted Plants

Potted plants are an easy way to spruce up your space. Colorful pots can add color and interest to your yard. Or make the plants the star, using monochromatic planters filled with vibrant flowers and greens.

To create an interesting display, choose pots of varying shapes and heights. Plants should also differ in size, height, shape, and color. Mix tall grasses with draping petunias or vines. Or add succulents for a lower-water and lower-maintenance option.

Don’t have a green thumb or an eye for floral design? No problem! Most garden centers and home improvement stores will have ready-to-pot arrangements that you can simply drop in a planter and enjoy.

5. Embrace Xeriscape

Homeowners who live in dry climates—or those who simply don’t want to spend the time watering, mowing, and edging—might consider xeriscape, an attractive and low-maintenance landscaping option.

Xeriscaping is often misunderstood as a drab and dreary desert landscape; concrete and rock with a few cacti smattered here and there. That’s not the case. Xeriscaping is simply a landscaping method designed to reduce water usage. Xeriscape gardens can be colorful, beautiful, and interesting, all while providing a cost-effective and low-maintenance option for the owner.

Examples of xeriscape plants include lavender, pines, ornamental grasses, succulents, and many drought-tolerant flowers.

Spring is the perfect season for starting your xeriscape garden. Learn more about creating a xeriscape yard here.

6. Keep It Simple

Most importantly, keep your landscaping simple and easy, especially if you are a beginner. Simple lawns do not have to be boring lawns. There are plenty of ways to liven up your yard and create curb appeal without spending dozens of hours and hundreds of dollars.

Make your yard a place of enjoyment and pride—whatever that means to you.

If you’re the crafty type, check out this blog, where we feature 15 easy DIY projects to spruce up your curb appeal.

What are your favorite landscaping tips for beginners? Share them with us in the comments!