Your yard is an extension of your home. You use it to play, eat, relax and entertain your friends. It also plays a central role in your home's curb appeal.
But if you're like many people, you may avoid updating your yard because you think it's too expensive or takes too much work. Here are some ideas on how to reinvigorate your yard without huge investments of time and money. Most, if not all, of these projects can be completed in just one weekend.
Let there be light
Adding exterior lighting is an easy way to make warm spring evenings last longer, while preventing dangerous falls and deterring strangers, says Colleen Maiura, a spokeswoman for home-improvement retailer Lowe's.
Solar lighting is an option, even for not-so-handy homeowners. The job requires no experience or wires. Each stand-alone light fixture can be staked into the ground. The cost: $30 for a set of six solar path lights.
Another popular option is low-voltage lighting. In this setup, a buried, low-voltage cable plugs into an outlet and connects each light along a path. A 12-light kit runs about $50.
Fertilize and seed the lawn
It's a good idea to fertilize your lawn one to four times a year. It's a one- to two-hour job that can lead to a healthier, prettier and more resilient yard. You can fill in bare spots in your lawn, prevent weeds and make your grass more durable to foot traffic and pests.
Plan on spending $15 to $25 for a bag of fertilizer that covers 5,000 square feet of grass. Some stores also sell a seed-fertilizer combo called Sta-Green with Nitro-Fuze for about $23.
David Salman, founder and chief horticulturist at High Country Gardens in Santa Fe, N.M., suggests using organic fertilizers, which cost about the same as traditional fertilizers but avoid their chemicals. Fertilizers high in phosphorous can enter drainage systems and bodies of water. This can create algae blooms that suck up oxygen and kill fish and plants.
For about $34, you can also buy any number of eco-grass seeds, such as Pearl's Premium, No Mow Lawn Seed, EcoLawn and Pennington Smart Seed. They need less water than traditional grass seeds but grow slower.
To start: Rake the seeds lightly in bare spots so they contact the soil. Then apply a starter fertilizer to the lawn and water thoroughly. You'll also need a spreader, which can cost $10 to $50.
Fix your fence
A fence in good condition not only improves the look of your home but also keeps kids and pets in and unwanted visitors out.
A chain-link fence, once installed, can be maintenance-free. But wood fences often need post replacements or new panels, says Chris Long, a Home Depot employee in Chicago.
Wood panels that are 8 feet wide cost $25 to $100 per section, and fence posts can be $10 to $50 each. Rotten posts often must be dug out, but they sometimes can be pulled out of the ground using a hi-lift jack. New gate hardware can run $5 to $25 apiece and can fit in old holes, with longer screws, or in new spots.
Constructing 25 feet of fence can take about half a day, for one person.
Trim bushes and trees
Pruning your trees and shrubs improves how your yard looks. It ensures they fit in nicely with your landscape and can encourage new blooms on flowering bushes. But the task also helps you protect your investment so you enjoy your trees and bushes for years to come.
Pruning trees in their first two to four years can help keep them sturdy and resistant to storm damage, Salman says. Removing crossed and excessive interior branches creates good air circulation through the foliage to reduce disease. Removing forked stems at the top of the tree creates a single tip, or "leader," and helps to keep a tree straight.
Most trimming should be done in the fall or winter, when many trees are dormant. But prune flowering bushes each spring, after they bloom, to ensure new growth, Maiura says.
Install a sprinkler system
Tired of setting a timer and dragging the hose around your yard to water? You can save that time and effort — and ensure you don't overwater or underwater your yard — with an automated irrigation system. If you understand the basics of irrigation-head layout, you can install a sprinkler system yourself, saving thousands of dollars in labor but perhaps adding an extra weekend to the project.
First, measure your yard and sketch a general map of where you will place the sprinkler heads. Assume three different heads will hit each point in the grass, and each will spray 10 to 20 feet, says Rich Leeman, president of Landscape Technology Group, a landscape firm in Vail, Colo.
A typical lawn has six to 10 watering zones, and each zone could cost $250 in piping supplies. Consider renting a trencher for $100 to $150 a day to cut the digging time to two hours per zone from five. "It will save a lot of time and back-breaking digging," Leeman says.
Lay a brick or flagstone patio
A brick or flagstone patio can be a great space for entertaining and relaxing. A 150-square-foot patio may have room for a table, a grill and some potted plants, Leeman says.
You'll need a shovel, a rake and a wheelbarrow for the job — and perhaps three or four friends to help, Leeman says. Plan on spending about $7 per square foot for flagstone and $4 per square foot for brick, including sand and gravel.
Power wash the deck
Cleaning your deck is an essential part of outdoor maintenance and should be done once or twice a year, Maiura says. You may also want to inspect the structural integrity of your wood deck, checking for loose boards, protruding nails or corroded deck connectors, she says.
The easiest way to clean a deck is by using a power washer, which removes dirt and grunge quickly. You can rent one for $40 to $50 for a day for a quick job. "You otherwise could spend hours scrubbing with chemicals," Long says.
Long suggests using a fan-spray tip with a deck-cleaning solution to power off the dirt. Be careful to use only minimal pressure to avoid damaging the deck. A long-handled deck brush can help with stubborn spots, he says.
Plant a xeriscaped garden
Want a new look that doesn't require upkeep? A xeriscaped garden, one using drought-tolerant plants that need little water, requires less maintenance than a traditional garden. And it doesn't have to resemble an abandoned parking lot filled with cactus and rock. You can create a colorful garden that attract butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds just by using plants such as lavender, Russian sage, yarrow, sedum and salvia, all of which thrive in dry conditions.
Salman suggests starting with a small area of your yard, such as 5-by-5-foot section. Add high-quality compost and organic fertilizers to the soil. The investment: one day and about $130, he says.
Find "paint-by-numbers"-style maps with lists of plants for xeriscaped gardens at High Country Gardens' website.
Add a water feature
Creating a water feature in your yard can add an attractive element that draws birds and provides a soothing sound. A simple fountain requires a $40 water pump and a power source, while a larger pond can cost as much as $2,000 in materials alone.
A small pond can be made using a plastic tub placed inside landscape block walls. You can dig out a larger pond if you are planning on having fish and aquatic plants. A pond liner costs $30 to $100, stone will total about $500, and a pump that circulates water through a pipe is $500 to $1,000, depending on the quantity of water.
Typically, ponds aren't deeper than 18 inches, and a standard footprint could be 5 by 8 feet to 8 by 10 feet, Leeman says.
To dig out a pond, you will need a shovel and a wheelbarrow, two to three people and perhaps a long weekend, he says.
Put up an under-eaves storage shed
You can clean up your yard and find a home for clutter by building an under-eaves storage shed. The shed, which can hold items such as shovels and small ladders, is a shallow, wide box built onto the exterior of your house.
You can build one for about $200, compared with the $500 that most people spend on stand-alone, prefabricated sheds. A handy person could build one in a weekend, Long says. The materials and scope of the project can vary, depending on your home's exterior.
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