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How Can I Make My Lawn Low Maintenance?

While having a nice, green lawn and landscape certainly requires your attention and energy, it does not have to feel like a full-time job. In this post, we have included a list of landscaping project ideas and materials needed to help show how you can make a low-maintenance lawn. Implementing just some of these ideas will reduce mowing, lessen irrigation watering, decrease pesticide use, and give you more spare to spend on the things you enjoy rather than on maintaining the lawn.

Hardscaping

Adding hardscaping to your property is a great way to make your yard low-maintenance. Hardscaping is defined as any “non-plant” landscaping material. This could be a structured area like a concrete patio or pathway or something more decorative like an arbor or water feature. By incorporating some hardscape into your overall landscaping plans, you will have less to irrigate, prune, and mow.

Concrete Sidewalk

Pouring a concrete sidewalk area is a wonderful way to bring function to your yard as well as eliminate high-maintenance landscaping. A sidewalk area can provide a walking path as well as help to eliminate muddy side yard areas where grass might struggle due to a lack of sunlight.

Paver Patio

Creating a paver patio space not only cuts back on your lawn maintenance but also adds significant value to your home. Usable outdoor living spaces increase home values by 5–10%. In addition to increasing your home value, a paver patio can also reduce the number of bothersome insects infiltrating the yard.

Decorative Water Feature

Water features are an excellent way to eliminate lawn areas and transform your yard into an oasis. These decorative water features are readily available in a variety of styles and sizes to fit any space. It’s even possible to find a water feature powered by solar energy.

Artificial Turf

Perhaps you really enjoy the look and feel of a real lawn but don’t want the ongoing maintenance. If so, consider installing artificial turf to replace your existing lawn. Artificial turf is definitely a great way to make your lawn low-maintenance and it’s an added selling feature for homebuyers. Here are some reasons to consider installing artificial turf.

Replace Grass

Replacing your existing grass with artificial turf will eliminate all lawn mowing chores, in addition to eliminating the cost of watering the grass. Synthetic turf also allows for excellent yard drainage and deters seasonal pests.

Putting Green

If you’re an avid golfer, installing a putting green might eliminate a few trips to the golf course, allowing you to hone your skills in the backyard.

Play Area

Artificial grass also provides the perfect surface for a children’s play area, encouraging them to spend more time outside. As a bonus, this high-traffic play area won’t erode or require replacement.

Planting Beds

Another easy way to eliminate grassy areas and lessen your yard maintenance duties would be to trade them in for planting beds. Planting beds are another way to make your lawn low-maintenance.

Raised Garden Beds

Garden beds don’t necessarily have to be in the ground. Consider marking off an area of your existing grass with gravel or rock and then installing a few raised garden beds. These can be used to plant edibles: herbs, fruits, and vegetables that can be consumed year-round.

Ornamental Plant Beds

Creating ornamental plant beds is a great alternative to grassy areas. These ornamental plant beds are great for shrubs, trees, perennials, wildflowers, or something more akin to the look of grass, like groundcover plants.

In Ground Garden

Perhaps there is an area of your yard where grass simply doesn’t seem to grow. This creates an excellent opportunity to install an in-ground garden. Plants are widely available in all shapes and sizes and are adaptable to all sun requirements. An in-ground garden is a wonderful way to bring life to your yard without the same level of maintenance.

Natural Stone Pathways

Building stone pathways are another way you can make your lawn low-maintenance. They add a natural look to your landscaping while eliminating high-maintenance lawn areas. In addition, natural stone pathways don’t need to be irrigated and will provide much better yard drainage than the clay soil that grass grows in.

Flagstone

As opposed to more manufactured stone elements, flagstone requires no routine cleaning or sealing and is relatively inexpensive. A flagstone pathway can be as simple as setting the flagstone on top of your existing lawn or on top of a gravel rock base. Also, installing flagstone doesn’t require a stonemason, any homeowner can do it.

Decorative River Rock

You can certainly install decorative river rock to create small pathway areas, but also to create larger landscaping spaces. For small pathway areas, either install the rock alone or add larger flagstone or concrete stepping stones. If you’re looking to eliminate a larger turf area, install decorative river rock throughout the entire space and create a “desert-scape” area with minimal plants and boulder accents.

Decomposed Granite

One of our favorite natural stone materials to incorporate into a landscape is decomposed granite. Somewhere between sand and gravel, decomposed granite is inexpensive, sturdy, compactable, and allows for excellent drainage. For these reasons, decomposed granite is the perfect material for pathways and other, more functional areas of your yard.