Low maintanence and low costing landscaping does not have to be as boring as it sounds. You can create some extremely beautiful front and back yards with very little money, time and hassle of annually upkeep by using some simple backyard landscaping ideas. Creating the right yard for you is very easy and can be achieved with little outside help from others. Here are some simple backyard landscaping ideas to help you create the landscape you want, and it can be applied to the front of the house, side of the house, or the back yard.

Have a Plan

The first step when creating your landscape is to have a plan. This is very important when it comes to low cosing and low maintanence yards. It might sound like a simple idea, but it is one missed, and a lot of people have spent lost time, money and energy not taking the first step and creating a plan for the yard. Knowing different types of low maintanence plants is vital in the sucess of the yard design and upkeep. Planning your plants and how it will look and knowing the design will help you see the big picture of the yard, plan accordingly for what you need.

Keep It Simple

Plan For Year Round Appeal

When creating and designing a plan to keep your landscape simple, plan to make all-year round appeal. This will help you throughout the changing of the season and years. Not having to reasearch every season for differnt shrubs and flowers, and spending the time at the beginning of the design phase will save you a lot of heart-ache years to come. When planning for year round appeal, you want to consider where you live and how harsh the seasons can get. If you live in the desert you dont need to worry about snow, so you could choose a wider variety of species. In the desert, you need to plan to have an underground sprinkler system. Year around trees are a great option here.

Planning a year round appeal might mean no water fountains, ponds or things of this nature because of the freezing. You might want to choose gates or arbors as focal points to the yard. Gates and arbors can withstand seasons create wonderful landscaping. Year round appeal might mean taking a pass on the green grass and laying pavers insead. Planning for year round appeal that is simple is ideal in creating a yard that will last, be low maintenance and cost effective.

Low Maintenance Plants

As you work though the planning stage for year-around appeal, you might be wondering which plants you should use. You want hardy bushy shrubs that will withstand the seasoons. Having shrubs that you start and continue to grow thoughtout the years is very beautiful and easy. Low maintenance plants will save you a lot of time and energy and look just as elegant in your landscape. If you are able to purchuse you plants at a nursery, I would recommend that. If not, your hardware stores will have a wide variety of plants thoughtout the year.

Some plants I found that are low maintenance are:

• Violets
• Daylilies
• Thyme
• Lavender
• Salvia
• Daisies
• Chamomile
• Rosemary
• Hostas

Add Lighting

Adding light to the picture takes the average landscaped yard, and turns it into something magnificent. You can be create as you want here and place lights at the bases of trees pointing up, or place lighting along a path to lighten up your way. Lighting adds color and mystery to your yard, also creating a space for nighttime fun. You can choose from a wide variety of different kinds of lights and light fixtures to do this job. They sell all kinds of lights that do not need to be hooked up and need electricity and use the solar power to light. They are easy to move which is nice for the noncommittal, or if you like to change things up a bit.

Adding lights can create focal points to your landscaping, and is great for illuminating sculptures, gates, or the arbors you might want to integrate into your yard. They are relatively inexpensive, easy to install, and pretty much maintenance free. Light up a water fountain or create a living fence with layers of shrubs, tress, and flowers, and light it up.

Create Curves

As you go throught the planning stage, a design overlooked is the presents of curve. Creating curves in your landscape bring such beauty it is almost unreal. It will look like you hired a professional landscaper to landscape your yYou can create the curves on a walking path, a rock line, or lawn lines. You can bring a corner to life with a berm and really make it pop by curving it. When we think of designing our yards, I think cuving your yard is as important as the types of folage used. Straight lines look really nice and fancy too, but adding curves to your yard makes it come alive.

Replace Lawn with Hardscaping

To really have a low maintenance and cost effective yard, you really need to consider not having grass. I know this sounds like a crasy idea, but it makes sense, and the beauty is you will also save every month on your water bill. Having a lawn takes a lot of work, like regularly fertilizing and water, to buying a lawn mower and mowing your yard once a week. This is all time and energy consuming. Plus pretty much everywhere is in a draught, so you are planning a sustainable yard.

Replacing your lawn with hardscaping can be a bigger cost up-front, but it will save you in the long run. Replacing your lawn with pavers probably sound intimidating, but there are many DYI videos to watch and help you do this. There are many different types of pavers ranging in all different colors and prices. You can even pave half your lawn, down to a small part of your lawn. Applying a plan, lighting and curves to hardscaping will look very impressive, while saving you time, energy and money every month. 

Add an Outdoor Sitting Area

As you create a plan for your yard, one thing to consider is outdoor sitting area. This bring function to your yard, and also can make a easy focal point for your yard. You can make a “room” feel by adding trellaces around the bench or chairs, or it can be an area your paths leads to. There are very expensive benches and chairs, but they last a long time, and you will find it will get you outside in the fresh air and sunlight more often. Illuminate your sitting area, cover it with hanging plants or lead to it with a arbor wrapped in vines, it is all beautiful and easy. Once this is set up, it is very easy to maintain and enjoy for years to come.

Use these simple backyard landscaping ideas to help create yor space. Low maintenance and low cost landscaping does not mean you have to sacrifice beauty or quality. Being prepared as you plan is a good way to makre the entire processes more fun and exciting. Add a touch of lighting to your yard, make a focal point using a funtional place to sit, or use low maintenance plants to help you for years to come. Simple backyard landscaping ideas does not have to intimadating, the main point is to have fun! Enjoy!