6 Cost Effective Landscaping Projects

A home’s exterior is the first impression it is going to give everyone who sees it. Whether a homeowner is intending on selling the home, or just wants to spruce it up for their own enjoyment, curb appeal is a must for all homes. It can be easy for landscaping projects to get expensive, though, so here are 6 easy ways to improve your home without breaking the bank.

1. Weed the Garden

It’s obvious when a garden isn’t taken care of. Plants may be dead, or it may resemble a jungle rather than a garden, so one easy project for homeowners is to get out the gardening gloves and clean it up. Ripping out dead plants and weeds can instantly make a garden look cleaner and brighten up a home’s exterior. And the best part about this project is that it’s completely free, but the difference can be astonishing. 

2. Paint the Front Door

Homeowners don’t need to paint their entire home to give it a fresh look. Just giving the front door a fresh coat of paint can be enough to make the home look brighter and draw people in. After all, the front door is where visitors are going to enter to he house, so that makes it one of the most important doors on the home. A new coat of paint can make the front door look more inviting and liven up the home’s exterior. 

3. Install a New Mailbox

Mailboxes take a lot beatings from the weather, and they can show all that wear as they age. Fortunately, a new mailbox isn’t a big investment, with basic mailboxes often costing around $20. A new mailbox, even a budget one, can look a lot more impressive than one that is dented and leaning with a flag that refuses to stand up. 

4. Plant New Flowers

A good way to liven up a home is by adding life to it through planting flowers in the garden. Flowers can get expensive quickly, though, so where should homeowners start? Native plants can be an excellent addition for gardening newbies and pros alike because not only are they less expensive than exotic plants, but because they’re native and have evolved to thrive in their environment, they’ll be low maintenance as well. Perennial flowers can also be a good addition to a garden because they’ll come back year after year without having to be replanted, unlike annuals.

5. Use Stepping Stones in Gardens

For homeowners who are afraid of accidentally building up a garden that requires more time for upkeep than they can spend, stepping stones can be a great way to take up space in a garden. Not only do stepping stones provide a way to walk through gardens without harming the plants in it, but they can look sleek and don’t cost very much. The price will vary depending on material and style, but it isn’t difficult to find stones that cost less than $2 each. 

6. Keep the Lawn Mowed

For many people, mowing the lawn is a regular household chore, and it’s one that should never be forgotten. If a lawn gets too long, it can start to look wild and unkempt, and if it gets bad enough, it can make it look like no on lives in the home to take care of it. Preventing the lawn from getting overgrown is easy, though. Only mow it when it gets long to avoid scalping it, that way the grass will stay healthy and green. Additionally, mowing your leaves instead of raking them can create a mulch layer that helps protect your lawn against extreme weather and weed growth.

Landscaping a Santa Monica home doesn’t have to require contractors and thousands of dollars of work. Even by doing a few of these easy projects, homeowners can help make their homes look inviting and attractive.