Pros And Cons Of Landscaping

Landscaping: Choosing Your Approach

Choosing how to manage your front and back yard is a big decision. Your front yard is like an extension of your entryway. What message do you want to send? Reserved or warm? You have also to weigh what’s normal in your neighborhood against your own preferences. Do you opt for pure beauty or lean into something more functional that accommodates backyard living? Should you go traditional or embrace low water options. To help you make your choice, we’re going to explore the three main options available to you.

Traditional Landscaping

The traditional landscaping approach involves a lot of green grass. Both your front and back yard will be dominated by it, like two verdant lakes in the desert. Along the edges,

It has a long history and there’s a lot of resources out there about doing it right. That means any professional will know how to organize and maintain your yards. It’s something you can DIY with a bit of study and elbow grease. It can even be a good opportunity for family time.

Cons

The fundamentals of the traditional approach largely assume you’ll be in a temperate climate with regular rain. When your home is in an arid climate, like Southern California, maintaining that traditional lawn requires a staggering amount of irrigation. Not only is that expensive, but may become impossible to maintain if the recently lifted water use restrictions go back into effect.

Xeriscaping

One alternative to the traditional grass lawn strategy is xeriscaping. This approach focuses on maximizing your water conservation without abandoning plants altogether. The key is using plants that have low water consumption and segregating them into pockets across your yards. These pockets of plant growth are surrounded by dry areas that may be covered with paver stones, decorative gravel paths and even some areas of regular grass. Mulch is used liberally to prevent evaporation and add a decorative element. The plants themselves are often native plants that have already adapted to the local conditions or plants imported from other arid regions, such as Australia or the Middle

In more temperate climates, it’s generally used to in tandem with the softscaping that focuses on soil and plants. In more arid climates, like Santa Clarita, it can actually replace most softscaping. This approach doesn’t mean giving up on plants, but it reduces them to a decorative element. For example, you might install a brick patio over most of your back yard with built in planters and small strips of exposed soil around the edges. This lets you maintain some drainage and retain some plant life but in an extremely controlled way. You might also opt for paver stone paths surrounded by gravel, concrete and large, decorative stones. This approach is sometimes referred to as Zeroscaping.

Pros

Water use for maintaining hardscaped yards is very limited. Aside from planters or hanging plants, you shouldn’t need to water. Hardscaped yards require very little maintenance, most of which could be done with a broom or rake. It works well for those with a focus on backyard living. You can have outdoor ovens built as part of the process. It also provides a very stable foundation for outdoor kitchens, patio covers, and other exterior installations.