The trick to designing a low maintenance backyard is to put in the types of elements that require no work and maintenance on the part of the homeowner, says Michael Grenadier of Ace Landscape Contractors, a landscaping company in the Bronx. Although hardscaping elements like patios and decks are generally thought of as being easy to maintain, their downfall is that they are generally expensive to install.
Grenadier says that there are many plants that homeowners can put in their backyards that do not have to be watered daily or watched closely. The least expensive way to cover a vast area is to put down a lawn, but Grenadier says that any lawn in the Bronx needs to be watered daily and mowed at least once a month by a landscaping company.
In taking a middle-of-the-road approach – in which lawns are vetoed for being too high maintenance and decks are vetoed for being too costly – Grenadier recommends covering the ground with mulch or certain types of plants that are extremely easy to care for. The great thing about mulch is that a homeowner can create a plan, put it down, and then enjoy it from there on out. Although the mulch will have to be changed out every year or so, Grenadier says that there is very little maintenance required other than that.
As a quick fix to take care of a problem backyard, Grenadier explains that some people in the Bronx will hire a landscaping company to put down a large swath of fabric. This special outdoor fabric blocks the rain and either decreases or eliminates weed growth in the ground below. At the same time, this special cloth is permeable, which means that it allows water to run through it. If a homeowner opts to go this route, he will most likely have a landscaper like Grenadier staple the fabric to the ground and then top-dress it with mulch. In addition to the mulch, Grenadier and his team can also add a variety of low maintenance plants around the perimeter of the property to keep it from looking too bare. Although the mulch will have to be refurbished once every year or two – depending on how the homeowner wants the land kept – that is a far cry from the maintenance needed to adequately keep up the average lawn.
Anything living requires a certain degree of maintenance, whether it’s a shrub, a grouping of perennials, or even a lawn. However, homeowners who specifically ask their landscapers for low maintenance options are likely to find that there are a number of choices that require zero maintenance, making for an ideal situation in which everyone is happy.