Would you put landscaping around the back and side of your house?

[Anonymous]

So as I am thinking about future projects for my home, I am considering putting some landscaping behind and on the side of our home. I just like the way a fully landscaped home looks. DH thinks it will be a waste of time and money. What do you think? What are the pros/cons? I know of one con- more weeding, at least in the beginning.

[Anonymous]

Of course I would. We spend lots of time in our backyard in the summer, and our yard should look just as nice for us as for the neighbors.

[Anonymous]

If you mean flowerbeds around the perimiter of the home, I would say no way b/c of the potential of attracting termites. I was told that by a very honest pest control guy.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by landscaping? Do you mean, paying a landscaper to put in beds and plants, vs. having nothing but grass?

I have gardens in the front, back, and side, but that's because I like to garden, and so there's never enough. I'd replace all of the grass with garden if my partner allowed me to...

[Anonymous]

Our yard is fully landscaped - although the beds are primarily around the perimeter of the yard, not next to the house. We have a mostly terraced back yard that is all plantings. The flat grassy portion is pretty narrow. We use the backyard as essentially an outdoor room so the planting is important. There is some additional maintenance to keep the shrubs trimmed and shaped. Other than flowerpots ours is pretty much all perennials so we don't have to do any planting of flowers. There is color pretty much 4 seasons, although some of that is leaf color, not flowers. Right now we have iris, a pink border plant (perennial begonias?), rhododendrons, flower carpet roses and dwarf azaleas blooming. Spirea will bloom soon, as well as day lilies, followed by hydrangeas (we have at least 4 varieties).

[Anonymous]

OP here. What I was thinking was a mix of some bushes, small trees, and flowers. I will look for pics online of what I want to do.

[Anonymous]

OP here. This is what I mean by "landscaping" alongside the house. I feel like plantings alongside the house visually anchor the house to the ground, right? DH is not interested in doing this at all and I am hoping someone here will make a convincing argument for me!

[Anonymous]

Yes, that looks like landscaping. If you like it, and you can afford it, why not? Just don't plant the trees so close to the house. Trees grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that looks like landscaping. If you like it, and you can afford it, why not? Just don't plant the trees so close to the house. Trees grow.

+1 so many trees and shrubs are placed too close to the house by "reputable landscapers."

[Anonymous]

Yes, we just had our backyard and sideyard done. We've not done the front yard (and it shows) but you know -- I don't spend time in the front yard. I spend time in the back, and walking up the side of my house to the street. We keep the front tidy but spent our money in the places where we spend our time.

We did a lot of hardscape, some shrubs, and one tree.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the responses. DH's concern is that he would rather cut grass than do weeding and taking care of landscaping. Does it increase the amount of work by a lot when you have landscaping all around the house?

[Anonymous]

Yes. The easiest thing to care for is grass, so landscaping does increase the work. Maybe hire it out?

[Anonymous]

Yes, weeding a garden takes more time than mowing a lawn. But it is prettier and more fun! Can you do the weeding if he mows, OP? It isn't that big a deal. Use mulch plant the perenials and shrubs pretty densely and that will cut down on the weeding, maybe you'll need to weed every 2-3 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the responses. DH's concern is that he would rather cut grass than do weeding and taking care of landscaping. Does it increase the amount of work by a lot when you have landscaping all around the house?

Yes. I was an idiot and didn't realize this when we landscaped the house we'd just bought (our first) and now I hate how much weeding there is. Haaaaaaate. That said, it looks gorgeous. I suggest you do some small beds (not necessarily large ones around the entire house), and plant things with weeding in mind -- things that grow in really well and choke out most of the weeds. We have a fair amount of visible mulch and it's weed city.