Does your yard need a little work? Here are five quick-and-easy upgrades that don’t take much time, money, or skill, but can add a lot of value and enjoyment to your yard this summer.
Edging
Don’t make the mistake many homeowners make by using cheap plastic edging. Go with rigid fiberglass, aluminum, or steel for a high-end look. Use a hose to layout the pattern you want, and sprinkle flour or powdered chalk to mark the hose pattern. Use a spade to make an incision for the edging, and tap it in with a rubber mallet.
Berm
Replace some of your lawn with a mound of color. Popular plants include flowering bushes such as azaleas, evergreens such as blue spruce, perennials such as periwinkle, and prairie grasses. Berms should have at least four feet of width for every foot of height. So a two-foot-high berm needs an eight-foot-wide plot.
Flagstone Wall
Keep it under a foot high and it’s one of the easiest and dressiest upgrades you can make. You don’t even need mortar. Dig a shallow trench and fill it with pea gravel. Stack the smallest stones first, saving the biggest and prettiest ones for the top layer. Backfill with gravel.
Path
There’s something about a meandering pathway that dresses up a yard. Dig a shallow threefoot- wide path, fill it with flagstone (great for areas that get heavy rain), pea gravel, or crushed or decomposed granite. Remove at least three or four inches of sod along the perimeter to keep grass from encroaching.
Tree Base
Build a surround at the base of a tree for a manicured look. Just carve a circular trench, add some sand, and install bricks, cement blocks, or stone.