Front Yards For Busy People

Busy people want easy-to-maintain front yards.

Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or hire a professional landscape designer, check out these basic components for an ideal front yard for busy homeowners… and renters:

Replace some (or all) of your lawn with ground cover. Depending on your situation, select those that are either heat and drought tollerant, or shade lovers. Some are even resistant to most bugs. Oh, don’t forget… the less lawn you have, the less time you spend mowing it.

Replace some of your lawn with perennials. These bloom every year, with hardly any maintenance. Consider larger-growing bushes… these will definitely remove some lawn area. Just place them where they won’t encroach on your house or any public access. Do a little research to find varieties that bloom or have fall coloring. You might also consider groupings of smaller plants.  

Install an automatic sprinkling system. Unless you really enjoy standing around watering plants with a hose, and moving a sprinkler around your yard, this is a real necessity. It’s nearly a set-and-forget procedure. About the only monitoring required is if your community is involved in water restrictions during droughts. The only drawback is that installation may be beyond the expertise of most homeowners and renters. Just crunch the numbers to see if the installation cost will justify the time and effort saved… just how much is your time worth to you?