When returning home after a long day’s work, it’s always nice to come home and see everything in order. Before you make your way inside, you have to start outside where you can admire your green grass, flower beds, trimmed bushes and more.

Caring for your lawn is hard work, but well worth it for moments like these. Even though hauling hundreds of pounds of mulch back to dispense is hardly the definition of a good time, you wouldn’t have been able to plant those lovely flowers before.
For some, the above image is completely feasible and manageable. The natural green thumb was a gift.
For others though, that seems to be impossible. The grass can never stay green and even keeping a houseplant alive is a tall task.
But starting small, what are some ways that you can landscape your lawn? Even if you’ve hired a crew to come out and do it, how can you go about easily maintaining it?

Start Small Before Going Big

While you might have dreams of planting hundreds of different kinds of flowers to make your own Hanging Garden of Babylon, start first by maintaining a small set of flowers around your house.
If you’re not sure what kinds of flowers to buy or plant, go down to the local nursery and ask what are the best flowers for your region and climate. From there, you can start a maintenance schedule of watering and caring for your plants.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a grand vision. The general rule of thumb for a flower bed is half the width of the front of the house. That means your small project may eventually need to grow to cover more ground.

Water From the Bottom

When you turn on the sprinkler, grab the hose or fill up the watercan, it’s important that you’re watering your plants correctly.

 Even though watering the leaves and stems might be the easiest route, you should definitely be starting at the roots before moving up. In addition, aiming a sprinkler or hose directly at the leaves can be damaging over time, either puncturing holes or destroying the plant altogether.

Go With the Flow

If you feel you don’t have the vision, then working with a landscaping crew can help you map out what you’ll need to do.

Going with the flow means designing around the already existing walkways, doorways, fences, etc. Plan your plants around those and try to lead to a doorway or walkway. Try to think of a movie where the leadup to the doorway was built with anticipation, as more and more plants greeted you on the way up.

Keep Your Grass Mowed

Whether you enjoy the activity yourself or you’re hiring someone to do it, one of the simplest tips is to ensure your grass stays trimmed. It’s important to not set the trimmer too low, as repeatedly mowing low on your grass can cause it to turn brown.

Not only does a mowed lawn help drive up your home value, but it’s also the first thing that people are going to notice when they drive up or pass by your house. A messy front lawn spoils the rest of your yard, no matter how beautifully your black dahlias are coming in.

Lookout for Weeds

Weeding is one of the tougher aspects of landscaping and gardening. Getting down on all fours to pull up various weeds can be backbreaking but necessary work.

Weeds draw moisture away from other plants, meaning they’re literally choking them. Make sure you’re weeding on a regular basis to keep your lawn looking beautiful and your plants healthy.

Just like watering, pulling from the top is going to do you no good. Make sure and pull the weed out by the root so it has no chance of coming back again.

Go Green

Well, obviously, but one of the best ways to care for your lawn is by installing solar lights around your walkways and backyard.

Not only do they require zero electricity to use, but they’ll also make sure you’re not stepping on any plants or flowers that you’ve worked so hard to maintain. They’ll help keep your shoes clean and your yard fresh.