How To Landscape Your New Yard

Homes are popping up all over these days but a lot of builders are choosing to leave at least the backyard up to you, the homeowner, to finish. And sometimes you only have a limited time to make it happen before the HOA starts fining you. When we moved into our house in 2019, we were lucky enough to get a builder who didn’t even put in our driveway (insert eye roll here). We were literally starting with a blank, muddy, canvas of a half acre lot to plan out. This can be a daunting task but don’t worry – I’ll share with you some tips that brought me from blank canvas to artwork in only a year. 

Why Is Landscaping Important?

When new homes are built, oftentimes the existing ecosystem is disturbed. From cutting down trees to tearing up the land, creatures big and small may lose their homes. Landscaping your property can bring back some of those homes while providing you and others a place to enjoy. A well thought out landscaping plan will save you money as well as meet all your unique needs. 

Why Don’t I Get A Yard Too?

Builders don’t usually put in the landscaping because it’s not part of their warranties. They can warrant the house for a year but who knows if those plants will make it considering they don’t know the homeowner or mother nature. Can you imagine being a builder who is being blamed for the young tree dying although the homeowner didn’t water it all summer and there was a massive cold snap in spring? 

6 Tips For Landscaping Your New Yard

I definitely understand how daunting it can be to landscape your entire yard. When we moved in, I had already dreamt up what it would look like but making that a reality was going to take a lot of work. Luckily, I had a lot of time on my hands when my husband deployed for the following year (talk about silver linings). Although he wasn’t around to help, I used my emotions and time to drive me to complete the entire project in only 8 months. 

• Tip 1: Live In It For A Few Seasons

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be overjoyed when you first move in and want to plant or change things right away. I’m going to encourage you to resist. Take a few seasons to just be in the space. Pay attention to the sun’s path in your new yard and consider how it might affect your future plants.It’s also fun to watch where the sun rises and sets as the year goes on. Watch for any pesky weeds during the different months. I found out that the weed season starts with the fragrant aroma of purple mustard, a distinct musky smell, followed by seedlings of goat heads and then bind weed. You’ll likely find that the weeds have their own little turfs and spread from there. 

• Tip 2: Make A Plan

“A dream without a plan is just a wish”. Let’s make your yard an actual dream come true. First start with a mission. Take time to think about and discuss with others in the house the following questions: 

• What do you want from your yard? (Flowers? Trees? A place for soccer, socializing or your RV?)
• What kind of activities do you want to do in your yard? (BBQ nights? Movie nights with the whole neighborhood? Practice soccer? Skateboard? Hockey? Outdoor games? Swim or relax in the hot tub?)
• Why do you want to complete your yard? (Do you want to bring joy to all your grandchildren? Do you want to pick fresh flowers every Sunday? Do you want to get your RV out of your storage unit?) 
• Do you need to account for the future? (I knew we might have kids later in life so it was important to consider that as well as our deck I knew we would build the following year.) 

Now that you’ve thought about your yard and the purpose(s) it will have or it’s mission, draw it out. Try to draw this as much to scale as possible so you can use it later on to when you’re ready to get bids. I used a plot plan that came with our new build house but I still made my own as well. In fact, I think I drew 4 different plans throughout the process. There are apps and programs online too if you’re not much of a pencil and paper gal. 

• Tip 3: Section It Out

Think about your yard in sections. This will help for multiple reasons: It will feel less daunting if you can take small sections at a time; you’ll be able to celebrate after you complete each section and you’ll be able to budget easier for each section. When you section your yard, think about working from the outside, or furthest point from the entrance, inward. Also take into consideration that you’ll need to do certain things first. For example, you won’t want to lay sod before your sprinkler system is installed. 

• Tip 4: Make A Budget

Typically, you can expect to pay 10% of the value of your home on landscaping. Here’s a great site I found to help plan (https://homeguide.com/costs/landscaping-costs#costs). I knew my landscaping would cost quite a bit but thinking of it in terms of smaller projects really helped to budget. I also got bids far in advance so I knew what to expect for those projects. I think I had rock delivered to my house every week because it was easier to pay for smaller loads than a big lump sum.  

• Tip 5: Stay Realistic

Keep in mind how many hours you can realistically put into your landscaping projects as well as how many months you have. This may change as you start completing projects and realize it takes longer to do things or rally troops to help you. Being realistic about large projects is a good habit to get into anyway since, well, you know, life happens. 

• Tip 6: Celebrate Small Victories

Remember how I said to create small sections or projects to focus on? This is an easy way to celebrate small victories. I even celebrated when I was finished with a pile of rocks or mulch. Your celebration doesn’t have to be huge but it should be something to allow you room to be proud of all your hard work. When I was finished with landscaping my half acre all by myself after 8 months, I did have a bragging party. I made my friend walk around the yard with me while I pointed out all the amazing hard work I did – just a thought. 

A Final Thought About Landscaping Your Yard

It’s a large task. Whether you have help or are completing it solo, whether you have a half acre or an 1/8th of an acre. It involves big decisions and lots of time and money. But in the end you’ll have more than a yard. You’ll have that place your son will learn to play soccer, a place to bring the neighborhood together for BBQs and movie nights, a safe place to find healing from trauma, and flowers to give to the neighbor who just lost his wife. Make a plan, take it one small step at a time and celebrate the victories. I would love to see your before and afters and hear your questions or comments. Feel free to leave those below or follow me on Instagram.