How to Prep your Yard for New Landscaping

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If the Thought of redoing your landscape overwhelms you, you’re not alone. In can definitely be overwhelming.

How to Prep your Yard for New Landscaping

 Here are four of my tips to help get you started.

Tip #1: Mapping Out the Area

You want to get a good idea of the space you’re working with. To get my ideas going for a landscape, I like to use a tape-measure to get an idea of the spaces I’m working with. I either then draw it on a notepad or, if you like, you can use Google Maps/Earth and print out a bird’s eye view of the property. That acts as a great cheat sheet to get your ideas down. Once I get my base plan, I start to draw in the different plants and materials that I’ll need so I can go shopping.
 

Tip #2: Understanding Landscape Functions

Next, you want to figure out what the function is that you want to get out of your landscaping, who’s going to use it, and how are they going to use it. It’s important to think about who will be using your yard; do you have children or pets you have to take into consideration? Now is the time to think about your entertaining needs and how you’d like to use the space. You also want to consider your storage needs, like do you need a shed to store your lawn equipment, etc.
 

Tip #3: Taking Site Inventory

Now you’ll want to take a site inventory, figure out the good the bad and the ugly. What do you want to highlight? What do you want to screen out? Find areas you want to highlight by creating a focal point. Identify areas that you need privacy. Understand where the sunny and shady areas are in your yard so you can pick the right kind of plants.
You’ll want to consider the slopes around the property and make sure that water is draining away from your house. If you have to break up some soil, you might consider using something like the Yard Boss from Stihl. It’s a multi-is great to use to break up the soil and level it out.

Tip #4: Preparing the Site

Next, you want to start preparing the yard. You want to start clearing and cleaning up. I used a Stihl Blower to clear all the dead leaves and then cleaned them up. After visualizing what you want your yard to look like, you can decide what projects you want to tackle yourself.
 

Hopefully these tips get you excited about working on your landscaping.

 

Products used:

Stihl Yard Boss
Pruning shears
Stihl Blower
 
Published 6/21/2021
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