Before retirement, you would do anything in your power to avoid mowing the lawn or keeping up with landscaping. It was a waste of an otherwise great weekend if you had to spend time working in the yard.
Boy, times sure have changed.
Now that you are retired, you enjoy spending time working in your yard. As a matter of fact, you look forward to getting your hands dirty weeding the garden, mowing the lawn and making repairs to the sprinkler system.
A beautiful backyard can cost a lot of money if you hire a professional for landscaping. You are pretty handy with a rake and shovel so you decide to save money and do it all yourself. After all, you have the time. New York Medicaid Consulting, your Medicaid planning service, offers tips for a beautifully landscaped yard.
Evergreen Shrubbery
Evergreen shrubs retain their needles or leaves all year long, which means they provide color all year long, even through the winter months. Plant a few evergreen shrubs in front of your house to help soften up those vertical lines and give it a more inviting appearance.
Big Rocks
Maybe you have a big yard and you need something to break up the monotony. You could build a garden in the middle of your yard, or add some other fancy features. You could also make a statement by plunking down a huge rock right in the middle of your yard.
We aren’t talking about a rock that will fit in the bed of your truck. We are talking about a rock so big that you will need help moving it to your location. The beauty of adding a huge rock to your yard is that once it is in place, there isn’t much more you have to do to keep it maintained.
Outdoor Seating
Outdoor seating serves two purposes; it gives people a place to sit and it serves as something that makes your yard look better. Backyard seating should be utilitarian and aesthetically pleasing.
There are any number of ways in which you can do this. You can simply shop for outdoor furniture at your favorite store or you can build your own bench. Either way, it will add charm and provide a place for you to rest and have a drink while landscaping the rest of your yard.
Variety
There might be a few plants and flowers that are your favorites. That’s fine, just don’t limit yourself to these plants and flowers when you landscape your lawn. You should choose a diverse range of flowers and plants that look different and bloom at different times of the year. You don’t want flowers that all bloom at the same time, your yard will lack color for the rest of the year.
Flower Bed Border
Flowers are a staple any well-landscaped yard. So it would make perfect sense to have a flower garden in your yard. However you want to design the flower bed is fine, but you should add a border to complete the task.
Adding a flower bed border is an easy and inexpensive way to add pizzazz to the look of your yard.
Hide Your AC Unit
You would never make it through the summer without your central air. But the AC unit that sits in your yard is nothing but an eyesore. Air conditioning is a necessity, but you need to do something about the AC unit. This can be easily resolved by building a cover for it to keep it out of sight and out of mind.
Water Feature
A water feature is a great way to spiff up your outdoor space. You don’t have to have a pond or a stream running through your yard to make it look good. A simple fountain will do just fine and at a fraction of the cost of having a pond dug out. A fountain is also far easier to maintain.
Paths
There are parts of your yard where traffic flows. That is, if people travel across the yard to get from the patio to the garden, it makes sense to make a path there. Trampled grass does not look very good, so make a path using rock, wood beams or concrete. Whatever works, really.
If you are still at a loss as to what to do on a hot summer day, call New York Medicaid Consulting for Medicaid planning and asset protection.
