4 DIY for successful low-maintenance landscaping projects

1. Fertilisers

If you have good soil, you won’t need much fertiliser. You can use none at all. The plants will provide the nutrients for themselves and the soil around them. If you need fertilisers for your plants and lawn, you may want to look into some “DIY” ways that are affordable and practical. These can include the below:

Grass clippings:

Gather your grass clippings! You can use them in your gardening. Grass clippings, which range in thickness from a centimetre to half a centimetre, make excellent weed-blocking mulch as they are high in nitrogen, a nutrient crucial for most plants.

Kitchen scraps:

They make for excellent nutrients for your home plants. Making your fertiliser will enable you to use kitchen and yard trash. A well-composted garden can spend a year or two without reapplying fertiliser since compost distributes nutrients gradually. Additionally, compost aids soil moisture retention, which is necessary for vegetable gardens to flourish throughout the hot, dry summers.

Tree leaves:

Collect the fall leaves for your gardens rather than bagging them and tossing them out on the curb. In addition to attracting earthworms, retaining moisture, and being rich in trace minerals, leaves may help lighten up heavy soils. Use leaves as mulch to nurture your plants and keep weeds at bay, or till them into the soil (or add crushed leaves to potting soil).

Coffee grounds:

There are many applications for coffee grounds, yet one of the better ones is as garden fertiliser. Many plants, including tomatoes, roses, and blueberries, flourish well in acidic soil. Recycle your coffee grinds to help your soil become more acidic. There are two methods to achieve this: top treat the soil by scattering the used grinds over the top or prepare “coffee” to pour over your gardens. Make garden coffee by soaking up to six cups of discarded coffee grounds for up to a week, then use the coffee to water your plants that require acid.

2.Watering and mulch

Water is essential for any type of landscaping, but there are many different watering methods available that make it less stressful on your body and less damaging to sensitive plants, as excess water, like the lack of it, can always damage most plants.
There are also lots of different types of mulch available that can help keep weeds from growing in your yard and help trap moisture so that your plants don’t dry out as quickly during dry spells, minimizing your water use.

• Choose plants with similar water needs.
• Avoid full sun in summer and shade in the winter, especially when watering. Watering should be done early morning before sunrise or in the afternoon as the sun sets.
• Try not to plant anything that will need to dry out completely every few months such as succulents or cacti, because they don’t like being watered every day if it’s hot out or raining constantly if it’s cold out.
• If you’re using mulch, try to avoid using wood chips or bark mulch because they rot quickly and cause weeds to grow faster than normal (unless you have a very small area where you don’t mind weeds). Instead, use newspaper or cardboard as mulch because they decompose slower than many other materials and don’t attract insects as much (although this won’t prevent insect pests entirely).

3.Budget

Like most things, even a low-maintenance landscaping gig needs a well thought out budget.
The first step is to determine the goal of your project. How big you want it, how diverse. Decide how much money you have available for landscaping and then decide what type of Landscape Maintenance Services you want. The more time and money you spend on your yard, the better it will look.

4.The colour and the shape

If you want a formal lawn that feels like a park, choose a grass variety that grows well in shade or drought conditions. Choose a colour pallet that complements the plants and flowers in your garden. For example, if there are roses in your yard, go with warm shades such as reds or oranges instead of cool colours like blues or purple.
If you want something more natural looking, go with a variety of grasses that grow together nicely without competing for sun or water resources. These include bermudagrass, bluegrass and fescue grasses. Planting these varieties together also helps control weeds so they don’t spread throughout your entire yard or garden area (which could affect other plants).

What is included in Cirillo Civil’s landscaping services?

When it comes time to hiring a professional landscaper, it is essential they are right for your job. Some questions to ask prior to selecting include:

• Are they licensed for my project?
• Can they provide a written quote?
• How long will the job take?
• Do they have a portfolio to look at?
• Are they reputable?

Taking into consideration all these factors, ensures you’re provided with top quality services that you can rely on. At Cirillo Civil, we offer an extensive range of Civil Construction Services, commercial remediation, residential services and plant hire equipment across Sydney. With over 15 years of industry experience, our expert team specialises in a variation of projects including bulk earthworks, demolition, detailed excavation, landscaping, maintenance, and many more.

How much should I pay for landscaping maintenance?

Every project is unique and services are tailored to suit each client. When obtaining quotes from our team of professionals, it is important to have a thorough discussion of your needs about your job and what you want to achieve. It is then that you will be able to gauge an idea of how much you should pay.
For more practical and useful information and tips regarding your landscape, we invite you to get in touch with one of our agents at Cirillo Civil.