If you do it right, landscaping your yard in Clive, IA can make your home look better from the street and increase its value. Homeowners who mean well often fall into common landscaping traps that waste time, money, and cause long-term frustration.

Here are the most common mistakes to avoid in your Clive yard if you're starting a new landscaping project or taking care of an old one.

1. Not paying attention to the soil conditions

The soil in Iowa can be sandy loam or heavy clay, and what works for one yard might not work for another. If you plant without testing your soil first, you're asking for trouble.

Before planting, get a soil test. It will show you the pH levels, nutrient deficiencies, and drainage problems, all of which can hurt plants.

2. Too Many Plants or Too Many People

It's easy to want to fill your beds with a lot of plants right away, but plants need room to grow. Too many people leads to:

1. Bad air flow

2. Higher chance of getting sick

3. Competition for roots

4. Problems with maintenance that keep happening

When planning your landscape, think about how big the plants will get in the future and give them enough space.

3. Not planning for good drainage

If your drainage isn't working right, water can pool near your home, damage the foundations, or wash away mulch and soil. This is very important in Clive, where it snows and rains a lot in the spring.

1. Some solutions are:

2. French drains

3. Dry riverbeds

4. Grading your garden

Putting in permeable pavers

4. Not taking care of maintenance needs

Some plants and hardscapes look great at first, but they need a lot of care. Think about how much time you really want to spend keeping up your landscape before you put it in.

Choose shrubs that don't need much care, native perennials, and hardscape materials that can handle Clive's freeze-thaw cycles.

5. Using plants that aren't native or that spread quickly

A lot of big-box stores sell plants that don't do well in Iowa or that get too big over time. Before you plant, always do some research or talk to a local expert.

Invasive plants like Japanese barberry or Norway maple can take over native plants and mess up ecosystems.

6. Putting Plants in the Wrong Light Conditions

Each plant needs a certain amount of light. If you put a plant that likes the sun in the shade or the other way around, it won't grow well or may even die.

Tip:

Before you plant, watch your yard all day. Pay attention to where the sun shines in the morning and afternoon, and pick your plants based on that.

7. Not seeing the value of hardscaping

Plants aren't the only thing that goes into landscaping. Patios, retaining walls, fire pits, and paths make a space more useful and give it structure. If you don't do any hardscaping, your yard may look unfinished and be harder to take care of.

A good outdoor space has both softscape (plants) and hardscape.

In conclusion

Landscaping mistakes can be expensive, but you can avoid them with good planning and knowledge of the area. You can make an outdoor space that is both beautiful and long-lasting by learning about the specific conditions in Clive, IA, and working with a professional team like Lark Landscape.

Get help from a pro with landscaping in Clive, IA