Although the landscape of your rental property is important in making a positive first impression, it’s often not something landlords want to spend a lot of time maintaining. Here are some ideas for low-maintenance yet attractive landscaping options.
Consider Synthetic Grass
Obviously, this idea works best for properties with very small yards. Today’s top quality synthetic grass looks and feels like actual sod. Although it is an expensive investment, synthetic grass drops basic yard maintenance like mowing, weeding, fertilizing and watering down to zero.
Add Outdoor Living Space
Besides reducing the amount of yard work, adding a patio or outdoor living space can increase the value of your property. Fire pits or small outdoor kitchen areas can extend the life of outdoor space past summer time. Outdoor living space means less grass and plant life to manage.
Check Out Hardscaping
Many stones, paths, patios and rocks can be beautiful, low maintenance additions to any landscape. By replacing high-maintenance features such as flower beds, garden areas and grass with those features that have a hard surface, landlords can significantly reduce typical yard work on any property.
Use Mulch
By mulching flower and plant beds, you can hold down weed growth significantly and add a lovely scent to the outdoor spaces of your property. Mulch simply needs to be added each spring, and wedding work is reduced for the entire season.
Plant Flowering Perennials
The beauty of perennials is once they are established, they come back year after year. Although it may take some time and work the first season to make sure your selected plants get a good start, flowering perennials can successfully add a great deal of color to your property long-term. Some native perennials in Utah include the desert marigold, the Indian paintbrush, the Aspen daisy and the western sunflower.
Establish Ground Covers
Ground covers can potentially do a great job of choking out unwanted weeds and eliminating the job of cutting grass on many properties. Some of the best shade-loving ground covers in Utah include creeping Oregon grape, lambs ear, winter creeper and Periwinkle. If you are looking for good ground cover in full sun areas, try junipers, bearberry, sun rose or snow-in-summer. Be sure to pay attention to instructions on how to establish ground cover in early years, and then enjoy low-maintenance, attractive landscape.
By applying some of these low-maintenance landscaping ideas, your property can stay attractive to tenants and neighbors without costing you precious time throughout the growing season.
