Landscaping Projects To Keep You Busy

If you’re like most people, you may have suddenly found yourself with some extra time on your hands. While the wise and prudent thing to do is limit your interactions with large groups of people, that doesn’t mean that you need to sit around doing nothing! Your landscape project beckons, and MJS Materials has some great ideas that will keep you from going stir-crazy while we all endure some self-imposed solitude.

Add Edging To Your Pathways

Has your lawn decided to blur the line between what is technically a pathway and what is grass? Now is a great time to lay down the law on your lawn and redraw those boundary lines. We will make one recommendation when buying edging — spring for the sturdier materials, like metal edging. Plastic edging will fail you in no time. A great way to plan out your new pathway edges is to use a hose, lay it out where your new edging will be, then go along the hose with a lawn edger or spade, carving out your new edges. All that’s left after that is to place your sturdy steel or aluminum edging into the trench and tap it into place with a rubber mallet. If you’re feeling particularly fancy, you can add a gravel border, further preventing your yard from laying claim to your walkways. Project done!

Create An Interesting Focal Point

There’s a fairly simple method of creating a focal point in your landscaping by creating what is called a “berm.” A berm is simply a gently sloping mound of earth. You can use these unassuming mounds of earth practically to assist in yard drainage, but they can also be used to create interesting focal points. Many people find success in planting different flowers on berms to create a tiered, flowing appearance to a part of their landscaping. Flowering bushes and perennials are usually the most successful plants to make use of, along with copious amounts of nice mulch to keep weeds away.

Build A Flagstone Wall

Did you know that when you build a short stone wall that is less than 12” tall, there’s no need to worry about mortar? You can quickly and easily add a beautiful element to your yard or landscape with flagstone without getting your hands too dirty. There are only a few things that you need to do to make a simple flagstone wall:

• Dig a small trench a few inches deep and wide enough to accommodate your flagstones
• Fill the trench with sand or pea gravel
• Build the foundational layers of your wall with the smaller, less attractive pieces of flagstone
• Use larger flagstones to create the top layer of your wall
• Backfill the wall with more gravel or sand

And that’s it! This is a super easy addition to your landscaping that can be done in a single day.

Make A Pathway

Add some charm to your yard or garden by adding a gravel pathway. When you’re using something as organic-feeling as gravel, you have the freedom to create a nice, meandering route that adds some interest to your walk from the porch to the shed or around the side of the house. Not to mention, nice little features like gravel pathways can do a lot for your home’s curb appeal. MJS Materials has a large variety of pea gravel to choose from that is perfect for projects like this!

Most pathways need to be about three feet wide, and to create the most visually appealing path, try to avoid straight lines. If you’re cutting your pathway through grass or sod, make sure that you dig fairly deep to avoid grass from growing back through your pathway. If your property is prone to higher levels of rainfall or moisture, which is typical here in Florida, larger gravel or rock is recommended for these types of pathways. You can also use concrete, but that’s a little more advanced of a project for the average do-it-yourselfer.