Attractive & Low Maintenance Landscapes

Attractive landscaping can add additional value of your home. Knowing how to design, layout and install low maintenance landscaping can save you precious time and money. In this article I will give you ideas, free tips and tool suggestions to assist you in installing edging, landscape cover and plants that will result in an attractive, low maintenance landscape that is likely to add much value to your home.
Did you know that proper lawn care and landscaping can differentiate your home from other homes of equal perceived value? Many sites estimate that proper and attractive landscaping can add 10 to 15 percent of additional value of your home. However, if not done properly, maintaining that lovely landscape can require too much time and money. You want to be able to enjoy your floral and plant beds, not become a slave to them. The answer, low maintenance landscaping! Read on to learn about the tools, tricks and tips for installing plastic edging to achieve attractive, low cost and time saving landscapes.
Materials Needed
In preparation of your project you will require the following landscaping materials:
Having the necessary tools to prepare your landscape beds is essential to your success. To ensure that you are able to properly prepare your beds I recommend the following tools.
Long Handled Sod Plugger (Also called a bulb planter)
I also recommend the following tools for the cutting of plastic landscape edging and the trimming of barrier cloth.
Cardboard (as a surface to cut barrier cloth)
Layout the Design
The easiest way to layout a functional design with gradual and uniform curves is to use a fairly rigid garden hose to form the proposed lines of the edging. Laying a garden hose does two things for you; first it allows you to visualize your design before excavating your lawn, and second the hose can be used to mark and guide you in cutting perimeter line of your bed.
Another thing to consider when laying out your intended design is the size of the plants, bushes, etc. that you plan to use to fill the landscaped area. Obviously, the larger the plants or bushes, the larger the area n