FEBRUARY 19 - FEBRUARY 25, 2020 ISSUE 2907
28
F
irst impressions count. Any REALTOR® will tell you that. When showing a property to prospective homebuyers, a well-maintained yard—whether large or small— counts big time. Second impressions count, too. People are coming to realize expansive lawns and exotic gardens are expensive in terms of gobbling up big chunks of free time. There is also the cost of high water usage, pricy and environmentally unfriendly chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides as well as care and fuel for lawn mowers, weed whackers, and screaming leaf blowers. Or in some cases, hiring a weekly gardening crew to whack and scream. The answer? “Beneficial landscaping,” which simply means planning a yard that is both low maintenance and kind to our environment. When it is well planned and carried out, beneficial landscaping adds considerable value to any property.
CAAR REAL ESTATE WEEKLY WWW.CAAR.COM
COMMUNITY
Minimize Lawn Area A very effective first step is to downsize your lawn. If you are landscaping from scratch, curtail the lawn area by developing wildflower meadows plus vegetable, herb, and flower gardens to provide fresh blossoms for your table and fresh food for your kitchen. If you already have a large lawn, consider an annual conversion of sections of it to groundcover or natural areas to save time and money down the road. An easy tactic is to leave parts of an existing lawn un-mown to grow naturally into a meadow where wildflowers will eventually appear. In fact, studies show that maintaining a wildflower patch costs less than ten percent of the same area of lawn. Other time and money savers are perennials—shrubs and flowers that reappear year after year rather than having to be planted anew each season. Popular examples are butterfly bushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, daffodils, lilies, bee balm, and black-eyed Susans. Attractive alternatives include groundcovers, wooded glens, or rock gardens. Low-growing plants make nice ground cover, particularly varieties of thyme whose fragrant leaves can be used fresh or dried. The flowers are small, but the greenery is appealing. Verbena comes in a number of shades and is also an excellent groundcover. Pachysandra, which stays green all year, is another perennial favorite and very hardy once it’s established. Cuttings root easily in water and can be used to expand an existing planting.
time of the Jamestown settlement—at albemarle.org/nativeplants. You can search for trees, ferns, grasses, vines, and shrubs that thrive in neighboring counties as well as Albemarle. Each listing shows ease of growing, ultimate size, resistance to deer and other nibblers, color of foliage and blossoms, blooming season, and other characteristics.
Other Time-Savers
YOUR
LOW-
MAINTENANCE
YARD
SAVES TIME AND MONEY BY MARILYN PRIBUS
Go Native Employ native plants wherever possible because they generally require less maintenance than non-natives since they have evolved to fend for themselves. Already adapted to our climate, they are usually perennials—that is, they bloom years after year. Not as susceptible to pests, they generally require less water and fertilizer as well. The Jefferson chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society encompasses
Charlottesville and seven surrounding counties and has a useful website at vnps.org/jefferson. The site offers a blog as well as an online newsletter with information about meetings, field trips, and guided hikes. For example, their annual Native Plant Sale will be on Sunday, April 26, at 1 p.m. at the barn in the Ivy Creek Natural Area. Albemarle County’s official website offers listings of Piedmont Natives—varieties believed to have been here at the
Using rocks, bricks, stone, or gravel is another good way to reduce maintenance. A mowing strip of bricks or pavers around garden areas will speed any remaining mowing you need to do. A strip of gravel or crushed rock can widen a driveway (and narrow a lawn). One family created a dry “creek bed” of stone in an area that was virtually impossible to mow as well as subject to runoff and erosion. A rock garden is an enhancement to any yard, especially in particularly shady areas or on hard-to-manage slopes. Create shallow terraces and plant with drought-tolerant native perennials. In a few years, interesting lichens will appear on the rocks, the plants will be well rooted, and watering will be needed only during severe drought. Water features are another excellent way to reduce lawn area without substantially increasing maintenance. Small ponds or fountains with recirculating pumps are charming. Birdbaths come in a wide range of styles from a simple basin on a pedestal to an elegant setup with a heater in winter and a water dripper in summer. (The sound of the splashing water attracts birds.) Add a feeder or two and you’ll attract pest-snacking volunteers to patrol your gardens and save you time dealing with pesticides. If you live near a wooded area, bring in the feeders at night to foil raccoons or bears. Marigolds, garlic, and horseradish are known to repel pests, so adding these to your gardens is another good idea. Spreading mulch on your plantings saves both water and weeding time. Mulch comes in several colors and a once-a-year refreshing keeps your gardens looking nice. A little planning now can save hours and money at the same time you protect your yard, your community, and your planet. Marilyn Pribus and her husband live in Albemarle County near Charlottesville. While their property is more than an acre, their lawn takes about four minutes to mow. The rest of the yard is woods, wild meadow and an expanding planting of pachysandra, which she roots from existing plants.
