Home Landscape Plan

If you approach your home landscape plan with the right attitude, even the largest and most labor intensive ones can be enjoyable (or at least less backbreaking).

If your home landscape plan has retaining walls, driveways and/or patios, start by establishing the right size, shape, location and elevation. Hire a pro with the right machinery and know-how to get some of the initial layout and heavy lifting done.

One nice thing about an outdoor project is that you don’t have to turn off the electricity, worry about dust or cook on a hot plate like you do with an indoor project. Leave yourself plenty of time to do your home landscape plans right, even if it takes several years.

Building a courtyard and patio requires a good game plan, but you don’t need to adhere to it as rigidly as you would a kitchen-remodeling project. With a kitchen, moving a cabinet a few inches may mean the stove will no longer fit. But with a landscaping plan, inches rarely matter; if making something a little bigger or smaller means less cutting or better appearance, just do it.

Work smart by using wheelbarrows, dollies, and garden carts to move heavy materials. Even hundred pound stones can be easily moved with a sturdy two-wheeled dolly.