When you picture your dream home, it probably includes a beautiful yard in both the front and back. After all the construction trucks leave your lot, you’re starting with a pretty blank slate. In some ways, that can feel overwhelming. You may only have the rough grade completed in the yard when you move in. On the other hand, it’s an opportunity to create landscaping that’s perfect for your family.

Here’s what you need to know about landscaping when you buy a brand-new home.

You Should Budget for Landscaping

First off, it’s important to note that in some case, the home’s landscaping isn’t always included in the purchase price of the home. Similar to things like the lot, it can be an added expense. If you don’t start the home-buying process with this knowledge, you may find yourself over budget at the end. You don’t want to have to cut back on the things that you really want in your home, so be sure to talk with the Area Manager about the cost of their landscaping before you get too far into the process. If it’s not included in the base price, you’ll know how much to budget.

Sterling Homes provides a turn-key landscaping solution that allows you to budget for your landscaping requirements, order all your supplies, have someone do all the work or do it yourself. You can rest assured that you are meeting all the community requirements.

There May Be Community Rules About Landscaping

You can’t always do anything you want with your landscaping, particularly when it comes to the front yard. Most new communities have rules about what the exterior of the homes must look like, and this extends to the landscaping. For instance, you wouldn’t be able to create a vegetable garden out of your entire front yard. A less extreme example might be rules about the size of bushes or the types of trees that you grow. Check out the community guidelines to find out what’s prohibited in your neighbourhood.

If you buy a Sterling Home, visit our site and find out the requirements for Sterling Homes communities and get all your landscaping requirements all in the same place!

Fast-Growing Plants Are Your Friends

If you’ve always lived in homes with mature trees on the property, moving into a newly built home can feel a bit disorienting. Everything in the landscaping will be new, and some plants or trees take years before they’re really looking their best. Your best option is to choose plants that grow quickly. Some trees, for instance, can grow several feet each year. Smaller fast-growing plants can help your yard look great in no time at all. A professional landscaper can help you make the choices that are right for your family.

It’s Best to Have a Plan

Think carefully about how you want your landscaping to look and where you want things to go. For instance, if you plan on having a walkway or patio in the front or back yard, you’ll want to build those things first. Otherwise, you’ll be ripping up parts of the landscaping that you spent time and money creating. Other things you might want to consider leaving space for in the landscaping are fire pits and kids’ play areas.

Landscaping Can Happen After You Move In

Some buyers are surprised to learn that the landscaping might not be finished by the time they move into the home even though it was paid for as part of the home’s package. This is particularly true for those who move into their homes in the winter months. After all, the builder can hardly plant bushes and flowers when the ground is frozen.

A good builder will let you know when to expect them to finish the landscaping. They’ll come back to finish things up when the weather is nicer. As long as you know when they’re coming, you shouldn’t feel stressed about the condition of your lawn.

Think About Your Lifestyle

When coming up with a landscaping design, it’s really important to think about your lifestyle and what you want from your yard. Some people enjoy spending time on yard maintenance. They love having a flower or vegetable garden and want to be out there weeding and watering every day. They see mowing the lawn as a meditative activity. Others simply don’t want to spend that much time on any of it. Maybe they’re busy driving kids to activities on the weekends or they just have other interests.

No matter which end of the spectrum you fall on, you’ll want to make sure that the landscaping matches your needs. The builder or landscaper should listen to what you want and design a yard that will be just the right amount of work for you.

Landscaping is an important feature of your home, so don’t treat it as an afterthought. It should be a part of the overall plan. By carefully thinking about what you need and want from your landscaping, you should be able to craft the perfect yard.

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