When it comes to remodeling your home, most homeowners are naturally focused on how the inside of their home will transform. New kitchens, modern bathrooms, fresh paint, and updated flooring all vie for our attention. However, there’s another critical aspect of your home renovation that should not be neglected—your landscaping. For a multitude of reasons, the best time to tackle your landscaping goals is during your home remodeling project, particularly if the work you’re doing is extensive.
Does it make sense to spend tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours perfecting the inside of your home only to leave your yard underwhelming, with poor drainage and lacking in curb appeal? Coordinating your indoor renovations with your outdoor landscaping efforts is not only cost-efficient, but it also helps achieve a cohesive, stunning result all at once.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss several landscaping tips and considerations to help make your outdoor spaces just as captivating and functional as your indoor living areas.
Why Landscaping Matters During Remodeling
First, let’s address why it’s best to integrate your landscaping plans with your remodeling efforts. A home is not just a collection of rooms; it’s a whole package. Houses with unkempt or poorly designed yards can feel unfinished, no matter how pristine and updated the interior is.
Additionally, many outdoor aspects—like drainage systems and external grading—interact closely with your home’s foundation and structure. Addressing these issues simultaneously, especially if you’re considering a project that could affect your yard like a home addition or installing new windows, can save you time, money, and headaches down the road.
Imagine undertaking a large remodel that includes tearing up parts of your home’s footprint, only to later realize your lawn could have used additional grading for better drainage. You could end up paying double the cost, first for renovations and then again to regrade the area. Combining these projects into a single cohesive plan can avoid these unnecessary expenses.
Landscaping Tips to Enhance Your Home
If you’re ready to take your landscaping to the next level, here are a few tips to help you strategize and execute your outdoor vision.
1. Create a Lighting Strategy
Want to create a warm, inviting atmosphere around your home at night? Proper lighting is essential. Strategically placed lighting fixtures can illuminate your pathways, gardens, and outdoor living spaces, significantly enhancing the ambiance of your yard in the evening. Consider installing uplighting to emphasize the beauty of tall trees or using softer lights to showcase interesting plant groupings and garden features. You can even blend colored bulbs into the mix to complement the hues of nearby flowers and shrubs.
Sometimes, effective lighting can also improve security. Motion-sensor lights or low-intensity pathway lighting can ensure that your home is well-lit from all angles without sacrificing beauty.
2. Decide on the Style of Your Landscape
Before selecting plants, trees, and other landscape features, you need to decide what kind of look and feel you want your yard to embody. Do you prefer a rustic, natural layout filled with wildflowers and native plants, or would you rather have a more refined, minimalist design with polished stone walkways and neatly trimmed hedges?
Determining whether you favor an eclectic look vs. an elegant, structured aesthetic will impact what types of plants and materials you select. Popular trends right now include eco-friendly landscapes with less grass and more perennials suited to your local climate.
3. Consider a Landscape Mound or Manmade Hill
One creative approach to landscaping is adding a landscape mound or manmade hill to your yard. These elevations can provide dramatic visual interest and also serve practical purposes, such as improved drainage. Landscape mounds are built by layering soil around a specific area and then planting over the hill with grass, shrubs, or flowers. You can even install decorative rocks or small retaining walls to make the feature a true focal point. Manmade hills can also be an excellent way to create privacy from neighbors if your outdoor seating area is in close proximity to other homes.
4. Incorporate Insect-Repellent Perennial Flowers
Beauty and functionality can go hand in hand in your yard through the clever use of insect-repellent perennials. These perennial plants do more than just look pretty—they actively work to ward off mosquitoes, flies, and other pests. Popular insect-repellent plants include lavender, marigolds, and rosemary—many of which offer beautiful blooms or textures to elevate your garden’s aesthetic.
Plus, these plants come back year after year, making them a wise, low-maintenance investment that will keep your yard pest-free over the long term.
Landscaping as a Value-Adding Investment to Your Home
While some home improvements—like luxury pools or expansive built-in fire pits—may be excess luxuries that don’t necessarily contribute significant value to your home, landscaping done right often provides a positive return on investment (ROI). Certain landscaping elements like trees, bushes, and planting beds provide reliable aesthetic appeal while simultaneously requiring little maintenance and offering eco-friendly benefits, including windbreaks and shade. Ornamental elements, like fountains or well-placed low-maintenance shrubs, add classic appeal without being overly trendy.
Recent trends in outdoor spaces suggest that homeowners are gravitating toward outdoor “rooms”—areas designed for relaxation and entertainment that help extend your living space to the outdoors. These outdoor sanctuaries can range from small seating nooks to larger patios complete with pergolas, all of which can be enhanced by thoughtful landscaping.
Dirt and Grading: Essential Services for a Strong Foundation
When you’re working with a company like Dirt Connections, you have the advantage of collaborating with experts who specialize in both home remodeling and landscaping. One key factor homeowners often undervalue is grading—the process of leveling or sloping the land to improve drainage or support construction.
Proper yard grading performed using high-quality fill dirt can direct rainwater away from your foundation, protecting your home from potential water damage. It may not be the most glamorous part of your renovation, but it’s one of the most essential. If your yard’s drainage isn’t functioning optimally, it could lead to erosion or even threatening water issues inside your home.
Why Hire a Full-Service Contractor for Your Landscaping and Remodeling?
Working on your house remodel alone and then bringing in other contractors for each outdoor service can stretch your budget and prolong your timeline. Instead, working with a full-service contractor who can handle both the indoor and outdoor remodeling aspects, like Dirt Connections, simplifies the process.
Residential Roofing Services
Is your roofing showing signs of wear and tear? Since your roof directly impacts the walls, ceiling, and overall stability of your home, ignoring it during remodel planning could cause unintended damage. A new roof can not only enhance aesthetics but can also improve home efficiency and functionality. Dirt Connections offers roof repairs and restoration as part of its many services, so why not upgrade your roof while everything else is getting a facelift?
Dirt Connection’s Dirt Delivery Solutions
Whether you’re grading your land or building a retaining wall, Dirt Connections also offers high-quality fill dirt for your project. You only think about dirt once you realize how crucial it is for completing sturdy, durable landscaping features!
Site Preparation Services
To finish your project, you may need site preparation services to ensure your ground is level and ready for construction. Dirt Connections specializes in bulk dirt delivery, grading, and making the space ready for your intended landscaping design. From smoothing out uneven land to placing the correct foundations for new patios or extensions, your site should be properly prepared to support both aesthetics and structural elements.
Get In Touch with Northern Virginia’s Land Grading Experts
Incorporating your landscaping plans into your home remodel is the smartest way to ensure a seamless, cohesive look that enhances both your indoor and outdoor spaces. By tackling these projects together, you’ll save time, money, and achieve long-lasting results that boost the beauty, functionality, and value of your home. From custom outdoor lighting and landscape mounds to essential grading and drainage improvements, every thoughtful landscaping element plays a crucial role in the overall appeal of your property.
For expert guidance and comprehensive solutions, turn to the full-service team at Dirt Connections. We specialize in everything from roofing and remodeling to dirt delivery, grading, and site preparation. Let us help you transform your entire home—inside and out—so you can enjoy a cohesive, beautifully designed space for years to come.
Ready to get started? Contact Dirt Connections today to discuss your next home and landscaping project!
