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DIY Landscape Design vs. Professional Design: Which Is Best for You?

DIY landscaping tantalizes many property owners. They assume they’ll save money while flexing their outdoor creativity, but is that true? 

Although DIY landscape design has its place, there are times when professional design works best. The Santa Rita Landscaping, LLC, team for landscape design in Tucson, AZ, shares more below.

Consider Your Project Scope

Do you have any specific landscape design plans for your property? The scope of your plans will determine whether you need a professional landscaper at the helm of your project. 

Whether you hire professional designers or not, you should always consider the following:

  • Your project’s budget: How much have you put aside for your landscaping venture? The value and savings of hiring a landscaper might surprise you. 
  • Equipment required: You probably don’t need help with tasks requiring a small spade shovel and some dirt. However, heavy machinery requires experience and operational licenses for safe use. 
  • Your available resources: Do you have the time, energy, and knowledge to execute your plans quickly and efficiently? If not, turn to a professional landscaper. 
  • What you can realistically do alone: Many property owners underestimate the energy and time required to complete a landscaping project. A little help from professionals goes a long way! 

When Is DIY Landscape Design Appropriate?

DIY landscape design works well for small-scale projects in your outdoor space. For example, you’ll want to add some annuals to a predetermined area in your yard. You can also easily do the following without a professional:

  • Learn which annuals thrive in sunlight vs. shade
  • Choose a fertilizing product
  • Dig shallow holes to plant stuff

You might also implement simple yet creative flower bed ideas to emphasize the changing seasons. These projects usually take a day or less and don’t require any special equipment or products. 

When Does Professional Landscaping Serve You?

Professional landscapers should handle complex landscaping projects that need consistent maintenance and care. Some examples of more complicated undertakings include the following:

  • Crafting features that promote energy efficiency and native eco-diversity 
  • Building large structures like rock walls, man-made ponds, and permanent seating areas
  • Irrigation and drainage engineering
  • Constructing expansive flower beds from the ground up

These projects require professional design experience, construction skills, and project-specific materials to complete them safely.

Before Hiring a Professional Landscaper

If you’ve chosen to hire a professional landscaping company to complete your project, you can still strategize ways to save money while achieving your desired results. The following tips will help you find the best landscaper to fit your needs:

  • Explore the average price to complete a landscaping design. 
  • Research landscapers’ experience in your particular undertaking. 
  • Speak with your landscaper about affordable materials and methods.

Share Your Ideas With Santa Rita Landscaping, LLC

While DIY landscape design allows you to enjoy personal creativity and resourcefulness, it doesn’t suit all backyard landscape ideas. Santa Rita Landscaping, LLC can assist you in creating the perfect outdoor paradise on your property. Call 520-623-0421 to learn more.

Four Plants That Turn Red in the Fall

Planting colorful trees, shrubs, and plants around your property is a fantastic way to enhance its visual appeal and make a terrific impression on guests. Few colors catch the eye more than red, especially during the vibrant fall season. Adding various shades of red to your yard can do wonders for its appearance while giving it a distinct look that will leave onlookers awestruck.

That said, many Tucson homeowners don’t know what plants and trees have red fall foliage. Fortunately, our experts at Santa Rita Landscaping created a short guide featuring a few plants that turn red in the fall in Tucson, Arizona.

Santa Rita Landscaping is Tucson, Arizona’s premier professional landscaping service. If you want expert landscape design in Tucson, AZ, call our landscaping professionals.

Four Plants With Red Fall Foliage

Red is a popular fall color that matches the season’s festive spirit. Deep red leaves and plants can help your exterior property look its best while giving it some character. Below are four beautiful plants that turn red in the fall in Tucson, Arizona.

1. Viburnum

Viburnum shrubs are heat-hearty plants perfect for Arizona’s hot weather. They thrive in both full sun and partial shade and typically grow between 3 and 8 feet tall. Viburnum shrubs come in multiple varieties, including:

  • Arrowwood
  • Guelder-rose
  • Viburnum davidii
  • Nannyberry

2. Oakleaf Hydrangea

Oakleaf hydrangea shrubs have purplish-red foliage that maintains its color throughout fall and well into winter. Like viburnum shrubs, oakleaf hydrangeas grow in full sun and partial shade and reach up to 15 to 20 feet tall. Although these shrubs prefer well-draining moist soil, they can tolerate clay-based dirt, making them ideal for Tucson’s clay-heavy terrain.

3. Fireglow Upright Red Japanese Maple

Fireglow upright red Japanese maple trees have vibrant red leaves that will enhance any Tucson property with stunning fall colors. They are relatively compact and grow 12 to 15 feet on average. They grow in partial shade and full sun while favoring well-draining, moist soil.

4. Coral Bark Japanese Maple

The coral bark Japanese maple is a relatively large tree that reaches 15 to 25 feet tall. It enjoys morning sun and afternoon shade and prefers sandy soil over clay. 

What makes this tree so unique is its color-changing foliage. It features yellowish-green leaves during early fall that change to a rosey red once winter temperatures arrive. It’s a gorgeous tree that will help you unlock your exterior property’s true visual potential.

Contact Santa Rita Landscaping for Outstanding Landscaping Services in Tucson, Arizona

If you want to add enchanting red plants, shrubs, and trees to your property but don’t want to deal with the hassle, contact Santa Rita Landscaping. Our team will plant breathtaking plants that turn red in the fall while providing outstanding customer service every step of the way. Whether you want to add low-maintenance landscaping plants to your property or need professional tree care, our professionals can help.

Give our Santa Rita Landscaping team a call at (520) 623-0421 and schedule your appointment today!

Four Artificial Turf Landscaping Ideas for Your Backyard

Not everyone has the time and money to maintain a lush, green, and uniform lawn. That’s why numerous homeowners are using artificial turf to make their outdoor spaces look beautiful without the maintenance and effort a natural yard requires.

Consider our top four artificial turf landscaping ideas to beautify your backyard, then call our team at Santa Rita Landscaping, the best landscape design experts in Tucson, AZ, at (602) 689-0292 for a consultation about our top-notch landscaping services. 

1. Create a Kid-Safe Play Area

Do you want your kids to have a safe place to play that encourages them to spend more time outside? Add artificial turf to your yard and create the perfect play spot for your children. It’s easier to clean and safer if kids fall or trip. 

When choosing between artificial turf vs. natural grass, artificial grass can appeal to future buyers of your property and up your curb appeal. Additionally, you can feel better about having your kids play outside without getting hurt or getting mud on their clothes. 

2. Make Your Patio a Little Greener

If your property lacks green space, you can make your patio transformation even better by adding artificial turf. You could also add some plants and make the beauty of the outdoors more accessible. You don’t have to worry about watering, taking care of weeds, or mowing the lawn.

Artificial turf is also significantly softer and safer on bare feet than traditional grass. Plus, you can enjoy green grass year-round without having to put any work in! Entertaining guests or spending time outside is much more enjoyable with the beauty and value that artificial turf offers.

3. Transform a High-Traffic Area

One of the best artificial turf landscaping ideas is utilizing turf for a high-traffic area. These areas are some of the most difficult to maintain and keep looking good. However, you can use artificial turf in the following ways to make your property the crowning jewel of the block:

  • As a pool walkway or patio border
  • As greenery around a fire pit
  • To separate a sitting or conversation area
  • To address an unsightly or bare area
  • For outdoor kitchens

You can also place them between pavers to make your property look more orderly. Whether you place it on a balcony or in your outdoor entertainment space, everyone will love the look of your artificial turf. You can easily keep it clean by hosing off any dirt and dust after extended use.

4. Bring Beauty to Your Side-Yard

You might have a beautiful front and backyard, but what about your side yard? Artificial turf is one of the easiest and best solutions to bring life back to your side-yard. Since this area doesn’t get as much sun or care, artificial turf can help!

Receive Professional and Custom Landscaping Services from Santa Rita Landscaping

We hope these four artificial turf landscaping ideas provide inspiration for your yard. You can call our Santa Rita Landscaping team for landscaping services in Tucson, Arizona, at (520) 623-0421 and Phoenix, Arizona, at (602) 686-0292. Learn about the average cost of landscaping, then schedule your consultation appointment.

Understanding Landscaping Texture: A Homeowner’s Guide

Most Tucson homeowners want their properties to make a statement, but the hot desert climate can make things tricky. Adding some texture to a landscape is a great start, accentuating the beautiful parts of your home and drawing together your living space and outdoor spaces. 

So, how can the right landscaping texture enhance your property’s appeal? Below, Santa Rita Landscaping LLC shares a brief guide on what texture means for landscape design and how it can take any upcoming landscaping projects to new heights.

As one of the area’s leading professional landscaping services, Santa Rita Landscaping LLC is also available to help if you’d like to explore landscape design in Tucson, AZ, in more depth.

Landscaping Texture Involves The Design’s Look and Feel

Texture in landscaping can describe how plants, hardscapes, and other design elements feel to the touch. Are they fine or coarse, spiky or smooth? It’s a powerful tool if you’re trying to develop a truly breathtaking landscape that elevates your home’s visual appeal. 

Combining various textures can create eye-catching landscape designs that transform spaces from shabby into luxurious. However, some elements will change the texture they bring to the space over time and depending on the season. For example, deciduous plants drop their leaves during winter, providing a very different landscaping texture than they do in the summer.

Plants Add Natural Textural Variety to Your Outdoor Areas

Even with the plethora of plant life in a garden, plant textures come in three primary forms:

  • Fine
  • Medium
  • Coarse

Fine-Textured Plants

Finer plants have small blossoms and leaves, giving gardens an airy, light feel while filling up the gaps. Fine textures act as background plants and complement denser vegetation.

Medium-Textured Plants

Medium-texture plants have moderately sized foliage with relatively smooth, simplistic shapes and edges. They often amplify or unify finer textures and coarse flora for more enchanting landscapes.

Coarse-Textured Plants

Coarse-textured plants have large leaves and thicker branches, often featuring as the focal point of a landscaping section. They can make spaces appear smaller or enhance them, depending on what you’re trying to achieve.

Balancing Texture Creates Interest Without Being Too Much

Although combining various textures creates gorgeous landscapes that can complement your home’s exterior features, you don’t want to overdo one specific texture. For instance, too many medium-textured plants make it dull, while haphazardly adding textures can make a garden look too busy. You must find a balance between the texture varieties to avoid overcomplicating the look.

The best way to make your home the highlight of the neighborhood is to use the three textures optimally. 

  • Use one or two coarse-textured plants as centerpieces.
  • Fill larger spaces with medium textures that highlight this centerpiece.
  • Beautify the space with the finishing touches of the finer-textured plants.

Contact Santa Rita Landscaping LLC for Outstanding Landscaping Services in Tucson, AZ, Today!

Would you like some help creating captivating outdoor spaces using various landscaping ideas? Whether you want to incorporate landscaping texture with plants, water features, unusual backyard landscape ideas, Santa Rita Landscaping LLC can help.

Call Santa Rita Landscaping LLC at (520) 623-0421 today and transform your Tucson, AZ, home and garden today!

Four Things to Know When Hiring a Landscaper

Landscaping your yard can be an exciting and rewarding home improvement experience. This type of project requires the right landscape contractor, but hiring a landscaper can be extremely difficult. 

The experts at Santa Rita Landscaping, LLC are landscape design professionals in Tucson, AZ. We understand the importance of selecting the right professionals for your project. Call us at (520) 623-0421 and read this guide about the four things to know when hiring a landscaper.

#1: Plan Ahead

Landscaping projects vary in size and scale. Trying to find a landscaping professional for your unique project requires that you plan ahead. Ask yourself: are you working on your entire yard or a smaller space?

Smaller projects may only require a weekly visit. Extensive renovations and transformation projects require daily work over an extended period of time — months or weeks, usually. Create a schedule that you’d like to follow for your project.

#2: Set a Budget

Create a formal budget. Establish targets for how much you are willing to pay for service. Consider that maintenance companies typically charge around $100 or more for smaller projects  lawn mowing and hedge trimming, for instance.

More extensive projects require more labor and materials to complete. For that reason, landscape architects often charge thousands of dollars for their services  potentially up to $10,000, depending on your specific circumstances.

#3: Consult Multiple Landscape Professionals

When hiring a landscaper, it’s best to consult multiple companies. Obtaining more than one quote gives you a better idea as to how much you should be paying for your services. You’ll also have several points of reference you can use to compare different services.

Ask each contractor about their approach to landscaping. Encourage them to explain what makes them unique and seek information about other customers who worked with them on similar projects. You can never ask too many questions!

Ideally, you’ll want to consult with at least three landscape professionals before making a decision, although it never hurts to ask more. Check their reviews and relevant materials to see if what they told you during your consultation is accurate.

#4: Check Qualifications

Landscapers require proper licensing and qualifications to provide reliable service. Landscaping professionals must be licensed, bonded, and insured, displaying their relevant certifications and license numbers on all promotional materials. 

In addition to these general qualifications, some landscape companies practice unique specialties that require more qualifications. State regulations often dictate that companies using pesticides and fertilizer must obtain licenses. Companies that offer irrigation or interior landscaping systems may also require proper licenses.

Learn More About Landscaping Projects

Our experts at Santa Rita Landscaping, LLC, can help you navigate the process of hiring a landscaper. Whether you want to learn more about the average cost of landscaping or work with our incredible landscaping team, call us at (520) 623-0421. Together, we can create a plan for your unique landscaping project and make your dreams a reality. Contact us to learn more.