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.

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!

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.

Fragrant shade plants can be an invaluable part of any landscaper’s toolkit because they accomplish multiple aesthetic effects at once. They allow designers to shape sight, sound, fragrance, temperature, and use of space. Tucson’s professional landscape design specialists at Santa Rita Landscaping use these shade plants, among others, because they grow well in a wide range of climates, look attractive, and have structural features that catch the eye and make effective use of three-dimensional space.

Plant #1: Abelia

Abelia plants are subtle evergreen shrubs with white or pink flowers and an alluring fragrance that grows well in Tucson as well as temperate climates. Abelia blooms attract butterflies, adding a natural source of color and movement to the landscape. They reach heights up to six feet, making them suitable for creating boundaries and shade for benches.

Plant #2: Catmint

To add a burst of color and the odor of mint to your garden, try one of the varieties of catmint that grow in Tucson soil. They can grow in the shade of taller plants or walls up to about two feet, so they work well in multi-level landscape designs. Plant catmint plants in early spring and allow them to grow in the sun or partial shade.

Plant #3: Evergreen Clematis

An arbor covered in evergreen clematis is an excellent source of decoration and shade. They bloom in late spring and can reach impressive heights when they climb walls, pergolas, and other structures. Like Abelia, they produce pretty white flowers that emit a fragrance reminiscent of vanilla. 

Plant #4: Foamflower

The bright pinkish-white blooms of the foamflower have an eye-catching spiky shape and grow between one and three feet tall. As long as the soil has a moderate amount of moisture and fertilizer, these fragrant shade plants should grow well in relatively cool climates.

Plant #5: Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob’s Ladder grows to a similar height to catmint. The coloration of its blooms, either deep blue or white, goes well with other white, violet, or blue shade plants. Jacob’s ladder plants grow well in full sun or partial shade in temperate climates. Their sweet scent attracts insects that support your garden ecosystem. 

Plant #6: Lily-of-the-Valley

If you live in a more temperate area and are looking for fragrant plants that will grow in the late summer, lilies-of-the-valley are one option. Their pleasant flowers and sweet smell like jasmine are reasons why they are popular fragrant shade plants. If you grow lilies of the valley on your property, take care not to let pets or children consume the berries because they can cause serious illness.

Landscaping with Fragrant Shade Plants from Santa Rita Landscaping 

If you need assistance choosing the perfect plants for landscaping in shade gardens, let the experts at Santa Rita Landscaping help. Learn more about how to select, plant, prune, and care for a variety of breathtaking fragrant shade plants. Call 520-623-0421 to reach our Tucson location and speak with a landscape designer about your plans for your shade gardening project.