Your yard offers you a private slice of paradise. You have a wealth of possibilities at your fingertips to cultivate a uniquely beautiful area, but understanding how to landscape a steep slope on a budget poses a challenge. Where should you start? 

At Santa Rita Landscaping, we provide professional landscape design in Tucson. So our pros curated a few tips to help you get started. 

Tip #1: Use Multiple Native Plants

Sloped backyards provide a way to instill beauty and support native wildlife. When you use native plants as a part of your landscape, you provide a local habitat for insects, birds, and other creatures who need a safe place to go. 

Additionally, native plants prosper more than annuals or imported perennials. They won’t die when exposed to Tucson’s hot summers. With a readily available supply, you’ll pay little, if any, money to cover that steep slope. 

Tip #2: Discover Ground Covers

If you want a lush, thriving garden that bursts with color, you’ll want to cover any bare areas. Ground covers provide the perfect solution. From low shrubs to creeping perennials, ground covers take on a diverse variety of forms. 

For example, ice plants are succulents with small, daisy-like flowers that come in multiple colors. They have versatile temperature tolerance. Most garden retailers carry them.

When you choose flora, such as ice plants, you decorate your slope with an attractive, affordable ground cover. 

Tip #3: Build a Rock Garden

You can use rocks to bring myriad landscaping ideas to life. A rock garden helps control erosion, ensures your plants take root, and provides an attractive, low-maintenance feature to your slope. If you want to know how to landscape a steep slope on a budget, rocks have the versatility you need.

You can also use natural stone to create pathways, rough-hewn benches, and walls. This adds character to your backyard slope. You can make your rock garden unique to your style and needs. 

Tip #4: Create a Water Feature

Many people think that only homeowners with money to spare can install a water feature. However, this assumption doesn’t ring true if you know what to do. You can build a water feature using various surprising materials. 

For example, tires, large plastic tubs, and metal tanks can all serve as a luxurious water feature. The real challenge lies in configuring plumbing and drainage.

Your water feature should constantly run to keep mosquitoes from breeding. In addition, proper drainage protects water from collecting in unwanted areas. Otherwise, water features offer a zen-like addition to your backyard slope. 

Design Your Personal Paradise with Santa Rita Landscaping

Want to learn more about how to landscape a steep slope on a budget? Learn more about the average cost of landscaping to get a better idea of the costs. You can also contact our landscaping pros at Santa Rita Landscaping for a consultation.

Call us at (520) 623-0421 to start your creative landscaping project today! 

Beautiful landscapes look expensive. However, any avid landscaping DIY enthusiast will tell you that you don’t have to break the bank to spice up your lawn or backyard.

Are you looking for fun and affordable ways to transform your landscape? Here are some cheap landscaping ideas from Tucson’s landscape design experts.

1. Use Free Mulch Alternatives

Mulch can help improve water retention while boosting your landscape’s look and feel. However, shop-bought mulch can cost a fair amount of money—especially if you have a spacious yard. Fortunately, you can explore several low-cost alternatives, including:

• Shredded leaves
• Grass clippings from mowing your lawn
• Compost
• Pine needles
• Old newspaper
• Stones

2. Install a Bird Feeder and Birdbaths

Sometimes, all it takes to make your landscape more exciting is to make it attractive for your avian neighbors.  

Watching the birds as they feed and splash water onto their feathers is a sight better experienced than imagined. It’s one of the cheap landscaping ideas anyone can implement.

3. Add Some Color

Sometimes, all you need to transform your landscape is a splash of color. You can repaint your planters, landscape chairs, boundary stones, and other elements. The job will be much cheaper if you have leftover paint in your garage.

For more natural color, explore the option of growing flowers in different locations, such as near your patio deck, around your entryway, or even your mailbox.

4. Install Outdoor Lighting

Outdoor lighting can transform the look and feel of any landscape in low-light conditions.  

Fortunately, you don’t need to spend much money on custom light fixtures to generate picturesque results. You can find affordable outdoor string lights and use them strategically. Here are some ideas:

• Wrap strings of lights around pillars
• Run lights from your house to a central tree
• Line the garden beds with rope lights

5. Refurbish Your Fence

The fence around your landscape is the first thing most people see when visiting your home. Refurbishing it can make your outdoor space more visually appealing. Here are some tips to consider:

• Give the fence a fresh coat of paint
• Drape it with a colorful weather-resistant awning
• Grow vines along the fence
• Install decorative fence caps

6. Grow a Vertical Garden

As the name implies, a vertical garden runs from top to bottom instead of across the ground. If you don’t have a lot of space in your yard, you can still grow plants vertically. To make this cheap landscaping idea even more inexpensive, use existing or recycled materials such as:

• Old plastic bottles
• Wooden ladders
• Old tires hung on the wall
• Old picture frames
• Waterproof shoe organizers

Plants that work great for vertical gardens include ferns, garlic, peppers, bromeliads, onions, climbing roses, and other perennial plant types.

Get More Advice From the Experts

Do you need more advice on cheap landscaping ideas? Call our Santa Rita Landscaping team in Tucson, AZ, at (520)-623-0421. We are always happy to help our customers achieve the landscape of their dreams.

We are also constantly publishing educational materials you can read at your convenience. Here are types of mulch to consider for landscaping.

Landscaping offers boundless opportunities for your yard, but it is not always easy to select the right plant for landscaping projects that fit your environment and aesthetic vision.

Santa Rita Landscaping is the leader in professional Landscape Design in Tucson, AZ. Our team has the expertise to help you with tricky decisions, such as deciding how to choose the right plant for landscaping.

Know Your Soil

What type of soil do your plants grow in? Are you putting down soil or planting in the natural earth on your property? Is your soil sandy, or does it have a high clay content? Does your soil have a high percentage of organic material? 

Each of these questions will provide a framework for how to choose the right plant. Each plant for landscaping has its preferred soil type. If you need help selecting the right plant, the experts at Santa Rita Landscaping are happy to recommend plants in landscaping projects.

Pay Attention to the Climate

Experts group plants into zones based on the climates they grow best in. Find out what climate you live in and use that information to narrow down your search for the perfect plant.

Check the Humidity and Rainfall Levels

If you get a lot of rain, you need plants with sturdy root systems that will not get waterlogged or wash away. For drier soil, succulents and other plants that grow in desert climates might do better in your landscape.

Know the Best Time to Plant

Some plants grow better if you plant them at different times of the year. Familiarize yourself with the optimal growing times for each type of plant.

Consider Sun Exposure and Shade

If your landscape includes trees, awnings, shades, and other structures, pay attention to how these factors influence your plant’s exposure to sunlight. 

Consider Native Plant Species

Plants that grow naturally in your area are more likely to thrive on your property than plants that grow in different parts of the world. Native plants are also a great way to show pride in your local area.

For Landscaping Year-Round, Choose Evergreen Shrubs and Trees

Many people want continuity in their landscape throughout the season. Evergreen trees provide shade for plants, while shrubs structure the landscape.

Avoid Invasive Species

Many plants, especially some types of vines, will grow out of control and could infiltrate your neighbor’s yards. Before you pick a plant for landscaping, check that it is not an invasive species in your area.

Get Practical and Creative Professional Landscaping Services from Santa Rita Landscaping

At Santa Rita Landscaping, we go out of our way to help our customers with all their landscaping needs. 

With our guidance, discover how to choose the right plant for landscaping. Know which type of mulch suits your landscaping, and tie all the elements together in a cohesive design that considers the relationship between plants, trees, shrubs, and soil. Call (520) 623-0421 to speak with a landscaping professional in Tucson today.

Mulch, the top layer of shredded soil material, is either organic or inorganic. It protects the soil in outdoor landscapes from hardening and moisture from evaporating rather than reaching plant roots.

However, mulch varies as much as plant care requirements. Choosing the correct one for your garden can be challenging.

At Santa Rita Landscaping, we have the #1 landscape designers in Tucson, AZ, alongside a list of the top three types of mulch that professional landscapers and the average resident loves to use. Consider our options below that span from nutritional compost to decoration.

1. Compost

Compost is organic matter that consists of brown and green material. Green material has nitrogen-rich components like decomposed matter, including bits of twigs and leaves.

However, brown material is carbon-rich with shredded cardboard and wood chips. It must also maintain the correct air and soil moisture levels to break down material properly. 

While it’s similar to the look of soil, this darker mix provides added nutrients to your plants and flowerbeds. It also retains soil moisture so your vegetation doesn’t lose sustenance.

2. Cut-Up Bark

Cut-up bark is your best bet for mulch in hilly areas where the land sits at a slant. In such areas, the pieces of bark latch onto one another, staying in place rather than tumbling down slopes. Also, because it comes from natural sources like cedar trees, cut-up bark is environmentally friendly and breaks down to create nitrogen-rich areas in poor soil. 

This sturdy material also keeps nutrients within the earth by preventing soil erosion from wind or water runoff. 

3. Rocks and Stones

Pebbles, rocks, and stones do the opposite of most other types of mulch since they draw heat from the sun, which radiates into the soil. Because it warms the soil, place them around cacti and succulents that love higher humidity.

Otherwise, place them around landscapes you tend to overwater as a preventative method for drought-tolerant plants. You can also place them in shaded areas where the stones won’t collect much heat. 

Residents mostly use these toppings for decorative purposes since the inorganic material doesn’t need replacing. It also maintains the look of your garden by restricting weed growth since the solid material creates little wiggle room for them to pass the soil’s surface. 

While they’re more expensive than other mulch types, they come in a wide variety. They range from colorful pebbles to large river rocks, so find your ideal fit for your garden and budget.  

35 Years of Promising Landscaping and Counting!

Whether laying landscape stones or other inorganic or organic materials, ensure you’re using the best types of mulch to make your yard flourish. Determine the layer of mulch to use by plant type, environment, and budget. Whether you’re laying mulch down for the first time or preparing for another spring, trust our professional team. 

At Santa Rita Landscaping LLC, we have 35 years of experience transforming yards into oases. Make yours one of them. Call (520) 623-0421 in Tucson, AZ, or (602) 686-0292 in Phoenix, AZ, for commercial or residential services!

Decorative rock and landscaping stones add style and character to your Arizona home. From a simple garden path or walkway to edging, steppingstones, ponds adorned with river rock, elaborate garden beds, and crushed stone driveways to illuminate your path, opportunities for creativity are endless. 

There are as many decorative stone shapes, sizes, colors, and textures as there are design possibilities. Follow this brief tutorial on how to lay landscape stones to help you get started. Contact our quality landscape design contractor in Tucson when you are ready to bring your vision to life.

1. Decide on Stone Placement 

Map out your landscape rock placement before starting installation. Using a pencil and paper, or whatever method works best for you, create your design, and know with reasonable certainty where you will place your stones. This planning phase is the best time to consider what stone sizes, textures, and colors work best for dramatic effect.

2. Measure Your Space and Estimate the Number of Stones 

After the drafting phase, take measurements of the physical space for your design. You can use an edging tool to draw an outline of your plan in the soil. Making a lifestyle rendering of your design will give you a better sense of how to lay your landscape stones. It may be helpful to dig in the proposed location of the rocks to get a sense of the size and number of stones needed for your project. Be sure to penetrate to a depth that would realistically keep the rocks in place.

3. Create a Form Soil Base 

Be sure to press down the soil before placing the landscaping stones to create a firm base for stone placement. This soil base is especially vital for heavier stones requiring solid ground to prevent settling.  

4. Install a Weed Barrier 

Removing weeds from your finished landscape design is messy and disruptive. To avoid this inconvenience, build a weed barrier into the design by installing landscape fabric along the area of your rocks. 

5. Lay Your Landscape Stones and Add Finishing Touches

Once you have decided how to lay landscape stones, you are ready to place them into position. While the design is entirely up to you, it is not advisable to stack stones as they can easily fall out of place. 

If you hadn’t thought of it before, consider adding finishing touches to your creation, such as water features, decorative plants, flowers, or outdoor lighting to complete your design.

Contact Us

Decorative stones, rocks, and beach pebbles add beauty and character to your property. When you want professional assistance with the landscaping in your yard or need guidance on how to lay landscape stones, contact the experts at Santa Rita Landscaping, LLC. As the premier landscaper for the residents of Phoenix, Tucson, and the surrounding areas, we know the current landscaping trends and have the expertise and resources to deliver top-quality results. 

Call us at (520) 623-0421 to schedule a consultation.