Gardening Mistakes to Avoid – And Tips for Keeping Your Backyard Beautiful!

Whether your backyard is a secret sanctuary for relaxing, a space for entertaining friends and family, or both, you want it to thrive. But always remember, a green thumb takes practice! Anyone can learn to garden and make their space beautiful all year round by using these gardening tips from our cash house buyers in Dallas.

#1 – Watering too much or too little

This is something most gardeners struggle with, as plants are very specific about their watering needs. The best solution is to plant your garden according to their moisture needs and ease of watering.

For example, plants that love a lot of water should be planted near a faucet or downspout, in more clay-like soil (which retains water), or in a depressed area of the yard where water tends to gather. Otherwise, water only when the top inch or two of the soil is dry, or if plants start to wilt.

Dry-loving plants don’t like having soggy roots, so plant these together in sandy soil and where water doesn’t tend to gather. Watch for signs of wilting in the heat and plan your watering from there.

#2 – Planting in the wrong location

Unfortunately, even if you love the idea of a climbing rose against your home, it’s not going to deliver the results you want to see unless the location is right too. Sunlight is the most important factor in deciding what plants go where, so work with that rather than trying to shape the plants to your vision of what you want your space to look like.

Most flowering plants love sunlight and need 4-6 hours a day, or they will wither, get leggy and diseased, and not bloom. Other plants love shade or dappled sunlight, so planting them in full sun will cause their leaves to burn and brown.

As well as following the cards you get with your plants, it’s a good idea to speak to the garden center staff for gardening tips. Some plants are much more adaptable than others, so you can get a better idea of where you can plant them. Remember to have a good look at your yard beforehand, seeing where it gets morning or afternoon sun, which areas are heavily shaded, and which get full sun all day.

#3 – Not planting for your climate

Plants that thrive in Alaska aren’t necessarily going to survive in Dallas, so it’s important to take your climate into account when choosing plants. The best guide for this is following your hardiness zone, which is determined by the number of sunny days a year, soil texture, biome, altitude, seasonal temperatures, and other factors. In Dallas, we’re in Zone 8a. The best plants for this zone include:

• Herbs – Lavender, sage, rosemary, oregano, and sorrel
• Flowering plants – Bird of paradise, lantana, Indian hawthorn, hibiscus, butterfly bushes, peonies, coneflowers, and salvia
• Fruit – Citrus, blackberries, blueberries, watermelon, plums, and apricots
• Trees – Persimmon, cape myrtle, dogwood, juniper, oaks, and southern magnolia
• Vegetables – Beets, beans, broccoli, celery, peas, radishes, tomatoes, corn, spinach, carrots, and squash

When in doubt, plant native varieties! Not only are these a wonderful support to birds, animals, and beneficial insects, they’ve evolved to love our climate, so they require less nutrients, maintenance, watering, and soil changes. You can visit your local botanical gardens for inspiration and native plant gardening tips too.

#4 – Not preparing your soil

Plants can be fussy about the soil they grow in too, so check your soil before you plant. Clay soil tends to be thick, hard, and water-retaining, while sandy soil is loose, granular and high-drainage. Loamy soil is the ideal mix of the two where most plants will do well. You can prepare your soil by digging in lots of organic compost, bark chips, fall leaves, grass clippings, and even pine needles.

If you are interested in planting plants that have a specific pH need (that is, they like acidic or alkaline soil), then it’s worth testing your soil pH first. It’s easy to do with a test strip from your garden center. Most plants like a slightly acidic or neutral soil pH, and you can balance out the alkaline by adding acid compost and lots of organic plant matter before you plant.

#5 – Not looking at the mature size

One of our best gardening tips is not to look at the size of the plant you buy – but to look at its full mature size. It’s easy to see a small, pretty tree as perfect for next to your home only to have it cut down after it blocks out all your sun and starts damaging your roof!

This works for smaller plants too. Generally, you want lower-growing plants in the front of your flower beds and taller varieties as you move further back. You’ll also need to space out your plants correctly according to their full size so that you don’t have odd gaps or overcrowding issues later in the season.

Another great rule of thumb is to only plant trees 15 feet from your home’s foundation. Keep smaller trees, shrubs, and climbers for closer to your home. Good small trees include Texas vitex, crepe myrtle, Mexican plums, desert willow, hawthorn, and mountain laurel – but it’s still a good idea to either plant these in pots or give them a good 10 feet from your home so that they have space to grow. We recommend azaleas, boxwood, camelias, cotoneaster, flowering quince, gardenias, and nandina for closer planting.

How to sell your house quickly in Dallas!

When you want to sell your house quickly without spending more money on it or paying real estate agent fees, there’s no one better than Shiny Key Properties! We purchase houses in any condition, at any time of year, from well-kept family properties to teardowns. If you want to sell your property as is without having to look for a buyer, deal with a real estate agent and pay their commission, or even empty the property, then the best option is to sell directly to our cash house buyers in Dallas. We price your property according to the market, so you get a fair deal in record time!

We will buy your property fast, putting a lump sum into your account in a matter of days. Here’s how our process works:

• You enter your information on our website. We’ll contact you directly to discuss an offer for your property (you can also get a free property evaluation from our website)
• You can accept or reject the FREE NO-OBLIGATION offer
• Cash will be deposited into your bank account – with no real estate agent fees or realtor fees
• We can handle all aspects of the process, including clearing out the property
• You can also call us directly on 469-858-0088

That’s all there is to it!

Our team is compassionate and highly motivated to offer you the best possible market-related price for your house, so you can sell your property fast. Not only does this cash go straight into your bank account as soon as the sale goes through, but you also pay no real estate agent fees or commission.