Step-By-Step to a Stunning Year
Now is the perfect time to dream about your dream landscape. Winter has everyone wishing for spring, so why not spend the time planning your 2026 garden?
Plan for Your Property: Which Areas Could Use Improvement?
Put on your coat and walk around your property. Which areas will look bare come spring? Are there any spots that need sprucing up? These are our top three ideas:
- Front door drama: The front of your home makes your property’s first impression. What do people see as they walk up to your front door? 2026 is your year to make it amazing.
- Sidewalk stunners: Do you have boring strips of turf along your sidewalks and driveway? These narrow areas are perfect for landscape beds.
- Patio pleasers: Container gardening is the perfect way to add some pop to your patio. It turns a functional space into a lush oasis.
Plan for Your Purposes: What Kind of Landscaping Do You Need?
There are millions of plants in the world, and you need to decide which ones are right for you and your property. Here are three categories to consider.
- Edible vs. Non-edible: Are you drooling over the idea of garden-fresh veggies and aromatic herbs? Or, would you prefer a more ornamental approach? If you’re growing food, you should look into soil testing to make sure there aren’t any dangerous contaminants in the ground.
- Perennial vs. Annual: Do you prefer a long-term relationship with your plants or short-term bursts of excitement? Perennials may require a more intensive “start-up” period while you help them get established in your garden. With the right conditions, annuals thrive right from the start, but you’ll have to begin again next year.
- Native vs. Whatever Strikes Your Fancy: Native plants are popular for their hardiness and ease of growing in their natural regions (and on the other hand, they won’t become invasive and weed-like). But we admit, there are some pretty striking plants that didn’t get their start in the TriState. Know that non-natives will require more care and attention.
Plan for Design: Sharpen Your Pencil Before Sharpening Your Spade
Designing your landscaping on paper helps you work through your ideas. It’s the perfect winter activity.
Consider a professional landscape architect, like Mark Bambach with our friends at Paramount Lawn and Landscaping. We’ve been pleasantly surprised at the reasonable pricing for a top-notch landscape design. A professional will have ideas to beautify your property in ways you never could have imagined. Here’s a sample plan:
For small projects, Natorp’s offers a complimentary design service. It’s a simple, three-step process that ends with a free beautiful design for a single landscape bed. Why do they do it? Well, Natorp’s conveniently sells all the plants in the design. One of our team got a design for a sunny perennial bed next to their driveway:
Even if you don’t think a professional design is necessary, it helps to make some measurements and draw out your vision. One TriState Water Works’ team member quickly designed this herb garden, based on sun exposure and soil drainage. The highest-elevation and sunniest areas went from right to left on their property.
Plan for Irrigation: New Landscaping Needs Water
TriState Water Works is ready for all your wild ambitions. We can help make watering your new landscape automatic instead of a chore. Here are some irrigation system upgrades we often install for clients:
- New spray heads or rotator nozzles for new garden beds
- Drip irrigation for containers or raised beds
- Sprinkler heads for growing trees
- Adding zones for major changes
Contact us if you’re planning on improving your landscaping this year and want to know how it might affect your sprinkler system. We also recommend you call us before you dig, so we can mark the underground components of your system to prevent damage.
