The Homeowner's Guide to Basic Landscaping

Getting your hands dirty in the garden is a fantastic way to boost your home's curb appeal, get some fresh air, and dramatically change the look of your property. However, moving earth is physically demanding work, and getting the heavy stuff wrong can lead to dying plants, drainage nightmares, or structural damage.

At the United Handyman Network, we want to help you cultivate a green thumb while knowing exactly when to put the shovel down and call in a landscaping pro.

Here is your straightforward guide to the landscaping tasks you can easily handle yourself, and the warning signs that indicate you need an expert.

Looking for a specialist? United Handyman Network today.

Fast, reliable, and stress-free.

Part 1: Simple Landscaping Tasks You Can Do Yourself

With a good pair of gloves, a shovel, and a little sweat equity, you can easily tackle routine yard maintenance and basic planting.

How to Plant a Shrub or Small Tree: Giving a new plant a strong start is all about how you prepare the ground.

Dig a hole that is twice as wide as the plant's root ball, but exactly the same depth.
Gently massage the sides and bottom of the root ball to loosen the roots so they can expand into the new soil.
Place the plant in the hole, ensuring the top of the root ball is perfectly level with the surrounding ground. Planting too deep will suffocate the roots.
Backfill the hole with the soil you dug out, tamping it down lightly to remove air pockets.
Water the base of the plant deeply to help the soil settle.

How to Properly Mulch Garden Beds: Mulch suppresses weeds, retains moisture, and makes your yard look instantly manicured, but there is a right and a wrong way to apply it.

Pull any existing weeds by the roots and clear away fallen leaves or debris.
Dump piles of mulch throughout your garden bed.
Use a hard rake to spread the mulch to an even depth of 2 to 3 inches.
Pull the mulch at least two inches away from the base of tree trunks and plant stems. Piling mulch up against the bark (known as a "mulch volcano") traps moisture against the wood, inviting rot and pests.

How to Repair Bare Lawn Patches: You don't need to re-sod your entire yard just to fix a few dead spots from pet damage or heavy foot traffic.

Use a metal rake to scrape away the dead grass and aggressively loosen the top inch of soil.
Sprinkle a generous layer of grass seed that matches your existing lawn and sun exposure.
Lightly cover the seeds with a thin layer of topsoil, compost, or peat moss. This hides the seeds from birds and holds moisture.
Water the patch lightly once or twice a day to keep the soil consistently damp until the grass is about two inches tall.

Part 2: When to Call an Exterior Expert

While planting flowers is a great weekend project, moving tons of earth, altering water flow, or working with heavy hardscaping materials requires specialized machinery and expertise. If your project involves any of the following, contact a professional through the United Handyman Network.

You Need to Remove a Large Tree: Felling a mature tree, especially near your house, power lines, or fences, is incredibly dangerous. Certified arborists have the insurance, rigging equipment, and expertise to bring heavy limbs down safely without destroying your roof or property.

You Are Building a Retaining Wall: A wall over two feet tall holds back thousands of pounds of wet soil and hydrostatic pressure. If it isn't engineered with a compacted gravel base, proper drainage pipes, and structural geogrid, it will inevitably bulge and collapse.

You Have Major Drainage Issues: If your yard turns into a swamp after a rainstorm, or worse, water flows toward your foundation, you need professional grading. Moving earth to permanently change water flow requires transit levels, trenchers, and an understanding of local stormwater runoff codes.

You Want to Install a Paver Patio: Laying a few decorative stepping stones is a great DIY project. However, excavating an entire patio, laying and tamping a perfectly level crushed stone base, and cutting heavy pavers requires plate compactors and wet saws. Without a pro, your patio will settle unevenly and become a massive tripping hazard after one winter.

You Are Installing an Irrigation System: Putting in a sprinkler system requires trenching your entire yard, tapping into your home's main water line, and installing backflow preventers to keep contaminated yard water out of your drinking supply. This strictly requires a professional and often a plumbing permit.

Conclusion: The Golden Rule of Landscaping

Always call 811 before you dig. It is a free, nationwide service that comes out to mark your underground utility lines (gas, electric, water, internet). Hitting a buried line with a shovel or auger is a fast way to cause a neighborhood blackout, face massive fines, or risk a lethal explosion.