With the new year comes a new start.  And although most New Year’s resolutions are based on personal improvements, you might also want to consider adding some landscaping improvements as well.  After all, this can be the best time of year to start planning how your next growing season is going to pan out. In this article, we come up with some suggestions for the top New Year’s landscaping resolutions.

Weeding

Staying on top of the weeds growing in your garden, planters and lawn can be a never ending battle.  But if you give up, the weeds will quickly take hold of the territory and fight vociferously to maintain their position.  Make a resolution this year to keep on top of these stubborn landscaping adversaries and not let them win the battle. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll need to employ a battalion of chemical defenses as there are plenty of natural ways, including good old hard work, to keep the weeds at bay.  Do yourself and your yard a favour by resolving to win the weed wars this year.

Composting

Composting may not be for everybody.   There’s a somewhat of a learning curve and a need to make a conscious effort to make it work properly, but the benefits are multifold.  First of all, composting means that your food and yard waste doesn’t actually end up as waste. Rather than being carted off by your local garbage collectors, it becomes a useful and nutritious supplement in your own backyard.  You’ll reduce the amount of fuel necessary to cart it around, lower the amount of material that ends up in the landfill, save money spent on soil and supplements and you’ll actually get some exercise by maintaining the compost pile.  Give it a try. Once you’ve got a working system, you’ll wonder why you never did it before.

Mulching

Mulching is basically a simple form of composting.  Rather than having to store your yard waste until it breaks down to its basic components, all you’ll need to do is shred your leaves, grass clippings and other green waste into tiny bits and lay it around the bases of your trees and in your garden beds.  Keeping a two-inch layer of mulch on these surfaces will regulate the soil temperatures, prevent water evaporation and act as a barrier against those pesky weeds. If composting seems like too much to start off with, try mulching to ease your way into it.