Transform Your Ohio Home with These Landscaping Ideas

Living in Ohio provides you with all four seasons! As a homeowner, this can make it challenging to maintain a beautiful landscape. Thankfully, we have some tricks up our sleeves to transform your landscape!

Native plants, tranquil gardens, and low-maintenance plants are just a few of the things you can expect! Let’s get into the first landscaping tip.

Transformative Ohio Landscaping Ideas

1. Replace Plants With a Lawn Feature

If you’re lucky enough to have plenty of green in your yard, you may want to consider replacing a few places with a hardscape. Hardscapes can be beneficial to people looking for a part of their landscaping that doesn’t require any watering, pruning, or general upkeep.

What is a hardscape? These are any features you build that aren’t living. Instead of plants, you could build a deck, walkway, gazebo, or patio. As long as the hardscape is properly constructed, it can add a beautiful element to your landscape for years to come.

Depending on what type of hardscape you choose, maintenance is fairly minimal. Decks and patios may require staining, whereas a pathway may require you to weed every once in a while. They can also boost curb appeal and potentially raise the property value of your Ohio home.

These features can cost $100 to $11,000 depending on the type of hardscape you want to add to your space.

2. Create a Peaceful Rain Garden

Columbus, OH has its fair share of rainy days. In fact, it averages 40 inches of rain per year, which is two more inches than the national average. Building a rain garden can help your landscape benefit from all that precipitation.

The best way to create the perfect rain garden is by planting it on a downhill slope. As the rain trickles down it will hydrate and water the plants for you! This isn’t the only benefit of placing a rain garden in your yard.

It can help reduce the chance of flooding and can aid in stormwater runoff. Asters, Wild Bergamot, and milkweed are just a few plants that can thrive in Ohio rain gardens. It can cost anywhere from $100 to $2,000 to build one of these landscaping features.

3. Build a Container Garden

Making your very own container garden is a fantastic way to transform your landscaping without breaking the bank. If you’re like most people and absolutely despise tearing up weeds, killing garden pests, and even soil diseases, a container garden might be for you.

Planting flowers and native Ohio plants in pots and containers instead of the ground can help prevent all of those things and save you the headache! Growing plants in containers will still allow them to thrive, just like they would in the ground.

Another benefit of this landscaping perk is the ability to bring potted plants indoors. Ohio winters get chilly and many plants won’t survive in the frigid Midwest temperatures. By bringing plants inside, you won’t have to spend time covering them in your backyard.

You’ll need a pot or container, the proper soil, and your plants of choice. This can cost anywhere from $20 to $200.

4. Place Mulch Around Plants

If you want to transform your landscape in Ohio without breaking the bank, mulch is your best option. All you have to do is spread it around flowers, under hedges, bordering trees, and in gardens.

One of the main reasons people use mulch in their yard is to get rid of weeds. When applied properly, you’ll rarely, if ever, have to weed again! It’s important to note that organic mulch will break down over time.

Although this is a good thing for the soil, it will mean you’ll need to replace the mulch each spring. There is also rubber mulch that can last for years and requires no upkeep. Mulch keeps plants hydrated, protects them from harsh weather, and makes your landscape look polished.

You can expect to pay $45 per cubic yard on average for mulch.

5. Plant Garden Species Native to Ohio

There are hundreds of plants native to Ohio. Planting these will not only make your outdoor space look beautiful, but you can rest easy knowing these plants can thrive in the environment. One of the main benefits of planting native plants is they require a lot less maintenance than non-native species.

We suggest Canada Lilies, Fringed Gentian, and Bloodroot for native flowers. Spicebush, Mountain Laurel, and Red Chokeberry make fantastic native shrubs. If you’re looking for trees native to Ohio, plant Papaw, Elderberry, or Hackberry trees!

This can be a bit costly, depending on how many plants you need. Some homeowners opt for professional installation, which can cost hundreds of dollars more.

6. Replace Grass With Ground Cover

Taking care of grass can be a lot of work. Even if you have cool-season grass in your yard, it still requires upkeep during the winter months. Mowing, watering, pest management, and fertilizing can be draining.

If you want to get rid of a lot of your yard work without harming your landscape, consider ground covering. Ground covers consist of low-growing plants that spread wide and farm, creating a lawn-like appearance.

The best thing about ground covers is that they require very little maintenance. There are plenty of options to choose from. Some of the best ground covers that work best in Ohio landscapes are Bearberry, Goldenstar, and Virginia creeper.

This will cost you about $2 to $15 per square foot.

7. Consider Adding Succulents

When you think of planting succulents, you may not imagine doing so in Ohio. Luckily, these hardy plants can thrive here. The state gets plenty of rainfall and sunshine during warmer months to keep succulents looking their best.

Because Ohio has frigid winters, you may want to plant succulents in a container or pot that you can move indoors. This way, the plants can continue growing at a healthy rate without freezing.

There are specific succulents that do better in cooler climates. We suggest Stonecrop, Ice plant, Hens and Chicks, and Jupiter’s Beard. Succulents are relatively inexpensive. You can expect to pay about $3 to $30 per plant.

8. Plant Evergreens

How much do you dislike raking leaves? If this autumnal chore is the bane of your existence, consider planting evergreens! These trees will keep their leaves all year round! Gone are the days of bending up and down for hours getting all the leaves off the ground!

Evergreens also add a beautiful splash of green to your landscape in the winter months. Our favorite evergreens to plant in Ohio are Eastern hemlock, Colorado blue spruce, and Eastern redcedar.

If you’re planting a tree that’s fully mature, expect to shell out up to $3,000! You can also plant smaller evergreens for as low as $20.

9. Perennials vs. Annuals

While some people in Ohio enjoy planting flowers every year, others find it quite tedious. If you’re sick of planting annuals each spring, consider opting for perennials. These species will rebloom each year without you needing to lift a finger.

Yes, perennials live through the harsh winters that Ohio has and have an incredibly strong root system. There are numerous perennials that you can plant in your garden as well. Butterfly weed, Black-eyed Susan, and Blue wild indigo are all native Ohio perennials.

10. Install Artificial Turf

If you love the look of grass, but find it to be too much work, consider installing artificial turf. Because it’s faux, there isn’t the need for painstaking maintenance. It’s also a great choice for people with pets or children.

The animals can use the grass to do their business and the kids can roughhouse without killing the turf! You can easily clean it with a hose or a leaf blower. It will also provide you with a green lawn, all year long!

Summary of Ohio Landscaping Ideas

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Ingrid Balabanova/Shutterstock.com