Tips to Save Your Landscaping while Remodeling

Remodeling projects can be dangerous to landscaping around the home. Below are some tips on mitigating the damage and saving your valued greenery:

• Work with your remodeler to devise a plan on various ways to preserve your landscaping. It may be as easy as indicating where it is and is not safe to walk.
• Always point out your prized plantings for special consideration. Sometimes it is not possible to protect an entire yard, but it should be possible to save your prize rose bushes (provided they are not in the middle of the work zone).
• Ask that all lumber and materials be stored on paved surfaces, not your lawn.
• If that is not possible, designate a path across your lawn with stakes and string — allow several access points and try to keep the path as direct as possible.
• You may want to lay down temporary plywood sidewalks — they distribute weight and will prevent ruts in your lawn. Standing the plywood up at the end of each work day will help preserve the grass. Be sure to remove the plywood as soon as the work is done.
• If you have favorite plantings or shrubs near the work zone or in the direct path from the driveway to the work entrance, consider removing the plant and storing it in a cool spot until it can be replanted. Each plant will have special requirements to survive a replanting. Talk to your local nursery or landscape architect for advice.
• If the project will take too long to consider removing and replanting in the same spot, consider moving the plant to another location and purchasing new plants for the affected area.
• Give your lawn a deep soaking after construction to help it recover from any trampling. Even severely crushed lawns can recover with enough time and patience.
• Drag an industrial bar magnet across your lawn two to three times to pick up construction materials, such as nails. These can become quite hazardous if driven over by a lawn mower.

Copyright 1999-2000 by National Association of the Remodeling Industry