We Ask Landscape Designers Their Least Favorite Backyard DIY Projects

Successfully transforming a formerly bare backyard through your own toil and creativity can seem immensely rewarding. Yet, not all makeover projects can or should be DIYed. Otherwise, you may be in for lots of grief or, worse, expensive do-overs. Curious about which DIY endeavors landscape designers dread seeing homeowners attempt, House Digest reached out to two leading experts for exclusive interviews. Johanna Antonsson, landscape designer at The Moose Garden, took umbrage at rock gardens because they're a maintenance headache. In her words, "Rock gardens are usually not a good fit for small backyards in urban areas. You may think it is low maintenance, but it's quite the opposite. It will require tedious weeding, and leaves tend to build up, making it look messy."

Meanwhile, Justin Fox, CEO of Foxterra Design, advises "any DIYer to avoid projects that require trade-level expertise — like masonry, concrete foundations, block walls, electrical work, or advanced plumbing." He feels this way because handling complex projects without experience can cause missteps, leading to "wasted time, extra expense, and even having to tear out your work to bring in a professional to fix it." (Oh, the embarrassment). Now that we've given you the short of it, ahead follows a detailed discussion on why these leading landscape designers chose these projects as their least favorite and what they recommend homeowners do instead when refreshing their backyard landscape on a budget.

Despite attesting to the beauty and utility of rock gardens during her exclusive interview with House Digest, Antonsson deems them inappropriate for DIY because they're effort-intensive. Explaining why that's the case, she states, "Rock gardens are big in Japan, and they can be very beautiful and calming, but what people don't realize is all the work that goes into the design and the choice and placement of the stones." Alas, all your hard work will be for naught if you have limited room to make a rock garden flourish. "When you try to do this in a small space without surrounding nature and with foreign crushed rock like marble, it just looks harsh and out of place." She also feels that rock gardens grow too hot and cannot sustain much wildlife. Even if you get the dynamics right, rock gardens eventually "tend to look more like a gravel roadside full of weeds than a Zen garden," states Antonsson. She chalks this up to homeowners failing to realize that rock gardens need maintenance.

Due to that, she makes the case for a little woodland area instead, with local rocks interspersed throughout, as it feels more lush and inviting. Plus, it's also low-maintenance. To DIY it, "Plant a couple of small trees and cover the ground with small shrubs, grasses, and ground covers," details Antonsson. Once you're done, "Place a few rocks where you can sit in the light shade under the trees, and children can play 'the floor is lava.' If the space is a bit bigger, make a winding gravel path through the space," she concludes.

Giving reasons for why he feels homeowners shouldn't tackle projects that require trade-level expertise, Fox explains in his exclusive interview with House Digest, "One of the biggest pitfalls is learning as you go. Finishing concrete, for example, is tough to get right the first time — knowing when to trowel, brush, or finish it takes experience. Building an outdoor barbecue with proper foundations, steel reinforcement, and plumbing placement also takes time and planning." In short, besides their inherent complexity, the main challenge of such projects is the time needed to figure out the right approach, given the lack of experience and trade knowledge.

For this reason, Fox recommends, "The average person [should] stick to any project that focuses on aesthetics rather than complicated foundational elements." That way, you can update the yard with sheer creativity, sans the risk of a do-over. His go-to backyard landscaping ideas to transform the space? "Simple additions, like adding a faux plant to an existing concrete wall to add depth and dimension, a few well-placed pots, or outdoor furniture on turf, can instantly transform a blank lawn into a welcoming destination," he mentions. You can even turn a ceramic bowl into an affordable garden water feature if you're hoping to curate a Zen-like atmosphere. Other low-risk, high-impact changes he recommends making involve "layering in lighting, rugs, or pre-designed elements" to "bring a space to life and truly make it your own."