10 Top Mistakes to Avoid When Designing Your Backyard Oasis

Some landscaping mistakes are obvious, like that time you installed the DIY waterfall and flooded the neighborhood. 

But other goofs are sneakier. You might not even realize they’re mistakes until it’s too late.

What are some landscaping fails? Irrigation mistakes. Poor patio planning. Bad plant spacing. Forgetting about function.

Keep reading to learn more about common landscaping mistakes, including: 

Bad plant spacing 

Neglecting key details

Flair over function

Irrigation mistakes

Poor patio planning

Prioritizing your front yard over your backyard 

Skimping on plant quality

Putting plants in the wrong spots 

Ignoring maintenance needs

Forgetting about landscape lighting 

1. Bad Plant Spacing

This is tricky. If you space plants too close together, they’ll struggle and won’t thrive. Space them too far apart and you’ll have big ugly gaps. Both are examples of  poor landscape design. 

Experts keep in mind the size of the plants at maturity, not when you plant them. The plant tag will tell you the proper spacing. You have to leave room for when the plants get bigger. 

2. Neglecting Key Details 

So much of landscaping is in the details. Hire a landscape designer who is detail oriented and thinks ahead about how you’ll actually use your outdoor space to avoid costly landscaping mistakes. 

Here’s one good example: If we’re incorporating a circle driveway, we actually hop in the car and park it where the drive will be. Then we open both doors to make sure there will be plenty of room all around so nobody will be stepping out onto plants. 

3. Flair Over Function 

We love all the great photos of luxurious landscapes you bring to our design consultation, but how your outdoor space works is even more important than how it looks. 

Beautiful landscaping can still be bad landscaping if you can’t get out there and enjoy it. 

How will you be living out there? Are you the Thanksgiving dinner hosts? Then we’ll need to make sure the separate outdoor living spaces you’ll love for morning meditation and cozy dinner parties will also work together to comfortably host big groups. 

That stand of palms is stunning, but wouldn’t it be even better with a mini beach, complete with hammock? (It absolutely would. You’ll love a vacation resort vibe in your own backyard.)

Make sure your landscaping isn’t just beautiful, but usable. 

4. Irrigation Mistakes

So. Many. Irrigation. Mistakes. Yikes. 

Hire a landscaping team that includes irrigation design pros to avoid poor landscape design. 

One great example: where your system’s valves are located. Sure, that oak tree you’re planting is tiny today, but there shouldn’t be an irrigation valve installed within 20 feet of it to avoid root problems down the road. Trees grow. Roots spread. 

We install valves far away from any potential problems. 

5. Poor Patio Planning 

Don’t plan your patio before you buy your outdoor furniture. It should be the other way around. 

We don’t want to build a 10 by 10 foot patio then find out you’re buying a 14 foot L-shaped couch for it. 

Do your furniture shopping first. Write down the measurements and bring them to your landscape design consultation so we can make sure your outdoor space accommodates it.

6. Prioritizing Your Front Yard  

If your front yard landscaping is your priority and your backyard an afterthought, you need to be nicer to yourself. 

It might not be bad landscaping, exactly, but why put all your money and effort into impressing your neighbors? Bring them some peanut butter fudge during the holidays and call it good. 

We recommend spending 70 percent of the cost of your outdoor living space on the backyard and 30 percent out front. 

Your backyard is for you. The pool, the patio, the lanai. Do that landscaping first!

Plus, if you get the front all prettied up first, your brand new front landscaping can be damaged by landscaping equipment moving through to do the back. That’s an easily avoidable landscaping mistake. 

7. Skimping on Plant Quality 

You want the best, healthiest plants for your tropical oasis. Don’t cheap out on plants. 

Florida Fancy is the top grade of plant set by the Florida Grades and Standards for Nursery Plants. 

Other plant grades are called Florida #1 and Florida #2. They don’t sound so bad, right? Why not save a few bucks? 

Florida Fancy is the premium grade with decreasing quality as you get to Florida #1 and Florida #2 plants. 

We only use Florida Fancy plants. If you settle for anything lower, expect imperfections in your plants that could lead to landscaping fails. 

You pay more for these premium plants, but they’ll be healthier and longer lasting in your landscape. 

8. Putting Plants in the Wrong Spots 

If you don’t put your plants in conditions they love, they won’t thrive. That’s not just bad landscaping, it’s a big waste of money. 

Choose plants that are well suited and happy where you plant them, and they’ll flourish. 

If you goof up here, you might be setting your plants up for overcrowding, disease, insect damage or dying of thirst. 

Don’t mix plants with different light and water needs. You don’t want a shade-loving plant next to a sun-loving plant. One of them will suffer. Cluster drought-tolerant plants together so they can share the same watering needs. If you’re planting a spreading ground cover, give it room to roam. 

9. Ignoring Maintenance Needs

Wow, your new landscaping looks amazing. It still looks amazing. Then, suddenly, hmmmm. 

Your palm starts shedding. Why are there bug mouth-shaped holes in your croton leaves? Is that ixora wilting? 

Make sure you hire landscape design services in Sarasota FL that doesn’t just design and dash, but offers a comprehensive maintenance plan to keep everything healthy and thriving. 

Actually, you want one experienced landscaping company that can expertly handle all your needs. That way, things go super smoothly. 

Sure, they’re pros at planning a landscape. Do they also do irrigation? Not all landscape design companies do. 

Do they install landscape lighting? Can they take care of your water features? Do they have a top-notch turf care program? 

You have a lot going on in your life. Hire a Sarasota FL landscaping company that will make this easy, so you don’t have another hassle on your to-do list. 

10. Forgetting About Landscape Lighting 

Yes, you absolutely need landscape lighting. It’s not a luxury — it’s the necessity that extends your outdoor living time. 

Even if you don’t ask us for a landscape lighting design as part of your plan, we’ll get one ready for you anyway. That’s how crucial it is to maximizing your enjoyment of your great outdoor space. 

Sure, you could come home after work and plop on the couch to watch TV. But why? 

Light up your outdoor living space and you can stroll your garden paths, enjoying the magical shadows your cool plants make at night. 
Relax beneath strings of bistro lights. Rustle up a midnight snack in your outdoor kitchen.

Get out there.

Don’t Make Landscaping Mistakes — Talk to Us

Nobody expects you to have all the knowledge needed to avoid poor landscape design.

That’s our job. We can’t wait to get started. 

The beauty of full-service landscape design services in Sarasota FL is we can handle everything on your landscaping wish list.

Landscaping fails? Not on our watch. 

Give us a call or fill out our form today! Our team of Sarasota landscape experts can’t wait to help you breathe easier about your landscaping. Make no mistake.