Dry weather spurs landscaping changes

More than half of homeowners who are updating their yards say they’re doing it to solve drought or flooding issue, according to the 2015 Houzz Landscaping & Garden Trends report.

Thirty-six percent of homeowners surveyed say they’re reducing their existing lawn, while 16 percent are removing them altogether. In drought-ravaged California, 46 percent of owners there said they are substituting their existing lawn for a synthetic one-twice as likely as anywhere else, according to the survey.

The survey analyzed 1,600 homeowners who completed an outdoor project in the past 12 months, or are currently working on one, or are planning a project in the future.

“In light of water-related challenges across much of the country, homeowners are embarking on projects to tackle a lack of or excess water in the long-term,” said Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz. “This includes installing rainwater harvesting systems, adding drought-resistant and native plants, and others.”

Low maintenance spaces are a top priority, according to the survey. Seventy-one percent of home owners upgrading their outdoor space say the space needs to be easy to maintain and functional, followed by perfect for entertaining and ready for the family to enjoy.

Half of homeowners are budgeting less than $5,000 on their current or upcoming outdoor project (52 percent), but slightly under half already spent this amount on recent projects. One in four owners surveyed say they are budgeting more than $20,000 compared to more than a third of home owners who actually spent over $20,000 on recent projects – implying that budgets and spending don’t always align, the survey noted.

Homeowners show high usage of their outdoor spaces. More than half of the owners surveyed said they spend six or more hours in their outdoor space per week, mostly relaxing (65 percent); gardening (48 percent); and entertaining (47 percent).