Posts about:
It sometimes takes a lot of work to get your landscaping just the way that you want it, but it’s worth it when you get to sit down and enjoy your hard work. The only problem is that sometimes it’s just too hot to spend much time out enjoying! This is especially problematic if your landscaping contains a lot of flowers that bloom during the summer months, since the cooler spring and fall won’t give you the same sort of satisfaction in your garden.
Keeping a well-manicured lawn is a goal for many homeowners. That nice crisp look of freshly trimmed grass can really improve the appearance of your home and surrounding property, and there’s just something to be said for the lush green color of a healthy lawn. But what if your lawn isn’t quite as healthy as you think? It’s possible that all of the work that you’re putting into that manicured look is actually keeping your lawn from reaching its full potential.
If you’re like a lot of long-time homeowners, you’ve probably got a great deal of home equity on your hands right now. If you’ve been considering putting it to work, it’s still a decent time to take out a second mortgage or a HELOC, even as rates are starting to rise. Having so much home equity can enable you to make some very seriously needed changes to your home, either to allow you to age-in-place or to accommodate other lifestyle needs. It’s an opportunity to make major changes or upgrades, but there are certainly some ways that are better than others to use your home’s equity. We’ve got some ideas to get you started.
Maybe you’ve just moved into your new home and you’ve got a patio of your very own for the first time, or maybe you’ve had one for a while and just didn’t know what to do with it. Patios are magnificently flexible spaces, if not a little boring by themselves. Think of your patio as a three-dimensional canvas that you can literally create anything on that you’d like. From tiki hot tub paradise to casual outdoor dining space, patios are only limited by your imagination. Here are some things to think about when you’re trying to dress yours up!
Maintaining your lawn is one of the summer’s big tasks. Depending on the size of your property, this could require just a few quick loops with a push mower, or it could take a good part of the day on a riding mower. Even homeowners who just use a small lawnmower are starting to feel the sting of rising gas prices, though, and those who want to leave the Earth a little greener may balk at how much added gas they use during the summer just keeping up with their lawn.
When you’re looking to sell your house, there are a lot of little things that you can do to increase the likelihood that some prospective buyer is going to make an offer. Many of the tips you’ll find to improve your home’s appeal focus on things inside the house, ranging from paint colors to furniture and a variety of other little tweaks. There is something else that you can do to improve the appeal of your home that’s often overlooked, though: add some plants.
Having a garden is a great way to enjoy the outdoors while also getting some delicious fresh-grown fruits and vegetables for your meals. The thing is, if you’ve never maintained a garden before then you might not realize just how much work goes into it as well. You need to consider the type of soil you have, the amount of sunlight your plants receive, how often different plants need water… you even have to think about what sort of things to plant and when to plant them! For newcomers to gardening, it can be pretty overwhelming.
When you don’t have a lot of space or open ground around your home, planting a garden might seem impossible. After all, plants need room to grow and soil to grow in, don’t they? While this is true, there is more than one way to get a garden growing. If you have limited outdoor space or don’t have room for a large garden plot, one option is to set up a vertical garden instead.
With the time getting ready to change and the days getting longer, there are a lot of reminders that spring is right around the corner. Unfortunately for your outdoor plants, it might not be quite close enough to save them from a few more chilly nights. Depending on where you live, you may still have to deal with the occasional frost or overnight freeze for at least another month or possibly longer. This can cause significant problems for a lot of plants, and can really set back your landscaping and gardening plans if you wait until the danger of freezing is completely gone before putting things out.