Tag Archives: Summer

Make Your Home Stand Out with Curb Appeal

Winter is almost gone and summer is here. Summer means having get together with family and friends in the back yard. If you are looking for a way to make your home inviting this summer start working from the outside.

You can dramatically improve the appearance of your home, with these simple fixes:

1) Having your lawn mowed, trimmed and clean from weeds will be the first step. Most people dread doing their lawn specially if you have about an acre or more. If you have teenagers or neighborhood kids who are looking for some extra cash.

2- Make sure that the exterior paint is not peeling. If the exterior paint is peeling make sure you paint the exterior before the real estate agents start bringing buyers to show your home. Peeling paint will reduce the value of your home by at least two thousand dollars and will give room for buyers to find fault. If the exterior needs some pressure washing, do it. It does not cost much and mostly you can do it yourself if you have the time.

* Replace the door hardware. A new handle and lock mechanism can make your front door look brand new. If you can get a deal you replacing the kitchen and bathroom cabinet with the same hardware is a great idea.

4) Spring is here and it is a great time to do some gardening as the weather is pleasant during the day. Add color to your curb and gardening. If you have bushes make sure that you trim them to make your home inviting. If you have any plants that you dislike, now will be a great time to remove them. Lowe’s usually have great newsletter and classes for do it yourself home improvement projects. You can get some gardening tips from there.

* Install low voltage landscape lighting along walkways. Even the simplest lighting will bring your home to life at night. You can find some solar light if you are energy conscious.

* If you don’t have a proper path to the front door, consider installing one. Walkways welcome people to your home by inviting them to walk along a path that leads to your front door. The front porch should have ample lighting and balanced features, such as a planter on either side of it.

These simple tips will give you a start into summer. You don’t have a reason to have family and friends over? how about having DIY project and when you complete the project get your family friends over to celebrate the completion. This is good for your kids and your emotional well being. Your kids will start taking pride in the things they accomplish.

Find out how you can save energy, If you are looking to update your bathroom you can find some simple things you can do to improve the value of your home.

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Raised Summer Garden- Is This What You Need?

Raised gardens have become very popular as quite many of them are renting their property or finding themselves in the high rise apartments of buildings with some or no lawn space at all and moreover very less access to real soil to plant flowers and vegetables which they desire having with them. Actually, there are very few pros about using the raised gardens when opposed to tilling soil for those wishing to structure smaller gardens and also are limited about the space where it could be done. Simultaneously, those who wish for bigger yields are usually dissatisfied with limits of the raised gardens. Such are ultimately individual choices but it is suggested to know and point out a few of the pros and cons about such types of gardens so that people could decide about the same.

Soil compaction

The plants could love to breath. This is often very difficult when it is placed in the garden rows as there is a little bit of difficulty perhaps, avoiding all together possibility of stepping in the tilled rows where the fruits, vegetables, or the plants are planted in traditional garden situation. With the help of raised gardens, which are designed to be worked without, there is almost no fear of compacting soil around plants. During the same time most lifelong gardeners get a feel of the inability to walk in the gardens. This is a disadvantage as they prefer being able to do it. It is often matters about the preference than practicality but a valid opposition is just the same.

Numbers

You could essentially plant many plants in same amount of the square footage in the raised bed as there is no requirement for rows. One should also be very aware about the fact that the plants in the raised beds very often tend growing larger than those plants in the traditional garden rows. This being said one must resist the urge of over planting within raised garden beds. This would eliminate the slight benefit. Most traditional gardeners often see the results of having the beds overcrowded and feel that their manner of doing it is much better.

A good benefit to raise beds for the summer gardens in the areas which are almost saturated with the excess moisture is that, the raised beds would allow a better drainage than any traditional row gardening. It is one thing which the average gardener would not prefer arguing with, unless he lives in area where this is not much problem. Many gardeners in south though, where good deal of humidity is present along with some moisture, would agree that a proper drainage would be a problem.

The raised beds are quite less back breaking. It is a great benefit to a few of us who feel the years being crept into our bones. When we are above ground, the raised gardens offer much easier access for the activities of planting, weeding, and investigating for the signs of pests. A great thing about the raised garden is that they manifest to be slow and are not very quick to cool like the earth. It renders them much more productive and longer growing seasons like most of the gardens which are placed in ground.

Those of who have unusually shaped the yards or the growing areas, the raised gardens would allow the opportunity of having one beautiful summer garden almost in any shape you could build this box for. It means that you are never limited to rows, as many gardens often tend to be. You also have few more choices for aesthetics as you plan and grow the summer garden.

A downside to a raised summer garden is that it is very difficult to have it dismantled and almost impossible to till. It means one must do every working of soil by plain hands and most gardeners would not completely appreciate the look of the process. One most vital thing however, is about choosing the summer garden system which works best for you. Some may find combining the 2 would provide still better results. It is a good use of the time or you may also prefer one when compared to the other. As a matter of fact, there is no wrong answer in general. The wrong one would
only be wrong for you.

Abhishek is an avid Gardening enthusiast and he has got some great Gardening Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 57 Pages Ebook, “Your Garden – Neighbor’s Envy, Owner’s Pride!” from his website http://www.Gardening-Master.com/762/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.