Landscaping is Not Simply Mowing

Landscaping is something that has been done for centuries. Even the Ancient Egyptians found ways to manipulate the land and they did so for both functionality and aesthetics. What most people find is that a well-groomed outdoor area offers more than just eye appeal, especially in residential areas. The fact is that landscaping is more than just mowing and it can greatly improve the curb appeal of your home and provide you with more living space.

Whether you choose to do it yourself or hire a landscaping design firm, you can quickly change the appearance of the site around your home. Your first step is to carefully inspect your current landscaping and, with your specific needs in mind, carefully create a design that incorporates the needs of your family. If you live in an area that has very hot summers, you may choose to integrate plants that do well in the hot sun and mulching to help the soil retain its moisture.

In planning your design, you need to determine exactly what you and your family expect from your outdoor area. Do you need a place to entertain family and guests? Do you wish to have a quiet area where you can relax alone in private? Or, do you prefer a place to grow flowers or vegetables? Whatever you prefer, your outdoor area can be anything you want it to be. It’s all about choosing the design you want and figuring out how to get the job done on the budget you have allowed yourself.

There are many great ideas for landscaping, including paved stones for walking paths or concrete benches for a sitting area. You can bring in color by planting different flowers that will bloom at different times and by incorporating a wide variety of outdoor décor items that you can find in almost any garden supply store. Successfully designing your outdoor space is all about utilizing the things that give you comfort. Of course, the area you live in may have more challenges than hot summers. Harsh cold winters can make it tough to enjoy your landscaping, and you may feel that it was all done for nothing. However, when spring breaks, you can be sure that your family will be enjoying their landscaped patio or deck, and you will appreciate the fact that you cared enough to make you home a pleasant place to entertain family and friends in the warmer months.

How To Maintain Your Garden During The Fall

It can be difficult to maintain a garden during the fall months because of the cold temperatures. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to protect your garden and keep your plants safe and healthy during fall and winter. Below is a list of tips for maintaining your garden during the fall months:

Use Leaves In Your Garden Weeds may still be a problem during the fall months. You can use leaves as mulch to protect your flower and vegetable gardens. Leaves not only stifle weeds, but they can also help retain moisture. Leaves can also help enrich the soil.

Fertilize With Egg Shells Instead of throwing out all your egg shells, you can use them to fertilize your garden. You will simply need to crush up the egg shells and put them in the soil. Egg shells have calcium carbonate in them. Calcium carbonate helps keep your soil healthy. Keep in mind that it takes a long time for egg shells to completely break down. That is why eggshells can benefit your garden for a long time.

Egg shells can also help keep garden pests at bay. Slugs are a common garden pest and they can linger surprisingly long through autumn and winter. They dislike the chalky sharpness of the ground egg shells. Cutworms, which are another common garden pests, do not like the chalky sharpness of the egg shells either. You should put the egg shells around the plants in order to protect them from critters.

Use Coffee Grounds Coffee grounds are another thing that make a great fertilizer. Coffee grounds contain nitrogen. Nitrogen helps keep your plants and soil healthy.

Make A Homemade Pest Spray You can keep cold-weather pests at bay by making a homemade pest spray. You can make a pest spray by mixing a few drops of dish soap with water. Spray the mixture on the pests. This mixture will not only kill the pests, but it will help prevent them from coming back.

Remove Diseased Plants If you notice any diseased plants in your garden, then you should remove them as soon as possible. This will prevent the other plants from developing a disease that could linger through the winter months.

DIY Ways To Save On Heating Costs

With the prices of electricity and natural gas increasing, you want to find ways to reduce the loss of climate-controlled air from a home. Autumn is the time when most homeowners begin to consider ways to save energy on heating costs while making a home more comfortable. One of the most important ways to keep a home warm and beautiful is with new vinyl replacement windows that are designed to seal out cold air during snowstorms, but there are other simple things that you can do to maintain a home’s temperature. While in the summertime, you might enjoy having lightweight curtains or window blind on windows, in the winter, you can hang heavy draperies instead to help prevent drafts.

Make Heavyweight Window Quilts A great way to have heavy draperies for your home’s windows is by making your own. Thick drapery fabrics are often difficult to find, but you can use quilted fabric instead. An inexpensive way to find quilted fabrics for windows is by shopping in the bed linen aisle at a department store. For a rustic home, use traditional patchwork quilts to make heavyweight pull up blinds or draperies for windows. It is also possible to find plain quilted bedspreads or coverlets that are simple to cut into pieces to make draperies that will block the cold air coming in around windows.

Make Homemade Draft Stoppers to Keep Your Home Warmer If there are drafts coming in around the doors in your home, then add stick on insulation or caulking around crevices. Many homeowners notice that drafts come in underneath exterior or interior doors, and this is another time to make a homemade item to save money while staying warmer. While there are ready-made draft stoppers for doors, these are often expensive and the wrong size. Use a sewing machine to make a draft stopper from thick fabric and polyester filling. First, measure the bottom of the door and add on a few inches to have the correct size of draft stopper. Make a long tube for the draft stopper by stitching the fabric front to front and leaving one narrow side open. Turn the fabric so that the decorative side is visible before filling it tightly with the polyester filling. Stitch the remaining side by hand before placing the draft stopper at the bottom of an interior or exterior door.

Cutting Costs On Holiday Decorations

Decorating is one of the many things that makes the holidays fun. However, holiday decorating can be quite expensive. The good news is that there are many things you can do in order to save money on holiday decorations. Below is a list of tips that will help:

Use What You Already Have Before you go out and purchase anything, you should take inventory of the decorations that you already have. If the decorations that you used last year are still in good shape, then you may not have to purchase any new ones. This will prevent you from wasting money.

Visit Your Local Thrift Store You can find items in a thrift store for a fraction of the price that you would find them in a regular store. Colorful plates, candle holders, faux greenery and festive fabrics are examples of some of the fabrics you may find at the thrift store. Additionally, there are some online stores that sell decorations for a fraction of the price.

Shop During The Right Time The time that you shop can also affect the amount of money you spend on decorations. For example, you may be able to save money on tree trimmings if you purchase them after Thanksgiving. Many stores have discounts on outdoor decorations in early November.

Use Coupons Stores are trying to get as much business as possible during the holidays. That is why you will probably be able to find coupons to your favorite stores. You can find coupons in the newspaper, magazine and online. You can get decorations for a fraction of the price if you use coupons when you purchase them.

Visit The Dollar Store Many people believe that you have to shop at a department store to get nice decorations. However, you may be able to find great decorations at your local dollar store. Not only can you find inexpensive decorations at the dollar store, but the dollar store is also a great price to buy decorations in bulk. Card-stock, card-making materials, glitter and wreaths are examples of some of the things you may be able to find at a dollar store.

Are Your Windows Ready for Winter?

With winter just on the horizon, certain steps should be taken to protect your home from the winter chill. One of the best things that any homeowner can do to keep the cold air out, however, is to take a close look at their windows. Of all of the areas of a home, your windows are the most likely sources for winter draftiness. What can you do to keep the cold air out and the warm air in? We have a few ideas.

Weather Seal Drafty Windows There are many types of weather sealing materials available on the market today, each with advantages and disadvantages. Some do-it-yourselfers use a sheet of plastic, taped to the inside wall around the window. While this is an easy to apply and fairly effective solution, it is also not terribly attractive and makes access to the window impossible during the window without removing the plastic. However, if you do not own your home, this may be your only viable option.

Weather stripping is the alternative, and different weather stripping is comprised of different materials. Felt, plastic, foam and rubber weather stripping are all available. Felt is the easiest to install, but does not last as long as other varieties. On the other hand, plastic v-seal weather stripping is highly resilient but more difficult to install.

Replace the Caulking Replacing the caulking is another step to minimize drafts from the windows. Caulking is an external component applied to the small void between the window and the structural components of the home. Over time, this caulking ages and can crack, allowing air to pass through. Removing old caulking and replacing it with a fresh bead can go a long way to preventing drafty windows.

Replace the Window This is a more drastic solution, but it could be necessary depending on the window that you already have. Double pane windows are better insulated from the cold than single pane windows, so if your home currently is equipped with the single pane variety, you might consider vinyl replacement windows in order to save on energy costs. These windows are set in sturdy vinyl, and double pane varieties are available to keep even more cold air out. Some newer models of window feature triple pane glass if you are looking to maximize energy savings.

Preparing your house for winter is a big project, but you often find your biggest savings by winterizing your windows.