About Me

Creating An Inviting Yard

I have always been one of those people who loves to create a warm, inviting atmosphere for others, which is why I started looking at landscaping design in the first place. It was incredible to me to see how much of a difference I was able to make by adding a few new plants, and after that first project, I wanted to help other people. I started volunteering to help friends and neighbors do their landscaping, and after a few months, I had developed quite a following. This blog is all about creating a warm, inviting yard through smart landscaping and an eye for detail.

Creating An Inviting Yard

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5 Tips For Wintering Young Trees
Mature trees can typically weather winter weather with minimal preparation or maintenance, but those planted in the last few years can still be susceptible to the ravages of winter weather and stresses. Take some time in the autumn to make sure these younger trees have the tools they need to overwinter successfully. 1. Clear Weak Wood A single dead or damaged branch may not seem like a big deal, but winter winds and snow loads can rip it free.

Rocky Soil? 4 Ways To Design A Great Yard Anyway
Do you have to work with rocky terrain in your landscape? No matter how little or how much you plan to landscape, this is an extra challenge that can seem insurmountable. However, don't give up on your landscape plans. You can overcome rocky soil and create a beautiful yard. Here are a few ways to manage it. 1. Grade Strategically Rather than try to get rid of all your rocks throughout the entire yard, only do grading work strategically with specific goals in mind.

Is A Landscape Designer Necessary?
Thanks to Pinterest, YouTube, Reddit, and Instagram, anyone can create and implement a landscape design, right? Yes, you can, but with varying degrees of success. You can select a landscape design from any of these platforms or magazines and try to replicate it in your own garden.  There is no guarantee that it will be as perfect or as the original design. You are also uncertain if you can sustain the plants in your garden.

Tips For A Greener And Thicker Lawn
A healthy lawn boosts a property's curb appeal and value. If the grass is thin on your side, you can deploy new strategies to make it thick. What's more, you can request lawn care services for help. The experts will assess the problem and suggest practical solutions. Here are tips for achieving a lush lawn. Mow Correctly One top secret to attaining a fantastic lawn is mowing correctly. Refrain from cutting the grass too short because it strains your lawn.

The Best Solutions to Deal With Weed Problems in Your Newly Renovated Landscaping
If you have recently invested in renovating your landscaping, you want to prevent problems like weeds from taking over. Therefore, you may need good weed control solutions to help deal with problems before they start. The following weed control options are some of the best solutions to prevent problems in newly renovated landscaping: Overseeding Lawns for Weed-Resistance The type of grass, groundcover, and plants you have in your landscaping can affect weed growth.

Why Proper Landscape Design Is So Important
If you are ready to start landscaping your lawn, then you might just be thinking about planting flowers and bushes in the places where you think they will look best. You might not have thought much about landscape design and might not have much of a plan. Many people don't really understand how important it is to come up with a proper landscape design when planting things on their property, but proper landscape design is more important than you might think for these reasons and more.

How To Create The Perfect European Garden
While you may not live in the English countryside or in the rural parts of France, that doesn't mean that you can't create a similar feeling in your backyard. With the perfect shrubbery, gravel, and a nice wooden bench, you can create that European oasis that you want without ever having to step onto the inside of an airplane. To make sure you get exactly what you want, there are a few things to know about landscaping first.

Recommendations To Select, Order, And Install Rock Into Your Landscaping
Rock is already a naturally occurring material in nature, so when you add it to your yard's landscaping, it creates a natural-looking environment but gives you a maintained and clean look. Just be sure you know what types of rock are available, the best way to install them, and how you can go about ordering them and getting the rock to your home. The following provides you with some recommendations to complete a rock project in your landscaping and how to have an easy and successful time in the process.

Lawn Edging Guide
There are two types of edging in lawn maintenance: the edging between the lawn and hardscaped surfaces, like sidewalks and patios, and the edging that separates the lawn from garden beds and planted areas. Although edging may seem a purely ornamental practice, it actually serves an important purpose.  Edging Issues A lack of edging between the grass and garden beds is most likely to cause issues. Lawn grasses, which are hard to eradicate, will invade the garden bed, where they can choke out flowers and other ornamental plants.

3 Landscape Projects To Increase Your Family's Use Of The Backyard
While spending time with family, friends, and coworkers at their own homes, you may notice that the backyard may not get used that often. This can happen for reasons such as a lack of features or the backyard needing a lot of upkeep and getting pushed to the side for other obligations. If you are interested in seeing your family use the backyard on a regular basis and even feeling excited about inviting people over to spend time outside, you should work on the landscape.

Make Sure You Get Your Land Cleared Before You Build Your House
Before you start building the house of your dreams, you need to make sure that you have the perfect place to do it. This means more than just having a good property for it; it also means that you should make sure that the property is prepared so that you have somewhere to actually build. In order to do that, you need to hire a company that does land clearing so that they can get everything ready for you.

Tips For Clearing Land On Your Property For Use
Clearing land to build your home is a large project, but you don't want to go about it in the wrong manner. Having the right information about the process and knowing what opportunities it provides can make a big difference in the project. Here are some recommendations to help you clear your land to prepare for building your new home on your property. Follow the Required Process When you have a piece of land that is still in its raw state, it is important that you find out any local laws and regulations regarding the removal of any materials and growth from the land.

Recommendations For Installing And Maintaining A Yard Sprinkler System
The key to having a beautiful yard and healthy vegetation is having a good irrigation and watering system set up. An automatic sprinkler system ensures your yard gets the water it needs and in the right amounts, even if you are not at home. Installing a new sprinkler system in your existing yard or when you are building a new yard into your property is an essential component to making sure you end up with great results.

Soil Stabilization Methods to Prepare Sites for Construction and Development
If you have land that you are planning on developing and building on, problems with soil movement can put a damper on your plans. Therefore, you may need pre-construction soil stabilization solutions before you can begin your project. The following solutions are worth considering: Cementing soil to provide stabilization for construction Cementing soil is one of the most common types of soil stabilization because it is affordable and works with different types of soil.

Factors to Consider When Hiring a Landscaper
Landscaping adds value to your home. In fact, landscaping is capable of increasing your home's value by 15%. If you are looking to invest in landscaping, it is important that you consider employing the services of a landscaper. Here are some of the factors you need to consider when hiring a landscaper. The Services Offered You should determine the type of services a landscaper offers to see whether they are fit for the job.

Tips For Keeping Your Sod Alive
Installing sod is an exciting stage of landscape development. It's like getting an instant yard. However, sod is usually at its more vulnerable directly following transplant. You might be eager to use your yard right away, but first you need to consider the needs of your grass or it will not survive. Here are some tips for keeping your sod alive after planting.  1. Give plenty of water. Water is the key component for sod success after planting.

Prepare Your Home to Sell With the Right Tree Trimming Services
Making improvements to the exterior of your home and the landscaping can make an enormous difference in how much interest your home gets when you've listed it for sale. Since a lot of potential homebuyers base their opinion on first impressions, you'll need to look into what changes you can make. If the trees in your yard haven't been maintained much, it's a good idea to see what can be achieved through tree trimming services.

Arborist Supply Guide To Get The Right Equipment To For Your Tree Service Business
When it comes to caring for trees, you want to have the right equipment for your tree service business. Some of the trees in landscaping may be valuable to property and need special care, which means that you want to have the best tools to care for these plants. The following arborist supply guide will help ensure you have the best equipment for your tree service business: Getting The Right Assortment Of Cutting Tools For All Your Tree Care Needs

Why Hire Someone To Mow Your Lawn
Your lawn should be mowed around once a week during the peak of the season, then less frequently as the cooler or off-season weather starts to set in. Whether you are used to mowing your own lawn and don't know why you should hire complete lawn mowing services to do the work instead or you just don't want to mow your own lawn at all, there are many benefits in hiring a lawn mowing service.

3 Keys To Growing Healthy Turf
If you are putting down turf, you are doing so because you want to have a beautiful yard right away. Turf can give you a great head start when it comes to having a beautiful yard. If you want your new turf to remain beautiful, you need to take care of it correctly from the start. Key #1: Use Natural Fertilizer When it comes to taking care of your yard, start by using organic fertilizers.

Your Garden Benefits from the Use of Compost Products
The use of compost is a corrective measure for ensuring that your soil always remains in good condition. When people have trouble with soil problems in their yards, compost is the go-to conditioner that quickly reverses the problems. You can safely assume that it is the best all-around soil amendment product and it will not harm your garden. What Makes Compost So Good? One of the main benefits is that the material increases organic elements such as humus proteins, which form partially decomposed organic matter.

4 Reasons You Need A Professional Snow Removal Service
Whether you own a business or not, professional snow removal services are beneficial to business owners and homeowners alike. Here are four reasons you should contract with a snow removal service this winter. 1. You Live in a Snow Belt People who live in the mountains or near the Great Lakes often live in a snow belt. These areas can receive huge quantities of snow. The snow is frequently moisture laden and extremely heavy.

3 Mistakes To Avoid When Designing Your Outdoor Living Space
From extra space for entertaining and relaxing to an increase in your home's appeal and value, the benefits of an outdoor living area should be easy to see. Of course, not all outdoor spaces are created equal, so having the space suited to your home and budget may seem overwhelming. Thankfully, help is available when you are ready to design your outdoor living space. Here are a few mistakes to avoid.

3 Things A Tree Removal Service Can Do For You
When you have a tree that you are worried about, there are several things that you can do to handle it. One of the best things you can do is to call a tree removal service and see what they think you should do about the tree. They can suggest several different options.  Trim the Tree One of the things that they can do is to trim the tree back for you.

Three Ways To Get Plenty Of Mulch For Landscaping Your Whole Yard
When mulching, there is a lot to consider. Do you use organic mulch or recycled rubber? Do you create mulch or buy it from a store? Do you understand that mulch is not compost and vice versa? When you are well-informed and ready to mulch, here are three ways to get a lot of mulch quickly so that you can landscape your whole yard. Bulk Mulch Pallets Home Delivery There are three ways this home delivery goes down.

Want A Kitchen Garden? 5 Steps To Plant One You'll Love
For any avid cook, having a kitchen garden is one of the most enjoyable and healthy aspects of any landscape. But before planting your seeds, do a little planning to create an herb garden you'll love for many years to come. Here are a few garden design steps to take. Keep it Close. A kitchen garden, as its name suggests, should be close to the kitchen. Think about how easily you can access the garden to pick fresh herbs while you're already in the process of preparing a meal.

What Services Can A Lawn Care Service Offer Besides Mowing?
When you have a busy life, keeping your grass mowed can be a real pain that takes up too much time, especially if you have a sizeable piece of property. Hiring a lawn care service to keep your grass mowed is a logical choice for most homeowners who either don't have the time or the equipment to do it themselves. However, these amazingly valuable professionals usually offer far more than just cutting grass.

Tips For Adding A Water Feature To Your Backyard
The calm, refreshing sound of water in the background will instantly transform your backyard into a quiet retreat, a place where you can quietly unwind after a hard day's work, or sit with a book on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Here are a few tips on how to create this paradise of tranquility right in your backyard. Ponds Simply put, a pond is a pool of water in your backyard. There are different types of ponds, such as a simple, still pond or one cascading over boulders, creating artificial waterfalls.

Four Ways To Keep Your Paver Patio Looking Its Best
A patio made from pavers is convenient to build, and if one of the pavers becomes damaged, replacing it is easier than having to re-pour or refinish a concrete patio. Yet, there are some intricacies to caring for a patio made from stone or concrete pavers. Follow the tips below to keep your paver patio looking fresh and clean. 1. Sweep the pavers before it rains. If it looks like it is going to rain outside, head out and sweep your pavers with a broom.

Want An Outdoor Oasis Style Living Space? What To Do
If you have a simple back patio and you want to turn your yard into a great entertaining area that feels outdoorsy and relaxing, there are some changes that you want to make. You want to be sure that the area is filled with some of the things that you love from inside your home, and also some things that will be unique to the backyard space. Here are some of the additions you can look into, some you may want professional help with, to create a back yard that others will envy.

Applications For Artificial Turf
Almost everyone is familiar with using artificial turf for sports fields.  While it works great in those applications, being durable, good looking and safer than natural grass, there are some other uses that most people might not think of.  Here are a few. Lawns and Landscaping An artificial lawn is a great option for people who don't want or can't manage lawn care and want to maintain the look of grass without all the trouble of grass.

Lawn Maintenance Tips For Summer
Lawn maintenance for your property is a year-round task, but there are different ways to care for your yard in every season. Hot summer weather requires some steps that rainy springs and cool falls don't. Here are some steps you can take to maintain your lawn in the summer. Water Early Or Late Hot summer sun can quickly evaporate the water you use to maintain your lawn, so consider watering early in the morning or at dusk.

Don't Forget To Stage Your Yard Before An Open House
In advance of selling their home, many homeowners are keen on hiring a professional staging service to make the inside of the residence look desirable. This approach can be an especially good idea before an open house, as those who visit will hopefully be pleased with what they see. If you're only staging the interior, however, you aren't doing all that you can to increase the likelihood that you'll sell your home quickly.

3 Tips For Selling Your Home Quickly
Have you been thinking about selling your home and relocating to one that is more suited to the needs of your family? Do you want to avoid the house being up for sale for months before you can find a suitable buyer? In order to sell your home as quickly as possible, it's best to enlist the help of a real estate agent to handle the actual sale. But before you ever look for an agent to hire, there are some things that you can do to enhance the desirability of your home, helping it to sell faster.

Did You Just Adopt A New Puppy? 3 Tips To Prevent Your Dog From Destroying Your Lawn
Dogs are great additions to a household, and you can look forward to many years of playing with your newest furry family member. While there is nothing like watching an adorable puppy go romping through the grass, it is also important to keep in mind that some of those early doggie behaviors can destroy your lawn. As you begin training your new puppy, keep these landscaping strategies in mind to preserve the beauty of your lawn:

3 Simple Ways A Landscaper Can Update Your Home's Curb Appeal And Value
Whether you need to sell your home or just want to improve its overall look, landscaping is a great way to improve the curb appeal and value. In fact, professional landscape design can offer you an estimated 150 percent return on your investment. The benefits are easy to see, but you may not know where to get started. Here are a few ways landscapers can make your home more appealing to buyers and make your home the envy of neighbors:

Weeds In Your Landscaping Projects? Contact A Professional
Landscaping projects can transform a person's lawn and make it more beautiful. However, weeds are a common problem in many lawns that can devastate a landscaping project and make it less beautiful. Thankfully, professionals can handle many of these problems quite easily. Weeds Can Devastate Landscaping Projects Weeds compete with other plants for space and nutrients in a way that can ruin a landscaping project. For example, weeds like dandelions, while pretty, can cause other plants to get sick, grow poorly, or even die.

Things To Know Before Installing A Sprinkler System
Installing a sprinkler system can be one of the most efficient ways of reducing the number of hours you must spend working in your yard without compromising its appearance. Prior to committing to having a particular sprinkler system installed, you will want to be prepared for what is involved with this upgrade. Decide Whether A Programmable Sprinkler System Is Suitable For Your Needs It is frequently assumed that these sprinkler systems will have to be manually activated.

2 Reasons To Hydroseed Your Lawn
If you want to quickly plant grass in your yard for near-instant results, then you have likely considered hydroseeding. Hydroseeding is the process of basically spraying mulch and moisture-infused grass seed onto your landscape so new growth can begin. Whether you are skilled in maintaining a lawn or you are new to having a new yard of grass, consider hydroseeding. Here are 2 reasons to choose hydroseeding over other type of grass planting techniques.

6 Tips For Caring For Backyard Trees
If you have trees in your yard, you know the beauty they can provide. You may not realize that they can also add value to your home or property. It is your responsibility to care for your trees in order to ensure that they do not face disease or deterioration. These tips will help you care for your trees, especially if you are a first-time property owner: 1. Know What Damages Trees

4 Tips For Maintaining Your Lawn
Working to keep your yard in the best possible condition is sure to be high on your list of things to do. Your lawn is the first thing your neighbors will see and keeping it looking good can even increase the value of your home. It's important to know some of the top tips for getting your lawn looking the way you want it to and here are some to assist you:

How To Decorate Your New Office
Have you just received a promotion? Perhaps you have started your own business and you have a new office from which you will do your work. No matter the reason you are decorating a new office, from selecting the furniture to buying plants for the office, here are some ideas that might help. The Plan - Think about what you will be doing in your office.  For example, besides the traditional desk and chair, will you need something like a circular table and accompanying chairs for meetings?

3 Basic Types Of Landscaping Services You Will Need For Your New Home
If you are in the process of building a new house, your contractor is likely to handle all the steps in the process; however, the landscaping of your yard might not be included. If you are responsible for your own landscaping, you might want to hire a company for help. While you do not have to complete every task in the entire yard right away, there are three important things you will need to do, and your landscaping company can help you with this.

Have A Lawn? Why You Should Hydroseed
If you have a relatively large lawn, it's important for it to look good at all times.  Dull, brown grass can truly throw a pall over the curb appeal of your house, causing your property to take on a sallow appearance that can be far from attractive.  However, if you've been trying to keep your yard looking well you might be finding that you're having a hard time.  If you're in this situation it may be time to hydroseed.

3 Keys to Designing an Attractive, Fire-Resistant Landscape
Wildfire activity can be devastating to area homes. Fortunately, landscaping strategies exist to minimize fire damage in homes situated in a wildfire's path. Following are just three of the many ways that you can increase the fire resistance of your home's exterior without sacrificing good looks and functionality.  Avoid Mass Plantings of Juniper Mass plantings of low-growing juniper has been a popular landscaping choice for decades. They're low maintenance, long lasting, and relatively inexpensive, and they provide green coverage all year round.

Stop Erosion Of The Shoreline Of Your Property With Rip Raps Created With Large Stones
When you buy a piece of lakefront property, it is important to take the time to hire someone to protect the edges of the property from erosion. Many people do not realize that water hitting against the shore of their property again and again will cause the soil to start to erode. As the soil erodes, the property will become smaller and smaller. A great way to stop eroding along the shoreline of your property is to have rip rap added to it.

Four Money Saving Tips For Landscape Design
Every homeowner wants a beautiful landscape. Not only does it add to curb appeal, but it allows you to create your own little oasis in your own yard. This way, you have a place toe scape to outdoors whenever you want. However, landscape design can be a bit expensive, which is why it's worth it to consider these four money saving tips: Clean Up in Fall: Too often, people wait to clean up their yard until spring.

Routine Spring Sprinkler Tune-Up Tips
A home irrigation system is a great investment. You have the ability to time your sprinkler to evenly water your trees, grass, and flower beds. However, after a long winter, even the nicest sprinkler systems require a tune-up. Winter can be harsh on sprinkler systems, and if you don't get things repaired and replaced in a timely manner, you'll end up wasting water. A missing of broken sprinkler can also mean that parts of grass get too much or too little water.

3 Lawn Maintenance Tips To Maintain A Healthy-Looking Yard Year-Round
When you drive through a neighborhood and see those lush, green, smooth lawns that are just simply perfect, you probably wonder why you can't seem to get yours to look like that. Sure, you are no landscape expert, but it gets plenty of sun and water. Well, here are a few more lawn maintenance things that you can do to help make your lawn look great: 1. Mow So You're Giving Your Grass a Haircut

Paving Old Dirt Roads (And Hiring A Civil Engineer) Is A Wise Choice For A Small Rural Town
While most big cities no longer have dirt roads, many smaller rural towns will have them. These old roads are problematic and need to be updated as soon as possible. Hiring a civil engineer to update these to asphalt roads is a wise decision for just about any small town. Dirt Roads Are Very Problematic While many rural small towns may think that paving old dirt roads isn't worth it, they are wrong.

Tips For Properly Pruning And Shaping The Cottonwood Trees In Your Yard
If you have cottonwood trees growing in your yard that have not been pruned or shaped recently, then it is important that you take the time to do so. Keeping your cottonwoods properly shaped and pruned will ensure that they grow healthy and strong for many years into the future. If you do not regularly maintain the trees, then they will be susceptible to limb loss, insect infestations, and death.

Your Simple Checklist To Prepare For A Stump Grinding Project On Your Property
Once the tree is taken down, all that remains is an unsightly stump protruding from the ground. While many homeowners will just leave this stump as is for years to come, it is a much better idea to just get the thing out of the way. Most tree removal companies do offer stump grinding services once a tree has been removed from your property. If you have a tree stump that you have decided to have professionally removed, it is a good idea to get prepared for the project in advance.

Stone, Pressure Treated Wood, And Gravel: 3 Items Necessary For A Beautiful Reatining Wall
If you are the type who likes to do weekend projects, and you've decided to build a retaining wall, then you need to familiarize yourself with the main items that you will need. If you're building a retaining wall that is more for cosmetic effect than for actual structural integrity, then you have a lot of leeway with what you can do. You don't have to worry about hauling in large landscaping blocks used in retaining walls, or digging enormous trenches and fortifying a wall with support studs.

Adding Features to Your Yard: Fountains, Retaining Walls & Koi Ponds
When you have a backyard that you love, you can add all kinds of features to your yard to make it your own. Whether you love the sound of a waterfall cascading down rocks, or you want a pond full of Koi, you have options when it comes to your backyard landscaping. If you are looking to add flair to your yard, you can talk with a local landscaper about your ideas.

Make Landscaping A Priority
There are many ways to increase the value of your home, and it can often be difficult to decide which project to undertake first. If you have not considered landscaping, you should seriously consider landscaping as a way to increase the value of your home. Just think about a potential buyer coming to look at your home. The first thing that they will see is the yard. If your home's landscaping boosts the curb appeal of your home, then you will be able to sell the home for more.

Want To Do A Better Job Of Keeping Your Home Clean? Improve Your Property's Hardscaping
It is inevitable for your home to pick up dirt and dust throughout the day. But, when your family leaves and comes back, there is a chance for them to bring extra dirt into the home. It is possible for this to happen when they come back from work or an errand as well as when they enter from the backyard. If you have tile or hardwood flooring, this is not too difficult to handle as a quick vacuum will clean it up.

3 Things to Look for When Choosing a Landscaper
If your yard needs a little work, be it new sod or tree removal, or even a complete overhaul, you want to choose a landscaper you can trust. Here are 3 things you should look for in your landscaper. Skill Some landscapers strictly do tree work, others specialize in sprinkler install and maintenance. Still others are more keen on landscape design, while others are gardeners at heart. You want to pick a landscaper who has the skills you need for your yard.

Using A Lawn Mower For A Landscaping Business? Use These Four Tips To Care For It
For a small landscaping company, a lawn mower is an essential piece of equipment. If you're just starting out and want to ensure that your mower keeps running so you can keep up with all your clients, check out these four tips. Read the Manual You might have been mowing grass ever since you were a child and see no reason to look at the manual, but as a landscaper, you might want to pick up the manual of the mower you'll be using for your clients.

3 Reasons To Hire A Professional To Remove Your Unwanted Trees
Do you own a property that has a dying tree located on it? Are you making plans for you and a few friends to get rid of the tree soon? Although this might initially seem like a good idea, there are several reasons why you should instead consider hiring a professional to get rid of the pesky tree on your behalf. Some of the most important reasons why you should let a professional handle the situation include:

Before You List Your Home For Sale, Hire A Landscaper To Improve The Property's Privacy
As you prepare to list your home for sale, you want to do as much as you can to improve its appearance, both indoors and outdoors. While some decluttering, decorating, and cleaning can improve the interior of your home, take a critical look at the nature of your yard to evaluate what it might need. Privacy is important for many homeowners, and if your yard lacks privacy, this may be an obstacle to selling your home at your desired price.

Hire A Tree Service To Remove A Tree? 2 Ways You Can Use The Leftover Wood
If you have a tree that you have to remove you can use the leftover wood after it is chopped down. You should only do this, however, if the wood is healthy. For example, if you are removing the tree because of it being diseased, you should throw the wood away. If the wood is healthy, below are two things you can do with it. Use it For Mulch Mulch is important for flower beds as it provides them with moisture.