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Enhance Your Homes Curb Appeal With Tips for the Lawn
By Therese | November 21, 2008
Most everyone has heard the phrase “curb appeal” in referring to one’s first impression of a home. People take only an instant to decide if a house is worthy of their time and attention by checking out how things look on the outside when they first arrive. One of the best ways to make sure that your home has a strong and inviting curb appeal is by making sure that the lawn gets good lawn care.
While that can sound easy enough, sometimes getting the back and front lawn to look beautiful, immaculate and attractive can be a daunting task, especially if there have been some problems with the health of your lawn recently. Below is a collection of lawn care tips and suggestions that can help you cultivate a lawn that draws people to your home, welcomes them, and gives your curb appeal a real boost.
Tip One: Learn about the condition of the lawn soil. It is easy to get the soil tested. Just contact the agriculture extension agency in your town. This simple test will be able to quickly identify the components of your soil and will report anything that is lacking so you can remedy the problem.
Tip Two: Have a regular lawn maintenance routine that includes fertilizing three to five times every year. Make sure this is done on a regular schedule and is the right kind of food for the grass in your garden lawn. The extension agency can also help you with information in this regard as it relates to your local area.
Tip Three: When undertaking lawn mowing during the heat of the summer, cut it at the maximum height your lawn mower allows. This helps keep the grass from drying out as fast and even provides shade to the ground which helps prevent the loss of moisture. This will help conserve water and it will also help the lawns to crowd the weeds out. During the cooler and wetter times of the year you can set the lawn mower to cut lower according to your preferences.
Tip Four: Water about one to one-and-a-half inches once a week. When you water briefly every day, you are encouraging your lawn to develop a shallow root system. Watering only once a week helps develop nice deep roots which can better withstand hot, dry summer weather.
Tip Five: Aerate at least once or twice every year. This also helps promote lawns with deep root systems and helps the water and lawn food to get past the surface and down to the roots where it does the most good. Aerating also helps undo the effects of soil compacting, which is a particular problem if you use a riding lawn mower to help with your lawn maintenance.
Tip Six: Keep the blades of the mower good and sharp. Dull blades actually rip the ends of the grass blades and cause a ragged look and contribute to browning at the ends. Also, you should do your lawn mowing in different directions each time you mow. This helps avoid ruts and soil compaction problems.
Tip Seven: Watch for signs of dead areas. Such dead patches can be an indication of an insect problem or disease that is attacking your home and garden lawns. When you see this, you should not treat the problem until you know the cause. Your local extension agency will be a great help in this case also.
Tip Eight: Control weeds with the use of quality herbicides. You can do this separately or look for a fertilizer that also contains weed control components.
While this is not an exhaustive list of lawn care tips, it should be sufficient to help you immediately make some improvements to the overall look and health of the lawn area that is such an important part of your home and garden. As you diligently apply these lawn maintenance tips you will be able to enjoy your front yard more and at the same time know that the curb appeal has improved as well.
No building is complete without some grass, a few plants and some shrubbery to help enhance the quality of the building. The enhanced curb appeal as well as the added value can make the final difference when selling a home or adding to the over all value of the house. Any small amounts help and you don’t have to always use a professional to complete the landscaping for you. It never hurts to have some professional advice or a little bit of knowledge before you start ripping up your front yard, though. A few trees, some nice green grass and you will have it down pat before you know it. Who knows? Possibly you will consider it as a line of work that you might be interested in following. Below there are some basic frequently asked questions of landscaping so that you can get some idea of how landscaping is completed and how it might be simpler than you may think.
Can I do my own landscaping?
Yes, you can do your own landscaping if you have a little information on how to get it done and if have the time to do so. You will be getting your hands dirty. Plus you will need to have knowledge of what plants are the best for your terrain. If you are producing structures that are man-made such as decks or ponds, you will needs to have some carpentry and plumbing skills. You will also have to recognize how to upkeep the pond since the last thing you need after putting in all that work is to produce a body of water topped off with algae as well as moquito larvae.
If I decide to do the landscaping of my house myself, what are some designs and ideas to help me?
There are many software programs out on the market currently that can help you create your own landscape. You will have to input the shape of your yard and then select from the type of terrain and environmental condition you live in. The software can give you suggested plants as well as shrubbery that is best fitted for your yard. If you want terrains that are man made or structures, you will wish to contact a carpenter for thoughts or a do-it-yourself website for instructions.
How do I decide which type to plant?
The kind of plant you choose will be contingent upon on your climate and the amount of water you want to use. It will also depend on how much sun your yard gets during the day. Some plants thrive in the shade when others will wilt. For those people who live in areas that are prone to drought, they should think about planting hardy plants which need little water and actually help to preserve the soil from erosion. Many individuals choose to have rock gardens as well as cactus if they happen to live in desert environments.
At what time is the ideal season for planting?
The ideal planting season depends on what kind of plant you want to grow. The best time to plany bulbs is in the fall so that they have the necessary time to root. Other plants are more suitable to planting in the months of the spring. There are some plants will not produce flowers or fruits until one or two seasons later so you need to prepare for this. Trees will need to go through several years prior to them becoming large enough to furnish enough shade or produce fruit.
How can I protect my newly planted greenery and flowers from the weather and elements?
At the time of the beginning weeks and months numerous plants are at risk of dying because of the elements but you can take steps to assist in preventing this. Two of the greatest threats are the rain as well as the wind. To protect your plants from both you will need to furnish with shelter. You can put down a protective barrier between the ground and the plant. This will help secure the roots of the plant and prevent too much water from absorbing into the earth. The added gain will be prevention of weeds from sprining up through the barrier. To prevent wind erosion of the soil, spread hay or straw around the plants to help protect the soil. If you place a protective bag around the plant that will maintain the plant warm enough to defend against frost.
For a great deal more informational value go here: Landscape Ideas with more helpful material at Commercial Landscaping Contractor and certainly try Landscaping Around Trees
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