Drawn in by ivory pumpkins and soft green gourds decorating front porches everywhere, won over entirely with a pumpkin spice latte on a crisp morning – you’re not alone. Everyone’s clamoring for the newest, improved season, but the truth is: summer hasn’t yet left us. It’s during these last few weeks of summer and those that follow that our yard looks to us for restoration. It’s time for fall lawn and garden care. The incentive is harder to recognize, but come next spring, you’ll be glad to have done the legwork now and your landscape will thank you. Dig deep. End of summer and early fall is the optimal time for some of those projects we’ve neglected and procrastinated starting. (more…)
As the days become shorter and cooler, there are some basic home maintenance tasks to take care to prepare your home for the colder, harsher days to come. Below is our list of exterior fall home maintenance must-dos to keep your house in tip-top shape.
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We tackled a project last summer that I was loathe to do, but after years of praying to the Yard Crasher gods to no avail, we plunged into the pool patio project. Our inground pool is surrounded by a paver patio that pre-project resembled an animal pen. By that, I mean the metal fence that runs the perimeter was very, very close, allowing just enough space for two people to pass but certainly not to comfortably seat anyone. I don’t know how it is that I cannot locate a photo of the before, to illustrate how tight it was. However, here is a photo taken afterward, where the measuring tape denotes the end of the former pool patio. Tight, right?
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Its raining again… in June… and it feels like April. Despair not though. Because, if you can see beyond the sheets of rain, you’ll see lush vegetation. Fifty degree temperatures aside, it feels like we’ve tripped to the rain forest. So, your lawn looks like Fenway. Good for you!
Don’t be lulled into complacency though; those yards you admire from afar actually require upkeep. Here are some gardening tips to help you prioritize. (more…)
The Backstory
I have a flower bed that was created when we put our swimming pool in 10 summers ago. The bed abuts one corner of the pool that is edged with rocks and was designed by our pool contractor to give the pool a more natural feel. The problem is, the bed gets almost no sun.
The obligatory pool fencing was intentionally installed behind a line of burning bushes that were already in the landscape (pre-invasive species ban). The burning bushes hide the chain link fence and provide privacy. They also block nearly all the sun to the bed. (more…)
