Have you looked at the front of your house lately? Are the plants out there working hard for you, or just hanging out?
Your foundation plants have a lot on their plates. They should offer great curb appeal, enhance your home’s best features and soften its hard edges.
They’re the plants that connect your home to the surrounding landscape.
Are yours up to the task?
Your yard is dark and gloomy. You want it bright and welcoming.
Add a few lights, right? Sounds simple enough.
Uplights? Downlights? Path lights? Well lights? Step lights? Wall wash lights?
Um, yes?
What are all these different types of landscape lighting?
Let’s shed some light on it.
Everybody remembers the day their new paver project was finished.
It was the greatest thing you’ve ever seen, right?
You posted so many patio photos on Instagram that your kids were embarrassed. You sat out in the driveway so long with your groceries, just looking at those pretty pavers, your mint-chip ice cream melted.
But stuff happens.
Maybe you used your garden hose to outline a nice curving edge for your new landscape bed. Then left it there.
That was a good start. But when it comes to great landscape edging materials, garden hose rarely makes the list.
Which landscape edging is best?
While sod in much of the country spends winter in a deep sleep beneath a blanket of cozy snow, Florida sod stays awake, like a hard-working night-shifter powering through a challenge.
Sure, growth really slows down once the temperature dips below 50 degrees or so, but even if areas of Central Florida experience a freeze, most grass will survive. Freezes here don’t last long, so lawns bounce back once the temperature edges back up.
That means your sod lawn still needs some winter attention.
So, your grass is gross. Maybe it has big bare spots that just won’t fill in. Maybe it’s more weeds than grass. Maybe you’ve considered just paving it with green concrete.
It needs help. But how much help?
Dogs protect their bones by burying them. Pirates protect their treasure by burying it.
So when it’s time to protect your landscape lighting wire, you bury it, right?
Maybe you’re dusting off your tool belt as you read this, getting ready to tackle a DIY paver installation project. That new patio will be great!
So, not to get too personal, but how big is your tool belt? You’ll need a lot of tools.
Wheelbarrow? Check.
Shovel? Check.
Bottle of favorite painkillers? Check.
Excitement about moving a mountain of mulch from your driveway to the beds all over your yard? Hmmmmm…
Have you looked out at your yard lately and thought, “What the heck happened out there?”