If you look at your garden and feel as if it’s lacking in certain areas, there are a few things you can do to perk it up. You want your garden to be a place you can relax and get some fresh air, maybe even play with your kids during summertime. These 10 tips will help you to make your garden even better:

1. Make Sure You Have Appropriate Seating

Depending on what you want to use your garden for, you’ll need appropriate seating. This might be a simple wooden table and chair. You might even go all out and choose comfortable, lounge style seating for your outdoor area. You just need to make sure that they are properly protected from the elements.

2. Get Rid of Weeds and Plant New Things

To make your garden look better, get rid of your weeds and plant new things. Weeds will always come back, but using a weed killer and being consistent should allow you to get rid of most of them. Planting new things will add personality to your garden and give it a new lease of life.

[Photo courtesy of Kampus Production/pexels.com]

3. Install Outdoor Lighting

Having outdoor lighting is not only practical, it’s far safer. You never know when you might arrive home at night and not be able to see what you’re doing. Hinkley outdoor lighting will allow you to stay outside later and make sure you arrive home safely.

4. Make Sure You Have CCTV

Having CCTV is another great way to keep your home and garden safe. The great thing about CCTV is that you don’t even need to have real cameras. Fake CCTV cameras can be just as effective as real ones.

5. Create Educational and Play Areas for Children

If you have young children, creating educational play areas for them can be a lovely way for them to learn more about the outdoors. You can create a fairy garden, for instance, or create their own park area.

6. Invite in Some Wildlife

Inviting in wildlife to the garden will make it way more fun for kids, and can even be more educational for them. You can do this by keeping the grass a little longer, having a body of water, and putting out bird feeders.

7. Have Garden Storage

Having garden storage will help you to keep the garden clean and tidy when it isn’t in use. You can buy storage containers especially made for outdoor use!

8. Consider Artificial Turf

If the grass really does seem greener on the other side, then why not consider artificial turf? Your grass will always look bright green and healthy. You will barely be able to tell the difference, and the maintenance will be minimal.

9. Clean it Up With a Pressure Washer

Hire a pressure washer and clean up your slabs and other elements to make them look like new again.

10. Screen Messy Areas

If you always have a messy area in your garden, such as the bin area, then cover them up by screening them. You can use materials like bamboo for the best effect.

Have fun!

During the last global recession, there was an emerging trend for growing your own food in your garden. I know a few people who started doing this to save money, and discovered a lifelong hobby in the process! If you’ve been cultivating your garden seriously for a while, then you’ll need to protect it all from hungry animals. Here’s some simple and humane ways you can go about this.

Source: Geograph

Let’s start with rabbits. Although timid, these furry little guys can be a total nightmare when you’re not around to guard your plants. Like most vermin, rabbits aren’t exactly fussy about what they’ll munch on. Having said that, they do tend to gravitate towards pea pods, beans, and beets. I assume you’ve already got a fence that’s taller than a rabbit! However, if they’re really determined they’ll burrow under one of these with relative ease. The next best way of keeping rabbits away from your garden is making it smell dangerous. Soaking a few corn cobs in white vinegar and scattering them around works pretty well. Failing that, you could purchase some fox urine and use it to soak cotton balls. For an economical option, ask your local hairdresser’s for some excess hair, and scatter this around your garden.

Birds might be a little more common as a pest in your garden. The best defence against these is getting a cat – but let’s keep it humane. Birds are easily scared by any kind of intimidating shapes and sounds. Be very liberal with how you define “intimidating” here. Remember that these animals can fly, and have probably spent a lot of their lives soaring suddenly away from danger. Scarecrows can be pretty effective, but I’m guessing you don’t have the time or resources to make one convincing enough. A good alternative is to get a replica owl. Almost every smaller bird is fooled by these. That or they don’t want to take chances! Perch one on your fence or greenhouse, and all those pesky birds will stay the heck away!

Source: Dr Tobler

Finally, deer. Don’t worry, I was as traumatized by Bambi as you were. These creatures are truly beautiful in their grace and general aesthetics, but if they see your plants they’re likely to go crazy! So how do you get around this? You could try scent-based deterrents similar to the rabbit ones. While these can be effective, it can often vary from deer to deer. For a fool-proof plan, I recommend getting some high-quality deer fence. Surround your entire garden with this, and you’ll be able to rest easy knowing your beautiful garden isn’t being touched. Although getting tangled in plastic mesh will scare off most deer, it’s always a good idea to check for damages in the fence.

These tips will keep some of the most common critters in the woods and away from your crops. These solutions don’t cover everything, but after setting them up I’m sure you’ll notice far less damage from animals. Keep trying different measures, and your prized garden will be airtight!

[ Tagged In ] Backyard Gardening, Garden, Gardening, Keeping Animals Out of the Garden, Protect your Garden from Animals

Even though your home is your sanctuary and the nucleus of your home life, your backyard and front yard and just as important and necessary. We decorate inside of our homes so that our guests feel comfortable and so that you feel stylish. If you have already decorated your home to your perfect standards, maybe it is time to focus on your yard and its look.

Let’s say you have a front yard that is pretty vast and a decent size. If you want to just have green grass and nothing else that is fine. But there are so many things you can do to spruce up the space, just like in your home. Walkways are extremely popular and can be easily done yourself or with help from your friends or family. There is a multitude of walkway options and the most common and easiest are stone paths. If you are looking for a unique walkway, try something like a pattern of different variations of stones. This will also give an effect of a garden passage or castle walkway.

When choosing the landscaping design, you are faced with many options. Maybe you want a style to be based off of a certain culture, like Asian or English Formal. English formal is mostly known for maze-like design with a lot of shrubbery. Asian designs are common for pathways with a lot of plum trees and Japanese maples, for example. There are also a lot of fountains in the Asian style of landscape, which can take up a lot of space but makes for a very tranquil space.

Maybe you want to give your yard a face lift but do not have a lot of money to put towards the project. Simple additions, like the above mentioned fountains, can make for a new look for your yard even adding some flowers or a small garden. If you do not want to plant, you can add flowers onto your window sills. Even though this is not technically part of your yard, it still changes the look of the outside of your home.

The simplest way to change your lawn without much work is to install lights. If you cannot do a pathway of stone, make one from lights. There are dozens of lighting options just at a store like Home Depot to choose from. You can choose from posts, to stands, to lights attached to your home that create light onto your lawn. Placing a light to create a spotlight on plants and flowers makes your small presentation looking that much broader.

Author Bio:

Eagle Luxury Properties is a custom home builder that also does a lot of home remodeling in Paradise Valley. We manage the process from start to finish, and we can complete an entire home remodel, including landscape, without having to bother you with the minor details. A remodel can come with lots of issues, but we do what it takes to make the process run efficiently.

Sitting in a beautiful garden full of flowers and greens always makes me feel more relaxed. It is as if all the worries of the outside world is blocked and all that is left is tranquility. If you want to experience this, then make an effort to beautify your garden. You can either do it yourself or hire the services of a professional garden landscaping company. Do your research or ask your friends if they know of any reliable company. There are actually a lot of companies who advertise their services online. Just like Brett Landscaping, one of the UK’s leading providers of construction and landscaping materials.

[Image courtesy of Catkin/pixabay.com]

The company specializes in the production and supply of high quality products and delivery of detailed information to architects, builders merchants, engineers, and contractors. Your garden, driveway gravel, and pavement will definitely look like something straight from a magazine after Brett has worked on it. A fountain or any water feature will certainly look good. Static water features have a peaceful and captivating charm about them. Garden designs that are square and geometrically shaped create a beautifully structured landscape that measures up perfectly. Fancy ornaments like statues, outdoor decor, right lighting, luscious plants, etc. are but a few elements in beautifying your garden.

[Image courtesy of distelpics/pixabay.com]

Paving is also important. Brett has a wide range of high quality products, from the traditional gravel paving to the stylish block paving. If you want your garden to look unique, use Block Paving Circular features. The various Block Paving range includes Aura, Alpha Antique, Classico, Regatta, Beta, and Omega. Permeable Paving should be used to ensure that surface water is handled within the property rather than flooding public roads and drains. Pavers are available in various shapes, colors, sizes, and materials, that is why their costs differ. There are clay pavers which are made and fired like bricks. They last for many years even without maintenance. Concrete pavers are available in a wider variety of sizes and shapes than clay pavers. There are also natural stone pavers which are made from quarried stone. Some of the types of natural stone pavers are sandstone, granite, slate, blue stone and limestone. Their shapes vary too. Always check endurance details because strength also varies according to the type of rock. Natural stone pavers are usually more pricey than the manufactured types.

The presence of plants in a certain place will automatically bring out the fresh ambiance of nature. That’s the very reason why some home owners and  big establishments are really including garden landscapes in the entire architectural plan. However, there are small time companies that can’t afford these ornaments because growing and maintaining their health is quite expensive.

As the cliché “every problem has a corresponding solution” goes; the mentioned dilemma can be easily eradicated by gaddysplanthire.com.au. They are just one of pioneer companies that could easily set up your greens in an instant for a corresponding price. You want to have a nature inspired and week-long conference, then they can set up your entire office or conference hall with ease.

Their group is composed of indoor plant hire technicians in their respective uniforms who are well trained of the job. They are also holders of green card certification and are covered with insurance for public liability, workers compensation & property damage.

Getting a deal like this is one of a kind. The entire service can’t be easily found in the neighborhood if there is one; for sure it is going to be very pricy.

Good thing this kind of service came into reality these days thus giving a lot of companies and individuals to fulfill their nature-inspired workplace motif at an affordable price. The hassle of canvassing how much these plants would cost is now gone. A full service with matching maintenance can already be done with one company and all you have to do is to pay and enjoy their work.

Wooden decking requires a lot of time and care to put up but it’s worth it. Having outdoor decking means that you can enjoy the great outdoors comfortably, providing a solid surface for furniture and sun loungers.

Our decking allows us the luxury of an extra room outside where we can socialize with friends or enjoy then sunshine, and for those with families it provides a space where parents can keep a watchful eye over kids whilst they play in the garden.

However, many people forget to maintain their decking. Here are 5 simple tips to help you keep your decking well maintained so that you can enjoy it for years to come.

Don’t put potted plants on your deck

A lot of people put decorative plants on their decking. However these plants collect and drain water onto the deck. This allows moisture to gather at the base of the pot which can cause mold, rot and also wears away at any wood stain or treatment that you may have applied to your deck. So tip number one is to avoid putting potted plants on your decking.

Check for damp areas

Leading on from the first point – If you notice that there’s an area on your decking that seems to gather moisture and dampness then check it out. Damp areas can lead to mold. If you find any mold then use decking cleaner to remove it. You can also find mold resistant decking paint that will help with this problem.

[Image courtesy of Unsplash/pixabay.com]

Don’t let bugs live in your decking

Your wooden decking may seem like the perfect home for a range of insects, many of which will be harmless. But still, check your wood every now and then to see if there are signs of insects eating away at the wood. If you do suspect that insects are eating your decking then contact a professional.

Replace damaged boards

Decking naturally acquires damage with repeated use. Maybe someone had one too many drinks at your last party and drop something heavy which split your decking. In that case you should replace the damaged board. This will mean that your decking will look pristine condition, as well as being much safer than having a split piece of wood. Replacing a single piece of wood board is easier than you think.

Clean Your Decking

This may seem obvious but a lot of people fail to do this. Clean your decking a few times a year using specialist decking cleaner, and power wash it too If you have the facilities. This will blast away and dirt and blemishes on your deck.

We hope you found these 5 tips helpful, keep them in mind throughout the year and you can potentially add years on to your decking’s lifespan.