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It’s no secret that a goood-looking lawn can entice buyers when selling a home, but homeowners may not realize just how much they can benefit from even the smallest investments of time and money in their home exteriors. According to the Top Agent Insights Q2 2019 Report from HomeLight, low-cost outdoor home improvements to a landscape provide sizable returns on investment. For example, the report found that a $268 investment in a lawn care service can lead to a $1,211 increase in home value at resale. Similarly, $340 worth of fresh mulch can i...
Many homeowners think they have to spend tons of green to get green in their landscape, but that isn't necessarily so. Homeowners can improve their landscapes without digging themselves into financial holes. These strategies can help anyone save some cash and still end up with attractive gardens and more. • Use stones or gravel for a walkway. If commercially installed pavers or cement walkways are not within your budget, there are some affordable alternatives. Flagstone or individually pur...
Mulches have become a standard element of most landscape plantings. Mulches are commonly used to enhance the beauty of landscapes, suppress weeds, conserve soil moisture, and buffer plants from the damaging effects of traffic and lawn equipment. Proper mulching is one of the best ways to promote vigorous root growth and tree health. Mulching mimics the natural environment found in forests where leaves and branches blanket the soil surface, replenishing nutrients as they decompose and creating an ideal environment for root growth. However,...
Modern homes showcase many dazzling features, but perhaps none draw as much instant attention as floor-to-ceiling windows. Often seen in high-rise apartments that boast panoramic city views, floor-to-ceiling windows also are right at home in single-family dwellings. Homeowners considering floor-to-ceiling windows may have lots of questions. The following rundown can provide some basic information that can help homeowners decide if floor-to-ceiling windows are right for their homes. Cost Cost is...
Jaw-dropping features can sell a home in a heartbeat. A penthouse apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows and a panoramic view of a city skyline likely won't prove a hard sell, nor will a home with an infinity pool overlooking a landscape of rolling hills. As awe-inspiring as such features can be, some more subtle components, such as authentic hardwood floors, also can do much to make a home more appealing to prospective buyers. Hardwood flooring is a sought-after commodity. Data from the...
The summer season is right around the corner and many of us are so excited for warm summer days lounging by the pool side or hosting cookouts for family and friends. It’s important for lawn care nuts to keep grass strong and healthy as the stressful heat of summer approaches. 1. Keep Up with Summer Mowing (and Reduce the Time Spent on This Chore) Summer mowing can seem like an exhausting task as temperatures start to get warmer. In some parts of the country, it starts to get outright hot as temperatures climb into the 90s. It can be even h...
The summer season is approaching and as all of us garden-lovers know, this could mean stress for your plants. Some heat resistant plants enjoy the heat, though. Regardless, it’s good to know what will ultimately help your garden flourish during the hottest part of the year. Read on for a list of summer garden maintenance tips. 1. Deadhead and Prune First, there’s a difference between deadheading and pruning. When you deadhead a plant, you’re removing dead leaves or blossoms. Pruning, on the other hand, means you’re removing any part of the pla...
Many of today’s adults grew up recycling bottles, cans and paper products. That’s made it easy to take the benefits of recycling for granted. • Residents of the United States discard 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. Recycling just one ton of plastic bottles saves the same amount of energy as a single two-person household consumes in an entire year. • Recycling a single aluminum can saves enough energy to power a television for three hours. • Recycling paper is highly effective, as more than 37 percent of the fiber used to make new pap...
Air conditioning is a welcome luxury come the dog days of summer. Few people can imagine getting through a hot summer afternoon without turning their AC on, and that can make July and August some of the more costly months on the calendar in regard to energy consumption. Though the months of July and August may not seem well-suited to cutting energy consumption, there are ways to conserve that don't require turning off the AC. • Reconsider the location of your thermostat. The Performance Bui...
By HARRY CAMPBELL, DOUG MYERS, JOSEPH WOOD There’s a good chance, if you use a gas-powered lawn mower, that maintaining your lawn is worse for the environment than your morning commute. In some cases, far worse. Running a typical gas mower for one hour creates roughly the same amount of smog-forming air pollution as driving a passenger car 300 miles, according to the California Air Resources Board. In the case of some gas-powered leaf blowers, an hour’s worth of use is equivalent to driving 1,100 miles. All told, say the authors of a 2021 stu...
A well-manicured lawn adds undeniable curb appeal to a property. Homeowners who take pride in their lawns should know that they can take that pride all the way to the bank, as investing in a pristine lawn can provide a significant return at resale. A 2019 report from the real estate experts at HomeLight found that a $268 investment in lawn care service can add $1,211 at resale. That's a 352 percent return on investment. Homeowners can capitalize on a pristine lawn even further by tending to...
Every homeowner has experienced an ant hill in their lawn at some point. If not, consider yourself one of the lucky few. Not only is an ant hill unappealing to look at, but the ants can bite or sting you, your family and your pets. One of the worst species of ants is the fire ant. Bright orange in color with a nasty combination of a bite AND a sting, a fire ant is one of the most awful insects. That said, fire ants can quickly turn an outdoor cookout or party into a nightmare. What are fire ants? The truth is that fire ants are an invasive...