Fall is Here, Is Your Home Ready? The warm array of autumn colors blanketing the landscape are a sure sign that it’s time to prep your home for the long winter. Get your home, lawn, and garden ready for cold weather with these tips. Home Start in the garage. Organize the tools for fall and [...]
How to Create Fire Resistant Landscaping Wildfires are destructive, deadly, and difficult to stop, but many experts agree that fire-smart landscaping is your home’s best line of defense. Follow these landscape design and maintenance tips to help keep your home safe. Fire Resistant Landscaping Designing a Fire Resistant Yard Use stone patios, walkways, [...]
The Definitive Guide to Seasonal Landscape Maintenance Did you know that landscaping can boost the resale value of a property by fourteen percent? And that nearly half of home buyers would reduce their offer on a house by twenty percent if it looked unappealing from the outside? It’s clear from these statistics that landscape improvements can greatly [...]
Eco-Friendly Landscaping Advice for Homeowners When you own a home, your yard is a source of pride. However, a keeping a pristine lawn comes at a cost. Not only does a homeowner have to time and money ensuring the grass stays lush and green, but lawns consume a startling amount of water and can have [...]
Good bugs: Insects that are welcome in the garden Taking down insects with toxic pesticides can seem like a necessary step in maintaining a beautiful landscape. And to the uninformed gardener, any creepy crawly with six legs and antennae are fair game. Therefore, learning which insects are actually beneficial—and effective in the [...]
March gardening checklist So soon after the new year and it’s already time to start preparing for summer! Here is a list of some to-do items for the home gardener: Plant warm-season annuals and annual seeds once the threat of frost has passed. Choose plants according to microclimate conditions such as shade [...]
Gardening tips for sandy soil In coastal areas like Santa Barbara, sandy soils are a reality that can bring frustration to even the most adept gardener. Fast draining and often lacking nutrients, the soil is also unworkable, falling apart easily due to its gritty makeup. However, having a beautiful garden in the [...]
The “green” lawn: Sustainable turf Where lush green lawns are an icon of Americana and a necessity for active families with kids and pets, maintaining them sustainably is a new consideration as awareness for environmentally friendly practices has grown. Primary concerns over lawn maintenance involve water usage, pollution, accelerated storm water runoff, [...]
Pruning and shearing: Understanding the difference To the layperson, “pruning” can be regarded as a generic term for cutting back trees and shrubs, often interchangeable with “shearing” or “trimming.” But when the time comes to change the shape or size of overgrown trees and shrubs, it’s critical to understand the differences. For [...]
Planting trees like a pro A tree can go a long way in lending curb appeal to a residential landscape and therefore it is an excellent investment in the value of one’s home. Unless time and patience are of no consequence, most homeowners and landscapers will prefer to purchase a young tree [...]
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