DIY Home & Garden

By lee101

Home lighting is an important aspect of home decoration which is often ignored. You need to have the right kind of lighting for the interiors of your home to enhance its beauty as well as for illuminating a display area or showcase. Home lighting is no child’s play; you need indoor lighting which is compatible with the furnishings, colour scheme, and the mood of the room.

You can look for modern indoor lighting supplies at various electronic online stores or can order the lights from electronic manufacturers. If you are looking online, you can get to choose from a wide range of home lighting options. You can even have an idea about the prices for installing a particular kind of indoor lighting.

Different home lighting options for different rooms

Not all rooms need the same type of lighting options. Your bedroom, living room, study, kitchen, and bathrooms all require different types of lighting. It is important to understand this before you start looking for ideal home lighting options.

You could start with the living room; the most important part of your home. It is advisable that you opt for general lighting in the living room. The living room usually has a large space, so you can have general lighting from one or more ceiling fixtures. You can also choose to have many indirect lighting fixtures. In the living room, you can also use decorative wall lights to enhance the beauty of paintings, photo frames and the fireplace.

For the bedroom you can have a general lighting fixture; this will illuminate the whole bedroom. You may need to have specific task lighting to cater to the dressing table area. Having ornamental lampshades, reading lights or bedside light fixtures is also very essential. Install wall lights wherever necessary in your bedroom.

The kitchen requires enough lighting for the purpose of cooking meals. Proper lighting ensures that you are able to cook safely. There is no place for dim lighting in this area. It is advisable that you have a large ceiling fixture coupled with energy-efficient fluorescent tubes which will provide enough light. It is also a good idea to have strip lights under the cabinets; this will illuminate the countertops and the work areas.

For the bathrooms in your house, you need good amount of lighting. There are specific lighting needs of the bathroom. Have proper lights installed at the sides of the bathroom mirror. There can also be task lighting in the bathroom for reading, near the wash basin, or near the toilet paper dispenser. A recessed light could be installed above the shower or the bathtub.

General lighting with task lighting in different parts of your home should serve the purpose of perfect indoor lighting. General indoor lighting options are not enough to highlight every corner of your home. If you have good furnishings and lots of showpieces to display in your house, flaunt them all with proper indoor lighting. A well illuminated home is a picture of mirth, warmth, and cheer.

Lighting can transform your home. See some great home lighting examples at: Home Lighting

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Home-Lighting-to-Illuminate-The-Indoors-Of-Your-House/1174228

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By Dennis Mike

Natural rugs have taken the nation by storm. Since the green movement has become a common place in the United States, more and more consumers are looking for natural rugs for their safety, quality and durability. Natural rugs come in various shapes and sizes and almost every style that traditional rugs come in. They are good for the environment, good for your family and good for the quality they posses. Some of the most popular natural rugs are jute rugs and seagrass rugs.

Jute rugs are one of the most eco-friendly rugs available. Jute rugs are made from 100 percent natural fibers that have the ability to be reused (recycled) again and again. Jute rugs are made from a vegetable fiber that can be used as a soft and flexible material or it can be spun into strong and thick weave. Many jute rugs are exceptionally durable, lasting more than a lifetime, yet are very affordable. Jute rugs come in different colors and sizes. The coloring process uses natural methods to dye the jute to keep the rug all natural.

Seagrass rugs are made from marsh grass grown primarily in the Far East. The seagrass is harvested in long strands and laid out in the sun to dry. After it has dried, it is then spun into woven fibers ready to be used in seagrass rugs. Seagrass rugs are very popular among people who admire trendy and modern styles.

Seagrass rugs traditionally come in earth tone colors such as brown, tan, sage, green and deep redish-brown tones. Seagrass rugs are very durable as well and also contain a natural stain resistance, perfect for a family with children. The natural stain resistant glaze adds a natural sheen to the finish of the carpet, giving it a crisp and clean feel and look.

Natural rugs are the way to go in this day and age. They are a win-win situation. Not only are natural rugs better quality and many times more affordable, they are also better for your family and the environment. Natural rugs contain no harmful and toxic chemicals in the dyes, the glue or the finishing process. Other conventional rugs slowly admit toxic fumes into a home aggravating allergies, eczema and asthma.

The best part of purchasing natural rugs is that you don’t have to compromise on quality. Natural rugs like jute rugs and seagrass rugs are extremely durable and sustainable. When you decide you want to replace natural rugs, they can be recycled, not thrown out with the trash and filling up landfills. The benefits of purchasing natural rugs far out way any potential obstacles that would stand in the way. They are the best choice hands down for anyone looking to support their family’s health and the earth’s well-being.

One of the better places to buy natural rugs is at NaturalHomeRugs.com. Natural Home Rugs is a trustworthy company with an incredible reputation and a solid online presence. They offer 100 percent natural in both custom rugs and/or modern rugs like the wool rugs and shag rugs. They have one of the largest selections when it comes to quality rugs

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/About-Natural-Rugs/1174044

Tags: Interior Decorating by webmaster
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By Sarah Hampton

Imagine a house, a dream house, the one with big rooms and wonderful accents. The living room is perfect, the kitchen is magnificent, the dining room is sublime. Details of the house are superb. Imagine a house with all the amazing designs and fine quality materials. Then someone in your home had the need of a bathroom, but there was none! You can see how important a bathroom is at that point. In fact, it is an integral part of the house.

Most people today consider the bathroom to must have a very good atmosphere. The size of the bathroom however depends on the size of the house. It is somehow parallel. When you have a big house, you can spare a big room for the bathroom. Otherwise, when your house is not that big, then your bathroom follows to have a limited space. This is what we call balance and proportion.

Families have a tendency to grow. When the couple first started, everything seems to be spacious and large. When the kids came and grew (parents always say they grow fast) everything would seem to shrink, even the bathroom. Renovating the whole house for the sake of the bathroom would be impractical. If you renovate the bathroom, it would sometimes also be difficult not to affect another part of your house. This is costly and sometimes impractical.

To solve this problem, one just have to do some initiatives. Adjustments can be made. For example, changing the color of your bathroom will help create the impression that the room grew bigger. It will give your bathroom an illusion of more space. There are many more ways to help your space up your bathroom, just like using wall mount bathroom sinks.

One way would be changing your space consuming sinks to space saving wall mount bathroom sinks. Not only will it create an illusion of a bigger bathroom, but it will also help maximize the space you have. Moreover, it will help in making your bathroom more organized and neat.

Apartments and condominiums often use these wall mount bathroom sinks due to space limitations. They are also very attractive to look at therefore add to the beauty of the room. There are many wall mount bathroom sinks out on the market; however, the best choice would be the stone sinks. Stone sinks can match any color suitable for your bathroom. Again, colors can either make your bathroom look big or small.

One variety for wall mount bathroom sinks are stone sinks. These come in different sizes and shapes. They also have different and pretty designs. They are better compared to brass, stainless steels and other types of sink since the neutrality of the stone sinks can match any color of your bathroom.

Let’s admit it, you really cannot add space to your bathroom especially if your house is limited on space without going through extensive renovations. But what you can do is get that illusion of space. This is why people often prefer wall mount bathroom sinks over any other varieties available.

Sarah Hampton has worked in interior design for ten years, decorating houses in California, Nevada, and Virginia. She enjoys the details of using the perfect fixtures to finish off the look of a residence. Her advice on topics such as wall mount bathroom sinks and stone sinks has been appreciated all over the country. To find out more information, please visit signaturehardware.com.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Adding-Space-to-Your-Bathroom/1172549

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By Marly Kester

Whether your house is well fit for a DIY solar system depends on four elements:

Hours of Sunshine

The number of DIY solar panels that you would need depends on the amount of sunshine your area receives. On the site of the National Renewable Energy Lab you can find a map which is showing you how much electricity (in kilowatt per hour) one square meter your south facing DIY Solar Panels can generate. This is essential information to determine the number of panels you need to generate sufficient electricity for your daily need.

South-Facing Roof Area

Your DIY solar panels should be facing south. Do you have sufficient roof space available to install a solar system? You would need a south facing roof area of 8 to 10 m2 (86 to 105 ft2) per kilowatt of installed solar panel power. As a typical household requires a 3kW system, you would need a south facing roof space available of 24-30 m2 (250 to 315 ft2).

Many people assume that DIY solar panels have to be placed on roof tops. That´s certainly not true! They can be placed on the ground as well as long as they are south facing.

Is your home made solar system directed towards the sun?

Trees and nearby houses often are obstacles that hinder the sunlight to reach your solar panels. Unobstructed sunlight is important, especially between 12 and 4pm when the sun provides most of its energy. Take this into consideration when planning for a right position of your DIY Solar Panels.

The structure of your roof

Besides its high price, branded solar panels (for example those of Sanyo or Sharp) often have another disadvantage. Together with their installation brackets, they are too heavy. As these manufacturers have to guarantee the panels for a lifetime of 25 years, the construction of the panels itself, but especially their supportive structure, has to be very sturdy. A panel together with their heavy metal mounting brackets can weigh up to 20 kilos. As you would need about 23 solar panels for a 3kW system, the total weight of the panels and brackets could total 400 kilos. Can your roof support this? There are not many roofs which can hold this kind of weight without additional bracing. The substantial cost of these alterations to your house together with the high cost of branded systems, make a professionally installed solar system often not economically feasible.

Due to the simplified and lighter wooden structure of DIY Solar Panels these additional roof enforcements are not required, and therefore financially justifying the use of DIY Solar Panels versus professionally installed panels even more.

When your roof is facing south, you can install your DIY solar panels on the roof without difficulty. Is your roof is not south facing you would need some brackets though to be able to turn your panels towards the sun.

You might think that you aren´t capable of making and installing these panels. But I think you are. Making these DIY Solar Panels is not too difficult. If you read the testimonials of people that have made their own solar panels, many acknowledge that it´s very doable, especially with the help of existing DIY Solar Panels manuals. Some of those guides are really great!! We reviewed a couple of them and the best ones are really high-quality with excellent step-by-step instructions and even supportive video material.

Read our review for the best guides on DIY solar panels and start reducing your electricity bill and carbon footprint now.

Marly Kester is an expert in renewable energies and energy efficiency for ENERFY. ENERFY is an energy consultancy company advising their business customers on energy and ESCo contracts.

Via http://www.bestenergysaving.net ENERFY provides energy efficiency and renewable energy tips and tools to DIY-ers, interested in reducing their energy bill and their carbon footprint.

Check the review for best manuals: http://bestenergysaving.net/review-of-best-manuals-to-homemade-solar-panels

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/DIY-solar-panels-–-they-reduce-your-energy-bill-and-your-carbon-footprint/1172517

Tags: Electrical by webmaster
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By Tommyrocks311

Marble Countertops

Natural stone countertops are being widely used as the optimal product for the kitchen due to their natural beauty, stain resistance, acid resistance, and ability to be cleaned up quickly.

Marble has been used for thousands of years in the old world because it was soft enough to be worked with hand tools, and yet durable enough for several generations of users.

Marble is not as user friendly in a kitchen environment as most granites are. The homeowner must know that most marbles are dolomitic or calcium based and can be worn down by mechanical and chemical measures (sanding, scratching, and etching).

Day to day living with a marble top would include:

• Always using a cutting board
• Always using coasters under glasses
• Hiring a fabricator to completely seal the top, instead of a single coat that is the industry standard.
• Cleaning up spills as they occur
• Thoroughly cleaning the counter once a day with a non acidic stone cleaner.
• Never allowing acidic based cleaners into the kitchen (grout cleaner, CLR, toilet cleaner, tile cleaner, and some hand soaps (especially with citric additives), etc

The homeowner is advised to purchase the best (frequently the most expensive) penetrating stone sealer available and applying once every 12 months. Even sealers that are designed to last a lifetime on granite, can and will be removed by mechanical abrasion and acid etching. Penetrating stone sealers are not designed to thwart these forces, but will provide more protection than untreated stone.

Since marble is softer than many other stones used for countertops, the homeowner must be made aware that it will scratch with use. The most common sources of scratching include: abrasives in ceramic tableware, dirt or abrasives being left on the countertop and then dragged across surface while cleaning, etc.

Marble is more easily “stunned” than harder materials. “Stunning” occurs in the mines, at the polishing plant, on the boat ride, by the importer, the fabricator, the installer, and sometimes by the homeowner. “Stunned” stone exhibits “whitish” micro fissures where the stone has been damaged or hit by something as hard as or harder than the marble. There is no known way to completely repair or hide the “stun” marks.

Marble can be fabricated and installed with either a full polish or a honed (satin) texture. Fully polished tops will show acid etching much more readily than a honed one.

Marble tops are very popular in the Mediterranean where the owners expect the tops to show use and develop a “patina” or “Old Mediterranean look” (it is said that the patina indicates a dedicated cook). One of our customers wanted honed with no sealers and once we installed, she went to work with some knives, coffee and wine, she was Syrian. Honed tops will develop this look much quicker.

http://www.akropolismarble.com

Article Source: Marble for the Kitchen countertop?

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By Johnny Dorset

A garage door is important for so many reasons. First of all, it protects your garage, and anything in it, from the elements. This allows you to park your valuable vehicles in your garage without having to worry that they will be affected by the weather. Garage doors also help to keep your garage insulated. Ask someone who has a bad garage door how they feel about it and they will quickly tell you all about how they either freeze, or get really hot, in their garage. One of the most important parts of a garage door that helps to keep it insulated and perfect is the weather stripping. But weather stripping can break down and deteriorate over time. If yours does, it is actually very easy to fix it.

In order to fix your weather-stripping, you first need to get rid of the old weather-stripping. It is a good idea to replace all of the stripping you have at the same time, so that you don’t have to constantly keep redoing it. Use a flat head screw driver in order to take out any staples, or to raise the nails by prying up on the heads of them. Make sure that you use your screw driver to get rid of all the nails or staples that are keeping your weather stripping down. If your screw driver doesn’t seem to be working, try the claw end of your hammer, as that tends to work very well, too.

Next, head to your local hardware store and purchase a weather-stripping kit. They’re relatively inexpensive and can be found in almost all hardware stores. The kit will include a long solid piece of rubber weather stripping as well as the nails or staples to hold it in place.

Once you’ve gotten rid of the weather stripping, make sure that what is left behind is clear and smooth. Use a piece of sand paper that has a low grit to it in order to sand down the bottom edge of your garage door. Then use a stiff brush in order to make sure that you’ve gotten rid of all of the debris. You want to ensure that everything on the bottom of your garage door is clean before you apply the new weather stripping, or it may just come off.

Once you’ve done this, you can attach the new weather-stripping. Make sure that you position it so that there is about a quarter of an inch of overhang left, and make sure as well that the weather stripping lines up on the outside of the garage door. Simply hold one end with one hand while stretching it just a bit, and use the other hand to staple down the weather stripping. Once you’ve got the whole thing stapled down, you can go back with your roofing nails and can secure it in place permanently. This easy-to-do project can be finished in just a few hours and can truly add insulation to your garage door to make the garage temperature comfortable during all seasons.

Johnny Dorset works for Denver’s Choice Overhead Door Co. has become the number one choice for Denver’s garage door needs. We specialize in repairs of existing and sales of new garage doors and garage door openers!

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/How-Do-I-Fix-the-Weather-stripping-On-My-Garage-Door?/1152258

Tags: Home Maintenance by webmaster
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By Rob Ferrall

If you live in an area with variable weather, or just have a high-traffic home, it can leave your tile and grout looking dirty, faded and dull over time. Normal scrubbing and wiping are not enough to penetrate the ground in dirt that clings to grout. Unsealed, or untreated, tile and grout needs to be deep cleaned on a regular basis to maintain a fresh appearance. Here are a few ways you can clean your home’s tile and grout.

Cleaning Bathroom Tile and Grout

Use a large sponge to wipe down the tile surface with warm water. Dip a stiff bristled toothbrush into the water and scrub the grout. This will remove any loose debris and dirt. Mix ½ cup of baking soda with ¼ cup of warm water. Smear the pasty mixture onto the grout and let it set for a few minutes. Begin scrubbing the grout vigorously with the toothbrush. Use a circular motion to drive the dirt out from the tiny crevices and indents in the grout. Rinse well with clear warm water and give the surface an hour to dry.

Cleaning Kitchen Backsplash Tile and Grout

Kitchen backsplash tile and grout is renowned for harboring minute amounts of cooking grease and oils that attract dirt and dust. Grease removal is a necessary step in cleaning. Mix ½ cup of a liquid dishwashing liquid to one bucket of warm water. Scrub the backsplash wall with a soft scrub sponge soaked in the detergent mix. Allow the soapy water 10 to 15 minutes to soak the grease loose. Mix ½ cup of oxygen bleach power with a bucket of warm water. Scrub the grout and tile with the mixture and rinse with plain water.

Cleaning Floor Tile and Grout

Floor tile and grout will typically be the toughest areas to clean. Sweep the floor with a broom to remove all loose dirt. Divide the floor into small sections and damp mop one section at a time. Scrub the grout with a small stiff cleaning brush and warm water. Mix ½ cup of oxygen bleach powder into a bucket of warm water. Use the small brush to scrub the floor grout and tile. Continue using a circular scrubbing motion to release the dirt and grime that burrows into the grout. Wear safety glasses to avoid splashing the cleaner into your eyes.

Making the Job Easier

Cleaning tile and grout is a physically demanding job, and for some people, it can quickly become overwhelming. When cleaning, you should take frequent breaks to minimize the possibility of back or other muscle strain. If you want to make future cleanings easier, consider hiring a professional cleaning company to come in and clean your tile and grout for you. Professionals with professional-grade tools can oftentimes do a better job on your tile floors and countertops, and some companies will apply a sealant to your grout, which will make future cleanings for you as simple as running a damp mop or cloth over your tile floors and counters.

Saniglow provides professional cleaning services to Howell, Brighton, Fowlerville, and all of Livingston County, Michigan. Read about their tile and grout cleaning services and carpet cleaning services in Pinckney on their website.

Article Source: How to Clean Tile Floors and Grout

Tags: Home Maintenance by webmaster
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By Carrol Wagner

Today’s shoppers are much more savvy than they have been in days past. Perhaps this sophistication when it comes to learning about the products we spend our hard earned money on is the result of instant information at our fingertips through the Internet or a deep desire to know more about where our money is going. Whatever the reason, we are taking the time to learn as much as possible about our investments and carefully planning how we spend our money before it leaves our wallets.

In many ways this is wonderful news. You really can’t go wrong as a consumer my educating yourself about the products you are considering purchasing and this holds doubly true when it comes to electronics. More and more consumers are opening up to the idea of home theaters. In fact, this is becoming a selling point in many homes across the country. It is a great idea to research the products you will purchase and the individual components of your home theater system but how much time have you invested towards the planning and design of your home theater?

You may have the room in mind, but do you have the wiring you need? Are outlets in the correct location in order to provide the extra outlets you will need for your components? Do you have the wiring for speakers in place or is this something additional you will need to consider? Will you go with wireless speakers in order to avoid the hassle? There are so many questions you will need to ask yourself when planning for your home theater.

What, of your existing home entertainment equipment will you be keeping and which pieces of equipment, if any, will you be replacing? I always recommend buying one component at a time and building a home theater system rather than simply going in and purchasing a box off the shelf that has everything in one place. While you can get a very nice system by doing this, I think you will ultimately get more bang for your buck if you build your own system one piece at a time and select each piece for the individual qualities your prefer. That being said, once you get the components home you need to be able to install them and incorporate them into your existing home theater.

Will you be adding special home theater seating or going with a big comfy couch? This matters when planning the layout for the room in which you will be watching your movies and television favorites. You want the seating to be comfortable or no one will want to spend too terribly much time in the room, no matter how large the television screen is. We like to be comfortable as we watch 24 hours of non-stop action or the nearest planet in a far off solar system explode. Do you have a plan for providing that comfort in your home theater?

Do you have all of the connecting wires? How about a reliable method for disguising the wires so that they do not provide a distraction during your movie and television viewing time? Are you going to add gaming equipment to your home theater system? If so, this opens up an entire new ball game when it comes to wires, as you will be bringing even more cords and wires and controllers into the mix.

The next question is how do you plan to hide all the equipment? While built in entertainment centers may seem like a great idea, they are killers to your bottom line should you need to some day sell your home as they eat up floor space and not everyone will appreciate your home theater. For this reason, I recommend a floor-to-ceiling entertainment center with doors that can be closed around the features you aren’t using at any given moment.

While there is no right or wrong when it comes to designing a home theater for your family, there are practical matters that are well worth considering. I hope this has brought to mind a few of those and that you are brimming with wonderful ideas for your current or future home theater.

While there is no right or wrong when it comes to designing a home theater for your family, there are practical matters that are well worth considering. I hope this has brought to mind a few of those and that you are brimming with wonderful ideas for your current or future home theater.

Information on pittosporum crassifolium can be found at the Gardening Central site.

Article Source: Home Theater: Practical Considerations

Tags: Home Electronics by webmaster
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By Jason Ausmus

Okay, you’ve made the decision that you need to hire a land surveyor to come out and conduct a property survey for your property. Perhaps it is because of a neighborly dispute, or because you are building a fence or hedge and you want to make sure you are building/planting in the correct location. Maybe you just want to confirm where the property lines are because you’ve just purchased a new house. Whatever your reasons, be prepared for what to do when it comes time to hire that land surveyor.

Make sure you don’t just rifle through the yellow pages and choose any random land surveyor. You need to find one that is not only reputable but that is licensed as well. You can start by checking with a civil engineering firm to find someone who can tell you what documents you will need and who can approve any final drawings done. Don’t be afraid to check references! Plus, land surveys can vary widely in price so don’t be afraid to get several quotes and compare prices. You want a reputable firm but make sure you aren’t spending more than you should for your project.

Make sure that you give the surveyor everything they need to conduct a good survey for you. Give them any past documentation you may have or any other property information that might be useful. If you are disputing an area, give them detailed information regarding the dispute. If you are building an addition make sure you have all the information available.

Make sure you know when your surveyor is coming out to do the work. This may be especially important if you are fighting something in court with your neighbor. Schedule your land surveyor appropriately and understand that weather can have a bearing on the situation as well. Make sure that if they see any existing iron pins in the ground or monuments that mark property boundaries they don’t remove them. If these are removed they can’t be replaced and are lost. Know your property so that you can convey the information to the surveyor.

Do your research. Know the local laws regarding land surveys and have copies of any city, state or town ordinances that would be helpful for the surveyor. This can help you in understanding where your rights may lie in a property dispute and what you might face in the situation. Also, if you know a survey has been done in the past, see if the engineering company who did it can give you the past information for a cheaper price. This could save you a lot of time and money if the work has already been done.

There is a ton of work that goes into getting a land survey. Even more work goes into it when it involves a dispute with a neighbor. However, cover your back and make sure you have all the information you need to be successful in any situation. From the building of a fence to the adding of an addition, you need to make sure you are following the rules set forth by your local city or state. Get that property survey and save yourself a lot of time and hassle in the long run.

About the author: Jason Ausmus is a web content producer for Innuity. For more information regarding land surveyor or property survey go to Dryco

Article Source: Getting A Land Survey: How It’s Done

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By Rokai Kolam

Green homes are now slowly becoming popular with growing number of people preferring them to conventional homes. Green homes have a more healthy quality of indoor air, yield more energy and water efficiency, and promote a better and cleaner environment, in the process reducing environmental impacts.

Modern green homes no longer look weird but are stylishly designed, be they remodeled, newly constructed or refurbished traditional homes. Although most green homes are the traditionally wooden-built homes, options are now available for natural buildings such as super adobe, straw bale, bamboo, rammed earth, clay/straw wall systems, insulated concrete forms, and insulated structural panel systems.

But eco-friendly landscaping is more than just avoidance of the use of toxic chemicals. It employs pro-active systems involving general landscaping maintenance on a month to month basis to include light pruning, weeding, cleanup, removal and termination of weeds, mulching of beds, organic fertilization of trees and shrubs, thatching, aerating, and over seeding of lawns, lime, demossing and fertilization of turf, removal of spent leaves off of bulbs., deadheading of spent blooms on flowers, treatment for flies and insects, start up irrigation, checking for powder mildew and aphids, new planting, pruning of deciduous plants, raking of leaves., pruning of deciduous plants, raking of leaves, and cleanup entrances and walkways. The basic practices employed encompass certain green practices such as:

Variety of plants. Choosing a variety of native plants encourages a more abundant and healthy landscape. This belief also helps to prevent pest and disease devastation. To conserve water, plant beds are designed to grow more draught tolerant plants incorporated around lawn areas.

Turf maintenance. Mowing and clipping of sidewalks, gutters and drives is performed on a regular basis according to the type, health condition and seasonal requirements of the sod.

Pruning. Trees and plants are pruned to maintain health, growth, coverage and visual appeal.

Edging. Edging of planting beds, curbs and driveways are performed bi-weekly as specified on a per site basis.

Bed work. Ground mulch are raked on a regular basis to maintain a healthy appearance. Beds are kept regularly weed free and cleaned of leaves. Landscape debris in the landscaped areas will be removed.

Fertilizers. Lawn fertilization use only organic fertilizers. Shrub and tree fertilization are done in accordance with the specifications of the chosen fertilizers as well as what is indicated by the seasonal requirements and conditions of the shrubs, trees, lawn and soil.

Irrigation. Irrigation programming is adjusted on an as needed basis. Repairs, preventative maintenance, winterizing, spring start-up and upgrading are properly coordinated to insure proper work.

Eco-friendly landscaping generates substantial benefits arising from the lowering in landscape maintenance costs, reduction in residential exposure to chemicals and the lessening of risk of ground water contamination. And, according to a study from Michigan State University, eco-friendly landscaping can add 5 to 11% to a home’s base value.

Eco-friendly landscaping generates substantial benefits arising from the lowering in landscape maintenance costs, reduction in residential exposure to chemicals and the lessening of risk of ground water contamination. And, according to a study from Michigan State University, eco-friendly landscaping can add 5 to 11% to a home’s base value.

For green homes, an eco-friendly landscape provides opportunities to care for the environment and one’s community. In Seattle, landscaping is eco-friendly. Unlike traditional landscapes, Seattle landscapes use a 100% organic approach to pro-active land maintenance. Seattle landscapes avoid the use of harmful pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and other toxic chemicals.

Article Source: Eco-Friendly Landscapes

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