All Around the House

A container garden can create an eye catching landscaping display in your yard. Building an eye catching container gardening display is more than just placing a plant in a container, it involves creating something with depth, bursts of color, or something else to catch the eye.     Plants to Build the Perfect Container Garden Gardeners are able to create an attention-grabbing container garden by using the thriller, filler and spiller technique. Add a variety of plants with characteristics that have towering height or wide expanse, take up empty space and scramble through neighboring plants or tumble over a pot’s rim. One idea combines a tall ornamental grass that adds movement with a foliage plant slightly shorter but spreading, a large plant with multi-colored leaves and an annual flower. Together, Pennisetum ‘Rubrum,’ a Joseph’s coat, Alternanthera ‘Royal Tapestry,’ a coleus called Solenostemon ‘Glennis’ and colorful snapdragons will fill a container garden and last...

The holidays bring many joys, and often the festivities include visits from beloved friends and relatives. Make them feel at home with these simple steps for preparation and bedroom decor. Preparing a Guest Room In the weeks before your guest arrives, give the room a thorough cleaning. Vacuum, dust, and check for cobwebs. Portable furniture should be moved, and make sure you check under the bed! If the room is used infrequently, inspect the window treatment to make sure it is both free of dust and in good working order, so your guest can’t accidentally break shades or blinds while attempting to close them. If your schedule permits, do the top-to-bottom clean the week before the visit, otherwise you can clean well in advance and do a light dusting the day before. How to Air Out an Unused Room The day before, give the room a thorough airing, especially if the room is used infrequently. Shut the heat registers and the door, and open the windows wide enough to get the air moving in th...

Each year, frustrated home and land owners seek out conventional ways to defeat stubborn weeds that detract from the beauty of a lush, green lawn. Perhaps the most common and notorious of these weeds is crabgrass, a summer annual weed that spreads quickly during an ideal warm environment. Menacing crabgrass can quickly turn a thriving green lawn into an unattractive quandary. Because no one wants to spend the summer on their hands and knees pulling unruly weeds up by the roots, it is best to vanquish them before they become obstinately embedded. Crabgrass germinates early in the Spring for many parts of the country causing the weed to grow out of control before it is ever treated. Though it may seem to be an inevitably perpetual problem, crabgrass is easily conquered with the proper tools, timing and diligence to carry out the task. The Problem with Crabgrass Crabgrass grows in a “crab-like” shape that branches out into many sections, choking out healthy grass and devaluing the beau...

Growing a flower garden in a partially-shaded location can be frustrating. Many perennial flowers will not do well unless they receive full sun. However, these perennial flowers will thrive. They are hostas, bleeding hearts and lilies of the valley. Best Flowers to Grow in a Partially Shaded Garden Hostas Grow Best in Partial Shade Hostas are traditionally known as shade plants, but, according to an Ohio State University fact sheet called Horticulture and Crop Science, they actually do not thrive in deep shade. Hostas do best when they receive some morning sun. They will show signs of burning on the leaves if they get too much sun. Hostas will do well in a partially shaded location. Hostas are an attractive border plant that flowers in the late summer. They are a good choice for gardeners that want an easy care, partial-shade plant that will fill in otherwise empty garden spaces. Hostas are available in many varieties, including the green and white Patriot hosta and the blue-green...

Copper takes on a wonderful patina after time, turning its shiny metallic finish into an aged rough surface with years of depth and a plethora of green hues. Learn to create a faux finish verdigris effect and suddenly inexpensive everyday items are transformed into valuable heirlooms, or at least they look like heirlooms. Steps to painting a verigris faux finish Verdigris Faux Finish Preparation Before beginning the verdigris faux finishing process every item will need a little preparation. Cleaning – The item that will receive a verdigris faux finish needs to be cleaned thoroughly to remove any dirt or grease build up. If the object is metal a light sanding with a fine sandpaper may help paint adhere. Primer – A primer isn’t always necessary but it may be if the original item is too dark or a surface that is difficult for paint to adhere to. If the object is plastic then a primer designed for plastic is necessary. Use personal discretion to determine if a primer is called for...

Clothes dryer venting systems can be a serious fire hazard if not properly installed and maintained. What happens? Moist air and lint accumulate inside the duct pipe, exterior exhaust vent and interior areas of the dryer. Airflow is increasingly restricted as this plaque-like coating builds up in crevices, corners and elsewhere. This can limit or block air to cause overheating. As the heat builds up, clothing and dryer lint, which is highly combustible, can catch fire and spread quickly. Clothes dryer maintenance is key. Many homeowners know it is important to clean the dryer lint filter before or after each load. But it is also essential to clear and maintain the hose-like dryer duct vent or metal pipe and exhaust vent, as well as interior and surrounding areas. Clothes Dryer Fires Are Common Fire safety experts cite “failure to clean” as the reason for 70% of operational factors contributing to clothes dryer fires. Clothes dryers cause as many as 15,000 fires, 15 deaths and 400 ...

Spring is around the corner, and everything from trees to bushes to bulbs will be in bloom before you know it! Sadly, we can only enjoy the beautiful sights of spring for a short time, since most plants have flowers lasting briefly before the leaves come in for the long summer. Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths and other spring blooming bulbs only open for just a few short weeks during the spring. Although these bulbs blossom for a short time period, there are a few things you can do to keep looking at these stunning flowers for as long as possible. One of the best things you can do is in the fall, several months before your bulbs start to come up. Plant a large quantity of bulbs containing several different varieties of each type of bulb. Daffodils come in many different sizes and color combinations, as do tulips and hyacinths. Vary the different varieties around your yard so you will have taller and shorter, larger and smaller flowers blooming all at the same time. Also, all bulbs flowe...

Around the holidays people begin spending more time indoors and, quite frequently, they have an urge to redecorate their interiors. But redecorating can be expensive. The following tips may help you give your home a new look for the season while keeping your budget in tact. Undecorate. Take down old knickknacks and photos and accessories. It’s hard to create a new look without a blank canvas. And you may not even realize how tired some of your standard pieces seem until you get them out of the room. If it’s hard to take down that treasured family portrait just remind yourself, it’s just for a few months, then it goes right back above the mantle. Go Shopping in Your Own Home. Look through your old decorations and accessories and bring back old favorites. Consider reserving a corner of your storage area for decorating items. This way you can frequently change out accessories so your house always has a fresh look. Bring Back Your Family. Holidays are a time for family and friends. S...

An eye catching and rewarding landscaping project is to use roses. Landscaping can add aesthetic beauty and resale value to your home and property. By using roses as landscaping you will propel your landscaping into a higher status. Gorgeous, full blooming, roses are a site and smell most anyone can appreciate. When landscaping with roses, planning and preparation are especially vital. The biggest decision you have to make is where and what types of roses will optimally blend into your landscaping. Rose landscaping is not particularly difficult. Before one rose bush goes into the ground you do need to determine what it is you want to get out of your roses. Roses have many uses in terms of landscaping. You can use roses to accentuate a gate, fence, shed, or as accents to the house. The roses used in your landscaping can be used as standalone attractions. You can also use climbers. Climbers are roses which can be trained to entangle themselves around fountains, statues, gates, and tre...

As you start planting vegetable gardens it’s important to know how the garden will be laid out. The layout of your own garden will depend on what vegetable you want to grow, the planting space and if you would like to opt for companion planting. Here are some helpful tips on how to layout your own garden and start planting vegetables. Sit Down and Plan Before choosing a garden layout you need to decide on what type of vegetable you would like to grow and where you would like to plant them. Here are other factors you need to consider for your garden layout: Garden Space Amount of Light in the Space Drainage System Soil Amendments Type of Vegetable Additional Space (if needed) You should also think about whether you want to grow one type of vegetable like lettuce and tomatoes or if you want one type of vegetable with different kinds. Researching about the amount of light a certain vegetable needs and the amount of space that each need to be planted are both helpful facts to...

A water level is the most simple yet the most accurate of leveling tools. It’s also inexpensive and can be made in just a few minutes. Sound too good to be true? Not so! There are two types – the solo model and the helper model (2 person operation). Why does this simple tool work and why is it more accurate than a spirit level? A simple physical law: water seeks its own level. This makes it a perfect tool when installing chair rail, attaching a ledger board for a backyard deck, or nailing up wall molding when installing a suspended acoustical ceiling. How to Make and use a Water Level Water Level Material List A Length of clear surgical plastic tubing, 3/8” – 1/2” I.D. (Inside Dimension). The length depends on the project but 30′ is optimal. Food coloring 5 gallon plastic bucket with a sturdy handle (helper model) Silicone caulk (helper model) 1 or 2 clamps Assemble the Solo Level There’s really no assembly to speak of with the helper model. Simply: Fill the tubing with...