Planning a Garden that’s Beautiful All Year Round

Been having a hard time dealing with your landscaping in the winter? You might think that winter gardening seems like a nightmare and that most of your plants won’t survive the cold, but this isn’t necessarily true. There are a lot of features in a garden that can look pretty good and spruce up your garden all throughout the year. Some plants have the ability to adapt and can even to well in winter temperatures. In this article we’re going to go over a couple of points you should know if you’re planning on making a good winter garden that allows you to appreciate your garden all year round.

If you want your garden to do well through the winter, you won’t be able to just sit around and hope that all your plants will survive. But there are ways to make a garden that will keep itself alive through the winter. A good-looking garden will contain a variety of plants that bring different features, colors and textures to make an aesthetically great garden. The use of rocks, wood, and stones adds a lovely vibe to almost any garden, particularly in the colder months of the year.

There are quite a few plants that thrive in the winter, such as cedar trees, spruces, and pines. These even look great when topped off with a bunch of snow. They grow a lot slower than other trees, but they will stay green throughout the year. They still require fertilizer and water so they can grow through the winter. You can also get wintergreen boxwoods, which can be used as a short hedge. Make sure the wintergreen boxwoods get enough sun so they can grow healthily. Coral Bark Maples have bright colored branches that provide a lovely addition to a winter garden. Paper Bark Maple has exfoliating bark that makes a winter time garden look particularly great, even though it doesn’t bloom or keep its leaves in winter.

These are just a few of the possible options that you can use to make yourself a fantastic, colorful, an aesthetically pleasing winter garden that you can enjoy all year round.

Sponsored by Tree Trimming Long Beach CA

All About Decks

Is your backyard bare and feeling a little empty? If you’re looking to add some more living space to your backyard, consider getting a deck made. It’s like having another living room sticking out into your yard, allowing you to enjoy the fresh air for over half the year!

You may have seen some of your neighbors with incredible decks and thought “Well gosh, I’d sure love to get one of those in MY yard!” It’s a great place to have a BBQ and bring friends over to hang out.

You might think it’s a big investment to get one, but I’ll tell you that not one person I know ever regretted getting themselves that snazzy back yard deck. There is also a price difference depending on whether you’re looking to get a composite deck, or a standard, old-school wooden deck. And that’s not the only factor that dictates how much it’s going to cost to get yourself your very own deck. You also need to take into account the size of the deck, the labor and the furnishings if you want to get a clear picture of how much you’re going to spend.

If you’re looking for an average estimate of how much a deck will usually cost, you could probably say that most of them average between 2,000 dollars to 15,000 dollars for between 200 and 500 square feet. If you’re looking to get something a little more on the luxurious side, like a raised deck or a custom deck with specific features, you could be looking at spending something closer to 36,000 dollars. However, the average spending on getting a new deck for most homeowners in the U.S. is between 4,000 and 10,000 dollars.

The size and shape of your deck will definitely play a big part in how much you’re going to have to spend when getting it installed. It will also have a direct impact on how much you’ll need to invest in labor.

When you take everything into consideration there’s definitely a lot to think about when taking on a big project like getting a nice new deck installed on your house, but once you’ve got one you won’t regret it!

The Tale of Two Hardwood Decks

Once upon a time there was a man named Fibbage, and he had a spectacular house. Nobody else thought it was spectacular, but to him there was no finer place a human could live. He had it all! Rooms, walls, spiders, windows and a roof. But most importantly, he had a large hardwood deck stretching out onto his lawn. His backyard wasn’t exactly big, and the deck took up almost the whole thing. But that didn’t matter to Fibbage, no sirree. He was proud of his deck, and could proudly say that he had a bigger deck than all his neighbors.

But living right next to him was a woman named Bellafontaine. Now Bellafontaine lived in a place she considered to be an absolute dump. It had a measly 4 floors, with naught but 3 bathrooms on each. Her swimming pool was BARELY long enough to do a decent, full-length, professional lap, and her kitchen kept asking her irritating questions like “what do you want to eat for dinner?” But the thing that got under Fibbage’s skin the most about her place, was her tiny little deck.

Bellafontaine’s house was, as you can imagine, extravagant. However, barely protruding out of the back of her house, onto her vast backyard lawn, was what Fibbage would hardly tolerate calling a deck. It was made of the same hardwood that Mr. Fibbage’s was made of, only this one only had space for two chairs and a coffee table. Mr. Fibbage would stay up at night talking to his spiders and trying to rationalize why on earth someone could be satisfied with such a measly and disgusting little deck. I mean, how could a deck like that please anyone? That must’ve been the silliest looking deck the man had ever seen.

One night he decided that he’d put up with Bellafontaine’s sneaky shenanigans for long enough. He went to his living room shed and picked out his old rusty axe and barged outside. He made his way over the fence and straight toward that pathetic little abomination she dared to call a deck. How DARE she?!

But as he raised his axe, he heard a voice behind him.

“If you want him, you’ll have to take me too,” said the swimming pool.

“Mind your own business,” snapped Fibbage to the swimming pool. “This is between me and this tiny little deck!”

“Very well, then,” said the swimming pool.

Water rushed out, across the yard, past the fence and poured all over Fibbage’s majestic hardwood deck. Fibbage’s eyes widened.

“Nooooo!” he cried.

But it was too late. He’d forgotten to put a layer of water resistant finish on it, and his dear deck had bulged and soaked up all the water. It was as good as dead.

Mister Fibbage learned a valuable lesson that day. Or something.

Choosing a Good Composite Deck

So it’s time for you to get yourself a brand new composite deck, but how will you go about choosing the right one with all the options you’ve got out there? There are a bunch of brands to choose from, and we’re going to go through a few points in this article that will help you pick the best composite deck for you.

First of all, you need to take moisture resistance into account. Although composite decks are made of moisture-resistant materials, not all composite decks are made the same and the amount of water resistance will vary from brand to brand. In brands where the plastic more fully envelopes the wood fibers, you’ll find better water resistance.

You’ll want to check up on the brand you’re considering to see if they’ve ever had any structural failures in their history. If you find any of these, then that brand should get knocked off your list. There’s no space for weakness when making a new deck!

Make sure the brand you want to buy from is protected by a good warranty in case of moisture, stain, color fading and other damage.

Composite decks are denser than wooden decks, and can inconveniently absorb heat making your deck uncomfortable to walk on in the summer with the sun blaring down on it. You’ll want to find a deck with the right cooling technology to keep your deck nice and cool even in the heat of the summer.

And if you want to keep the environment in mind and reduce your carbon footprint, take a look at how much recycled material is used in the composite deck you want to get. By getting recycled materials you’re minimizing waste and doing the planet a favor.

The rest of the decisions are all up to you!

Why are Vinyl Windows better than Wood Windows?

Windows are one of the main features of any house. They make a difference in both the interior and exterior appearance of any home and as such need to have some attention paid to them if you want to have an aesthetically pleasing house.

When looking to improve your house, a good idea is to look at the windows and see if they could use an upgrade or replacement. If you’ve got old wood windows, you might want to seriously consider changing them out for vinyl. There are a whole lot of benefits to getting vinyl windows and in this article we’re going to get into just a few of those reasons so that you can see just how fantastic it can be to have some excellent and wonderful vinyl windows on your house.

The first and greatest benefit to having vinyl windows is how energy efficient they are. They are built with ready-made insulation that keeps out the cold and extreme heat of the great outdoors, allowing you to save on how much you spend on energy to keep your home at an acceptable temperature. Dual pane vinyl windows are particularly effective for home insulation.

Vinyl windows are a lot more durable than wood windows as well. Vinyl won’t rot, doesn’t need to be stained or sanded, and are sturdy and long lasting. They’re useful for kitchen windows, living room windows, patios, and windows of all shapes and sizes. You can also get balcony and patio doors in vinyl, which look sharp and are incredibly effective for insulation.

One huge benefit to getting vinyl windows is how little maintenance you need to run on them. Wooden windows need regular repair, sanding, staining etc. Whereas vinyl windows don’t need much more than cleaning! So they not only look good, but are much more convenient and cost efficient in the long run.

And last of all, most vinyl window manufacturers will provide you with a lifetime warranty, ensuring that your windows will be replaced or repaired in case of any serious damage. So now all that’s left is for you to get yourself set up with those new vinyl windows!

Sponsored by Replacement Windows Worcester