Curb Appeal 101

curb appeal landscaping torontoKiller curb appeal is something we all strive for and don’t always find it easy to achieve.  Here are our top 10 tips on why curb appeal is important and how your home can have curb appeal that will be the envy of all your neighbors.

1) Why curb appeal?  First impressions are everything whether selling your home or staying put.  When people come to your front door or just walk by the first impression of your home says it all.

2) Paint your front door!  Find a great color that coordinates with your  home’s color.  Make sure that the color you pick gives contrast between the front door and the facade of the house.

3) Add appealing and artistic house numbers and put out some beautiful, colorful potted plants.

4) Want instant curb appeal?  Have a beautifully manicured lawn.  Cut the grass regularly and weed away those weeds.

5) Mulch it up!  Tend your garden beds and spread some mulch.  Mulch not only gives your landscaping a fresh appearance but helps control weeds and keeps in moisture for your plants.

6) Tidy up the driveway.  Make sure all garbage cans are neatly put away and out of sight.  Repair any cracks by patching or resealing.  This will give your home a nice neat appearance.

7) Make those windows sparkle!  There is nothing like clean, shining and sparkling windows.  Try washing outside windows by spraying them with a garden hose to remove dirt and cobwebs. Then sponge them down with a small amount of vinegar or detergent diluted in warm water and rinse.

8) Update your outdoor light fixtures. Don’t want to go to the extra cost of getting new light fixtures…no problem!  Try painting or spray painting your old ones for an inexpensive and fresh new look.

9) Trim your trees and bushes.  Nothing says curb appeal like trimmed and manicured trees and bushes.  Cut overgrown bushes and trees, removing branches that block walkways, windows, the driveway and views of the home from the [more] street.

10) Keep the front of your home, clean, neat and tidy.  Plant flowers and bushes or container garden for a bit of extra pop and color.  Take a step back to view your home, take a picture to see how it looks in the eyes of the passersby.  If you love what you see you will have succeeded in creating killer curb appeal!

The Use of Stone in Landscaping

When people think about landscaping, they immediately think about flowers, grasses and shrubs. Although that is true, landscaping is not just about the blooming colorful flowers. It is also the whole set-up of the garden from the levels of the ground to the way the plants are arranged.

There are two important components in landscaping. These are

  • The softscape – this includes the plants and the flowers
  • The hardscape – includes the soil and stones

The Stones

There are a lot of landscapers and gardeners today that utilize a lot of stones in their designs.

  • These stones of varying sizes can actually add beauty and depth to the backyard or to the garden.
  • Many expert gardeners say that the stones and the rocks are used to frame the garden.
  • They will highlight the rest of the components of the landscape.
  • Stones are commonly utilized to materialize most walkway designs in the front or backyards.
  • There are also many people who choose to have an entrance made of stones instead of the traditional fence.

Stones and Patios

Stones and rocks are also very important in creating your patio. But aside from stones, you would need other essentials like

  • bricks
  • tiles
  • concrete

Forming your very own patio is considered as one of the most in demand landscaping projects to date. Patios are actually very popular. These structures definitely help in the transition of the design from indoors to outdoors.

Patios are also spaces where people can relax and unwind outside the house.

Stones and Pools

For those people who own a larger space in their backyards, they can hire people to create a pool. There are hundreds of great pool landscaping ideas that make use of stones as borders or as pathways to the patio.

 

Stones and Fountains

Aside from patios and pools, stones can also be used in the creation of a superb fountain. A very iconic stone fountain can be placed in the middle of the lawn which can serve as the focal point of the whole garden too. These stones would really complete the look of your garden.

Knowing More about Retaining Walls

garden design ideas torontoMany people may not know what retaining walls are but they have a very important function in most houses across the country.

Definition of Retaining Walls

  • Retaining walls are those structures that keep soil and land from falling over to a carved out slope or piece of land.
  • They are commonly used in houses whose lots are located in a slope. The contractors of the house will level out the land in your lot where the house will be built.
  • To keep the soil on the higher slope from sliding back to the flattened out surface, a retaining wall is built.

Functions of Retaining Walls

  • It functions basically like a dam but instead of water, land and soil are being held back.
  • Aside from protecting the house from landslides in major slopes, these retaining walls are also used often by landscapers to execute certain landscaping designs that require layering and leveling.

Types of Retaining Walls

  • Gravity Wall

From the name itself, this type uses the weight of the wall caused by gravity to counter the pressure produced by the soil on the other side.

  • Piling Wall

In this wall system, there are different forces that will keep the soil on the other side from toppling over the lower space. Aside from the gravitational weight, the wall is buried so that the forces from both sides called the piling force will keep it upright.

  • Cantilevered Wall

This is one type that has been used for decades. In this system, the wall is not just a typical straight partition but it has an extra foot which turns it into an L-shaped wall. The additional foot is positioned under the embankment which produces a downward force that keeps the wall upright.

  • Concrete block walls, Anchor wall systems and gabion walls are also other types of retaining walls.

The accumulation of water on the other side of the wall may increase pressure in any retaining wall types that is why special landscaping ideas have been applied to let the water flow to a storm drain.

How to Prepare for Spring Gardening

spring landscaping design ideas torontoA lot of gardeners always look forward to spring gardening. These people would already want to execute their landscaping design ideas that they have thought of during the cold season. Proper preparation for spring gardening are always carried out even before the season begins.

Ways to Prepare

There are a lot of things that you can do to prepare for spring gardening.

  • One of them is compost treatment. A lot of people would gather all of the dead leaves and twigs and pile them in one of the corners of the backyard. These can be used in garden composting.

Composting

  • Composting is a very good way to revitalize the soil.
  • Composting also provides the soil with a lot of nutrients and the decayed items on the compost can serve as fertilizers too.
  • The organic compost can be prepared ahead of time so it would be ready in time for spring.
  • Another step to do before spring gardening is the preparation of your power and gardening tools. You do not want to use equipment that won’t start. So even before the yard is ready for gardening, make sure that the tools are still in working condition.
  • The garage or the shed needs to be prepared before spring.
  • You should start de-cluttering the area and make way for garden equipment.
  • It is important to start gathering the necessary things that you will need for gardening even when the snow is still outside. This will help you get right to gardening and landscaping as soon as the ground dries.
  • Spring gardening preparations also include careful consideration of seeds and plants.
  • There are certain types of garden plants that need to grow for at least a foot before they will be ready to be planted on the ground.
  • Another good way to make sure that you have enough plants for your landscaping design execution is to order them ahead of time.
  • The yard must also be prepared by cleaning and clearing it out. All unnecessary debris must be raked. As the temperature begins to rise and the weather becomes hot, you should be ready to do mulching too.