If you’re like the Gibson household your spring grass is going to take a pounding this season! From kids’ playing, dogs trampling through the yard and just relaxing on the adjacent porch, it’s essential that your grass looks great, right? If you remember from my last spring lawn care article I was using Roundup® For Lawns weed killer to ensure our grass was ready for springtime fun! Take a look at how we are enjoying our spring grass and let me know what fun activities you have planned for your lawn this season.

Enjoying Our Spring Grass After Using Roundup® For Lawns

Our Experience Using the Roundup for Lawns:

In past spring and summer seasons the weed control was a constant chore to keep up with. This season we liked the easy application of the Roundup For Lawns and found the directions easy to understand. My husband and I liked discovering what product was best for our lawn, which has Zoysiagrass.

What Formula is Best for your Grass?

Northern formula: This weed killer helps control dandelions, crabgrass, clover and more. One product will kill 253 different weeds!

Southern formula: This formula is perfect for Florida! It works well with southern grasses such as Floratam and Centipedegrass.

The Roundup For Lawns formula will help with our lawn care and will kill the weeds, NOT THE GRASS!

Watch the Roundup for Lawns Video to Apply to your Grass Correctly:

Our Spring Grass is Ready for our Favorite Activities:

Our front lawn gets a lot of traffic from my 11-year old daughter. From kicking her soccer ball to running through the sprinklers in the summer, our lawn is now ready for the warm weather. Now my daughter doesn’t sit in the grass picking dandelions and asking why we have so many weeds!

We also love our front porch adjacent to the lawn to kick back and watch her play while we eat and listen to music. The gorgeous green grass makes it an enjoyable part of our home to enjoy on lazy Florida afternoons!

I’d love to hear how your spring grass could be improved with Roundup For Lawns and what activities you plan on doing this season!

If you want to see what other types of lawn care products they have, check out their You Tube channel here.

Disclosure: This was a sponsored post by Roundup® For Lawns. All opinions were strictly my own.

To sell your home successfully it should be sparkling on the inside. Many people forget to walk out the front door and take a critical look at their home from the sidewalk. Making sure that your curb appeal is as high as possible is the key for getting walk-in visitors at your next open house. Here are 10 tips to increase your home’s curb appeal and create a welcoming exterior home.

Image via: Houzz

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10 Tips to Increase Your Home’s Curb Appeal

1. Mow the lawn.

An untended, scruffy lawn looks unkempt and messy. Avoid that by keeping the grass trimmed, and raking away leaves and debris in fall.

2. Clean the gutters.

Having water pouring out of your gutters on a rainy day is going to be a real turn-off for potential buyers. Jane Kennedy from ComFree mentions on her blog to make sure that the gutters are completely clear, thus avoiding any potential water damage and keeping your home’s façade looking tidy.

3. Paint the shutters.

If you have shutters on the front of your house, give them a fresh coat of paint (if needed). While you’re at it, do the front door.

Image via: Hursthouse Landscape

4. Pay special attention to the front door.

The front door is the first thing people notice when looking at your house. The area around it needs to be clean & clear of clutter, and the door should be in good condition. Clean off scuff marks from shoes and clean around the door handle to make it sparkle.

5. Clean the house’s façade.

This may sound extreme, but taking a power hose to the front of the house can make a world of difference. If things are looking a little grungy or dingy, give it a blast with the hose and brighten it up.

6. Tend to your landscape shrubbery.

Overgrown bushes and shrubs on the front lawn are sure to look scruffy. Keep them pruned and presentable!

7. Tidy up the walkway.

If you’ve got uneven stones or cracked asphalt, you may want to consider putting a little time & money into sprucing it up. You don’t want potential buyers tripping over uneven slabs when they walk up your garden path. If necessary, remove all stones and simply cover the path with crushed seashells or gravel. Make sure the grass verge of the walk is trimmed.

Image via: Pinterest

8. Paint the fence.

Moss on a fence can look romantic and atmospheric, but you want it to also look well-maintained and solid. So throwing a coat of paint on can really make a world of difference.

9. Pay special attention to the gate.

If the garden gate needs any repairs, get them done. Give it a paint as well, but most importantly: Make sure the latch opens and closes easily. If there is a lock on the gate, make sure it works and that you have the key.

10. Make your exterior have a presence.

Once you’ve got everything in order, you can add some decorative flair that will catch the eye. A tasteful pop of color in the form of a pot on the front porch or a garden decoration in the flower bed can attract the eye and get potential buyers to take another look at your home for sale.

For more curb appeal tips on Stagetecture, click here.

People who don’t have a backyard often dream of the day when they will have their own yard so that they can invite family and friends, crank up the barbecue, turn on some good music, and enjoy their home as it was meant to be enjoyed.

Then you have those who do have a backyard yet neglect it. Especially during the colder months when the weather makes maintaining their yard a difficult chore. And then what happens? The yard falls into such a dismal condition that even attempting to get it to some semblance of order becomes a task fraught with dread.

Image via: Landscape East & West

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Let’s assume that your backyard has reached the stage where you would rather not look at it. Following are five tips for organizing your backyard so that it will take pride of place in your home:

1. The Big Cleanup:

It has got to be done, so time you pulled out your finger, recruited the kids, and gathered all the items strewn about your garden in one location. You know what to do next – the garbage goes to the garbage, what you want to keep gets placed in a separate corner or in storage, and what you want to sell or donate needs to be sold or donated.

Image via: Steve Tsai

2. Storage:

if you don’t have enough outdoor storage then it’s time to invest in some. Plastic sheds are a great idea as they are weatherproof, easy to assemble, come in different colors and sizes to suit all spaces and color schemes, are relatively inexpensive, and usually don’t require a permit from the city.

3. Tend to the Garden:

once your backyard is tidied up, the time has come to either put on the gardening gloves, get out the gardening equipment, and get to work cleaning your garden, or ring up your trusty gardener and invite him to do the job for you.

By now your backyard should be starting to resemble its old self, so perhaps it’s time to spruce it up a bit more.

4.  Outdoor Furniture:

Some new outdoor furniture or a coat of paint on the old outdoor furniture will add a touch of the new to your backyard. And don’t we all love the feeling of something new?

5.  Build a Deck:

How about investing in a deck? They look great, make it easier to maintain the yard, and add another storage dimension if you buy deck boxes. Talk about a win-win-win.

This list is not extensive but following it will set you well on your way to truly enjoying your backyard, Enjoy!

For more outdoor activities for you and your family click here.

If you want to go to a relaxing outdoor area without leaving your home, you should go no further than your own patio!  You will have a beautiful scenery of your garden, natural breeze of the wind and the sound of birds in the air. It’s one of the best areas at home where you can find tranquility and peace of mind.

Image via: SRM Architecture and Interiors

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Your backyard porch should make a great patio for your home. Although you may not have the luxury of space in your porch but then it doesn’t mean you can’t have the best patio. It’s just a matter of maximizing what you have. Want to know improve your patio?

Image via: Peter Duke

See these creative patio trends for your backyard porch:

Produce more greenery

Plant more trees in your backyard. If this isn’t possible because of minimal space, make use of potted plants and flowers. The more greenery you have in your backyard, the cooler and more attractive your patio will become. It will give you a great view while sitting in a relaxing chair. There’s no better way to relax than that!

Go media frenzy

Who says home theater and multimedia entertainment are only good in your living room or bedroom? Make way for multimedia entertainment in your patio. It’s not just your ordinary radio but a sound system with a video monitor. It’s like having your home theater system setup in your patio. Isn’t that cool?

Image via: Coates Design Architects Seattle

Prefer a lighter look

Simplicity is beauty – this is the statement that best describe the idea. With lighter look, it will give the impression of larger patio. This is because it will blend with the outdoor surroundings. One of the best ways to achieve this is to have your shelves and furniture made to fit your patio. This will ensure that light will enter the patio naturally.

Design your backyard porch with a patio that’s a cut above the rest. Pick one of the above-mentioned ideas and see how it transforms into a picturesque site.

For more outdoor home ideas on  Stagetecture, click here.

Happy DIY Saturday! Whether you are getting ready for a Mother’s Day picnic outside tomorrow, or you are hosting the neighborhood barbecue party, everyone wants a perfect looking lawn! The harsh winter may have wreaked havoc on your lawn, or you many be trying to ward of weeds and pests. Regardless of your lawn challenges, today’s DIY Saturday will give you tips on improving your lawn this Spring so you’re prepared for the summer.

Image courtesy of Country Lawn & Tree Service

Look at these YouTube videos: How to mow your lawn properly and how to water your lawn properly.

Also see how our Guest Blogger, tells you how to control weeds in your lawn without killing it!

How to Control Weeds in your Lawn

Weeds will grow in almost any area where there is good fertile soil; this will include your lawn and gardens.  There will be some complications with killing weeds without killing your lawn but there are ways to go around it and to do it effectively.  You should start by double checking the breed of turf grass and the types of weeds you have in your yard.  Anyone that manages a lawn or garden will have their allotment of annoying weeds that will have to be taken care of. If you’ve used some weed killers before then you know the pains that you have to go through.  You need to identify the problem weeds in your lawn or garden and the herbicides that will attack them without harming your turf grasses.

Normally weeds will fall into one of two categories; grass-types or broad leafed-types of weeds. Once you have the weed identified then you will know what herbicides will do the best to eradicate them. There are other cases where you would have fungi growing in your garden or lawn. sometimes its harder to see but if you see any mushrooms in your lawn then you will know. It can help to inspect your lawn and comparing the weeds with the plants you’d want to keep. If they are the same type of plant like some broad leafed weeds in your flower garden, or some grass types of weeds in your turf grass. You should treat them carefully with one of the many different types of weed killers that will target and treat any plants.

Image courtesy of Forever Green Lawn Care

There are non-selective herbicides like glyphosate based herbicides that are capable of killing any plant that’s treated.  You can carefully treat the problem plants you will encounter by mixing them in a spray bottle and spot treating the plants you don’t want. Use a good sprayer and test it out on a portion of concrete to see how it will spray and what kind of pattern. This way you will not accidentally spray the herbicide on plants that you want.  Many sprayers have adjustable spray heads so you can change how it sprays an area with each trigger pull.  If you do happen to spray a plant just rinse off the leaves quickly. Treated spots will be easily cleaned off quickly.

There is a way to treat the plants with a home made eco-friendly herbicide that will kill any plant you treat with it. Boiling water with vinegar will kill plants that are sprayed with it.  This can be sprayed on different plants and any weeds that are sprayed on the leaves.  These chemicals will subside as time passes and they will eventually dilute into the soil. Be careful not to use table salt as it will kill any plants growing in the soil.

To learn more about controlling weeds and other pests, please visit DoMyOwnPestControl.com today!

For more outdoor living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Every year I’m excited when the camelia’s start to bloom in our yard, because that means spring is only moments away. Then I look at the rest of the yard and realize, “oh no, spring is on its way!” From the grass to the shrubs and flower beds, it is time to start thinking about how to cut down costs that will be help save you money, time, and energy!

In This Old House, I found a good article on how to help save on precious Earth resources – and your own! See these  11 ways to save money on your landscaping:

Lawn

1. Limit the expanse of yard devoted to perpetually thirsty turf grass.

2. Cut back on fertilizer, mow high, and leave mulched clippings on the lawn to shade the soil and reduce evaporation. When you set up the sprinklers, make sure water is being absorbed; if you see runoff or puddles, you’re adding water too fast.

3. Here’s a simple test to determine when your lawn needs water: Walk on the grass. If the blades spring back, hold off on watering. If you see your footprints, switch on the sprinklers—unless rain is in the forecast.

Flower Beds and Borders

4. Water just the roots of your perennials, annuals, and shrubs—don’t shower the leaves. This cuts the risk of fungal disease and reduces evaporation.

5. Choose drought-tolerant plants adapted to your site’s climate, soil type, and sun exposure.

Containers

6. Plants in pots are especially vulnerable to drying out in hot weather because their roots are confined to a small area and can’t extend deeper in search of moisture.

Trees

7. Plant at least one tree in your yard—for shade, for beauty, and for posterity.

8. To water transplants efficiently, shovel soil and mulch into a donut-shaped berm as wide as the tree branches. Fill the berm with water, using a hose or buckets; then let it percolate into the soil slowly.

Gear

9. Keep your drip irrigation systems running efficiently by checking for leaks, cracked pipes, or plugged emitters. And watch for spray that drifts away as mist, a sign that water pressure is too high. Bigger droplets won’t get carried away in the wind.

10. Inexpensive soaker hoses ooze water through thousands of tiny pores all along the length of ruber tubing. Snaked through shrubbery and hooked up to a timer set for early morning watering, they can cut water use by up to 70 percent over conventional sprinklers.

11. Drip systems consist of plastic tubing with tiny, targeted emitters that drip water at a set rate. These systems target just the plants you are trying to encourage, not the spaces in between, so you wind up using less water and nurturing fewer weeds.

For more green living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

“Curb Appeal” –  the appearance of the grounds, and exterior of a home, and the appeal that it draws.  Let’s make guests want to get out of their car and come in…

Structure: Does the paint look dirty, the stucco look old, or the brick have stains? Consider adding a fresh coat of paint, power washing or using do-it-yourself brick stain removal solutions.  Your neighborhood home improvement center will be able to direct you to the right solution for your application.

Also consider the condition of the front door and entryway. Often times paint, and a new focal point, such as

flowers or an architectural feature can brighten this area.  You’ll also be surprised what a broom will do for all those leaves!

Roofing: Do you have missing or old asphalt shingles? Cracked clay tile’s? Even standing seam metal needs regular maintenance.  If you live in a newer home, your builder’s home warranty may cover any builder’s defects. For regular wear and tear, and older homes, consider hiring a roofing professional to inspect your roof. Age of the roof may also be an indicator that leaks and other problems are not far behind.

Driveway/Sidewalk: Make sure there is no signs of mold, mildew, heavy soil remnants in this area. On a regular basis, power wash and consider using  solutions made for concrete. Brick and tile pavers can also have similar build-up. For cracked walkways, consider patching, or having a professional remove the segment and repair..remember not just for cosmetics, this is for safety!

Lighting: Curb appeal is not only for the daylight hours.  Look at your home at

night.  Does it look dark and uninviting? Consider adding brighter wattage bulbs to exterior fixtures.  Can guests get to your front door, or do they turn around because the walkway is dark and scary? Landscape and walkway lighting is a great solution.  From rope lighting to extensive landscape lighting, the mood can change dramatically in the evening.

Added features: Make sure the features you add to the yard are not detracting from the natural beauty of the grounds. A simple fountain, or a koi pond may be a great added feature. Although, if the fountain is broken and the Koi fish are hidden by the algae and overgrown weeds in the pond, this now becomes an eye sore. Less is more, the garden gnomes and flamingos need to stay in the garage!

For more exterior design ideas on Stagetecture, click here.