Tag Archives: Home Selling

11 Ways to Create a Welcoming Front Entrance for Under $100

“Be proud and feel good every time you come home, by using one of these helpful tips on improving your front entrance.”

Denise Buck & Ed Johnson – DC Metro Realty Team

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© Copyright 2020 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

7 Ways to Use Ground Covers in Your Yard

“Got some problem areas in your yard, or maybe you’re just not sure what to do?  Here are several ideas on using Ground Cover for a multitude of issues.”

Denise Buck & Ed Johnson – DC Metro Realty Team

Originally published by American Home Shield

Ground cover plants can do more for your yard than you realize. Check out these 7 ideas to see how.

Ground covers for your yard

Low-growing ground cover plants are an often-overlooked solution to many of the most common landscaping problems homeowners face when implementing DIY backyard ideas. And that’s a real shame, because many ground cover plants are easy to grow, come back year after year and can bring color and texture to your flower beds or lawn.

Whether you’re looking for a way to fill in the bare soil under your trees or in other shady spots, need a way to make lawn maintenance on slopes easier, or are simply looking to revitalize the look of your flower beds and landscaping, ground cover plants can meet your needs. These seven tips for using ground covers in your yard can help you solve your landscaping problems and give you the best yard on the block.

1. Make Slopes Easier to Manage

Mowing, weed-eating or otherwise maintaining grass on a slope or hill is a real pain. It can be dangerous, too, especially on a steep slope or in wet grass.

Landscaping with ground cover plants can make caring for landscaping on a slope, embankment or hill much easier. Most ground cover plantings don’t need to be mowed or trimmed, so you can put the lawnmower away and stop struggling with the weed-eater string. Longer ground covers like ivy, Japanese painted fern, Japanese forest grass and pachysandra are great choices for a low-maintenance, visually appealing slope.

Flower ground covers

2. Fill Shady Spots

It can be hard to grow traditional turf grasses in shady spots under trees, but there are plenty of ground cover species that love the shade and will grow well under your trees, filling in the space with greenery and texture. Grape hyacinths can add quick bursts of color to shady spaces in the spring, and after they go dormant, good ground covers for shade, like pachysandra, vinca minor, liriope and wintercreeper can offer foliage and flowers throughout the summer.

Plant ground covers in between tree roots. Add some compost, garden soil, mulch and other organic material to get ground cover plants started and to avoid the need to dig too deeply into the soil around your tree’s roots.

3. Pair with Other Plants

Ground covers are a great way to add movement and texture to flower beds because they’re usually much shorter than many popular flower bed plantings. Colorful ground cover plants like creeping phlox, basket of gold and creeping thyme can fill in your flower beds and add interest to your garden.

4. Add Texture to Beds

If you like to grow large, showy plants in your flower beds, a single species of ground cover can provide an attractive backdrop for them. But mixing several species of colorful ground cover plants can create a beautiful mosaic of different colors and textures in your beds. Go for different shades of green with covers like Scotch moss, ajuga, creeping Jenny, Dutch clover, and golden pearlwort, or add some color with flowering ground covers like nepeta, Angelina sedum, basket of gold or amethyst in snow.

5. Soften Edges

If you’ve been making hardscaping outdoor home improvements, like installing patios or pathways, you might be looking for a way to soften the sharp edges around your new installations. Many ground cover plants are well-suited to this purpose. When planted along paths or around patios, they can spread out to soften the edges of these hardscaping features. Try creeping ground covers, like creeping thyme.

6. Fill Gaps

Looking for an attractive way to fill in gaps between stepping stones? Many species of moss are easy to grow, won’t creep out of their space and can handle a little foot traffic. Other good choices include a low-growing sedum or creeping thyme.

7. Go Grass-Free

While most people might still choose to grow a sprawling expanse of turf grass on their lawn, homeowners are increasingly realizing that it’s not the only option. Replacing your turf grass lawn with one made of a patchwork of ground cover plants can be more energy-efficient because many of these plants are more drought-tolerant than traditional turf grasses. Ground covers like Spanish daisy, lantana, creeping rosemary and silver carpet can tolerate full sun and drought conditions.

Ground covers are also easier to maintain than traditional turf grasses because they don’t need mowing. Most only grow to a certain height, and then no further. The most you’ll need to do in terms of maintenance would be to trim dead flowers off of some species of flowering ground cover, like a basket of gold.

Ground cover plants can do a lot for your yard. They can spruce up your flower beds, fill in shady spots or replace grass to cut down on maintenance. Don’t keep struggling with your landscaping problems. Solve them with ground cover plants.

9 No-Sweat Hacks to Deep Clean the Cruddiest Things

“Ever wondered how to get different things clean, that just seemed too hard, or too dirty?  Well, here are some answers!”

Denise Buck & Ed Johnson – DC Metro Realty Team

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

© Copyright 2020 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

How to Protect Your Plants This Winter

“It’s time to start thinking about winterizing your outdoor plants.  Not sure what to keep and what to get rid of, or how to do it.  Check this out for some great tips.”

Denise Buck & Ed Johnson

Originally published by American Home Shield

Love your plants, but they hate the cold? Whether you have an outdoor garden or potted plants, follow these tips to protect your blooms from the winter cold.

Winterize your plants

As the temperatures drop and the days grow short, you should be thinking about how to winterize your plants. What’s the best way to protect your greenery from colder weather?

Many of your established plants don’t need much special attention to survive the winter. However, for tender plants and new additions to your garden or landscaping, winterizing is essential.

You can ensure the survival of even your hardiest plants for many seasons to come by taking a few preventative measures.

Know your temperature zone

Knowing your area’s average annual temperature extremes is essential to successful winterizing. This information is readily available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website — just look for your state and county.

Apply mulch

The best way to begin the winterizing process is by mulching. Mulch insulates the soil and prevents frost heave, a condition that occurs when soil repeatedly freezes and thaws. Plant heave exposes plant crowns and roots to freezing air and drying winds.

When applying mulch, aim for a layer that’s three to five inches deep, or even deeper for colder regions. Use material that won’t compact. Good candidates are bark, leaf litter, clean hay, straw or even recycled rubber.

Also, while mulching, trim your perennials back and pull up the annuals to eliminate hiding places for pests and plant diseases.

Get rid of the intruders

Remove any weeds and place them in a sealed container for disposal, not in your compost pile. Weeds compete with desirable plants for precious natural resources and are often more difficult to eradicate once they re-establish themselves in the spring. Weeds are also often a sign of underlying issues with your soil. For example, soil needs air if it is to remain healthy. Soils compacted by weeds and their roots can become choked.

Protect the potted plants

Before the first freeze, bring in any potted tropical and semi-tropical plants you’ve enjoyed outside during the spring and summer. Before doing so, however, it’s a good idea to apply a horticultural oil or insecticidal soap to remove pests and their eggs from the plants. Once indoors, give your plants as much light as you can, but be careful not to overwater. Plants grow slower during winter and consequently don’t require as much water. If a few leaves turn yellow and drop, don’t panic. The dimmer indoor light means the plants don’t need as many leaves as they would if they were outdoors.

Take care of the bulbs

Some plants grow from special underground structures known as bulbs. These bulbs contain the nutrients the plant needs to thrive on a seasonal basis. Most bulbs you’ll find in your yard flower in the spring and die back to ground level in the fall. Daffodils, tulips, crocuses and irises all grow from bulbs. Although bulbs have a reputation for being easy to maintain, they do have temperature limits and need protection from winter’s freeze.

Wait until the foliage yellows. Then dig up the bulbs, remove any clinging dirt and then set the bulbs out to dry. (Old newspapers are great for this purpose.) Bulbs need about two weeks to complete this process and enter dormancy. After two weeks, place the bulbs in a wooden or cardboard box. Take care to separate the bulbs as much as possible to prevent the spread of disease or rot. Cover the bulbs with peat moss, sawdust or sand until they’re ready to be replanted.

Save the shrubs

Tender shrubs should be wrapped in burlap or agricultural cloth to protect them from a prolonged freeze. Avoid using plastic as it does not breathe and can create greenhouse conditions that literally cook your plants. Remove the burlap or cloth when the temperature starts to rise to avoid overheating.

Protect young trees

The bark of newly planted trees, especially fruit trees, is very thin. To protect the bark from cracking as day/night temperatures fluctuate, cover them with tree wrap or tree guards.

Don’t forget the pots

Don’t forget any empty clay pots left behind outdoors. Clay pots breathe, absorbing and releasing water, and that’s why plants grow so well in them. When they freeze, they develop cracks and can eventually shatter. Bring them indoors for the winter or store them somewhere outdoors where they won’t get wet.

10 Clever Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide

“Next to Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide is the best multi-cleaning agent you should have in your house.  Check out all the ways to use it.”

Denise Buck & Ed Johnson – DC Metro Realty Team

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

Copyright 2019 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

15 Smart Ideas From Beautifully Organized Pantries

“Ever wonder what you could do different to make it easier to find things in your pantry?  Check this article out to find several ideas that might just work for you!”

Denise Buck & Ed Johnson – DC Metro Realty Team