This flagstone landscape border is a one-day project that’s simple in concept, but really added a lot of character to an Arborvitae line in the front of my house and also set us up to add softer flower bed plantings as well. What I love about landscaping projects is that they’re hard work, they’re outside […]
Outdoor
My Battle with Surface Water Runoff
2020 Update – Originally Published March, 2016 Surface water runoff from rain, downspouts, roofs and gutters can make your life miserable if your landscape grading hasn’t been properly designed. The equation isn’t terribly complicated: water needs to flow away from things it can damage. But this can sometimes be overlooked or frankly creep up on […]
Repairing a Backyard Trampoline
2020 Update — Originally Published 2016 Some of the best money I’ve ever spent has been on our backyard trampoline – the kids love it, they get exercise, fresh air and sunshine, and we’ve all had a lot of laughs with it. I won’t even pretend I don’t jump on it myself, though I do try […]
How to Clean Your Outdoor A/C Unit for Better Cooling
I don’t know about the weather in your locale, but here in the middle of the country, we’re getting temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s with 85 percent humidity. Yesterday, even though the air conditioner was cranked, the house wasn’t cooling down like it should have been, and we were all sweaty and cranky. There […]
How to Replace a Dead GFCI Outlet
GFCI Outlets, often referred to as GFI outlets or just GFIs, are used to reduce the risk of significant electrical shocks and injury. If you used a hair dryer this morning, you probably plugged it into a GFCI outlet. We’ve all seen GFIs in our homes – they’re the electrical receptacles with the ‘test’ and […]
Belgian Block and Pavers – Dressing Up an Asphalt Driveway
2020 Update — Originally Published August 2011 My asphalt driveway was assaulted. I was hoping for the best, but we had construction trucks in and out several times during a pretty significant renovation project, and at some point the asphalt started to crack a bit on some edge areas — and then just continued to crumble. […]
Summer Lawn Fungus Disease
2020 Update — Originally Published August 2014 This has been driving me crazy for a few years now, as I’ve really been trying to cultivate the most beautiful lawn possible. You can call it pride, or maybe you’ll want to say it’s a “guy thing,” but when I come home from work at the end of […]
Recent Comments