Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

No need for fancy DIY skills, a lot of money, or a ton of time to pull off these yard upgrades.

It’s your yard — yours to do with as you wish. And while that’s great, that doesn’t mean you have to be one of those people who spend every spare moment in their yard, sprucing it up. 

But, still, your landscaping could use a little something. But something easy. 

Here are five totally doable projects that your budget will barely notice, but your neighbors definitely will:

#1 Add Some (Tough) Edging

Tell your grass who’s boss with edging that can stand up to even the crabbiest of all crabgrasses. 

But don’t make the mistake that many homeowners make of buying the flexible plastic stuff, thinking it will be easier to install. It’ll look cheap and amateurish from day one.

Worse, it won’t last. And before you know it, you won’t be able to tell where your garden bed ends and your “lawn” begins.

Instead buy the more rigid, tough stuff in either fiberglass, aluminum, or steel.

Tips on installing edging:

• Lay out a hose in the pattern you want.
• Sprinkle flour or powdered chalk to mark the hose pattern.
• Use a lawn edger (or spade) to make an incision for the edging.
• Tap the edging into the incision with a rubber mallet.

The cost? Mostly your time, and up to $2.50 a square foot for the edging.

#2 Create a Focal Point with a Berm

A berm is a mound of gently sloping earth, often created to help with drainage. You can also build them to create “island beds,” a focal point of textures and colors that are so much more interesting than plain ol’ green grass. 

Plus, they’ll give you privacy — and diffuse street noises. What’s not to like about that? Especially if you live in a more urban area.

For most yards, berms should max out at 2-feet high because of the space needed to properly build one.

They need a ratio of 4-6 feet of width for every foot of height. That’s at least 8 feet for a typical 2-foot-high berm. So be sure you have the room, or decrease the height of your berm.

Popular berm plantings include:

• Flowering bushes, such as azaleas
• Evergreens, such as blue spruce 
• Perennials such as periwinkle
• Tall, swaying prairie grasses
• Lots of mulch to keep weeds away

Save on Soil

Soil costs a whole lot less in bulk — $20 / cubic yard vs. almost $70 for the same amount in bags from a big-box store. Even with a delivery fee, you’ll come out ahead.

The cost? Usually less than $300, depending on how big you make it, how much soil you need to buy to get to your desired height, and which plants you choose.

#3 Make a Flagstone Wall

Aim to build a wall no more than 12 inches tall, and it becomes a super simple DIY project — no mortar needed at all! 

How to build an easy flagstone wall:

• Dig a trench a couple of inches deep and wide enough to accommodate the flagstones.
• Fill with pea gravel and/or sand and tamp to make level.
• Lay out the flagstones to see their shapes and sizes.
• Stack the smaller stones first.
• Save the largest, prettiest flagstones for the top layer.
• Backfill with gravel.

Choose a stone of consistent thickness. Flagstone might be limestone, sandstone, shale — any rock that splits into slabs. 

The cost? About $300 for stones and sand (a ton of 2-inch-thick stone is enough for a wall 10 feet long and 12 inches high).

#4 Install a Path with Flagstone or Gravel

There’s something romantic, charming, and simply welcoming about a meandering pathway to your front door or back garden — which means it has super-huge impact when it comes to your home’s curb appeal. 

You can use flagstone, pea gravel, decomposed or crushed granite, even poured concrete (although that’s not easy to DIY). 

A few tips for building a pathway:

• Allow 3 feet of width for clearance.
• Create curves rather than straight lines for a pleasing effect.
• Remove sod at least 3 to 4 inches deep to keep grass from coming back.
• If you live in an area with heavy rains, opt for large, heavy stones.

The cost? Anywhere from a couple of hundred bucks to upwards of $500 depending on the material you use, with decomposed granite being the least expensive, and flagstone (also the easiest of the bunch to install) the costliest. https://www.youtube.com/embed/J1gIoLElJYw?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1Stefan Grunkemeier

#5 Build a Tree Surround

Installing a masonry surround for a tree is a twofer project: It looks great, and it means you’ve got less to mow. Come to think of it, it’s a threefer. It can work as extra seating when you have your lawn party, too! 

All it takes is digging a circular trench, adding some sand, and installing brick, cement blocks, or stone. Just go for whatever look you like best. 

The trickiest part is getting an even circle around the tree. Here’s how: 

1. Tie a rope around the tree, making a loop big enough so that when you pull it taut against the tree, the outer edge of the loop is right where you want the surround to be. 
2. Set your spade inside the loop with the handle plumb — straight up and down. Now, as you move around the tree, the loop of rope keeps the spade exactly the same distance from the base of the tree, creating a nice circle.

Then build the tree surround:

• Dig out a circular trench about 8 inches deep and 6 inches wide. 
• Add a layer of sand. 
• Set bricks at an angle for a saw-tooth effect or lay them end-to-end.
• Fill the surround with 2 to 3 inches of mulch.

The cost? Super cheap. You can do it for less than $25 with commonly available pavers and stones. 

“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”

Budget ideas to transform your outdoor living space into a beautiful (and fun) retreat.

Americans are putting their own spin on the Scandinavian passion for open-air living–friluftsliv. We’re not just doing things outside as much as possible. We’re expanding our indoor living space to the outdoors. And that’s increasing the value of homes and adding features buyers are looking for. 

More than 80% of home buyers said patios and front porches are “essential” or “desirable,” according to the “What Buyers Really Want” survey from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

So why not jazz yours up with these outdoor living space ideas on a budget?

#1 Design Your Space To Blur the Line Between Inside and Outside

Creating a seamless transition between your home’s interior and exterior isn’t as simple or low cost as adding some cushy cushions, but it’s seriously the best way to pull you outside more.  

• The most affordable way: switch out a standard door with french or sliding doors.
• The wow-way: add weatherproof flooring, such as stone tile or scored concrete, for the space outside and the adjacent room inside. 

#2 Go Overboard on Comfy

Comfy is easy to achieve and can be as low cost as you want. Start simple with a cushion or two or even a throw. A couple more simple starters: 

• Get some cushy cushions. Make sure they’re outdoor-worthy and can handle downpours.
• Put down outdoor rugs for barefoot comfort.

#3 Make It Easy to Use All Your Devices

Our devices and electronics have conspired to keep us on lock down inside. Here’s some fun ways to stay charged outdoors: 

• Get a Wi-Fi antenna to boost your range. 
• Create a new habit of using solar chargers and you’ll rarely be without juice.
• Add some wireless speakers for the simplest DIY sound enhancement you could ask for.

#4 Crank Up the Mood Lighting

Outdoor lighting dresses up your home’s marketability and appeal (exterior lighting is buyers’ second most wanted outdoor feature, according to the NAHB study), makes it safer, and lets you spend more time outside.

• Use uplighting to highlight trees, architectural details, or other focal points.
• Add sconces or pendant lights to make evening entertaining, grilling, and reading easier.
• Illuminate walkways, rails, and steps with landscape solar lights.
• Hang fairy or string lights to set an enchanting tone.

#5 Personalize It

• Paint a faux rug with your favorite colors.
• Create a path made with colored glass, brick, or other interesting found materials.
• Craft a one-of-kind outdoor chandelier.
• Build a pizza oven, custom seating, or other feature you crave.
• Add personal décor that makes you happy.

In fact, make your outdoor retreat an ongoing project where you can hone your DIY skills.

#6 Add Some Fun Stuff to Do

• A fire pit is a proven winner. Food and fire have brought humans together since the dawn of time.
• Give wee ones the gift of magical thinking with an outdoor playhouse.
• Add whimsy with a chalkboard fence that both kids and fun-loving adults will enjoy.
• Add a doggie window in your fence to entertain Spot. Installing a dog run may even boost your home’s value. FYI: It’s been said that pets are one of the top reasons why people buy houses.

#7 Arm Your Space Against Bugs, Weather

• Install an awning, canopy, or pergola. 
• Rig glass fence windscreens to the keep your BBQ fires burning.
• Screen in your porch or deck against bugs.

If you already have a screened porch, don’t forget the slats between wood planks. Cover the floor with outdoor carpet or staple screening to the underside of floorboards.

“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”

Size problems. Shade problems. The wind-is-blowing-our-cocktails-over problems.

Summertiiiime and the living is supposed to be easy — but not if you live on a hot mess of a patio.

Whether it’s dying plants, a view of your neighbor’s garbage cans, or mosquitoes that threaten to drain you before you can drain a beer, patios tend to develop some chill-disrupting problems. Here are some of the more annoying ones and how to fix them.

#1 My Patio Is Too Small

Train a vine to grow up a wall, hang plants from the roof, or set potted plants on shelves on the wall. “Anything that draws the eye upward makes the space feel larger,” says Brian Patrick Flynn, designer from “HGTV Dream Home.”

Tying the patio space visually to your yard will make it feel larger, too. Layer plants around the patio’s edge — short ones at the front and taller ones farther from the patio. Don’t have planting beds? Use containers of plants to get the same effect.

#2 My Patio Is Near a Busy Street

Nothing kills a patio buzz like a swarm of noisy traffic. A masonry wall is the best way block the car horns and sirens, of course, but that’s a large and expensive project.

A cheaper, simpler option: Make a living wall of plants. A dense planting can cut noise by as much as 10%.

Or create your own noise. Try installing a fountain. Even though the sound of gurgling water won’t drown out all the street sounds, it will mitigate them and soothe your noise-battered soul.

Playing music or white noise over an outdoor Bluetooth speaker can also knock down noise. Try some rainforest-themed white noise to make your patio feel like it’s surrounded by jungle birds, not a highway of V-6 engines.

#3 There’s Too Much Shade — I Can’t Grow Anything!

Yes, you can. You can grow plants that like shade. Ferns, hostas, palms, banana trees, and a gaggle of other plants will adore your shady patio.

They have nice leaves, but don’t bloom much. If you must have flowers, plant them in containers and place them in sunny spots in the yard. Move them on the patio when you have guests over.

If moving 25-pound containers of begonias isn’t your thing (that’s fair), go with fake flowers.

Put a bouquet of iron or wooden yard-art flowers in a pot, hang some flower-themed art on a wall, or upholster your furniture in a botanical print to add color to a patio or deck that’s overcome by shade.

Note: Never use silk flowers. Ever. They’re perfectly suitable for cemeteries, but that’s about it. Unless you’re going for a uniquely morose patio theme, steer clear.

#4 There’s No Shade!

A sail shade is the simplest, fastest, and cheapest solution to provide shelter from the sun. It gives you shade where you want it, when you want it.

If you can wait a year for shade, train vines to grow overhead on a pergola, which is a more permanent (and value-adding) solution than a shade. Not only will the vine shield you from the sun, but it will also lower the air temperature, thanks to the magic of transpiration.

When the air heats up, the vines’ leaves release water into the air. It’s nature’s air conditioning. The best solution: Keep that sail shade up until the vines have covered the pergola.

#5 My Neighbors Are Too Close

If your neighbor’s gaze is an uninvited guest at every patio party, put space between you and them with plants.

Install a sheet of lattice on the side of your patio closest to the neighbors and train a fast-growing, leafy vine like ivy or jasmine to climb up the side of it. Looks like a garden, acts like a privacy fence.

How’s that for polite but effective? If you want privacy faster, line up a row of big planters filled with tall evergreens along the patio’s edge. Outdoor drapes work, too. Close them when you want some peep-proof outdoor time.

#6 The Wind Is Blowing Our Cocktails Over

See above. A lattice wall or row of heavy planters filled with tall plantings can make a great windbreak as well as a privacy screen.

If your nuisance wind comes from varying directions, put the containers on rolling plant stands and move them so they block the wind as needed. Another solution: Heavy-duty outdoor curtains made of marine-grade fabric with weighted hems.

#7 My Patio Has No View

In a perfect world, a knockout view is just part of the patio package. In reality, you might be gazing at the neighbor’s swing set or the side of their garage. If painting a sunset mural on the garage is out of the question, adjust your gaze inward, rather than out with a focal point on your patio.

“Hang an outdoor mirror, install a sculpture or water feature, or create a wall covered in unique materials like stacked stone or painted a bright color,” Flynn says. Even stringing twinkly party lights around the edge of the roof, or on your oversized plants, will make your patio more scenic and give you something to look at.

#8 We’re Being Carried Off by Bugs

Your gentle breeze is an insect’s hurricane. Make your patio a permanent Category 5 for pests with an outdoor fan. At night, use an LED bulb with a Kelvin rating lower than 3,000. It produces a yellow light that’s less appealing to bugs.

Or battle nature with nature. Invite bats and birds to your yard. They’ll eat the bugs that are trying to eat you. Hang a bird feeder and a bat house, and provide a source of clean water for them to drink. (Use a fountain to keep the water moving, so mosquitoes won’t breed in it.)

And don’t be silly. Bats won’t hurt you. Scare the bejesus out of you, maybe. But you’ll get used to them. The bugs won’t.

“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”