You ca n accent the exterior of your home with simple landscaping work that you can do yourself for well under $1,000. Look over https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRbW3ayDWVQ your yard and see what needs the most work.
Do you have unruly areas next to the house that could be better defined http://sprinkles.com/ as a garden with edging or landscaping blocks? Problem areas of the yard can be fixed up with strategic plants, from evergreens to ground cover, and sunny areas can be accented with a simple flower garden and some mulch. Shrubs can be used to block road noise in high-traffic areas. If you are not sure what types of plants do best in your area and soil type, consult your local experts (nurseries or university extension offices).
For many homeowners, a love of the outdoors clashes with the realities of small spaces. How do you plant a garden when you hardly have the space for your barbecue grill, let alone that patio set you've been dreaming about? The answer for many homeowners is simple: Move the garden on up.
Vertical gardens give homeowners the luxury of having their own plants while maximizing the space they have for entertaining, relaxing and cooking out. Some make interesting living art pieces, while others provide an extra level of privacy from nearby neighbors.
A well-placed vertical garden could also give your house an especially unique curb appeal that sets it apart from every other house on the block.
Don't have much of a green thumb? Not to worry. Many vertical gardens are stocked with succulents and o ther low-maintenance plants that are easy to care for and help keep water bills low. Others are planted with built-in irrigation systems that can be programmed to care https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UqSm2OQEnw for a homeowner's garden even when they can't.
10 Easily Growing Foods from Your Backyardby Titia Geertman4 weeks ago
A lot of people who have gardens don't http://prolandscape.com/en/software/ often realize that many plants are looked upon as unwanted weeds, but can actually be used as veggies or in snacks. This goes for plants, flowers and weeds.
Moringa Stenopetala - the African Miracle Treeby Emily Tack2 years ago
Moringa Stenopetala is the "African Moringa" tree. It is also called "Mother's Helper", because it helps increase the milk supply for nursing mothers. The leaves are nutritious, and delicious, too!
How to Earn Money Selling Dayliliesby Barbara Kay Badder2 years ago
Learn how to make money selling daylilies. You'll find all of the information you need to buy daylilies, choose plants, care for them, where to sell them, how to pack and ship, and licensing.
How to Keep Soil Moist Without Excessive Wateringby Sean Hemmer4 years ago
Keeping soil moist while avoiding excessive watering is a key when growing most plants. Excessive watering is a novice mistake that can easily harm and even kill plants. There are several methods can be used to reduce...
How to Grow Butterfly Weed (Asclepias Tuberosa)by Jill Spencer2 weeks ago
Learn how to grow Asclepias tuberosa successfully in your home landscape. Commonly called butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa is a no-fuss perennial plant that produces clusters of bright orange flowers in summer,...
Garden Design - How to Sprinkler System Plan a New Gardenby Dolores Monet2 days ago
When you plan a flower garden, do not forget plan on the time it will take to keep your garden looking its best. Here are some tips on the chores needed to maintain a flower garden.
Gardening on the Cheap: 3 Ways to Get Lots of Plants for Super Cheapby Sarah12 months ago
Seed saving, cultivating cuttings and dividing plants are fun and frugal ways to fill your yard with as many plants as your heart desires. Learn the basics and garden on the cheap!
Spathodea - Flame Of The Forest - African Tulip Treeby Rajan Singh Jolly7 months ago
Spathodea, Flame of the forest, African tulip tree, Pichkari, Nandi flame are the names of the same tree. Learn about the various facets of this wonderful tree, its medicinal properties and uses.
Sn ake Plant Propagationby Sean Hemmer4 years ago
The propagation of the snake plant is very easy via cuttings or divisions. Cuttings are slightly more complicated than divisions but both are easy none-the-less. Only a few materials are needed to Sprinkler System perform divisions and...
Affordable Vermicomposting: 6 Easy Steps to Making a Worm Compost Binby Kevin J Timothy9 months ago
Making a compost bin shouldn't have to cost you a fortune. Learn how to get started with yours by sundown. Starting lowering your carbon footprint.
In a coal or oil fired power station, the fuel is burned (converting its chemical energy into heat) and the heat used to convert water into steam at very high temperature and pressure. This then drives a steam turbine, a device which harnesses the energy in the steam (heat and pressure) to produce rotational movement (mechanical energy). The rotating shaft of the steam turbine is coupled to the armature of the alternator, so the final result is electricity.
Wind Power
Windmills have been around for centuries and all have harnessed the energy of moving air (wind!) through rotating sails or fan blades. Traditionally, the mechanical energy was used directly, to turn a mill wheel. A modern wind turbine simply couples the rotating shaft to an alternator armature. The last link in the chain is always the same - electricity from mechanical rotation.
Hydro Electric Power
Here, the source energy (there always has to be one!) is gravitational pot ential energy. A mountain stream is dammed in a high place, to create an artificial lake or reservoir. Farther down the mountain, the power station is equipped with water turbines. These are simply highly efficient versions of the old fashioned water-wheel; effectively they harness the kinetic energy of a carefully channelled waterfall to produce mechanical rotation. The rest you know.
Tidal Power and Wave Power
These new technologies extract energy from the long-term bulk movement of water in a tidal estuary and from the short-term wave motion of the surface. The principle remains the same, to harness the 'free' natural energy in moving water to drive a mechanical turbine.
Solar Power - local
In a sense. all energy on Earth is solar energy, as even fossil fuels are chemical 'memories' of ancient sunshine. But we're talking here about generating electricity from solar energy, and strangely enough, it's not very easy. The problem is that you can't easily convert sunshine into mechanical rotation to drive alternators on a commercial scale. Solar panels have no moving parts, and so the electricity they produce is 'DC' or direct current. This is like the electricity from a battery. It's great for local use, e.g. running a small irrigation pump, but the big problem with DC is that it is hard to distribute. (No time to explain that now - maybe another hub!)
Photovoltaic units, as described above, are best suited to localised applications like space or water heating. However, commercial-scale solar power plants, though still expensive to build, are becoming viable, the more so as the price of fossil fuels increases.
No single design for commercial solar power has yet won through, but all are based on the same idea - a large array of reflectors to collect the sun's rays and focus them onto a receiver which is effectively pipe-work containing a heat-absorbing fluid. Technologies are already well developed to store the collected energy as heat and to convert it to electricity using steam or gas turbines at a steady rate, night and day. The biggest problem is that the sun moves (OK, the Earth rotates!) and so ingenious tracking mechanisms are needed to make the reflectors follow the sun through the daylight hours.
Ironically, the part of the world best suited for deploying this technology is the part that least needs it - the oil rich deserts of the Middle East.
Geothermal Energy
This is another underdeveloped source. If you drill down into the Earth's crust, at first the temperature drops, because the sun's warmth can't penetrate. But deeper, the temperature rises. Volcanoes are evidence of this - molten lava is pretty hot! That well of energy is there to be tapped. As always, the final conversion process is the familiar steam turbine. And, like solar energy, it is environmentally friendly, provided you don't accidentally trigger a local volcano! But it is not as simple as it seems. The process of taking heat from a hot rock cools the rock locally. There's plenty Best Electrician Service in College Station more heat surrounding it, but can it flow quickly enough to your collectors? Again, it's another technology whose time will come, but not a panacaea.
Nuclear Energy
This is the controversial one. Nuclear fission is a process in which unstable (radioactive) atomic nuclei break down, releasing energy in the form of radiation (escaping particles). By concentrating these nuclei together, a controlled chain recation is produced releasing huge amounts of energy which is used to convert water into steam. The process of generating electricity in a nuclear power plant is simply by steam turbine, exactly the same as in a fossil fuel plant. The public fear of nuclear power is twofold: the risk of meltdown - an uncontrolled nuclear reactor is not very different from an 'atomic' bomb; also the by-product, radioactive nuclear waste, is none too pleasant.
As an aside - Nuclear energy does not obey the classical Physics law of conservation of Energy. It does however obey the Modern Physics law of conservation of Mass-Energy which al lows for interconversion of matter and energy according to Einstein's famous equation E=mc This fundamental difference means that Nuclear Energy is potentially the most fruitful source of all. It is important that proper scientific research & development into nuclear energy, and Nuclear Fusion in particular, should be allowed to continue.
If you're considering working with a landscape designer, finding the right fit -- and avoiding surprises midway through the project -- is largely about knowing which questions to ask upfront and being familiar with the range of services these professionals provide.
We reached out to four seasoned landscape professionals -- Peter Reader of Peter Reader Landscapes in London, Beth Mullins of Growsgreen Landscape Design in San Francisco, John Algozzini of K&D Landscape Management in Chicago and June Scott of June Scott Design in Southern California -- to get the inside scoop on the range of services available and the 10 essential questions potential clients should ask before hiring a professional for the job.
First, get your ducks in a row. Before reaching out to a professional, write a wish list for your garden remodel, establish your priorities and budget, and decide which parts of the process you'd like to hire a pro for help. With this on paper, you'll have a clear sens e of what you're looking for in a designer before you begin to contact professionals.
10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Landscape Designer
1. What services do you offer? First and foremost, determine what services a landscape designer http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/ offers to see if he or she is the right person for your project."The best question a potential client can ask is: 'Are you experienced with the scope of work we want, and can you design and manage it?'" Algozzini says.
Generally speaking, landscape designers fall into one of three categories, depending on the services they offer:
Design only. Some designers specialize only in the design process. This typically includes a site analysis and discussion of a client's needs, a preliminary design, revisions based on your feedback, and a final detailed master plan for your garden. This detailed planting plan and construction document is then hande d over to you (or a landscape contractor of your choosing) to take it from there.
Design-build. Others offer the design service described above, as well as overseeing plant purchase and all installation. Contractors are needed for permitting and hardscape installation -- sometimes the landscape designer is also a registered contractor, and other times they have landscape contractors on their team or ones to recommend and oversee.
RELATED: Choose From the Best Design-Build Firms
Full service -- design-build and maintenance program. For the highest-touch service, some landscape designers will offer all the above, plus oversee ongoing maintenance of the garden.
2. Can I see examples of your past work? "Consider the style of the designer in relation to the garden you want," Reader says. "If you want a modern, clean-lined city garden, have they designed any before? Or if you are looking for a cottage-style garden, do they have the plant knowledge to deliver?"< br> Alternatively, if a designer's portfolio doesn't include the particular style you're looking for, check out his or her credentials for evidence of the training to make the vision of your garden a reality. Degrees from accredited landscape design colleges and memberships in professional organizations are both good indicators.
3. Do you offer garden consultations? Some landscape designers will offer one- to two-hour garden consultations. During this meeting, a designer will typically come over to your property, join you for a walk around the garden, listen to what you'd like to accomplish with your remodel and begin to bounce some ideas around for the design.
This is a great opportunity for you to determine whether you have a fit with the designer, and for the designer to see if he or she fits with you as a client. "It is Sprinkler System Installation Mckinney important for a client to determine what role t hey want to play," Mullins says. "Are they interested in a collaboration, [want to] defer completely to the designer or have a clear idea for their garden and just want someone to implement it?"
Don't expect an initial consult to be free of charge -- it is, after all, two hours of a professional's time -- though some designers will put the consult fee toward the cost of the design if you end up hiring them.
4. What ideas do you have for our garden? After you've shared your wish list and budget with the designer, and the designer has had a chance to view your property, ask what vision the designer has for your landscape. Designers have different mediums of presenting their ideas for your landscape, ranging from a collage-style mood board with inspiration images for plants and hardscape materials to a two-dimensional, to-scale drawing created with a CAD program or by hand.
This is the time to speak up about what you like and dislike in the design or if you see anything that's missing from your wish list -- for example, more space for tool storage, room to grow vegetables or an area with shade. Following this meeting, a designer will draw up a revised design drawing based on your feedback.
5. What is your process? A designer's process depends on the services he or she offers (see question 1). Get to know the process -- and whether you or the designer is responsible for overseeing each step -- from the beginning so that you'll know what to expect once the project is underway. If you're hiring a designer who speciali zes in design only, ask yourself whether you have the time or experience necessary to oversee the project installation or if the designer has contractors to recommend.
As a responsible client, you also need to be honest with a landscape designer regarding your budget for the project. "Knowing a budget beforehand is crucial," Mullins says. "It doesn't mean that a designer needs to spend the budget but dictates what [he or she] can realistically design for." If a look you like is over your budget, designers often have creative ways to stretch your budget and give you the best garden for your space.
6. What is the estimated cost? Clear communication regarding the estimated cost of the project and your budget is essential. Ask your designer for a range of cost for both the design and the installation. Most installation estimates are drawn up by a contractor based on the cost per square foot of installing areas of hardscape outlined on the plan for the yard.
Scott shares another key question to ask your designer: "How are changes in scope handled during the design and installation process?" Given that unanticipated design changes often come up midproject, it's important to be clear on whether a designer will charge additional fees for the time it takes to change the design plan or installation.
7. Are there any ways to reduce cost? Pathways, patios, retaining walls and decks are generally more expensive than planted garden areas, so the more hardscape there is in the design, the more it's likely going to cost to install. Plus, the materials used for hardscape can vary widely for both the product and the installation.
It's best to have a conversation with a designer when you are discussing the initial plan about ways to reduce the cost of the landscape to stay on budget. The designer will have ideas about where you can save money without compromising style, and what elements are worth a splurge.
8. How long will installation take? The time it takes to design and install a landscape depends on a number of factors: size and scope of the project, availability of contractors and other installation specialists, ordering and delivery times for materials and plants, dry weather for laying hardscape, and unexpected setbacks during installation. Instead of asking a landscape designer to have the installation done by a certain date, ask for an estimated range for the project to be completed.
As eager as you may be to enjoy your new landscape, keep in mind that skilled installation of hardscape and careful planting takes time. "While landscaping on TV is inspirational and great entertainment, the actual site work rarely has a team of 24 [people] working around the clock," Algozzini says. "High-quality work is both art and science, and takes time to install."
RELATED: How to Work With a Landscape Professional
9. When will the garden grow in? The time it takes for a garden to grow in depends on the scope of the design, what types of plants are proposed and how mature the plants are when they're planted. A smaller area with ornamental grasses and perennials can grow in within a single season, but larger and more complex designs with trees and large shrubs can take years to reach maturity. Ask your designer which plants make sense to splurge for semimature specimens (like focal-point trees or shrubs needed for screening) and which plants can be purchased small and fill in quickly (like most ground covers, vegetables and ornamental grasses).
10. How much maintenance will it take to keep the garden looking good? Different styles of gardens and plants require very different levels of care. Be upfront with your landscape designer about how much maintenance you are willing to commit -- either your own time or that of a hired gardener -- going forward. Once you've invested in hiring a landscape designer and installing a garden, you'll want to keep your landscape alive and flourishing for years to come. Ask your landscape designer if he or she has recommended maintenance gardeners or specialists to take care of the garden going forward.
