Monday, 21 January 2013

Easy Yard Maintenance Options

By Roland Stockwell


For those who have a backyard that requires weekly maintenance, you might be a bit tired of spending several hours each week mowing, weeding and cleaning. While these are certainly necessary chores, they take up much of our precious free time. There are a few shortcuts, however, that can keep your yard maintained but provide you with more hours of leisure.

Plants and shrubs are beautiful, but only if they are well-maintained, and this takes some work. You have to water them, trim them and pull out the weeds that sometimes pop up around them. Instead of all of this, consider actually removing some of the excess shrubbery around your yard. You might be surprised at how nice and clean it all looks, and you certainly will save money from less watering and time. If you really want plants, choose indigenous varieties, as these often require less watering and maintenance.

When it comes to grass, consider taking out some of your lawn and replacing it with a rock garden filled with native plants or perhaps a patio. This is a water savings and a time savings, as well. If you really want a lawn, plant the right type of grass for your climate and soil and you will be surprised at the reduction in maintenance and the improvement in the overall look of your yard.

Create a weekly schedule that spreads the work out to a more manageable time frame. For instance, you might mow on Saturday, but if you schedule a half-hour of trimming or weeding on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you won't have to spend all of your time on Saturday doing yard work. In addition, a half-hour of yard work is great exercise, so keep that in mind, as well.

For those whose yard includes a pretty water-filled feature such as a fountain or maybe a sweet birdbath, it is always crucial to keep the water inside very clean. Not only will this keep pests at bay, it is safer for the birds and squirrels that often visit these items. Rather than clean with chemicals or empty the feature out each week and scrub, consider using a natural, safe product that requires little upkeep.

Healthy Ponds has created two such products, the Fountain Water Cleaner and the Birdbath Water Cleaner. Each of these products includes a dispenser that you fill every 30 days with a small packet of bacteria. This chemical-free packet contains beneficial strains of bacteria that breakdown the organic matter that makes your water dirty and murky. The packets are completely safe for people, pets, birds and wildlife and both products have been approved by veterinarians.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment