MAY 29, 2019 • Volume 29 • Issue 9
RE WEEKLY RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE • FARM • COMMERCIAL • AREA DEVELOPMENT 515-233-3299 • 317 5th Street, Ames • All REALTOR® ads within are REALTORS® licensed in the State of Iowa
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Page RE2 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Year-round landscaping ideas By Laura Firszt MoreContent Now
O
utdoor summer living is amazing — worth waiting for all year, some folks say. But when you’re the impatient type (like yours truly), you crave a way to enjoy your patio, garden, and/or outdoor kitchen for eight … nine … or even 10 months of the year. If you’re planning to upgrade your outdoor space, check out these year-round landscaping ideas.
Hardscape Choose materials carefully. Make sure your deck surface and other hardscaping components are rated for cooler climates — some clay pavers, for example, don’t hold up well. Dark colors will help surfaces melt off snow faster. Light up. The right lighting makes evenings al fresco much more enjoyable, especially in spring or fall, when daylight saving time is not in effect. A naked bulb on the side of your house won’t quite cut it; soft lighting throughout your outdoor space adds ambiance. Install a firepit or outdoor fireplace. Even on a chilly evening, an outdoor fire feature will provide a visual anchor that encourages friends and family to gather round. Consult local code to find what’s allowed in your area. Many homeowners are moving to gas firepits, rather than wood-burning, for both safety and convenience. Invest in a high-quality heater. An outdoor-rated infrared heater will add a considerable comfort factor to your patio, deck, or porch when temperatures drop. Choose a portable model, or mount a heater on the wall of your house or in a pavilion. Build a pavilion. Speaking of pavilions, these are fast outpacing pergolas in popularity. Why? They protect better from sun and rain. They also offer more opportunities to install music, ceiling fans, or hanging swings.
Outdoor kitchen Setting up an outdoor kitchen is a fun landscaping project, due to the vast variety of materials to choose from, like natural stone, stucco, tile, or concrete. Add your choice of outdoor-rated appliances: • grill • side burner • wood-fired oven • warming drawer • refrigerator • even a dishwasher Why not round out the picture with a kitchen island and/or a bar area, complete with icemaker and kegerator? TIP: Select the right countertop. Quartz, granite, or other natural stone will help protect your outdoor kitchen’s structure and keep water out.
Outdoor living Whether hosting a party, entertaining drop-in guests, or hanging out with your significant other, ensure your outdoor living space is in top shape. For easy care, the best patio furniture is either naturally rot-resistant (say, natural cedar Adirondack chairs), or made of materials like aluminum, which can be left outside indefinitely. TIP: Anything with a deep cushion should be covered or placed in a sheltered area. If you do get a little mildew or algae on exterior furnishings, scrub or pressure-wash ASAP.
BIGSTOCK
autumn. Make your motto “More color, more of the time.” • Plant shrubs and hedges that will provide welcome shade in summer, yet continue to thrive even when the cooler weather comes along. • Sow winter-hardy vegetables like kale or kohlrabi, for a delicious source of vitamins and fresh, fresh flavor even when the frost is on the pumpkin. • Use a collapsible greenhouse. Ideal for small yards, this structure will shelter plantings in spring and fall, but neatly fold up out VISUAL of sight in the heat of the summer. HUNT • Try raised beds or containers. Set up a raised bed, to trap heat and extend the growing season, or a container garden, which is simple to protect from frost and can be moved into the shed or garage as necessary. PS: This is another fantastic small-yard solution.
Year-round landscaping planning tips • Understand why you want this outdoor living space and how you intend to use it. That will determine the best design. • Whether you do the work yourself or hire a contractor, educate yourself on what’s out there — what products are available and what features you want. • Find out HOA rules and local ordinances to see whether you can do what you’d like. If you want to install a fireplace for example, where can you put it? Is it too near your house? Too close to a neighbor? Check around and make sure your year round landscaping dream is feasible.
Garden • Plan flower garden layout to stagger blooming times, from early spring right through the end of
Laura Firszt writes for networx.com.
REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, May 29, 2019 • Page RE3
Page RE4 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, May 29, 2019
TIPS OF THE WEEK LIGHTING
GREEN KITCHEN
COMPOSTING
CLEANING OUTDOOR FIXTURES
WAYS TO REUSE FOIL
DON’T CHOP TOO MUCH
While aluminum foil is 100% recyclable, before you throw it in the blue bin, try to reuse it first. According to the Kitchn, you can reuse it to sharpen scissors. First, fold up aluminum foil into a square and cut it about 8-10 times to sharpen the dull edges. Also, a scrunched up ball of aluminum foil can be used to scrub off the cooked-on grease that’s under your stove top or to clean pots and pans (that aren’t nonstick).
According to the experts at Better Homes and Gardens, some gardeners think that the more you chop up your food and yard waste, the better results you’ll have with your compost. But too much chopping can lead to a soupy, soggy pile that lacks space for air. Try chopping up fibrous things like thick green stems, but don’t bother mulching leaves to add to the mix.
Outdoor lighting fixtures should be cleaned at least twice a year, according to Hunker, a home design site. First, turn off the switch and circuit breaker that controls the lights you want to clean. Next gather a ladder, screwdriver, a bucket of hot soapy water and a sponge or rag. Use the screwdriver to remove light globes, shields or grills, wash them in soapy water and then rinse with clean water. With a clean damp rag, wipe down the parts of the light fixture that you cannot remove, being careful not to get the water into the socket of the light. Lastly, lightly clean light bulbs with a damp cloth, taking extra care to not get the end that screws into the socket wet.
— More Content Now
REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, May 29, 2019 • Page RE5
Networx: 7 creative ways of upcycling plastic bottles By Laura Firszt More Content Now
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cience has spoken: Although reusing plastic bottles for your drinking water does not cause cancer, it may lead to a buildup of bacteria and fungi (yuchh!), especially now the warm weather is finally here. So what can you do with your used plastic drinking bottles? Well, you could always toss them into the recycling but where would be the fun in that? Instead, try these seven creative ways of upcycling plastic bottles. Planter. Create self-watering planters so your succulents won’t dry out when you leave on vacation. Or stack ’em tall as lightweight, low-cost components of a trendy vertical garden; this idea works indoors (in front of a sunny window) or outside, adjacent to a fence or exterior wall. Your repurposed bottles may be placed vertically or horizontally ... whichever strikes your fancy. The options for upcycling plastic bottles as planters are virtually endless. Shampoo dispenser. When you wash your toddler’s hair, you know that you’ve got to make the experience as fast and painless as possible, or you may both end up in tears. Here’s how upcycling plastic bottles helps. Before bathtime, pour a smidgen of shampoo into a bottle. Fill with just-the-right temperature water (a la Goldilocks) and shake well. The bubbly mix will be easy to apply evenly - and quickly - to your youngster’s scalp. Works
equally well for pets. Bird feeder. Pretty and practical, this DIY project will add pizzazz to your garden while it attracts wild birds. Be sure to hang the feeder high if you don’t want it to end up as a soup kitchen for all the local deer, as well as your feathered friends. (Some bird lovers claim that adding a baffle will deter hungry squirrels as well, but we’ve found that nothing truly deters a determined, wily and very hungry squirrel.) Piggy bank. Try a modern tweak on a perennial favorite. Back in the day, kids crafted savings banks from used bleach bottles, but now cleaning with bleach is so last century. No more politically incorrect containers for your little darlin’s DIY piggy bank. Sub a water bottle The plastic sides are not as strong as the old school bleach bottles, but that’s OK; just pay out weekly allowances in bills, not coins. BONUS: Tycoons of tomorrow will be able to actually watch their savings grow. Paint storage. If hiring a house painter is in the cards this year, use an uncolored empty plastic bottle or two to save small amounts of leftover paint. These will come in very handy if you need to touch up later - the clear plastic will
make it easy to see what color paint is inside, and you’ll have a good match. TIPS: Place a few clean stones in your bottle before adding the paint; this will help prevent messy spills. Dab the bottle’s threads with petroleum jelly for a good seal. Flower vase. You can never have too many vases, and a bit of simple scissoring and weaving will transform a used plastic bottle into a surprisingly pretty flower holder. This could be a fun DIY project for those inevitable “I’m so booorrred” moments during school vacation, suitable for age 8 and up. Remember to fill the bottom inch or so with pebbles or colored marbles to keep this lightweight vase from tipping over. Boot drying stand. Rain and next winter’s snow can be tough on those nice new leather boots. To keep them looking great, take your boots off as soon as you get home and dry them the right way - away from heat but exposed to air, with something inside to hold their shape. Standing each one upside down atop a large plastic water bottle works surprisingly well, especially if you place some gravel in the bottom of the bottle to stabilize. Laura Firszt writes for networx.com.
Page RE6 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Don’t see your home in the
RE WEEKLY Then contact a Realtor® today, because you are missing out on over 39,000+ potential buyers seeing your property for sale. STORY TY COUN
PMENT ERCIAL • AREA DEVELO GE • FARM • COMM RESIDENTIAL • ACREA Street, Ames 99 • 317 5th ® licensed in the State of Iowa 515-233-32 are REALTORS ® within All REALTOR ads
RE WEEKLY
JANUARY 11, 2017 Volume 12 • Issue 2
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Page RE8 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, May 29, 2019
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