We've all seen it right? The house at the end of the street with the over grown yard, weeds grown as tall as your knees, leaves withering away, and branches from the neighboring trees lay around the yard from last year's hurricane. It portrays every haunted house you remember hearing about as a kid. As you look across the street, you see the home with the fresh green grass, cut in a precise checkerboard pattern. Each blade of grass no taller than the last, every grain of sand and rock swept away, and the driveway is cleaner than your kitchen counter. How do they do it? We all try to strive to be that second house, but a lot of the time, we are often the first. No one is to blame really, life can simply get in the way, and that's okay.
How can we become the house people enjoy looking at? It all starts with curb appeal.
Give your house a little love; Love is really all that it is. Owning a home is like a relationship. You have to put into it, to be able to get anything out of it. If you want it to look nice, you need to take care of it. Start with what you have before adding anything else. Your yard won't be perfect over night, but it's the first step.
Lawn maintenance is the first step in bringing life back to your yard. Start by raking leaves and dead grass. Leaves can take a while to break down, and can settle deep in your lawn. Second, cut your grass, but leave it at its longest possible length. The longer the grass, the thicker it looks, and the thicker it looks, the easier it is to hide the bald patches.
Third, edge the lawn where it meets the curb, flower bed, or drive way. It gives it a clean look, and provides a professional feel. Fourth, remove dirt and debris. If you are like me, your one of those annoying people with their leaf blowers, clearing the driveway for what seems like hours on end. Clearing out dead grass, dirt, and debris helps keep that crisp look and clean feeling. If you don't happen to own a leaf blower, a broom can do the trick.
Filling in the those bald patches and removing crab grass won't be the goal for this summer. That will be taken care of during the fall and spring months where you are able to seed, fertilize, and water your lawn
The first step is complete. You've started giving some love to your home, and although it may not be perfect, you're already starting to see the return in it.
The average person maintains eye contact with an object for two to five seconds. In our next post we will use that to our advantage to help hide little imperfections.