Comox Valley Real Estate Blog

Your needs landscaping so that the outside of your property looks inviting and well kept.  Landscaping is more than just planting a bunch of trees and flowers to make the outside of your house look nice.  It takes careful planning and little bit of landscaping knowledge. 

The first thing that you need to do when you are considering doing your own landscaping for your property is to draw out a plan.  You should have landscaping that is close to the house that will absorb water and keep from seeping into the house.  New homeowners often find that their basements get water in them before they install grass and landscaping.  After the landscaping is properly installed, they do not get water coming over the edge of the foundation.  This is because it is absorbed by the grass, bushes and trees that are planted around the house.  Landscaping not only looks good, it is practical as well for the maintenance of your home. 

Avoid the temptation to plant large trees close to the house.  Large trees should be planted away from the house as they will continue to grow and will, in years to come, completely overshadow the house.  You do not want a bunch of large trees covering up the entranceway to your house.  In addition to being unattractive, this is also unsafe.  And there have been some cases where the roots of the trees have invaded the homes.  You are better off with small bushes in the front of the house, many of them evergreen bushes. 

Why evergreens?  Because they give a sense of color and polish to the landscaping all year long.  This is not to say that you should not plant some flowering bushes as well.  They will add beauty in the warm months and will be a pleasure to behold.  You can also plant bulbs such as tulips that will come up in the early spring each year and do not have to be replanted. 

In order to keep your landscaping from eroding, you need to have some sort of barrier to hold the landscaping close to your home.  Years ago, this was done with rubber piping.  Today, many people are opting for retaining walls that are made out of concrete bricks.  The retaining wall will keep the soil, rocks or mulch that you put down around the landscaping from eroding onto the lawn every time it rains. 

You have a choice what to put around the landscaping as dirt will make its way to the retaining wall and look unsightly.  Most people use either mulch or rocks to put around their bushes and shrubs so that the entire project looks finished.  You can choose from a variety of colors of rocks to match the exterior of your home.  Lava rocks are by far the cheapest of all landscaping rocks.  Quartz is more expensive but looks nicer.  Mulch is less expensive than rocks and many people prefer this because it gives a more natural appearance.  The type of filler that you put in between your bushes and shrubs depends upon your taste and budget. 

Start out by planting a few trees and bushes and make sure that you take into consideration that they will grow.  Give them plenty of space to do so by spacing them a fair distance apart.  It often takes a few years before landscaping fills in and reflects its true beauty.  Keep the bushes and shrubs watered in the warm months and after planting and you will soon have a landscaping design you can be proud of.

Your will look nice with a vegetable garden as long as you take care of it.  The first year I had a vegetable garden, I decided to plant tomatoes.  I chose several different varieties and dug out a part of the yard for the tomato garden.  I used a small patch of dirt.

After I dug out the vegetable garden, I turned the soil.  Soil must be turned after you dig it out so that you can get the best dirt for growing your crop.  I also filled in the area with some top soil and fertilizer before planting.  Then I used a rake and made sure everything was smooth.

The tomato plants were small when I put them in the ground.  I put a cage around them so that they would grow and I could affix them to the cage with twist ties.  Tomatoes are a vine fruit and will lay on the ground if you do not put them up on a stick or use tomato cages.  I opted for the cages. 

The tomatoes started to grow right away.  I put some chicken wire around the circumference of the garden so that rabbits and other critters could not enter.  I also used an old trick and spread some kitty litter around the chicken wire to further deter the rabbits.  Rabbits will not want to go anywhere near where a cat may be lurking, so the kitty litter usually does the trick.  I do not like to use pesticides when growing anything and wanted my tomato garden to be an organic garden. 

As it turned out, the tomatoes grew pretty well.  In fact, as I had more tomatoes than I could use.  We canned some of them and put them up, but I gave many of them to the neighbours so that they could enjoy fresh tomatoes as well. 

Through the years, I have always had a vegetable garden and have also branched out and grown different types of vegetables.  I will never grow that many tomatoes again, however, although I still usually give out some fresh organic vegetables to my neighbors.

The Comox Valley has woderful year round weather but our lawn still needs care.  This is best accomplished in the spring when the grass will again regain its color and begin to grow, after a long winter of being covered with the snow.  If you want to have a fine yard that thrives, you should begin feeding the lawn during the spring months. 

During the winter, the ground is frozen or may even be covered with snow.  Obviously, you cannot do anything with the grass at this time.  When the ground starts to thaw and you see buds in the trees, signifying the advent of spring, then it is the time to start to consider treating your lawn.  You can do this on your own or you can hire a professional company to accomplish this task for you. 

Professional companies will usually come out four times a year and not only feed the ground, but they will also kill any problems that may be occurring, such as the growth of weeds.  They will come out twice in the spring, once in the summer and once in the fall.  Some companies come out more often, for grub control and other types of weed control. 

The more care that you put into your real estate, the better it will look.  No one has nice, green grass accidentally.  You have to care for the grass on a regular basis to get it to look nice.  This means feeding it with lawn feed, especially at the start of spring when it is just coming back to life.

You can get a lawn feeder at any home improvement store.  You put the feed into the feeder and move over the lawn with it.  A lawn feeder is on wheels and is easy to maneuver.  Once you cover the entire ground, you should water the area.  It is best to do the feeding shortly before a gentle rain.  You do not want to do it before a heavy rain as it can wash the feed away. 

Seeding is also a way that you can keep your ground looking nice and full.  Many people use a feeder to lay down grass seed in the same fashion.  You should also do this before a gentle rain so that the birds do not get the seed.  If you are planning on seeding your grass, you should do so in the spring and the fall, but not the summer, as these months are often too hot for the grass to take root and grow.

I was looking for garden hoses for my property and came across some inexpensive garden hoses that worked very well with my yard.  I was able to find both flat hoses as well as hoses that were round like regular hoses.  There were also traveling hoses available as well.  Traveling hoses are those that you can bring around with you so that do not have to keep transporting the hose from the spigots. 

At our local garden center, there are various types of inexpensive garden hoses.  I like the flat hoses because they roll up easily and store well in the winter.  I have a garden shed that I use to store my garden equipment in and use that to put the hose, but I like to have as much room as possible. 

The inexpensive garden hoses that I found also had a storage gadget that you can use to store the hose in the winter months or when you are not using it.  I attached the storage container in the shed so that I can store the hose when I do not need it.  It keeps everything nice and neat. 

Anyone who has a garden or a yard needs a hose.  I not only use mine for gardening and watering the lawn, but also for washing my car in the nice weather.  The hose that I used prior to the one I just purchased got a hole in it and was not well worth anything.  So I had to go looking at my local garden store for the inexpensive garden hoses. 

If you are looking for inexpensive garden hoses for your yard, take a look at your local garden center.  Whether you want a flat hose that rolls up easily or one that is a traveling hose, you can find what you are looking for at your local garden center.

Selling your Comox Valley real estate?  If so, you should do some things to the property before you get your home ready for sale.  While you do not want to do too many costly improvements just to sell the house, you may want to take a look at some cosmetic improvements that you wish to do to make it more attractive to buyers. 

One thing that you should do is to give the entire place a coat of paint.  You want the walls to be painted white so that it looks brighter and more spacious.  It is not expensive to paint the walls and ceilings of your home – this is something that you can easily do on your own.  You can take a weekend to get everything painted so that it looks fresh for inspection. 

While you are at it, you can also install new carpeting in the home to make it look more attractive.  If your carpeting is old and worn, you may have a difficult time trying to sell the home.  By getting new carpeting, you can improve your chance of making a sale.  You do not have to get the finest carpeting in town, either.  Just ordinary, basic floor carpeting can do fine and will make a difference when people come to see your home. 

Be sure to make any repairs to the home that is needed when you are preparing your property for sale.  People who are buying homes want to have as little work to do as possible when they move in.  A house that is in move in condition will sell much better than one that needs maintenance.  The more work you do to fix up the property and repair any damages, the better the price will be for you. 

You should try to move as much clutter and unnecessary furniture out of the house as possible so that it shows nicer.  The more you work at your home to get it looking like a place that someone else can envision as their home, the better your chances for a sale will be.  Remember to keep it spruced up with fresh paint and new carpet, fix up any repairs that need to be fixed and your home will show impressively to a potential seller.