Everyone knows the age-old adage: Two things you have to do in life are die and pay taxes. We believe, however, that the original phrase goes: Three things you have to do in life are die, pay taxes, and find something fun to do with the tax return in between.
With barbecuing, Frisbee playing, and flip-flop wearing right around the corner, you might want to consider spoiling your yard when you get this year’s tax refund. Here are our recommendations for spring projects:
Install a fire pit.
What an excellent way to class up any patio! Not only do they look fantastic, but fire pits provide warmth, a great atmosphere, and of course a social setting (you know all the good stories start with “So we were hanging out in Justin’s backyard…”). Fire pits come in a range of shapes and sizes and can be made of wood or stone. Installation is a fairly quick process and maintenance is easy as well. Just be sure to empty the fire ash every 24-48 hours, cover it with a tarp when not in use for a long period of time, and follow your city’s guidelines for wood burning.
Clean up and re-mulch.
Re-mulching is a necessary yard maintenance task that should be performed from time to time. Before re-mulching, be sure your gardens have less than three inches of mulch to begin with. Turn the old mulch so that water and nutrients are able to pass through, and when laying down the new mulch, leave about six inches between that and trees or shrubs. Be sure not to cover perennials!
Plant a raised garden.
You know how greedy those bunnies and other garden-loving creatures can get. The key is to plant your garden out of their reach. Raised gardens are beneficial when dealing with hard soils or space constraints and also produce more crops due to the loose and deep soil. The best part? There aren’t as many weeds in raised gardens!
Plant annual flowers.
Nothing adds color to your landscape like a fresh batch of annual flowers. Annual flowers come in a wide variety, so there is no set planting instructions that apply to all of them. Some popular ones are baby’s breath, sweet peas, chrysanthemums, marigolds, and zinnias. Feel free to contact us with individual flower planting questions.
Redo your hardscape.
Much like shoulder pads, patios that were in style 30 years ago don’t quite fit into modern landscaping. Use this year’s tax refund to update your patio and walkways with an aesthetically pleasing design.
Tax returns only come around once a year. Make the most of it and give yourself the landscape you’ve always wanted.
Other great landscaping tips:
