A home is more than just a house, it is the place where you and your loved ones go to be safe and secure from the world outside, the place where you build a family. Most home owners don't realize just how much maintenance is required. There is more than interior decorating and choosing the right throw pillows. There are hot water heaters, toilets and many other things that sometimes need maintenance and repairs. Home And Garden Press has helpful tips and information to get you through the inner workings of your home's inside and outside.
The home garden offers many opportunities for the homeowner, including food production, recreation, learning opportunities, and even therapeutic value. Here we use the term "garden" to refer to a place for producing vegetables, fruits and herbs as opposed to flowers, trees and shrubs which are included as a part of landscapes.
Lawns, gardens, and landscapes interact with each other, and with your home. The interaction is always there, and will always be there! How you handle the transition from one to the other, will largely determine your success as a homeowner. Lawns represent the connection between the great outdoors and your dwelling place. A lawn is where your family and pets first make contact with the wider world, and a lawn is usually the first place a child comes into direct physical contact with nature. It is important that it be clean and free from stinging and biting insects, rodents and reptiles. It is also important that it be free of any pesticides that might cause injury to the more tender nervous systems of children.
Landscapes are the connection between the home, lawn, and the rest of the great outdoors. Traditional landscapes are gradually being replaced by more native types. We offer advice on dealing with both traditional landscapes and the more native types of landscapes and habitats. Trees are the giants of the landscape. Because of the importance of trees in the landscape, and because tree care is such a large area on its own, we include them in the landscape category. Trees provide shade, evaporation cooling, aesthetic value, and perhaps, more importantly, memories. Keeping your trees healthy will protect your investment in your property, and increase it's value. There is more to maintaining trees than just lopping off a few limbs from time to time, or raking leaves. We will help you with these tasks on the pages of this section.
Pests can be both indoors and outdoors, but all pests come from the outside. While insects and rodents are the big indoor pest problem, outside your walls weeds are also considered pests. Pest control is more than just keeping a few unwanted visitors out of your house, and if you handle it well, it will improve your quality of life, and save you money all at the same time! Pest control should be a part of every part of your home and garden management program. How you manage pests in the larger landscape of your property will have a major impact on your pest control in your home. Home And Garden Press includes tips that will help you to keep your family safe from pests and the hazards of pesticide misuse.
Bugs and Weeds: Pest Prevention Principles and Practices
Hardscapes are what we build. They are the human element in the broader landscape. They range from the simple timbers of a landscape or garden bed to the more complex structures of our outbuildings, fences, drives and walkways. Some of the outdoor structures are closer to being a part of the landscape than home.
Managing property extends to managing land. Often, homeowners find themselves with a little more acreage than they feel capable of handling, and may need a little advice on what to do. Several acres of land can translate into many hours of work, or hundred of dollars in additional maintenance costs, but there are alternatives which will make managing larger properties less time consuming, and less costly.
Lakes and ponds present unique problems and unique possibilities in property management. Lakes can add recreation, excitement, and wonder to your property ownership experience, but they can also subtract lots of money and time. Lakes and ponds require maintenance, and we are here to help, with information about the best ways to go about keeping ponds and lakes in good condition for you, your family, and your favorite fish!
Lake Management Principles and Practices