Design A Low Maintenance Landscape with LED Lights

The latest studies show that in the U.S. there are more than 30 million acres of lawn, making grass our #1 irrigated crop. In these days when conservation of natural resources and your personal resources is all the rage, now is a good time to consider some alternatives that will save time, money and energy. A landscape with a design for low maintenance can easily be yours. And it doesn't have to come at the cost of a bland, boring yard. All it takes is some knowledge about the right plants and techniques.





"With a design for low maintenance, the goals are basically the same as for any other landscape design, except we focus on using materials that reduce the Big Four of ongoing maintenance: watering, trimming, weeding and mulching," says Jeff Halper, landscape design specialist with Exterior Worlds.





Design for Low Maintenance: Actions and Choices


Choose drought-resistant plants, like pampas grass, spring bulbs, and black eyed Susans. You might even choose older rose varieties, which are hardier than modern large flowered hybrids.


Avoid plants that need continuous pruning, like boxwood and dwarf yaupons (often used in hedges).


Stay away from plants, such as azaleas, that are susceptible to diseases or insect problems.


Mulching can be eliminated by using gravel, which rarely needs to be replaced.


The use of gravel instead of mulch also cuts down on weeds and helps retains soil.


Use ground covers that don't need regular pruning and will cover the ground so that weeds are controlled. This type of ground cover is another choice that eliminates or reduces mulching.


Put your seasonal color in planters or bowls to lower the costly replacements season to season.





Design for Low Maintenance: Develop Other Focal Points


Consider using non plant material as focal points. Get creative with:


Pathways. Functionally, pathways are the way into the space, and visually, they lead the eye in, through, across and around the landscape design. Pathways can have a big impact on the landscape and your experience as you transition from the street to the home. As an approach to a home, pathways tend to be the first insight into the homeowner's personality.


Landscape lighting.





The right landscape lighting allows you to showcase beautiful trees and garden elements, but, at the same time, lets you control what you don't want people to see by leaving some things dark. From a practical standpoint, it provides security and safe access and is often recommended as a relatively inexpensive way to increase your property value.





Outdoor water fountains. Outdoor water fountains make a graceful statement about a home by creating a pleasing and welcoming ambiance. They can be used to enhance the architectural style of a house. Outdoor water fountains are especially beneficial in these technological times, serving as camouflage for traffic noise, humming air conditioning units and thrashing lawn mowers.





Design for Low Maintenance: Other Ideas


A common mistake is to choose plants that look perfect the day you plant them, but then they take over the space. Thus you create an ongoing maintenance task. A professional Houston landscape designer will help you with this issue.





Even if plants require only minimal maintenance, water is still essential. An irrigation system on a timer eliminates the need to move sprinklers around and rush around to water at just the right time. Since a little water for a long time is healthiest for plants, you might consider investing in a drip irrigation system.

Jeff Halper has a passion for landscaping and landscape design, for more information visit Exterior Worlds you can read more about Low maintenance gardens or Landscaping Design

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LED Lights Make Sure Your Customers Stay Safe On Stairways

When it comes to your business, you want to ensure that everyone who visits your building will safely come and go: however, one of the most common places for injuries to occur is in stairwells and on other stairways. Keep both your customers and your employees safe by following correct guidelines when it comes to maintaining stairway areas.





-- Make sure to install hand rails on BOTH sides of the stairs. People will sometimes cross each other going up and down: you should take steps to make sure that both parties can have something to hold onto if need be.





-- Stairways are never a good place to store boxes or other items, even temporarily. It may be tempting to throw some items onto a stairwell landing for a few days, but doing so may result in injury to someone for which your company will be liable! For exterior stairs, refrain from placing potted plants or other decorative items on either the steps or the landing: they will most likely get tripped over.





-- Make sure that you have adequate lighting, especially in stairwells that have no natural light. Using low-wattage compact fluorescent lighting in these areas is cost-effective and low maintenance since such bulbs do not require regular changing. Even if your business does not operate during nighttime hours, always cover your bases by having lights over exterior stairs.





-- Keep exterior steps free from ice, snow, and standing water at all times. You'll want to inspect them regularly to make sure they are free from broken or loose bricks, crumbling concrete, or any other structural damage that may present a tripping or falling hazard.





-- Should spills of any kind occur in stairwells, make sure to clean them up immediately instead of waiting to let the night custodian take care of such hazards.





-- Always install appropriate non-skid stair treads that will help to prevent slipping both indoors and outdoors. Professional suppliers carry a huge variety of treads for all working conditions and that can be customized for your individual needs.





Treads come in a wide variety of colors to suit your decor, as well as varying degrees of traction that are appropriate for any amount of traffic. Glow in the dark stair nosings can help customers and employees to see steps in the event of a power failure or other emergency. Suppliers may even off you the option of coating your stairs with an anti-slip coating for added safety.





Following these safety guidelines is just good common sense: and it will keep you, your customers, and your employees from suffering unnecessary injuries.

Amstep (http://www.amstep.com) renovation non skid stair treads are the economical way to repair worn, dangerous stairways. We are the leader in non slip stair treads and non skid stair tread design and fabrication. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

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