Before Photo
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7. Celebrate Leaves
Take in the fall foliage on a hiking trail, at a local park or in your yard. Turn raking leaves from a chore into a chance to appreciate Mother Nature’s show. Once you have a pile of leaves, it might just be time to channel your inner child and jump in.
Rather than immediately bagging your leaves, consider using some or all of them as a natural mulch. You can spread a thin layer over your garden beds or lawn, allowing the leaves to decompose and add nutrients to the soil. Don’t make the layer too thick, especially over a lawn, as you don’t want to kill whatever might be growing underneath. Use a lawnmower or garden shredder to turn the leaves into smaller pieces.
5 Ways to Put Fall Leaves to Work in Your Garden
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Fall days are still long and bright enough to make being outside pleasant but cooler than the summer heat, so the idea of taking on a landscape project is inviting. If you’re looking for ways to take advantage of fall days and also get a jump on gearing up for winter or spring projects, think about what you loved about your landscape over the past few months. What could use some improvements and what might be a good idea to tackle before winter closes in? Below are eight ideas that can give you a head start.
Some of these are fairly simple. Others might take more time and require help from professionals. If you’re looking at building projects, check first with local pros about availability and timelines, especially if cold weather will curtail further progress. You’ll also need to check local regulations and requirements for required permits, as they can vary widely for even small projects.
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Get Down to Eye Level
It’s tempting to run upstairs and take a photo of the yard from a top floor window. After all, an aerial shot will show the whole space clearly. However, this isn’t necessarily the best way to showcase your projects. Photographs taken at ground level look more attractive and will give an idea of how it feels to be in the space.
This image, taken by Fine House Photography, provides a potential client with the view they would have if they were walking along the gravel path, with the greenery either side of them. A photo like this can be much more evocative than a wider shot taken from higher up.
To get the best results, it’s a good idea to invest in professional photography. Someone with skill and experience with a camera knows how to achieve images that are framed beautifully.
Find a professional photographer near you
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Many people give their outdoor furniture, pillows, pads and rugs a good cleaning in spring, but late summer and early fall also are opportune times for sprucing things up. They’ll have a sparkle that you can enjoy the rest of the season. And if the end of spending time outdoors is coming up, you’ll get a head start on buttoning down the yard before a cold-climate winter.
Read on to learn how to clean different types of outdoor furniture and accessories. Here’s a hint: Start with the simplest option, then move on to more aggressive methods. You also should consult any available care instructions.
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1. Make It Feel Like an Extension of the Home
If you’d like to create an outdoor space that feels as comfortable as a room in your home, it’s worth considering the flooring. A soft material underfoot can tempt you out, even before you’ve put on your shoes.
The owner of this yard had a dream of being able to walk out barefoot and be surrounded by plants. “I said, in that case, we need to build you a deck,” landscape designer Pippa Schofield says. Two levels of the soft wood planks are roughly split into dining and lounging areas. “The top deck is nice for having breakfast, then, the way the light goes, the owners use the sofa and lower deck for afternoon and evening entertaining,” Schofield says.
Wood decking was used in this project, but for added durability and ease of maintenance, you could consider composite decking. These wood particle and plastic boards look the same as the wood versions, but without the need to clean off mold or repair areas that have rotted.
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Algozzini often uses seamless bluestone or granite for outdoor counters. “They can be honed, polished or, in the case of granite, even have a leather finish,” he says. “We also use some newer synthetics, which generally provide a lower profile with a crisper, slightly more contemporary look.” The counters seen here are outdoor-grade engineered quartz.
Douglass also recommends granite. “It’s durable, looks great and cleans easily,” he says. For outdoor installations, he suggests a 3-centimeter-thick granite counter instead of a thinner one. “The extra thickness will help with laminated seams,” he says. He also advises against using a full, laminated bullnose, saying that “extreme weather will cause problems in the long run.”
Work with a landscape contractor in your area
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Costs
You can find small fountain kits for $50 or even less. A slighter larger fountain, whether bought as a kit or assembled on your own, more likely will run in the $100-to-$500 range. More elaborate installations, especially ones that involve hiring a pro for electrical, plumbing and construction work, can cost between $1,000 and $10,000. You can pay considerably higher, though, depending on the design and features.
Also, expect an increase in your water bill if you run your fountain full time. Your electric bill also may increase unless you are using solar power. These increases may be modest, but they could be much more if you have a large fountain. It’s often recommended to keep your fountain running, both for aesthetics and to prevent wear on the pump, but you can turn it off at night.
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3. Modern Rustic With Japanese Influences
Patio at a Glance
Who lives here: Two doctors who like to relax outside
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Size: 590 square feet (55 square meters)
Designer and builder: Outdoor Dreams
Before: Two busy doctors loved relaxing outside at their Richmond, Virginia, home but were frustrated by their small patio and patchy lawn. They turned to landscape designer Greg Koehler, whom they found on Houzz, with a wish list that included a wood-burning fireplace, an outdoor kitchen, a lounge area and a beautiful view.