Donna's Place For Everything

I talk a lot about organizing rooms, closets, drawers and other areas INSIDE the home.  My apologies for neglecting the OUTSIDE.  As a cluttered garage or kitchen make you nutty, so should a cluttered yard.  With Summer upon us, everything is growing everywhere which is not always a good thing.

We spend so much time in our homes and feel the need for organized clutter-free functional spaces.  The outside of your home says a lot about how you live inside.  You get one chance to make a first impression.  Cluttered unorganized yard = cluttered unorganized house.  Here are a few simple tips to keep your yard growing beautiful and orderly these last few Summer months.

1. Keep a bucket in the garage filled with pruning items to trim your yard.  Clippers, weed extractor, gloves, weed killer and a small shovel will do the trick.  Grab this bucket and walk your property a few days a week for quick yard maintenance.
2. Keep your landscape beds neat and uncluttered.  Aside from mulch and planned plantings, there is no room for unsightly growth.  Weeds and stray grasses love to poke their heads up through mulch. Spray weeds with treatments or pull them out.  DO NOT MOW OVER THEM!!!!!  Remember the roots are under the ground.
3. To keep grass from creeping into landscape beds (despite a clean deep edge) consider framing beds with plastic tubing, rocks or a stone edge.
4. By “pruning” I do not mean Edward Scissorhand animal sculpting.  Simply trim the strays.  Your bushes and trees are like your hair.  You have a style you like and when maintained, its fabulous.  If left unkept, it looks unruly. A simple trim here and there keeps plants healthy and growing evenly.
5. As plants grow this summer be sure they are spaced so they do not choke each other.  If you see plants over growing, pull them out and transplant in an open space. Just like people, plants hate crowds.
6. Kids play. Inside the house we tell them to clean up their toys.  The same rule applies outside.  At the end of the day, corral toys strewn in the yard and store in bins in the garage.  Invest in a large deck box for your back patio or deck for simple toy storage.

The most important step in the organization process is maintaining your space.  Like a closet or a room, it does not take long for your yard to get cluttered.  Just 15 minutes of weekly fine tuning, based on the size of the property, goes a long way. A little extra work this Summer will make your Fall clean up that much easier.