There are many other services offered by landscaping companies. While the local gardening services offered depend completely on the company, here are a couple of services you may not know can be done by landscapers. In addition to basic lawn care and garden maintenance, many landscaping companies provide specialized services. These can include irrigation system installation, outdoor lighting design, and hardscaping, which includes patios, retaining walls, and walkways. If you are lucky, you will find a full-service landscaping company, like The Yard Butler, who can help you with all your landscaping needs.

Patios/Pergolas

Summer Fun DIY: How to Customize Patio Covers Yourself

If you assumed that you would need to call someone in construction for these services, you aren’t alone. As noted, landscaping companies can pave and lay stone. They can build the patio and create the perfect space for when you want to hang out in your backyard.

Pergolas are arches or framework used for garden decor or shelter. Imagine a small awning made completely from wood. It has a support post in each corner, and instead of a roof, it has a bunch of evenly spaced beams forming the top part. This allows sunlight and plant growth if desired.

They can be used to grow vines on, the vines grow on and around the beams that form the supports and the roof, or for shelter if you decide to have a cover put on it. Pergolas are sometimes built over patios as they look fancy. Many landscapers can assemble these as well.

Lighting

50 Amazing Examples of Interior Design & Architecture

When it comes to lighting, you probably think of electricians. Landscapers are trained to assist with lighting that revolves around your yard. This mainly involves small lighting systems that can be used to light your patio, water feature, or garden. These lights are nice because they will allow you to enjoy time in your yard even after the sun goes down.

Again, this won’t be an extensive electrical system like the one in your home, but it can involve a variety of lights used to light up whatever outdoor space needs some light.

Paving

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Have you ever thought about replacing your gravel or dirt driveway with a paved one? Many people have, and many people do just that. Who would you call to do so? As I think about it, I don’t know who I assumed did this job before learning it can be done by landscaping companies, but now I know.

Landscaping companies can come remove the gravel and put in a nice, paved driveway for you. Paved driveways look nice, don’t get washed away in the rain, and are great if you want to put in a basketball hoop.

Conclusion

I never thought I knew everything about landscaping, and I am glad to know that landscapers are available to help a number of our yard needs. Whether you want some nice planter boxes built, a waterfall installed in your garden, or a nice, clean paved driveway there is a landscaper near you that can help out. Look them up today!

The post 3 Services You Didn’t Know Were Done By Landscapers appeared first on InstantELLA.

Many people are either renting their apartment or home nowadays, meaning they might not necessarily own they space they live in.

This can sometimes make it feel like their rental isn’t exactly their forever home, and therefore it can be hard to make it feel comfortable and homey.

But just because you aren’t going to be there forever doesn’t mean you can’t add your own personal touch to where you live and really make it feel like your home while you are there.

Here are the top five ways to make a rental feel like you own the place and leave your mark, without actually leaving any trace at all (because we all want our deposits back at the end of our stay!)

1. Put things on the wall

Creative Examples of Nature Wall Stickers

It might seem like a hassle to put anything up on the walls in the home or apartment you are renting and just one more thing you have to take down when you move, but putting up art or pictures of you and your family is a great way to make it feel like home.

You can get creative and put up a gallery wall or classic by putting up a couple of beautiful paintings in all the rooms.

But it will pleasantly surprise you the difference between a blank wall and a wall with something on it.

2. Add shelves

Your Living Room Walls Deserve A Makeover! Tips On How To Get It Right.

Shelves are a great way to customize a space and make it looked lived-in in a good way in your rental home.

You can customize it even more by re-arranging what you have on the shelf with cute knick-knacks and some more nice pictures or paintings.

Shelves also make for great extra storage, especially if your rental apartment or home lacks for storage space.

Just make sure you ask your rental manager to make sure you can put holes into the wall or if your shelving units need to be unattached.

3. Add some light

Whether it’s a light fixture or some nice looking lamps, adding light to any of the rooms in your living space not only brightens it but adding light adds warmth and comfort as well.

The nice thing is that if you replace any of the light fixtures while you are living there you can keep the originals and just replace them when you need to move out.

4. Add some life

Things like plants and flowers are a great way to make space more personal and homey, plus fresh flowers can make it smell great as well.

If you want to save some money and are worried you don’t have enough of a green thumb, you can also have the look of plants and flowers but without the responsibility by buying fake ones.

5. Create interest with rugs

Tips for Decorating with Rugs

Rugs are a great way to cover some not-so-nice-looking floors as well as make a rental home or apartment more inviting.

You can find some beautiful rugs that can become a focal point for each of your rooms.

The great thing as well is when you decide to move you can just roll them up and take them to your next place.

The post Top 5 Ways to Make a Rental Feel like Your Forever Home appeared first on InstantELLA.

9 Vegetables you can grow indoors no matter what the weather

And not all of us just have a greenhouse lying around at our disposal. So, some friends at Sugar Producer Magazine, the pros in sugar producers, have compiled this awesome list of plants that you can grow right from your own kitchen.

Tomatoes

Small Space Indoor Vegetable Gardening

Tomatoes are a great food item to grow inside. All you need is a pot, good soil, and a source of light. Start the seeds for the tomatoes in a muffin tin or egg cartons, and then move them into a pot once the sproutlings are about 2 inches tall.

Carrots

The 16 Best Healthy, Edible Plants to Grow Indoors

Who doesn’t love carrots and a little ranch for a good healthy snack? Just make sure you have a deep enough pot for this crop. You’ll want about 8 inches of soil for short carrots, and about 12 inches for long carrots.

Leafy Greens

How to grow your own vegetables year-round without a garden

Leafy greens, like spinach and lettuce, are a great kitchen crop. You can start as many as 15 seeds in one wide pot (or a long pot that fits the length of a window sill). Once they are grown, you can pull leaves off as you need them and more will continue to grow back.

Yellow Squash

Growing Squash Indoors

A good source of light, a large pot, good soil, and plenty of water will make this plant a wonderful crop to grow in your home this winter. If it has everything it needs, you’ll be able to produce enough squash to last until the outdoor growing season.

Herbs

How to Grow Herbs Indoors

Herbs are a great window sill plant. They need good sunlight and an appropriate amount of water (this is dependent upon each variety of herb), and then you’ll have great flavor to add into your cooking. And let’s be honest, live herbs can get expensive at the grocery store, so growing them on your own is a great way to go.

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