When You Buy a House, You Buy A Garden, Part 2

Looking Under the Hood – Hardscape and Infrastructure

After the enchantment of a splash of AMEX prayer have on off , it ’s clip to look where you ’re walking – literally . When you look at the paths , debate whether they ’re up to the job they ’re designed for : Stepping Harlan Fisk Stone or gravel are okay for a casual stroll but not the in force choice for rolling out the trash bins or carry laundry and groceries to and from the car . Decomposed granite just outside a elbow room with hardwood floor ? I do n’t opine so .

Is the patio horizontal surface and crack free or does it look like the ground underneath is still settling ? The same goes for keep back walls and stucco or pulley block wall . These are big ticket items to mend or exchange .

visit anything construct from Sir Henry Wood to see if it ’s sound . Fence and specter - structure Post that come in direct contact with the soil are more likely to be affect by rot or termites , if not now , eventually .

Are there public-service corporation that serve the garden ? firing system should be test - drive after the sun goes down . Check whether there are enough electrical outlets in the correct places or you might have to bank on spate of extension corduroy for your tools . And where ’s the most commodious point of link for that gas fire pit you ’ve been daydream about ? Digging a newfangled trench to the front of the mansion could be cost - prohibitive .

If you ’re buying in a part of the country where irrigation systems are par for the course , ask the seller to give the axe it up and look for leak , overspray and coverage gap . If it ’s run by an automatic control , is it a state - of - the - art “ smart ” controller that adjusts to veridical - time changes in the weather save lots of money on your water bill ? If not , put that on your inclination of improvements .

Safety First

Your family ’s and your refuge should be top precedence . Moving around your garden need not call for extreme vigilance at every step : strong , floor , sideslip - resistant surfaces , stout hand - rails , clearly scar aggrandizement changes and safety rails or dense plantings where falls are possible will ensure your well - being . decent plan lighting allows you to enjoy your garden after dusk and gives you peace of mind when approaching your front doorway after dark , or finding your way to the chicken feed cans .

I populate along California ’s Central Coast , where , like many western states , wildfires are part of the rude ecology . Unfortunately , this is also where people love to build homes . Houses and gardens in high - risk of infection areas necessitate to pay special care to what fire expert call “ defensible space ” – conceiving planting design to avoid fuel build - up , specially close to the house . planting pile around the fundament might attend quaint , but they also carry flames to your threshold . Same kick the bucket for trees with branches too nigh to the menage . Read my May 13 , 2009 postfor specific ideas about what constitutes a fervency - dependable landscape painting .

Also , see if you could make observations about where water flows when a gully automatic washer of a tempest comes your way . Plantless , gnaw at slope or telltale silt deposit are a sign that more water is running across the soil than can be absorbed . Sometimes it simply results in the infliction of having to swing out debris from the paths , but you might also be looking at the start of a braggart job . regard the services of a civil or soils engineer for assurance .

What ‘Choo Lookin’ At?

“ Okay , Billy , ” you might be thinking . “ Enough with the not - so - aphrodisiacal clobber . What about just plain good looks ? ”

I get it , so here are a few morsels to chew on . If the yard around the house is more or less a clean ticket , there ’s not much you have to conform your taste to . Yes , there are probably flora on neighboring lots that you could reply to ( or try out to make go away ) . For the most part , the proficient news is you could have your manner . On the other hand , you ’ll have to beat out out for all the plant . Just turn your own sense of style loose and make the garden your own .

If , however , you ’re inherit an give garden , there are two big interrogative : 1 ) Can you work with what ’s already there ? Do the semblance please you ? Is there enough variety and demarcation in the form and leaf ? And 2 ) , if you ’re not thrilled with the current owner ’s horticulture vision , what can you keep and work with and what has to go ? You do n’t have to make all your change at once , but it ’s helpful to develop a overlord program you could wreak toward , bit by bit .

Click through

ReadPart 3to learn about how stop for how environmentally friendly the new garden is , tree diagram government issue and how your neighbour ’s garden might affect yours ( and vice versa ) . recall toPart 1 .

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