Your home’s curb appeal is its first impression to your family, friends, and neighbors. Good landscaping can help maintain an aesthetically pleasing look and feel, and bring you joy everyday. Learn about the landscaping rules that you should never break in this U.S. News article by Devon Thorsby.
Your home’s exterior appearance is important, whether you like to admire your garden from your living room window, host regular backyard barbecues or have a youth soccer team practice out front on the weekends. Planning the right landscaping – purely for aesthetics or utility – is imperative to help you achieve the right look and level of maintenance that works for you.
Homeowners’ use of the front or backyard can vary widely – and include everything from a patio spa or herb garden to a complete outdoor chef’s kitchen for entertaining. Despite the many options you have for making the most of your outdoor space, there are still a few cardinal rules for ensuring your landscaping is a success.
Here are 10 key rules that will help guide you to a flourishing, comfortable yard that suits your needs.
1. Consider the right plants for your climate.
From grass to trees to the bushes lining your walkway, you have choices to make not just about the right aesthetic for your house, but also regarding what plants are best-suited for the part of the country you live in and how they’ll fare outside your home.
Kris Kiser, president and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, stresses the importance of “right plant, right place,” which means taking advantage of local plant species that will flourish where you live and in the right part of a yard, and don’t require too much water in a dry climate or grow too large and choke out other plant life. The type of grass you choose for your lawn based on where you live is just as important, as the wrong species will likely die or require more maintenance than it’s worth.
“There’s hundreds and hundreds of species of turf, so you don’t want to put a lush Kentucky bluegrass in Southern California where it’s water-challenged – you want a Bermuda or a buffalo grass,” Kiser says.
2. Avoid overdeveloping your yard.
Not every homeowner is looking for a secret garden in their backyard – and that’s OK – but it’s best (and more budget-friendly) to size your outdoor living area or patio appropriately to your house.
You may want a pool here, a fire pit farther back and a flower garden with seating off to the side, but you’re likely overextending your yard and your budget, explains Chip Wade, a master carpenter best known for his roles on HGTV shows like “Ellen’s Design Challenge” and “Curb Appeal: The Block,” and a consultant for Liberty Mutual Insurance.
“Keep the action close to the house, and focus more of your budget in one place,” he says. “It will make the overall final product more effective and higher quality.”
Additionally, too much pavement in your yard can cause runoff problems when it rains. Don’t install a backyard pool so large that you’ve removed all space for plants, which can help you avoid basement flooding issues.
3. Plan for the right professional help.
Like with any do-it-yourself project, be aware of your limits and know what home improvements require a licensed professional to ensure the work is done properly. Expect to book work from a skilled contractor at least a few months in advance during spring and summer. Kris Holland, owner of Black River Landscape Management, based in Randolph, New Jersey, says that by early March, his company’s calendar is already full through part of May.
“If you can call somebody in March and they can say, ‘Hey, we can be there on your property tomorrow,’ then maybe you have to worry why they have the ability to do that,” Holland says.
Read the Full Article HERE.
Lennar Nashville is happy to announce construction is in full swing in the brand new community of Valleybrook! Located in the fast growing city of Murfreesboro, TN, this charming community will feature a wealth of amenities, including walking trails and a pool. Plus, Valleybrook is in the perfect location of Murfreesboro. Right off Memorial Blvd and Compton Road, the community is within minutes of the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System. As well, the community is convenient to numerous shopping and dining locations including the Avenues and downtown Murfreesboro.
Your Dream Home Is Waiting
Valleybrook features the popular Classics collection which includes six different plans to choose from: Hamilton, Brunswick, Primrose, Ashford, Mayflower, and Rosemary. The Classic plans range from 1,887 to 2,573 square feet, 3 to 4 bedrooms, and 2 to 3 bathrooms. With the various floorplans, Valleybrook has a home for everyone. Looking to move in to your dream home before summer? We have quick move-in homes that are available as soon as June. Plus, each home includes Lennar’s Everything’s Included® Guarantee and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ Home Design.
Everything’s Included and Everything’s Connected with Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ Home Design
Homes at Valleybrook have everything you expect with Lennar including all the energy features, kitchen appliances, and luxury designer upgrades. It is part of Lennar’s Everything’s Included Guarantee. Also, your new dream home will be ready for the future of new home technology with our Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ Home Design. Enjoy a home where every room is connected and enjoy top name brand devices such as Sonos®, Honeywell®, and Lutron®.
For more information about this beautiful new community, contact Dana Reynolds at 615-801-6342 or Dana.Reynolds@Lennar.com for a VIP tour! And be sure to ask about our pre-grand opening specials!
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Bothell, Wash. – February 2018 – Lennar is proud to announce a new phase of homes for sale is coming to its popular North Creek Ridge community in Bothell. This new phase will offer an additional 25 residences situated on the north end of the community, providing even more opportunities to own in this highly-sought after community.
“North Creek Ridge has become an extremely popular community among growing families because of it’s convenient Bothell location that also gives children access to great public schools in the Northshore School District,” said Bill Salvesen, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Lennar Seattle. “The location also provides an easy commute to Seattle or Bellevue, the two largest tech hubs in the area.”
At North Creek Ridge, homeshoppers have a wide variety of home designs and sizes to choose from with seven distinctive floorplans available. Home sizes range approximately from 2,494 to 3,471 square feet and include two of Lennar’s innovative Next Gen® – The Home Within A Home® floorplans. Available in two and three story layouts that offer up to five bedrooms.
Every new home at North Creek Ridge offers Lennar’s Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ Home Design for commercial-strength internet coverage in every room and integrated home automation features that come as standard. Lennar’s signature Everything’s Included® features also come at no additional cost, including slab quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, high quality cabinetry and so much more.
North Creek Ridge offers a fantastic setting near local parks, shopping centers, restaurant and recreational options. Set in Bothell, this area is known for excellent schools including the brand-new North Creek Ridge High School, which offers specialized programs in bio medical, STEM fields, AP programs, athletics, foreign language tracks and the performing arts. Additionally, the community’s location is very close to Lake Washington and Lake Samamish, and a little more than an hour away from Stevens Pass Ski Resort, providing great outdoor recreation opportunities for every season.
North Creek Ridge is located at 23530 45th Avenue South East. For more information, visit www.lennar.com/seattle or call 855-325-1484.
With hundreds of communities nationwide and homes designed for first-time, move-up and luxury homebuyers, Lennar has grown to become one of the nation’s leading and most respected homebuilders. Lennar has a longstanding history of building homes of enduring quality in only the most well planned and desirable locations throughout the country.
Lennar Tristate accepted various awards at the 15th Annual FAME Awards held at South Gate Manor in Freehold on March 8th. Among the awards received was the prestigious Community of the Year Award for Best Townhome Community for The Hills By Lennar in Rockaway, NJ. Learn more about the recognition received by Lennar’s Tri-State Division in this PR Web press release by Laura Crossan.
HAMILTON, NJ (PRWEB) MARCH 14, 2018 – “Some will win. Some will lose. Some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on.” Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN and LEN.B), the Nation’s leading homebuilder, definitely came out a winner at the 15th Annual FAME Awards held at South Gate Manor in Freehold on March 8th. This year’s ‘80s-themed gala, presented by the Shore Builders Association of Central New Jersey (SBACNJ), had the Lennar team decked out in Rolling Stones tees, mirrored sunglasses, fluorescent-colored jewelry and a noteworthy amount of Aqua Mist as they accepted the prestigious Community of the Year Award for Best Townhome Community for The Hills By Lennar in Rockaway, NJ.
The homebuilder was also honored for Best Interior Merchandising for a Townhome Community (The Hills by Lennar); Best Signage for an Adult Community (Venue at Lighthouse Station in Barnegat); Best Builder Color Magazine AD; Best Sales Office for a Condo Community (Monroe Parke in Monroe Township); Best Sales Office for a Townhome Community (The Hills by Lennar); Best Direct Mail Piece (Monroe Parke), and Best Special Promotion/Event for a Broker/Realty Community to the Buying Public.
The annual FAME gala honors SBACNJ members who have displayed excellent sales and marketing efforts in the previous year. “We’re honored to receive recognition for these marketing endeavors,” said Anthony Mignone, President of Lennar’s Tri-State Division. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank our marketing team at Design 446, as well as Deanna’s Interiors, Bowman Engineering and City Invincible (formerly Alberto & Associates). We would also like to thank the SBACNJ for acknowledging our work at The Hills by Lennar, Monroe Parke and Venue at Lighthouse Station.”
Since 1954, Lennar has had the privilege of helping hundreds of thousands of families across America move into the next stage of their lives with a new home. “From first time and move-up homebuyers to active adult lifestyles and multigenerational living, we’re here to accommodate the changing needs of every family who walks through our doors,” said Dana Romano, Director of Sales for Lennar’s Tri-State Division.
All homes are designed under Lennar’s Everything’s Included® mantra, providing included features that are options from other builders as deluxe standard equipment in every home. This groundbreaking Everything’s Included® approach offers thousands of dollars of features at no additional cost.
“At Lennar, we are consistently offering the most state-of-the-art approaches to homebuilding and that’s what continues to make us stand out above our competitors,” said Romano. “And our promise to our homebuyers, just like the FAME Awards professed tonight, ‘Don’t [ever] stop believing.’”
To learn more about Lennar or to visit a Lennar new home community, visit http://www.lennar.com or call 609-349-8258.
For the last 12 years, Lennar has earned the title of #1 Homebuilder in Minnesota. Because of their exceptional service, quality homes, desirable neighborhoods and attention to detail, Lennar has been able to consistently build and deliver homes that exceed the standards of homebuyers in the metro. Lennar is honored to receive the title of #1 Homebuilder for the twelfth consecutive year. In addition to this extraordinary news, Lennar announced in February that they will be joining forces with CalAtlantic and plan to earn the title of #1 Homebuilder in the Twin Cities for yet another year.
When asked about this significant accomplishment for Lennar, Bill Burgess, Division President stated, “Over the past 12 years, more Twin Cities homebuyers have trusted Lennar to build their families dream home. We are proud that we have continued to earn that trust. With our recent merger with Cal Atlantic Homes, our Lennar Team is focused on designing and building homes that incorporate the latest design trends and features, including building the only Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ Home Design in Minnesota. This intense focus on great homes based upon our homeowner’s needs is what has led Lennar to be not only the #1 Homebuilder in Minnesota for the past 12 years but also the most highly rated and positively reviewed Twin Cities Homebuilder on the Minnesota Better Business Bureau.”
As one of the highest reviewed homebuilders in the Twin Cities, Lennar strives to stay true to its original values. Through expansion and merging with CalAtlantic, the company will continue to provide quality homes, remarkable value and service with integrity. As an organization, Lennar takes pride in the homes and neighborhoods they build and strive to give back to homeowners, communities, trade partners and the environment whenever possible.
Lennar and CalAtlantic are two of the nation’s largest homebuilders, building affordable, stunning homes for all stages of life. Because of this merge, Lennar will be the largest homebuilder in the United States based on revenues. As Lennar welcomes CalAtlantic to its team and continues to flourish in the homebuilding industry, the company looks forward to providing the American Dream to many more people; building it smarter, with even more energy efficiency, beautiful designs and great neighborhoods.
Lennar Minnesota has 78 beautiful communities. Call 877-203-7191 or visit www.lennar.com/minnesota to schedule your model home tour today.
Fresno, Calif. – (March 2018) – Lennar Central Valley is now selling both the Savannah Series and Skye Series of new homes at Sterling Acres, a new community in Fresno. Each of these series showcases beautiful design with bright white kitchens and open, free-flowing interior spaces. The Savannah Series has fully furnished models now available for touring at our Ellingsworth community in Clovis. The Skye Series has models available for touring at our Gossamer Grove community in Shafter.
“We are so excited to offer two fresh series of home designs at our newest location, Sterling Acres,” Vice President of Sales and Marketing Susan Wilke said. “These gorgeous homes answer the growing need for fresh and bright kitchens and home designs that incorporate cutting-edge smart home technology.”
The Savannah at Sterling Acres features four floorplans that range in size from approximately 1,450 to 2,223 square feet. Homes offer two to four bedrooms, two to two-and-a-half bathrooms and two-bay garages, making these floorplans perfect for families of all sizes including first-time buyers and empty-nesters. Every home also comes with added value through Lennar’s signature Everything’s Included® program.
The Skye Series of homes features four brand new floorplans for families to choose from. These homes vary in size from approximately 2,029 to 2,570 square feet of living space that offer up to four bedrooms, three bathrooms and two-bay garages. A new version of Lennar’s special Next Gen® – The Home Within A Home®, the Solstice, will also be available. These homes provide the perfect fit for multigenerational households or dual living situations because they feature an attached private suite with a separate entrance, bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchenette, allowing for as much direct access to or privacy from the main home as needed.
The Everything’s Included® package has modern details like plank tile flooring with stylish faux wood finish, white quartz countertops and European-inspired white shaker cabinetry – all designer upgraded features included no extra cost. These homes also feature the latest in smart home automation, including Wi-Fi enabled thermostats and garage doors, whole-home Wi-Fi, and much more.
To learn more about these beautiful home designs, call 559-554-1147 and find out how these homes meet your family needs.
For more information on Lennar’s communities in the Sterling Acres area, visit www.lennar.com/fresno
With hundreds of communities nationwide and homes designed for first-time, move-up and luxury homebuyers, Lennar has grown to become one of the nation’s leading and most respected homebuilders and proudly remains steadfast in their commitment toward quality, value and integrity. Lennar has a longstanding history of building exceptional homes in only the most well planned and desirable locations throughout the country.
