Building a better backyard
Growing up in the Midwest, I don’t remember ticks ever being an issue. I remember spending long summer days rolling around in the grass or playing in the woods, blissfully unaware of any pests lurking — except for the occasional mosquito or fire ant. I never went home to do “tick checks” because ticks were much less common. I don’t even recall ever seeing a tick in person until a couple of years ago, when we found one on one of our dogs’ fur.
Today, ticks seem to be increasingly a problem not only here, but all over the country. American dog tick, Gulf Coast tick and Lone star tick are just some of the regional tick species we all have to look out for. And thanks to climate change bringing us warmer winters, ticks are now surviving the cold and reproducing in areas where they used to die. Not to mention suburban neighborhoods going up right next to wooded areas, providing an ideal spot for the pest to hide in.
So what’s a homeowner to do? A press release from Unilock, a manufacturer of concrete interlocking paving stones, slabs and retaining walls, says the answer is right in our backyards. They recommend several landscaping practices to make outdoor spaces less likely to harbor ticks:
- Creating clear transitions between lawns, gardens and wooded areas using stone or gravel borders
- Installing patios to keep vegetation separate from high-use areas
- Paving pathways to discourage walking through tall grass or brush
- Removing leaf litter and maintaining landscape beds around the home
This issue looks at another outdoor living trend homeowners are participating in — milestone gardening. According to the National Garden Bureau (NGB), homeowners are increasingly outdoor living spaces with “milestone photography” in mind; think arches covered with beautiful and fragrant climbing roses to pose under, a bench in the backyard as a selfie station or even a living growth chart — a tree whose peak bloom time coincides with a milestone such as an anniversary month or a child’s birthday month.
“The photo-ready garden has become a carefully curated extension of home design and self-expression, serving as a beautiful visual backdrop for both daily living and social sharing,” said Diane Blazek, NGB executive director.
Also In This Issue
As summer begins to wind down, you might be looking for creative ways to get customers in the door between seasons. Here, we explore how hosting container gardening workshops can drive product sales, increase customer loyalty and create repeat traffic in any season.
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