Define your lawn

The least you can do is mow and edge your lawn. Edging your lawn makes a garden (or yard) look restrained and tamed, which gives it the appearance of lower maintenance – a popular selling point. Creating an edge is easy and can be as simple as using a sharp spade to cut a neat separation between your lawn and garden bed, path or fence. Alternatively, you can use a physical barrier such as timber, steel, brick or stone. Weeding and mulching your plant beds will help your garden appear low-maintenance and well kept. Avoid mulches that are too “out there”, such as dyed woodchip as these can put off home buyers.

Plant your worries away

Address your property’s shortfalls such as overlooking neighbours or busy roads by planting-out your gardens. While the plants may not initially create a full visual barrier, or any real sound improvement, the perceived improvement from a buyer’s point of view will be worth it. Talk to your local garden centre about your garden’s particular environment (shade, light, soil and proximity to the coast). And remember, if you are selling, your nursery can order in mature hedging for an immediate result. Minimising the number of plant species in your garden will make your garden appear easier to maintain and give it a more uniform look. However, don’t be too dogmatic about restricting your choices. In general, Carroll encourages some plant diversity as it encourages biodiversity, is good for the local ecology, reduces pest impact, extends flowering times and generally looks more interesting!

Paint your backyard alive

If your porch, front doorway or even the interior of your home is looking a little worse for wear, adding a new, fresh coat of paint can work wonders for revitalizing it, cleaning it up, and making your home appear newer and well maintained. So spend the money on a few cans of paint if any of these areas look weathered and worn. And if you have any rooms with bold colours, opt for some neutral tones instead.

New Fence/Deck

When the fence around your home is rotten and weathered, make the effort to install a new one. Since it’s also located in plain sight, it can have a drastic impact on those first and last impressions. These days, there are a variety of fence options you can choose from. Whether it’s a wood fence, PVC fence (vinyl fence) or ornamental iron fence – a newly installed fence will wow potential buyers and improve your resale value as well.

The post Selling your house? Improve your backyard. first appeared on Capital Deck and Fence.

A Wall of Green
Shrubs, plants, and trees can be your best friends when it comes to shielding your view from those sunbathing neighbours. There are a variety of shrubs and miniature trees that will grow and can easily be maintained for creating a perfect barrier of green space. It’s a great way to recapture some privacy without feeling offensive by installing a towering fence, especially if you prefer a more natural look to your garden. Evergreens are a common choice for this reason.

Potted Plants
There’s such an array of potted plants that can grow nice and tall to get that perfect touch of privacy. For example, ferns or even bamboo are great for placing in pots along your deck or seating areas. They’re convenient because they can be easily moved into those key spots that have a view that’s a bit too clear for your liking.

Wooden Pergolas and Vines
For outdoor spaces such as a dining area, lounging area or deck, you can construct a simple pergola with wooden panels that act as a natural enclosure. Plant a few vines along them and you’ll have the perfect amount of privacy and shade, all in one.

Fountain and Ornamental Walls
If you’re looking for a way to not only block the view but also drown out the sound, consider installing a fountain piece, coupled by an ornamental wall behind it. They look great and they compliment each other as a feature piece, while drowning out the sights and sounds next door.

Decorative Curtains
One very simple way to get instant privacy it is by hanging a few decorative curtains along your deck or enclosure. You can drape them along in sections, bundle them up, and close them fully when needed.

Privacy Fence
You didn’t think we’d forget to mention adding a new fence, did you? As Ottawa’s premier fencing company, we have a wide range of privacy fences in a number of different materials, finishes, and colours to suit your exact needs and style preferences. Wood fences and PVC fences are particularly effective as privacy fences, but ornamental iron fences in combination with these other elements such as shrubs and plants can also create a sense of seclusion.

The post How to get Backyard Privacy? first appeared on Capital Deck and Fence.

In the past we have listed some helpful tips and tricks:

• The Ultimate Backyard Fencing Guide
• How to plan for a fence installation – THE CORRECT WAY
• How to Prepare Your Yard for Fence Installation

However we never went over what could go wrong! Today we shall change that fact! Below we list 6 common but costly fencing mistakes!

1. Wrong Kind of Fence for your Home

This is the big one. Choosing the wrong kind of fence is one of the worst fencing mistakes you can make. If your garden fence doesn’t keep large pests out. It is useless. If your dog can escape his fence. It is useless. There are a lot of choices so how do you choose the right one? We dedicated a complete post on this issue: Choose the Right Fence for Your Home. You also might find How to Choose the CORRECT Paint or Stain for your Fence helpful!

2. Unsecured Anchor/Corner Posts

Corner posts are very important to the integrity of a fence. They bear a lot of the pressure, especially when constructing the fence. If you don’t secure them to the ground and support them with braces or other anchors you will slowly see you fence start to cave in. Or your posts might even snap under pressure. And no one wants that. Make sure your corner posts and your gate posts are deeply secured in the ground and properly braced.

3. Underground Utilities

The other day the city was putting up new guard rails on our road. Sometime that morning our internet went out. Then later that day we went out to do some errands and came to the work crew digging every single guard rail post by hand. And lots of new flags dotting the area showing where cable lines were running under the ground. Those guys looked thrilled to be using a manual post hole digger instead of their fancy post drilling machine. So make some calls before you plan your fence. Make sure you won’t be cutting off your neighborhood’s utilities. Make sure you know where your own septic system is. Because that is one fencing mistake you just don’t want to deal with.

4. Wrong Location

So let’s say you’ve spent all your free time fencing in whatever it is you are fencing. You’ve dug in posts. You’ve stretched wire. You’ve cemented in your gate posts and hung the gates. You are super proud of all your hard work. Then you start using the area that is now fenced in and you realized just how inconvenient your gates are. Maybe they are smack dab in the exact area where water and mud gather after storms. Maybe you want to walk you tiller from your shed to the newly fenced in garden and you have to go WAY around to get there. Maybe you didn’t quite plan all scenarios and you now you can’t fit a tractor in through the gate to deliver hay or bush hog or whatever. Before you start any fencing project make sure you have thought out exactly where you need your gates, what they will be used for, and if everything will work as they are supposed to. Because once those gate posts are secured and the fencing stretched…you really don’t want to move your gate. It’s not impossible to do, but it’ll cost you a lot of time and money and cause a headache or two.

5. Incorrectly Spaced Posts

Now let’s say you are crunching numbers for your new fence, and you figure you will save a few bucks by spacing the posts just a little farther then they ought to be spaced. This might work okay for a non-working fence. But let me tell you, if you’ve got an animal inside that pasture, they will be sure to find those weak points in the fence. You don’t want to spend your free time fixing a fence you just put up because the goat knocked it down again. And you don’t want to spend the money to insert new posts to help strengthen the wire. So if your fence needs posts every 8 feet, then put them every 8 feet.

6. Property Lines?

Didi you know that in some places, if a fence is placed on a property line incorrectly and no one contests it, after awhile (years)  that fence becomes the new property line? So if you don’t pay attention you could mistakenly give part of your land away to your neighbor. On the flip side, do you want to take your fence down and move it over a few feet when you neighbor complains that you just fenced in part of his yard? Or even worse, you could get a fine for accidentally fencing in public or government owned property. If you are at all unsure as to where your property line is, then call a surveyor. It’ll cost less in the long run.

So there you have it, 6 Fencing Mistakes That Cost You Time and Money. Whether you are planning a fencing project in the future or mid-job, hopefully you can skip making these mistakes and have a strong, well-made fence that will last a life time!

The post Common Costly Fencing Mistakes first appeared on Capital Deck and Fence.

Outdoor projects are relatively simple and straightforward, and most of them can be tackled all on your own. Sure, adding a new fence or a new deck will almost always require you to hire the right professionals to make sure that you get the results you are after – but those are wise investments that always pay big dividends.

Add smart landscaping to the mix

There’s just something about having the greenest grass in the neighbourhood that gives you the pride of homeownership that a lot of people are after these days.

If you want your grass to be as lush and green as possible, you’ll want to make sure that you are feeding your grass on a regular basis, that it’s getting the right amount of water, and that you are supporting your grass with the highest quality landscaping efforts.

Add flowers, vegetable gardens, shrubs, and other landscaping elements to create that really special outdoor space you deserve. The warm season is relatively short in Ottawa, so you want to make the best of it before the cold days return.

Upgrade you fence for style and privacy

Of course, if you really want to go the whole nine yards with your outdoor space you’ll want to think about upgrading your fence and making sure that it adds a considerable amount of style to your outdoor spaces but that it also adds an extra element of safety and privacy.

There are all kinds of different fence options available to pick and choose from today. You’ll be able to find different fence materials, different looks, and different price points across the board – giving you the opportunity to create a fence that is perfectly suited to your needs and your budget. The right fence selection will enhance the look of your yard and add an extra touch to your landscape design efforts.

It’s tough to beat the impact of a new deck

At the end of the day, it’s tough to imagine any outdoor project impacting the look and feel (not to mention usability) of your outdoor space more than a brand-new deck.

If you want to entertain, if you want to transform your space, and if you want to add a lot of extra value to your property, nothing can beat a brand new custom PVC or composite deck.

Capital Deck and Fence is a locally operated Ottawa business that specializes in designing, building and delivering custom decks and fences. Contact us today at 613-413-7572 or directly on our website.

The post 3 Steps to Transform your Yard first appeared on Capital Deck and Fence.

1. Lights, lights, lights!

Image from Pinterest

2. Creative garden

Image from Pinterest

3. Shady Summer

Image from Pinterest

4. Squeaky clean

Image from Pinterest

5. Always Prepare

Image from Pinterest

The post Functional summer backyard ideas for Ottawa first appeared on Capital Deck and Fence.

Lights

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Bring lights to your backyard in the creative ways below.

1. Mason Jar Lights

2. String-light

Warmth

1. Blanket

2. Firepit

Life

Bring out the life of winter.

The post Winter Backyard Decor Inspiration first appeared on Capital Deck and Fence.