The Lawhead Team would like to share some great tips for making your backyard patio the perfect retreat this summer.

1. Add that relaxing sound of water. Enhance your relaxing moments on your backyard patio with a small fountain trickling over large stones.
2. Create a spot in the shade. Take advantage of that big shade tree in your yard. When it’s hot out during the summer or you need a break from gardening chores, you’ll have a nice quaint shady area to relax in.
3. Add a flower border to the edges of your patio. If your patio looks like it’s just been dropped in your yard, plant flowers like annuals, perennials and shrubs around the edges.
4. Add a rug or carpet to your patio. There are a lot of options when it comes to high quality and weather resistant rugs for your patio. Choose a colorful rug to spice up your backyard.
5. Add fun and charming accents to your patio. Do you have an old wagon or wheelbarrow? These can be turned into decorative holders for your container garden or you can simply plant flowers right in your accent as well. If you want to brighten up your accent piece, add a fresh coat of brightly colored paint to your wagon or wheelbarrow.
6. Build a fire pit or use a propane fire pit on your patio. You can easily make a fire pit out of flagstone slabs or small boulders. This make for a great warming outdoor space in the spring and fall.
7. Add a wandering path with fragrant flowers alongside. While you’re relaxing on your patio, you can enjoy the rich aroma of the beautiful flowers you’ve planted.
8. Use accent and mood lighting on your patio. Add ambiance to your favorite seating area with low voltage solar produced lighting. Also adding tiki torches will bring a tropical feel to your yard.
9. Add a planter box to your patio décor. Planter boxes are a great way to showcase your favorite small plants. There are always new colorful annuals coming on the market every year.

Spring is here and it is time to get the outside of your home ready for the warmer months!  We’d like to share some gardening tips on how to spruce up your walkway or fence by adding brightly colored annual flowers.

In order to have the best look, go with brightly colored annuals.  Violas are a great gardening option as they can thrive in almost any US climate.  Grouping colors together in large spaces can help boost the intensity of your walkway or fence.  Colors will lost impact if they are spread farther apart.

When you are out shopping for your annuals, check the roots.  If there are fleshy or individual roots around the outside of the root ball, don’t buy them.  A younger plant’s root-ball is still mostly dirt.  This is what you want to look for.

Before planting you want to properly prepare the soil by spading the entire plot.  A spading fork works better than a shovel.  Add 3-4 inches of compost to the plot and mix the compost with the soil and rake smooth.

In order to get a preview of your gardening efforts, arrange your flowers out before planting to determine your layout.  In order to prevent stomping on your flowers, plant them from back to front.  Plants should be spaced tightly, with root ball to root ball.  While this sounds unusual, annuals don’t live long enough for their growth to be a concern.  With tight spacing, if one dies, there will not be a noticeable gap.

Dig a deep enough hole so the entire root ball is covered.

After planting, make sure to water the entire flower bed.  If you start to notice wilting while planting, stop and water that section but make sure to avoid watering on the actual foliage.  Water on foliage can act as a magnifying glass with the sun shining and damage your plants.

To make your flower’s color last, check your plants daily and clip off any faded blooms.  It is also important to fertilize with half of the manufacturers recommended dosage but doing so twice as often.  Fertilizing generously and regularly gives your annuals a stable diet and encourages more consistent blooms.

After you fertilize, it is important to water the bed to ensure the nutrients are sent deep into the root zone.  This technique will make any fertilizer used more effective.

To give your flower bed more visual interest, add potted plants.  Brightly colored pots add to your garden as pieces of art.