Give your home an outdoor fall facelift
Many people look forward to replacing the warm, humid summer with the fresh, crisp air that arrives with the falling leaves and cooling temperatures. Just because the long summer days have passed doesn’t mean that the outdoor areas of your home can no longer be enjoyed.
Families throughout Gordon County are sprucing up their yards for the fall season; some are even making additions simply to enable their families to enjoy the outdoors for just a little longer.
Backyard fire pits are a good addition to outdoor living. Many homeowners enjoy entertaining around fire pits because they offer an area in which their guests can be comfortable, enjoy the crisp fall evenings and offer a source of heat as a centerpiece.
“A lot of people are confined to the porch, especially during the wintertime, and don’t get to go out into their yard that often,” said Greg Talerico, Department Supervisor for Garden at the Calhoun Home Depot. “Fire pits help to open that opportunity up quite a bit.”
According to Talerico, the home improvement store offers a variety of kits for customers to choose which arrangement will best suit their areas. A display of these is set up outside the store to give customers an idea of how the products will work and look once assembled. He said that the kits come with pamphlets and directions that make assembly very easy for the average Do- It- Yourselfer.
Some homeowners choose to build the pits without using the inserts. The advantage to using an open pit, rather than an insert, is the larger fire it is able to contain and the larger pieces of wood that can be used. It also will require much less cleaning. When using an insert, the owner will need to clean it after each use.
“The base that’s created by burnt wood will actually corrode the metal. It will eat the bottom out of your fire pit,” said Talerico. “This is also a main reason why people are doing the pavestone fire pits ( without inserts), you don’t have to worry about it at all.”
Often, customers will buy river pebbles to place inside the pit to protect the ground from becoming scorched. It is recommended that adhesive be used for the benches of these kits to prevent shifting; adhesive also may be a good idea if there will be guests who stand around the fire pit. This set up is not recommended to be assembled on a porch or deck.
The disadvantage of this product is that after installation it becomes a fixed feature. It can be disassembled and rebuilt elsewhere, but not conveniently. Chiminea’s, on the other hand, are more easily moved.
Clay chimineas act as an outdoor fireplace and produce a lot more heat than a fire pit. The fire is in a bowl at the bottom that encloses the heat and acts as a radiator. It also forces the smoke straight up into the air. An open fire pit’s heat will be lost and its smoke will likely cause guests to change positions frequently as the wind changes directions.
The disadvantage of the chiminea is the likelihood of the clay cracking and breaking if it is pushed over. The decorative outdoor decor produces a tremendous amount of heat and can result in severe burns if caution is not taken to prevent contact.
Talerico and the Home Depot always recom- mend extinguishing your fire if you are leaving the area.
To accentuate the entertaining area, landscaping, planting and decorating can be done to suit the homeowners taste. Now is a good time to plant winter flowers, shrubs and trees, according to Talerico. However, you should not prune plants that are expected to flower in the winter this close to the season. Many people choose to plant evergreens at this time because they will not drop their leaves in the fall and winter.
Mulch can be used as insulation to help keep the temperature and frost away from the roots of plants during the colder months; Talerico suggests a two to three inch layer of cypress, bark or regular hardwood mulch. The color of this bark should last between six and 12 months and can be revived every season with a quick raking. Another way to help keep your plants healthy going into the fall and winter season is to make sure the plant has plenty of food before it goes into its dormant stage with any all- purpose food.
If you are unable to take plants inside for the colder seasons, you can also help winterize them by applying mulch heavily around them; this includes shrubs and trees. Mulching helps keep frost from reaching the roots. For sensitive plants, covering them with a milky colored plastic will keep them insulated by acting as a greenhouse. Even if the temperatures are below freezing, when the sun shines, the air inside and underneath the plastic will heat up and keep the plant warm.
For more information or for more ideas, visit Homedepot.com or the Calhoun Home Depot at 1280 Curtis Parkway SE.