A well-designed landscape will: Slash your summer and winter energy expenses radically Protect your home from winter wind and summer sun Lessen consumption of water, pesticides, and fuel for landscaping and lawn maintenance Help control noise and air pollution Tree Power Landscaping should do more than just look good. When buying a tree, make sure you know how big it will be when fully grown. Since evergreens tend to get very tall, don’t put them under power lines.

Your local nursery should be able to help you with more energy-saving landscape tips. Landscaping may be the best long-term investment for reducing home heating and cooling costs, believe it or not. The US Department of Energy estimates that the proper placement of as few as three trees can save the average household between $100 and $250 annually in energy costs.

There are three major factors in landscaping for energy efficiency: your house’s orientation to the sun, the amount of shade you’ll need, and the strength and direction of wind around your home. Planting trees can save not just you, but the entire United States of America money. According to a report prepared by the National Academy of Sciences, urban America has 100 million potential tree spaces, the use of which could result in savings of $3.5 billion per year.

Studies by the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory found summer daytime temperatures to be 3° to 6°F cooler in tree-shaded neighborhoods than in treeless ones. Landscaping for Less Landscaping doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars. Here are some ways to rein in your budget: Do it yourself. Be patient. Buy gravel, topsoil and potting soil etc. in bulk. Buy at off-peak prices – late summer and fall are the best times to catch clearance sales. Look for bargains. Grow your own plants.

Be environmentally correct. A Little Care Goes A Long Way Motorized lawn mowers, trimmers, chippers/shredders and such should be protected from rain and snow – and hot sun. To help hoses last longer, store them on the shady side of the house and coil them without knots or tangles. Wheelbarrows, buckets and other containers should be stored upside down to keep them dry and clean. Rub a little petroleum jelly, used motor oil or vegetable oil on rakes, shovels and hoes after each use to eliminate rust and keep the edges sharp longer.

Landscaping with Low Maintenance Plants For a lot of people, the prospect of landscaping fills them with anxiety as they consider the hassle connected with taking care of plants and gardens and trees without spending plenty of money to have someone else do it. The first thing these folks should do is to choose plants that need very little maintenance. Search out quality plants adapted to the growing conditions in your area. A visit to the local master gardener will allow you to find out which plants grow best in your area.

Have you ever wondered how much it would cost to install a beautiful in-ground pool in your backyard? Then once you have the pool, what would be your on-going costs to keep it maintained?

This article will discuss, and show, the true costs associated with building and maintaining an in-ground pool. Due to the many details being discussed, the article is divided up into 4 parts. Part 1 is below.

The other 3 parts can be found at the web address given below. If you would like to know what would be your cost, per month, to own and maintain a pool, please read this very informative article to its end. GENERAL POOL COSTS The cost of installing a new in-ground swimming pool is going to vary widely. You could have a decent size pool installed for as little as $10-12,000, or one that could reach towards 6 figures and upwards, depending on whether you want a gold-plated pool or not. Actually, I don’t think gold-plated pools exist but you get the idea about the expense. We obviously we will focus on the lower end.

TYPES OF POOLS Now on to the details, the first factor that will determine pool cost is the type of pool. Your choice will probably fall into one of the three following types: 1.) steel-walled, vinyl lined pool 2.) fiberglass pool 3.) cement (or unite) pool.

OTHER POOL FACTORS TO CONSIDER The second factor is the size and shape. It should be obvious that the larger pools are going to cost more, but fancy shapes will also be expensive. You could potentially get an 18 ft x 36 ft rectangle for a cost similar to that of a 16 ft x 32 ft kidney shaped pool.

You get the idea. From here on, we’ll deal exclusively with the cost of a vinyl lined pool, but please keep in mind, that fiberglass and gunite pools should be competitively priced depending on where you live. In fact, in some markets, there are so many pool builders that the gunite pools are cheaper than the vinyl ones.

Furthermore, some environments require a gunite pool. If all this is true, then why are we talking about a vinyl pool? Well, simply because the company I worked for only installed vinyl pools, and the pool that was installed at my home is a vinyl pool. I think we’ll all be better off if I go with what I know best.

THE MAJOR COST OF POOL INSTALLATION The first thing to remember is that one of the major costs of building a pool is labor. In fact, I heard once that materials for gunite pools are actually cheaper than vinyl-lined pools because the only material is basically cement mixture, rebar and piping. But this type of pool is quite labor intensive. On the other hand, the kit for a vinyl pool includes things that cost a bit more, like the steel walls, framing, steps and the vinyl liner, but many pool builders prefer to install these vinyl pools because they are much quicker and easier to install.

Continue – http://www.keepyourpoolclean.com/Cost_Pool_2.html