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DIY Landscaping Projects for Spring

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As the colder temperatures fade and green begins to pop up all around us, it’s time to think about some springtime DIY landscaping projects to spruce up your home. While there are plenty of huge projects you can spend lots of money on, there are many simple weekend projects that you can do yourself that will give you great bang for your buck and help create a beautiful place that you’ll love to spend time in.

Backyard Garden - Landscaping Projects

Whether it’s as simple as installing some lighting or a little more time-consuming like re-plotting plants, a fresh look for the lawn always gives your home a fresh look as well. For inspiration, here are some of our favorite DIY landscaping projects that you can do this spring.

Create a Pathway

To guide you and visitors through your yard and link different areas together, try installing a pathway. You can use materials from a variety of sources, including reclaimed pallet wood, flagstones, gravel, and more to add texture and color. Combine this project with some of the others below for bigger effect.

Add a Wall or Border

Installing a flagstone, rock, or brick wall around flower beds adds a sleek, clean look to your landscaping and helps separate different sections of your yard. Add depth to your design by using walls of different height and materials.

Install a Water Feature

Nothing says “zen” quite like the sound of trickling water as you relax in your backyard. You can start simple by purchasing and installing a small water feature powered by a solar panel or create a larger focal point in your yard by installing a waterfall wall or small pond.

Light Your Way

An easy way to transform your yard is the strategic use of lighting. Place cool-colored lights high in trees to create a moonlight-like feel, use pathway lights to naturally guide the eye, or highlight objects or plants with stronger more focused lighting.

Plant Upwards

Expand your yard space by drawing the eye to the sky with a trellis, fence, or screen. Once you install your trellis, select your climbing plants and vines and get those planted now so that you can watch them grow.

No matter what your budget is, there are always some great landscaping projects that you can take on to help make your backyard your own private oasis. Plan big and then break your landscaping projects down into smaller pieces that you can take on one at a time. By the time summer hits, you’ll be the envy of the neighborhood with all the work you’ve put into your yard.

image courtesy of hans s

Save money this summer with CPS Energy rebates.

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Air Conditioner - Energy Savings

Spring is here! The weather is great and there’s no better time than now to clean out your home, the garage, get rid of some of the stuff you’ve been hoarding, and get to those much needed projects around your home. With that in mind, I sat down to make a honey-do list for my husband and there in the mail was a flyer from CPS about home energy savings incentives and rebates they are offering. What excellent timing because I like free money and I was running out of ideas for my husband’s list!

CPS is offering many incentives and rebates on things you can do to your home, even the do-it-yourself stuff, to reduce your home’s energy waste. You can get rebates for things as simple as upgrading your refrigerator to things that are little more complex like having your air conditioner’s air ducts flow-tested. With the heat of summer just around the corner, here are a few of the energy saving rebates being offered that everyone should consider. The HVAC repair pros at Landmark Air is where you can find the right experts to help you out with your air conditioner and its issues. If you need ac services, you may check out Aloha Air Conditioning and Heating Services here or better yet call for reliable ac replacement services in Delray Beach, FL.

The first thing you probably want to check out, especially if you own an older home, is your air conditioner. CPS is offering rebates of $110/ton just for replacing your old unit with a 15 SEER efficiency rated one. If you replace it with one better than a 15 SEER, your rebate will be more — up to $225/ton for a unit that is 17 SEER or higher. Also, if you have old air ducts and you think they might be leaking, you can get a substantial rebate for having your system tested and repaired. Thinking about adding insulation in your attic? I say “go for it” because CPS is offering an attic insulation rebate of $0.25 per square foot when professionally done and $0.15 per square foot for the do-it-yourselfers. You can also see at First Defense Insulation website, which have better and more attractive offers.

There are several other things you can get rebates for; replace an old refrigerator with a new Energy Star® model, switch out an electric stove or water heater for one that’s natural gas, or install a programmable thermostat. To top it all off, CPS is offering an additional incentive of up to $2,000 if the energy upgrades you install result in reducing your home’s energy waste by 15% or more. Be updated on the best energy deals when you follow simplyswitch.com. That’s a nice chunk of change to have in your pocket, plus the savings you will see on your monthly energy bill. To find out more (including a complete list of current rebates and incentives) and get started on you energy saving program, check out the CPS Energy Savers website.