Just Listed Anne Arundel County

So Blessed by You, Mom

A mother who always cares,

A mother who’s always there.

A mother who always prays,

A mother who always stays.

When things get rough,

When life gets tough,

When all is just too much to bear,

God’s Word she shares.

God’s light she shines.

So blessed God made this mother mine.

Author Unknown

Landscaping for Curb Appeal

A well-landscaped yard creates curb appeal and helps your property retain maximum value. Here are a few tips and tricks for sprucing up your outdoor spaces yourself.

Appraisers are quick to praise the allure of a well-tended lawn and good-looking landscaping when it comes time to sell your home, but most do not assign any specific increase in monetary value for upkeep.

“Landscaping is going to add to the appeal of the property and it may sell quicker, but it’s hard to determine value,” says John Bredemeyer, president of Omaha-based Realcorp. “You have to have a number to compensate someone if you drove into their tree and killed it, but is it really market value? Probably not.”

Nevertheless, most professionals agree that curb appeal and a well-maintained appearance prevent your property from losing value. Here are the top suggestions from real estate agents, appraisers, and landscape designers for boosting the curb appeal of your yard:

Green up the grass

If your house has a front yard, make sure it‘s neat and green. You don’t want bare spots, sprawling weeds, or an untrimmed appearance.

“It’s so simple to go to Home Depot, buy fertilizer, apply it every six weeks, and water it,” says Mitch Kalamian, a landscape designer in Huntinginton Beach, Calif. “It will green up.”

If the yard looks really scruffy, you may decide to invest in some sod. According to the National Gardening Association, the average cost of sod is 15 to 35 cents per sq. ft. If you hire a landscaper to sod your yard for you, labor will add 30% to 50% to the total cost of the project.

Another alternative is to plant low-maintenance turf grasses. Turf grasses are durable and drought-resistant. Expect to pay $18 to $30 for enough turf grass seed to plant 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn area.

Add colorful planting beds

Flower beds add color and help enliven otherwise plain areas, such as along driveways and the edges of walkways. In general, annual flowers are a bit cheaper but must be replaced every year. Perennials cost a bit more but come back annually and usually get larger or spread with each growing season.

If you’re not sure what to plant, inquire at your local garden center. Often, they’ll have a display of bedding plants chosen for their adaptability to your area. Also, they‘ll be inexpensive because they’re in season, says Peter Mezitt, president of Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton, Mass. Try pansies in the summer, and asters and mums in the fall to add vibrant color. “That’s what we do around the entrance to our garden center,” Mezitt says.

Valerie Torelli, a California REALTOR® who dresses up her clients’ yards to sell their houses faster and for more money, says that in her market, she can put in a bed of colorful annuals and bark, as well as cutting down overgrown shrubs, for less than $500. “We can buy gorgeous plants for $3.99 to $15.99,” she says.

Add landscape lighting

For homeowners who have made a sizeable investment in landscaping, it makes sense to think about adding another 10% to 15% to the bill for professional lighting. “You can’t see landscaping after dark,“ says Brandon Stephens, vice president of marketing for a landscape lighting firm in Lubbock, Texas, “and buyers are not always looking at houses on a Saturday afternoon.”

The cost of a system runs from $200 for a DIY installation to more than $4,000 for a professional job. If you‘re doing it on your own, the key is to light what you want people to see, such as mature trees and flowering shrubs. 

Plant a tree

The value of mature trees is particularly difficult to determine. Lucco says that in his market, mature trees contribute as much as 10% of a $100,000 property’s overall value. In addition, a properly placed shade tree can shave as much as $32 a year on your energy bills. Expect to pay $50 to $100 for a young, 6- to 7-foot deciduous tree.

You can make your own initial assessment of the value of your property’s trees by visiting the National Tree Benefit Calculator. For example, a mature Southern red oak tree with a diameter of 36 inches in the front yard of a house in Augusta, Ga., would add $70 to the property value this year, according to the calculator.

By: Pat Curry/House Logic

Search Homes

Just listed Queen Anne's County

Turning Mason Jars Into a Creative Light Fixture

I just love mason jars, those wide-mouth glass canning jars that hold everything from strawberry jam to fireflies. That’s one reason I’ve fallen for the DIY mason jar light fixture made by Taylor of the MaryJanes & Galoshes blog. 

Although Taylor originally wanted it to light up her gazebo, she loves it so much she’s going to relocate it to her living room.

Taylor glued the jars to a wood plank, stuffed strings of Christmas lights into the jars, then hung the whole thing in her gazebo, giving the fixture a saloon-meets-fairyland feel.

It all took only four hours (not including drying time for the stain) and $31 to build. Can’t beat that!

How She Did It

Taylor takes you step-by-step in her tutorial. Here are the basics:

• Decide how long you want the fixture and select a plank accordingly. Taylor used a 2-by-12-inch plank that she cut 4 1/2 ft. long.

• Lay out the mason jars (without tops) and cut holes in the plank using a hole saw bit the size of the tops of your jars. Sand the board until smooth.

• Drill two smaller holes in each end to attach rope to hang the fixture.

• Stain if you like.

• String 6 ft. of rope through the end holes.

• Glue the open end of the jars into the plank. Wait 48 hours for the glue to cure.

• Stuff jars with Christmas lights.

• Hang.

Lessons Learned

• In her tutorial blog, Taylor says to use construction adhesive to glue in the jars. But she now refines that because construction adhesive “isn’t real pretty and can be seen through the glass.” She advises using a clear epoxy instead.

• Choose lighting with a brown cord, which is less conspicuous than white or green cord.

• Make sure you tie a secure knot when hanging the fixture. “Obviously, if this thing fell it would be a huge glass mess,” she says.

Here’s What it Cost

• 12 mason jars: $5 from a flea market.

• Rope: $5.

• Stain: Free, because Taylor used what she had on hand.

• Wood: $10.

• Christmas lights: $8 (off-season).

• Adhesive: $3.

Total: $31

For more ideas on how to use mason jars, check out our 5 Bright Garden Lighting Ideasand 5 Deck Makeover Projects Under $300.

Check out the other stories in our Perk Up Your Patio series: A Pretty Pergola Goes Up in Only 14 Hours and Making a Vertical Garden Out of an Old Window Frame. At the end of the month, you can vote for your favorite.

Be sure to see our other amazing projects series, including our laundry room redo ideas, our fabulous pantry projects, and these delightful stairway makeovers.

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon/House Logic

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