DIY Life

Summer vacation keeps rolling along. How long until your kids go back to school? Are they spending too much time lounging on the couch? Here are a bunch of summer projects to trick your kids away from their air-conditioned sanctuary and out into the great outdoors of, er, your backyard.

Okay, okay. So the backyard is not the great outdoors. True. But the main thing is to get the kiddos out in the fresh air, learning about nature, and learning about the noble pursuit of maintaining a garden.

Getting their hands dirty
1. Ask them to help with the weeding. Pay them a small amount of pocket money for their time.

Mowers, edgers, leaf-blowers. Sod, plug, aerate, de-thatch. Irrigate, seed, fertilize, weed.

Phew! Makes my head spin just thinking about the stuff you're supposed to do to maintain a lawn, at least according to certain yard-care experts. If you follow the recommendations of lawn-care service companies, you can spend hundreds of dollars each year on your lawn. Many people do exactly that, just because they think it's necessary for a nice lawn.

Well, guess what? It's not necessary. Okay, if you must have a picture perfect lawn that's smooth, flat and green year-round like a golf course... well, that's going to require some work. However, if you're like me and just want some nice, healthy grass, then the trick is to work... less. Yes, less!

In fact, everything you really need to know can be simplified down into three tips: 1. Mow less. 2. Lay off the chemicals and 3. Opt for low-maintenance landscaping. Need more detail? Read on!

Got a big ugly space in your yard that needs filling? Adding yet another evergreen shrub seem boring? Consider pampas grass! It's a big beauty of a plant, one that -- like all ornamental grasses -- is frequently overlooked by home landscapers.

Here are a few reasons why I love pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana):

1. It grows fairly fast, so is an ideal choice for filling in large, barren landscapes.

2. It grows nice and thick, creating an effective privacy screen, wind break or sound barrier.

3. Its long, graceful blades and delightfully fluffy pannicles (flower plumes) are beautiful.

4. Its vertical angles evoke the tropics, bringing an exotic feel to suburban yards and otherwise drab mall parking lots. Its long blades also create a dramatic and pleasing visual contrast with other garden shrubs and trees. Meanwhile, its rounded and slightly wild shape makes it an excellent softener of hard urban surfaces, like brick walls or metal signs. (See the photo above for a perfect example of this.)

Happy St. Patrick's day! Why not have some fun in your garden this St. Paddy's Day and sow a clover lawn. "But why would I want a clover lawn?" I hear you ask.

Answer: to give your leprechaun a nice place to frolic, of course! Or think of it as your way to honor the famous saint of the Emerald Isles, whose emblem is -- as we all know -- the shamrock, or three-leaf clover.

According to WikiHow, the best kind of clover to grow here in the US is actually White Dutch Clover. (Don't worry, it still looks very Irish!) A good place to sow your seeds is anywhere that your pre-existing lawn was struggling due to unfavorable conditions, such as too much shade or poor drainage.

For even coverage, mix the clover seeds with soil and then spread that mixture around, raking it smooth as you go. Next, gently cover your seeds with a very thin (quarter inch) layer of soil. The last step is watering, which should be done every day until the seeds can be seen sprouting. Use only a very fine mist to water--anything more vigorous will disturb your baby seedlings.

Drip irrigation: Drip irrigation is a great way to address a number of issues related to plant watering techniques, water use reduction programs, and environmental impact. With drip, as opposed to overhead irrigation, it is possible to get the desired moisture placed ideally close to the plant's roots without spraying it all over adjacent plantings, sidewalks and driveways, or your neighbor's car.

In its simplest form, a drip system consists of a source (typically a high-pressure tap after a water meter), a pressure reduction valve to get the supplied line pressure reduced to that suited to the system, a back-flow device to prevent contaminated water from getting into the domestic water supply, a manual valve (or electronic controller and electric valves) to operate the system, main line pipes, lateral, or branch, lines to actually distribute the water, and emitters in, or attached to, the branch lines.