Does your home have lots of tall trees? Or maybe you have tall shrubs or even high-climbing vines that tend to grow out of control. Regardless of exactly what type of hard-to-reach plant life you have in your yard, it is bound to become difficult and even frustrating to maintain your home’s landscaping once you can no longer reach the plants. This is where pole saws and pole pruners come in handy. But what exactly are pole saws and pole pruners, and when is it a good idea to use one over the other?

Springs occur when water pressure causes the flow of groundwater to rise to the surface. The water finds gaps in depressions, fractures, or rock faults, and pushes its way up.

Although a lawnmower is not likely the most expensive machine you have, it can be relatively costly to repair it. One of the priciest repairs is a broken or bent crankshaft. Unfortunately, it may be better to replace the whole mower instead of fixing it if that does happen.

Typically, when there is a problem with your lawnmower, the issue is with the blades, the cutting deck, or something electrical. However,  flat tires can also happen, and when they do, you need to replace them. One of the most crucial elements of changing a tire is breaking the bead.

It can be frightening when it starts to rain and you remember that you have an extension cord outside. Water and electronics don’t mix, so it is rational to worry about your outdoor extension cord. So, can outdoor extension cords get wet?

A vegetable garden will struggle to thrive if it is constantly under attack by animals and pests. Of course, deer, squirrels, rabbits, and groundhogs will find your vegetable garden enticing. That doesn’t mean you are doomed to have animals eat your vegetables. We have compiled several tips on how to keep animals out of your vegetable garden.

If you really think about it, modern homes are pretty cozy. Even a relatively cheap garage offers a lot of protection from the elements in most cases. It’s unsurprising, then, that many birds seem to prefer building their nests in garages. Unfortunately for them, we don’t want them there and they can actually pose a health risk in some cases. So, how do you get a bird that’s there to leave?

Nothing is as annoying as going to water your plants and finding out that deer have been nibbling on them. This can hinder plant growth and will continue to happen until you address the problem. Understandably, many homeowners struggle with how to keep deer away from plants.

Flowering plants and trees can have a considerable impact on your landscaping and overall curb appeal. Crape Myrtle trees are very popular, but with many different varieties, it can be difficult to know which to choose. Between the Red Rocket Crape Myrtle and Dynamite Crape Myrtle, which is the best for your lawn?

Landscape fabric has been used for years to cover the ground around gardens and other landscaping where you are trying to prevent weeds. But many of the landscape fabrics are costly and can actually be bad for your plants and soil.

To ensure that your lawnmower is functioning properly, you need to take good care of each of its parts. Doing so will lengthen the life of your mower and help you get more out of the time you spend using it.

Orchids are some of the most beautiful and magical blooming plants in the world. They thrive in seemingly unbelievable conditions, often enjoying the struggle to stay alive. There are thousands of varieties of orchids. They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and every imaginable color combination. 

There’s nothing quite like the flavoring of a filet charred on a charcoal grill. What if you have a gas grill instead? Can you put charcoal inside to get the same great taste?

There’s nothing quite like the experience of feasting on properly smoked brisket or ribs. The complex, savory flavor the smoke adds to the meat is something you’ll crave constantly after tasting it once. Going through the long smoking process is worth it just for that flavor.

Nothing beats fresh herbs when you are looking for a way to boost the flavor and freshness of a dish. Herbs from your garden are arguably the freshest ingredients of all, but for those living in a seasonal climate, an herb garden has a shelf life. While you can’t always grow fresh herbs throughout the year, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to dry and preserve your delicious home-grown ingredients for later use.

Batteries are the central source for the electrical power of a lawnmower. Without it, nothing will function. When storing a lawnmower over the winter months, batteries can grow weak.

One of the perks of living in a warm climate is it allows you to grow all sorts of exotic and tropical plants. Depending on your exact location, you might be able to grow citrus trees, stunning tropical blossoms, and even banana trees. But even subtropical and hot climates can experience an occasional and unexpected cold snap that can put these plants at risk of dying. So when there is a frost you need to make sure you take steps to protect your tropical plants from freezing.

A comfortable patio can become an additional living space if you have the right design. A patio heater can provide the necessary warmth on chilly evenings to keep your outdoor plans on track. But it’s important to know how long patio heater gas lasts so you don’t end up out in the cold.

When winter hits and the snow starts to fall, nothing is quite as valuable as a Craftsman snowblower to keep your driveway and other areas clear. However, when the first snowfall comes, what if your machine doesn’t start? You’ll have to troubleshoot the problem and see how to fix it.

If you were recently gifted or purchased a cedar plank for cooking, you are probably wondering exactly how to use it. The first question you probably have is how to put the cedar wood in the oven without catching it on fire. This likely leads you to wonder if you need to soak your cedar plank before cooking with it, and if so, for how long?

When I first started writing for Upgraded Home, one of my first articles was about “she sheds.” She sheds are sheds that are made to be a woman’s lounge area in the garden. When you are making your own little shed hideaway, you need to make sure to use the right materials. This includes choosing the right kind of plywood for your shed floor. But, what should you use for flooring?

Smoked meats, seafood, vegetables, and even cheese are staples of barbecue and cuisine in general. Enthusiasts have split down the middle when it comes to the best way to smoke meats, especially when it comes to temperature. So, what is better: cold smoking or hot smoking?

It can be frustrating when a piece of equipment is not operating correctly. One of the most annoying things I can think of is when a self-propelled lawnmower will not pull. You try to push it forward or backward, but it just won’t budge. So, in this circumstance, how do you fix the issue?

Adding an automated garage door to your home can make a big difference in your daily routine. It lets you do away with the hassles that usually accompanied your morning and evening commutes.

A weed can be any plant that’s growing where you don’t want it to, like your yard or landscape. One person’s beautiful, natural yard is another person’s eyesore. If your yard is overrun by unwelcome weeds, there are several options to eradicate them.

Although most homeowners hire a professional to build their deck, some may choose to DIY it. Whether you are speaking with a contractor or looking for materials at a lumber store, you want to know what you’re talking about. Even if you’re well-versed in the subject, it is not uncommon to have basic deck construction questions about the design, planning, or installation process.

Fire pits are a great way to celebrate the New Year. With so many styles and types on the market, you’re sure to find one that suits your needs. If you’re looking to host guests in your backyard, can you put the  fire pit on grass?

Gardeners love to plant as many perennials as possible to make their springtime list of chores even easier. Perennials come back year after year and bloom for months at a time, but this only happens if you take good care of them. Many homeowners understandably struggle with how to make sure perennials come back.

Your new deck is all finished and ready for your first barbeque of the season.  Then you realize that you can get to your deck from your home but not down to the yard.  You need to add some steps or stairs to the deck.  How do you build deck steps without resorting to using stringers?

Changing the garage door is often a big part of the puzzle if you’re converting your garage to a finished space. One switch you might consider is to replace a garage door with French doors. But is that a viable option?

Adding a room above a garage is a great way to create additional space. Whether that space is additional storage or another living space is up to you. But when there is no insulation in the garage, it can lead to cold floors in that new space.

A swimming pool can be a terrific investment due to the value it adds and just how useful it is. If you have a swimming pool at home, you can use it for exercising or cooling down during the summer. Unfortunately, there’s also a chance that your swimming pool may largely go unused.

A temporary pool can be an exciting addition to your yard during the hot summer months. It offers a fun way to cool down, enjoy the season, and spend time with family and friends. But before you purchase a temporary pool, you might be wondering: Do you need a permit?

If you’ve ever experienced a failure of your air conditioning system, then you know how uncomfortable a hot house can be. Plus, when you finally do get your unit up and running again, you still have to wait for things to cool down.

Composite decking is a real game changer in the deck-building game. It has all sorts of benefits that often make it a superior choice to the classic wooden decks, not to mention no more splinters in your feet. There are lots of reasons to go with composite decking, from the fact that it’s highly customizable, to its low maintenance needs and its ability to repel dirt. Composite decking is even easy to clean. But when you do need to clean it, can you use a pressure washer?

Walkways are important, whether we’re talking about walkways for residential properties or those for commercial properties. For a long time, walkways were constructed using stone and brick pavers, but these days rubber pavers are becoming popular. But can rubber pavers be placed directly on grass?

Fences can make your outdoor spaces more useable and more appealing.  Fences afford a sense of privacy, safe places for children, and areas for pets.  Maintaining a fence in good repair is essential for the fence’s aesthetics and the security the fence can provide. When a fence post begins to lean, many homeowners wonder how to straighten the post without removing it.

Wood pellets are an inexpensive way to heat your home and have become a popular choice, especially in rural areas. When it comes to rural living, sometimes your only choices will be propane or wood pellets. Many people turn to wood pellets as the more inexpensive and cleaner-burning choice.

Pool covers are always made out to be flimsy things. In the past, that was just the way things were. Today, things are a bit different. Your pool cover can turn a pool into a fully covered sidewalk…if you get the right type. While they are not quite common, you can now buy pool covers you can walk on. The question is, which ones are the best walkable pool covers on the market?

Rest and relaxation in front of a fire is an activity people have enjoyed since the dawn of humanity. Few experiences allow your senses to become completely entranced as when you enjoy the bright warm cracking of an outdoor fire. When it comes to building a fire feature outside your own home, however, you may be torn between a fire pit and an outdoor fireplace.

Cheaper isn’t always better, especially with regard to power tools. A higher-priced tool usually means better quality overall. And leaf blowers are no exception to this rule.

When you’re ready to sell your home, you might start looking for ways to increase its value. A new driveway adds $5,000 to $7,000 to the home value. Does widening a driveway also increase home value?

The typical sand pool filter holds 250 pounds of sand or more at any given time. This can be a lot of materials to handle at once, which is why it’s important to know what you can do with it once it’s time to replace it.

It’s currently the best time for a pool day in my neighborhood. We all love to splash and play in the sun, but it’s important to realize how much water can evaporate during these hot days of the year. Conserving water is a smart (and earth-friendly) way to avoid higher bills. Having a cover that helps keep water in your pool, therefore, is a must.

Selecting the right outdoor cushions for your furniture can be quite challenging. You want to have furniture that fits the space, is comfortable, and is built to last. But you also want outdoor furniture and cushions that look great and complement your outdoor design aesthetic. With all these considerations to take into account, picking outdoor furniture is often easier said than done. If you live somewhere with a wet climate, you have even more factors to consider, like what type of outdoor cushions work best in humid climates?

Growing vegetables in a small garden can be beneficial. In addition to adding color to any garden, it can mean fresh vegetables to be used in the kitchen. It should not be surprising that one of the most popular garden vegetables are tomatoes.

Asphalt driveways are quite common and with good reason. For one, they look stylish in residential settings and are quite a bit less expensive to install than a concrete driveway. It is also possible to pave an asphalt driveway as a DIY endeavor, though it is always recommended that a professional do the job.

A juicy ripe tomato in your garden is a sign of a job well done. You have likely waited very patiently for months for your tomatoes to ripen in order to feast on them. This makes it all the more tragic when you go to your garden to pick tomatoes only to see that birds have savagely feasted on your pride and joy. In order to avoid this heartbreak, you will want to know all the ways to keep birds from eating tomatoes in your garden.

If you are working on a home garden, then you know there are endless species of plants to choose from and just as many aesthetics you can hope to achieve. You might already have some plants growing in your garden, or perhaps you have a few plants in mind that you want to introduce to your yard. But make sure that before you bring in a new plant to your garden, you are certain it is not invasive, as there are tons of invasive species out there. Some of them you might not even know are invasive until it’s too late.

No homeowner is prepared for the day a tree falls on their roof. Not only is it a terrifying experience, but it’s also the first step in a long and expensive process that involves many phone calls and repairs. Understandably, you’ll want to know what to do if a tree falls on your roof.

Nothing is more aggravating than needing a piece of equipment, and it does not work when you need it. The ending of winter can be colder with more snow than in the beginning. The snowblower is necessary to clear the walkways, and you find after pulling the pull rope, it will not retract.

Black walnut trees are sought after because they look great in any yard. Because of that, many builder-owners or large property owners looking to rejuvenate their landscape wonder just how much a black walnut tree is worth.

Who doesn’t love grilling? There is perhaps nothing that screams “summer” more than grilling. Cooking up delicious meals, spending time with friends and family, and just spending time in the sunshine can really make a summer.

Between their appearance and dietary habits, carnivorous plants are endlessly fascinating. Mostly known as vicious bug predators in tropical areas, carnivorous plants have proven they can grow in many environments, inside or outside. So, what are the best carnivorous plants for indoors?

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular, and with that comes the need for convenient and accessible charging options. Installing a home electric car charger is a great solution for many EV owners.

A neighbor who has experience with chainsaws borrowed yours a couple of weeks ago for some yard work. When he returned the chainsaw, he put it back up on the shelf for you. Now, you plan to do some trimming in the yard, so you haul down the chainsaw. But wait a minute.

Insulating your shed floor ensures that you can use your workspace year-round. An uninsulated floor sucks up moisture and cold from the earth, even in a heated space. Insulating your shed floor is the best way to ensure year-long comfort!

Riding lawnmowers may cost a bit more but will ultimately result in greater convenience particularly for larger plots of land. Like your standard push mowers, riding mowers come with a variety of components that can ultimately break down and stop working properly.

A lush lawn is a huge part of how you and others will perceive your home. Planting and nourishing grass takes a lot of work before you can enjoy a beautiful, green lawn. So, will grass seed germinate on top of soil?

Regardless of whether you are in the market for a mower and are thinking of purchasing a Gravely or you already have one, knowing the average life span is important. Especially when buying one of their more expensive Pro-Turn Kawasaki mowers that costs upwards of $14,000.