At the beginning of the year you have ample opportunity to plan a renovation that could transform your garden from a dull, overgrown space into a paradise ideal for summer garden parties and BBQs. The key to creating a garden that is both practical for these occasions and visually appealing is preparation; the more time and effort you put into the design and creation of your new garden, the better the finished result will be.

There are many ways to create a modern, stylish garden that friends and family would love to spend time in, so let’s take a look at a few ideas and features that could help you create a garden to be proud of! [Read more…]

We all know that terrible feeling when a barbecue doesn’t go quite right. Your guests are politely eating your food, but you can tell something’s wrong. There might not be enough flavor or everything on the grill is overcooked.

There are lots of things that can go wrong which is what makes cooking on a barbecue so exciting. There’s no other form of cooking where you’re exposed to such high temperatures in a direct way, and you have to play the flames like a symphony. But it doesn’t take a professionally trained chef to get wonderful results. As long as you stick to the basics and make sure you avoid some of these mistakes, you’ll be able to create wonderful grilled feasts for the people you love. [Read more…]

Hardwood floors are by far the most resplendent asset in any home. Wood flooring provides both an ornate as well as a functional purpose. The majestic sheen of a hardwood floor is virtually unmatched. No other flooring option comes a close second to the natural regality that hardwood floor products exude. They combine a rustic yet aural charm that projects radiance into a home while giving it that cozy vintage appeal.

The smooth resilient surfaces of hardwood floor products are ideal to walk on and serve as natural shock absorbers. However, over a period of timehardwood floor products can lose their sheen if not maintained. Regular exposure to traffic and general wear and tear eventually takes its toll onhardwood floor products and its surface starts to develop ugly dents and scratches. Exposure to excess amounts of moisture could even rot the wood and fungi would soon develop and ruin the surface.

This article will explain how to restore your damaged hardwood floor and make it look immaculate again.

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Are you looking for carpenter bees treatment? While carpenter bees are not quite as destructive as termites, keeping them out of your home and wood is still a bit of a challenge. Getting rid of these wood-destroying insects may seem difficult, but there are a few simple tips that can help you eliminate these pests from your home for good.

Before you begin, you should know that carpenter bees, unlike termites, do not actually eat wood. They simply remove it in order to build nests. That means if they have gotten into your house, they are feeding on something else – most likely from your kitchen! Carpenter bees eat many of the same things we do, including sugars, syrups, protein, starches, and other sweets. Keep your food in airtight containers to keep these bugs out of your home and away from a food source.

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Ginseng has been grown and harvested in Asia for centuries, and it was one of the first natural resources to be gathered and sold abroad after Europeans first began to colonize North America.

Thanks to the intense demand of the Chinese for American ginseng, the harvesting of ‘seng roots quickly became one of the most common ways to make money in the Appalachian Mountain and Upper Midwest regions of the United States.

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries ginseng roots were gathered by the wagon load in the “hills and hollers” of the Appalachians, but today most of the wild ginseng that was so prevalent in the woods back then is gone.

Nowadays the best way to make money by selling ginseng is to plant your own crop and cultivate it. Make no mistake about it, growing a ginseng crop takes a lot of work and it takes several years for a crop to mature enough for digging, but the financial rewards can be substantial.

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