[0:00] when it comes to landscaping and curb appeal 
I've got five tips plus a few extra bonus tips  
[0:05] that are going to help you get where you want to 
be when it comes to tip number one I'm going to  
[0:09] be referencing garden beds now as far as the 
layout of your garden bed goes there's a few  
[0:15] simple tools that you probably already have around 
the house that are going to help you make sure you  
[0:19] get everything lined up just how you want we're 
going to start with a hose as well as some string  
[0:26] now you can probably see where I'm going with 
this the hose is flexible but not too flexible  
[0:31] and a string is going to be perfect for a 
straight line so this is going to allow you  
[0:37] to lay out your garden and get that organic look 
that everybody's going for and this is going to  
[0:43] give you that straight line but it's not limited 
to just a straight line by tapping some spikes  
[0:48] in the ground and pulling this from one end to 
the other you can also wrap this around a tree  
[0:53] and use it to trace out a diameter or if you just 
need a perfect circle in your lawn somewhere you  
[0:59] can simply Hammer a stake in the ground and Trace 
that out whether you're using a hose or a string  
[1:05] it is going to be ideal to go ahead and Mark those 
lines with a can of spray paint and that is going  
[1:11] to set up the next step in the process which is 
cutting the perfect Edge in those garden beds  
[1:17] okay to get started I'm gonna I'm gonna Begin 
by raking back some of this mulch away from  
[1:22] the edge since we need to dig that edge out I'm 
going to get this mulch back into the garden bed  
[1:27] and then we can begin cutting that edge with our 
Edge tool okay so you've got your garden bed all  
[1:35] laid out and now you're trying to figure out how 
you're going to cut the edge so that it not only  
[1:40] looks good but you can keep the grass from growing 
in to the garden bed and the problem with that is  
[1:47] eventually it is going to work its way into the 
garden bed so everything that you do whether it  
[1:52] be plastic edging you're going to have to keep up 
with it after a couple of years you might get a  
[1:58] little bit longer with some plastic edging however 
a good clean line like this is not only easy to  
[2:04] achieve but it's easy to maintain whereas with 
plastic edging when it comes time to repair it  
[2:09] you're going to have to rip it all out clean 
it up put either new stuff back down or come  
[2:14] back to a nice clean Edge like this now the way 
to get a nice clean Edge like this is to make a  
[2:19] vertical cut about four inches deep into the soil 
and then taper back your garden bed on about a 45  
[2:26] degree angle that will allow you to add the mulch 
to your garden bed and roll it over into a try  
[2:32] off of March and that will keep the lawn from 
growing into the garden bed all right so now that  
[2:39] I got this whole Edge kind of cleaned out with 
the edging tool I'm going to come back and just  
[2:44] clean up the edge of the lawn so any grass that is 
hanging over gets kind of cut off before we back  
[2:49] fill it with that mulch now when you're edging a 
a garden bed like this even with the mulch back in  
[2:56] what I normally do is I take the the edger or 
string trimmer and I flip it over upside down  
[3:03] and then you hold it like this and you walk 
backwards that's because when this rotates it's  
[3:12] going to be kicking out all the mulch and grass 
clippings that that way so if you're holding it  
[3:18] upside down and walking backwards it's all 
all the spray is going to be away from you
[3:48] [Music]  
[3:49] so the next tip on the list is going to be pruning 
trees now trees some of the limbs on this tree  
[3:55] need to be cut up because the tree is too low 
to mow under otherwise you might just need to  
[4:00] prune the trees usually people go straight for the 
chainsaw which these are a lot of fun to play with  
[4:06] however that is a big expensive and dangerous tool 
the other thing is with a chainsaw blade you can't  
[4:13] really get down into the dirt what you might not 
know is that that reciprocating saw that's been  
[4:19] collecting dust that you got in that combo kit all 
you got to do is put a pruning blade on the end of  
[4:24] it and you're ready to go rip through some Limbs 
and prune some trees not only is this going to cut  
[4:29] through small limbs really quickly and efficiently 
it's going to be safe because it's only going  
[4:33] when you got the trigger on it it's not a loud 
obnoxious tool like a typical chainsaw is and  
[4:39] you can bury this blade in the dirt and it's no 
big deal when it comes time to replace the blades  
[4:44] they're super cheap and inexpensive to replace 
therefore this is tip number two on the list  
[4:52] now tip number three is going to be for planting 
and lawn care when it comes to planting there  
[4:58] is an auger attachment for your drill if you 
haven't seen these I highly recommend you go  
[5:02] get one it's perfect it's the perfect size for 
planting small plants but also you can drill a  
[5:08] few holes around larger plants loosen up that 
soil and get it out with a small shovel before  
[5:13] putting your plants into the ground now another 
thing you want to do before putting a plant into  
[5:17] the ground is you want to add a little bit of 
starter fertilizer to the hole and you can mix  
[5:21] that in with the additional soil as well as the 
existing soil mix that all together and then put  
[5:27] your pack that around your new plant into the 
ground and then you can take the bottom of a  
[5:33] shovel or the end the butt end of a shovel and 
pack that soil in around the plant so there's  
[5:38] no voids in the air and all of these steps are 
going to give your plant the best chance for  
[5:43] Success on the other hand as far as managing your 
lawn you've got a few different options now one  
[5:47] you can do all the research yourself and figure 
out what you're going to need to put down go to  
[5:52] the store or get the right stuff come back put 
it down and you're good or you can hire one of  
[5:58] those expensive lawn services to come out and 
apply it for you and it takes all the work off  
[6:03] your plate the third option is a brand like 
Sunday who actually will customize the lawn  
[6:08] plan for you based on your address figuring out 
exactly what you need what time of year you need  
[6:14] to put it down and they will deliver it to your 
doorstep making it quick and easy to do all the  
[6:19] extra leg work behind the scenes and get you 
the product you need to put down on your lawn  
[6:24] now the custom plan that Sunday put together for 
me included the core endurance which is going to  
[6:28] help promote growth in the early spring time and 
then they provided the core sea green which is  
[6:34] going to help keep things green in the late summer 
when we've got those hotter drier months [Music]  
[6:51] foreign so if you want to learn more about 
Sunday lawn care make sure you check out the  
[6:56] link in the description which is getsunday.com 
engineer and use code engineer20 to get 20 off  
[7:03] all lawn care plans when it comes to maintaining 
your concrete whether that be your sidewalk or  
[7:07] your driveway your approach whatever it may be 
eventually it's inevitable we're going to end  
[7:12] up with cracks in the concrete luckily dap has a 
the perfect product to fill those cracks it is a  
[7:19] dry mortar mix they're concrete crack filler 
it's got a a polymer a dry polymer and zero  
[7:25] shrinkage which is great because you simply 
just pour it into place level it out with a  
[7:30] brush and then come back and Mist it within 
four hours it's ready for light use and it's  
[7:35] fully cured within 24 hours now a bonus tip for 
maintaining your concrete is pressure washing we  
[7:41] all know that pressure washing your house is a 
good idea if you've got some mold or mildew on  
[7:45] there and you need to get that off that's pretty 
straightforward but when it comes to concrete  
[7:49] whether it be pavers or your actual concrete 
approach your sidewalks or whatnot people break  
[7:55] out their pressure washers all the time and go 
to town with the nozzle that came with it the  
[8:00] problem with that is you always will end up 
with lines in your concrete and it just looks  
[8:06] really really bad now if a turbo nozzle came with 
your pressure washer this is going to be a better  
[8:13] alternative than the standard nozzle this is 
going to swirl the pressure washer head around  
[8:20] this kind of swirls around in there and creates 
more disbursement of the the pressure itself but  
[8:28] I highly recommend this attachment right here 
this is a Surface Cleaner and the cool thing  
[8:34] about this is it hooks directly to the nozzle 
on your pressure washer the handle and this  
[8:39] thing inside spins around at about a million 
miles an hour and it gives you a very nice even  
[8:46] consistent clean it's even nicely encapsulated 
so that all the overspray doesn't go everywhere  
[8:52] it's self-contained underneath of this it keeps 
the nozzle head and the exact height off of the  
[9:00] surface so you get that nice consistent clean 
and not only does it do it consistently it does  
[9:05] it way faster because because you're cleaning this 
entire surface area versus just a small area with  
[9:11] even the turbo nozzle so I highly recommend go out 
and get a service cleaner and clean your sidewalks  
[9:17] and concrete approaches even your paper patios 
and all that stuff and you will thank me now  
[9:22] that you've got your Landscaping all dialed in you 
can really make it pop at night with some outdoor  
[9:28] lighting which brings me to my fifth and final 
tip outdoor lighting it is an easy way to make  
[9:35] this Landscaping come alive at night by adding 
some indirect lighting to those feature plants  
[9:40] whether it be trees or shrubs that you really want 
to highlight if you've got some great hardscapes  
[9:46] in your yard like we do with Boulder walls you can 
also highlight those as well that soft indirect  
[9:51] lighting is really easy on the eyes and looks 
great at night if you want to go for a permanent  
[9:56] approach you can hardwire those lights in it takes 
a little bit more work but it is worth it in the  
[10:01] long run or if you want to go for the cheap and 
easy route you can get some simple solar lights  
[10:06] and those will work just as well even though you 
might have to replace them every few years as a  
[10:11] matter of fact we've actually mixed the two 
when we were building the house we installed  
[10:15] some permanent hardwired lights to Accent those 
retaining walls and then once we got all our  
[10:19] Landscaping done we came back in with some solar 
lights to really accent the plants that went into  
[10:24] the garden beds thanks for watching all the way 
through the video and I hope and I enjoyed it and
[10:34] in the comments and if you want more videos like 
this make sure you hit that subscribe button right  
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until next time be safe and happy building [Music]  
[10:45] thank you for watching. 
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