Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

If you have kids who like to run through the sprinkler on a hot summer day, they might have fun with a bright and cheerful unit rather than a plain old metal one from the hardware store. Hey, they all work to water the plants, right?

Today we’ll take a look at some colorful sprinklers that were obviously designed with an eye toward pleasing the young-uns. You can pick them up at Amazon where none of them are very expensive.

Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Blossom Bright Sprinkler

“Fun will bloom in an instant when this beautiful bouquet of flowers is connected to your garden hose. It’s easy to keep cool when this sprinkler goes into action.”

SW Express Geyser Blast Sprinkler

“A spinning, spraying typhoon in your backyard! The unpredictable spraying action of this twisting sprinkler is a great way to keep lots kids cool on a hot day. Easily attaches to any standard garden hose.”

Wacky Water Volcano

“Super Soaker Wacky Water Volcano. Get soaked with the Wacky Water Volcano. Plug it in to any standard garden hose and dual jets create a constant spray of water for staying cool! But watch out! When the volcano wakes up and opens his eyes, he’s ready to blow! When he erupts, a drenching spray of water shoots out and soaks everyone in sight!”

Looking for a mulch that won’t decompose and need to be replaced year after year? Something that offers a striking and unique look in your yard? And something that’s eco-friendly?

You might take a look at tumbled recycled glass, or “glass mulch.”

Available in countless colors, these pebble-like nuggets can be turned into walkways or used in plant beds, much as you’d use wood chips. They allow water to drain down to keep trees and shrubs healthy while suppressing weed growth. The glass mulch is even purported to be a natural deterrent to slugs.

More information at Thom Steben Custom Glass.

When is the last time it rained? How much did it rain? If you’re a green thumb, these are the types of questions you’re going to be asking yourself. However, if you have a full-time or even a part-time job, it can be challenging to keep tabs on the weather.

Prevent your garden and flowers outdoors from getting dehydrated. Install an Illuminated Rain Gauge on your backyard fence or mount it on your patio wall. This rain gauge is easy to read, and illuminates at night so you can see it even during the evening. This rain gauge enables you to monitor how much rain has fallen 24 hours a day, and it’s calibrated for precise readings.

You can also mount this model in the ground, and it has a rustproof bracket.

Fences don’t necessarily have to be large structures that hide your home from the rest of the neighborhood. They can also be delicate accents used for highlighting certain areas in your front or backyard.

The Panacea Black Garden Fence Post is a simple fence design made from powder-coated steel. It measures 38” high and is finished in a classic black.

Use this fence to gate off your garden. This can help keep deer and any other animals out of your vegetable garden. Or, you can simply install it for decorative purposes alone. Colorful flowers and topiary shrubs or small trees deserve a space to shine. Add a brick or stone walkway as well as some basic patio furniture, and you can have a nice retreat for enjoying the outdoors.

Passionate gardeners know how important equipment is to their every day duties and tasks. Without cultivators, planters, trowels, gardening forks and knives, tending to the garden is much more challenging.

Make things easier on yourself with the All Things Cedar Potting Bench. This bench is ideal for greenhouses or even backyard sheds, or it can be used in the garage. The bench is crafted from quality cedar wood, making it durable for year round use.

Enjoy repotting flats, filling pots and transplanting flowers and bushes all in one convenient spot. The Western Red Cedar is sturdy, and the shelving gives you space to store tools, pots, seeds and other gardening essentials. You can even hang tools from the side and store larger planters on the bottom shelf.

You have probably acquired so many garden tools over the years. While the garage is a good place to store these items, it can cause your garage to look messy and unorganized.

A backyard shed like the Lifetime Garden Storage Shed provides you with a stylish place to put everything from lawn mowers to garden tools. This shed measures 15′ x 8′, and it features a house like design with its faux slate shingles, faux wood siding and shuttered windows.

The inside features convenient shelving for all of your essentials. Take some time to organize your garden hand tools, mulch, extra stone and bricks, etc., and then your belongings will be more accessible. With some window boxes and bright flowers, this shed can become a beautiful and functional structure in your yard.

Are you a regular green thumb? Then you need to put those talents to work. Even though you might not have enough space in you backyard, you can still plant flowers, herbs and vegetables on your balcony or small patio space.

The Flower House Portable Mini Greenhouse Kit pops right up, enabling you to harden off plants and provide tender, love and care to sprouting plants. Within seconds, you can setup the greenhouse or take it down. This model provides three feet of space so your precious plants can thrive.

This greenhouse is ideal for small spaces, but it still gives you some of the benefits of having a greenhouse. In addition to protecting your house from pesky insects and animals, it also conserves heat and acts like a hot house.

Mowing the grass can take a toll on your body, and it also pollutes the environment. Instead of wasting your time this summer mowing every other day to maintain your manicured lawn, feel free to give your mower away for good.

Korean velvet grass is an alternative turf that can create a whimsical environment in your yard. This grass is different from the common grass you might be used to, because as it grows, it creates ripples and mounds. It’s really an interesting effect, and the best part of this turf is that you don’t have to mow it.

If you’re no longer into a manicured lawn or tending to the outside of your home as much as you did when you were younger, maybe it’s time to renovate the lawn.

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Patio dining and lounging is enjoyable, but you always have to keep in mind that other animals as well as insects can invade this space. When eating your BBQ straight from the grill, the last thing you want to be doing is slapping away mosquitoes.

The Four Attractant Mosquito Trap uses light, vibrations, heat and a scent (four things) to attract mosquitoes into the trap. Basically, it’s designed to lure these pesky insects in. The heat mimics the natural body heat of a human or animal, and scent is made using octenol, which is found in human breath and sweat.

This model has been field tested, and it successfully captured 1,343 mosquitoes in one evening. This is perfect if you live near a heavily wooded area or pond.

As spring comes to the forefront, it’s important to keep in mind that some of your plants aren’t as weather-hardy as others. When the temperatures suddenly drop during the transition from winter to spring, certain plants don’t endure the wacky weather.

The Glass House Cloche is a wood and glass structure for protecting your plants from inclement weather. This decorative cloche can be used to cover a single plant or a plot of soil, and it’s large enough to house one large plant or five to eight smaller plants. This model measures 22” H X 15” W X 15” D.

In addition to its rustic farmhouse charm, this lawn and garden accessory can shelter those delicate vegetables or flowers from sudden drops in temperature.