Spruce up your Patio for Spring
Think green! It’s St. Patty’s Month and time to start thinking about revamping your patio and sprucing up your yard. Outdoor entertaining is one of our favorite things about living in the desert. Here are a few tips to get your yard ready for guests by creating cozy conversation areas, eating areas, entertaining areas and gardening areas.
Take a walk around and see what looks green and what looks drab. Those lantanas should be cut back as hard frost season is now behind us (we hope). Winter damage should be assessed and addressed. If your plantings survived – great, if not, remove and replace.
Add a water feature: A great way to entertain is with a firepit conversation area or cozy seating next to a soft water feature. There are many great options to choose from, but if you are a snowbird, you should stick to smaller water features that can be easily covered for the summer to avoid standing water - which attract varmints and mosquitos.
For entertaining, it’s easy to create an outside bar with the use of a planting bench along with a unique wine bottle or beverage holder. We used an old copper sink to keep our wine cool. At the end of the party, we simple opened the drain and let the ice melt over a plant.
Spruce up your furniture with a refurbishing protectant, new cushions or colorful accent pillows and a complimentary sunshade umbrella. Place your outdoor dining table close to your outside door to save steps when serving food.
Don’t forget to set your grill away from the entertaining areas to avoid smoke ruining a beautiful sunset gathering.
Lastly, call your friends and have a party!
Jo Parsons is a real estate concierge with Make Your Move Matter.
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