* Mow to the right height. Set your mower to cut about three inches off the ground. Longer turf will retain more moisture and better shade the soil so the roots won't get dry. The shade helps to keep out crabgrass.
Tall grass is greener and more attractive. It also helps to mitigate brownouts that are common during the dog days of summer, according to money.com.
* Upgrade your house numbers. Get larger, more readable numbers at a home improvement store. Get some that are not only attractive but that can be easily read from a distance. Avoid frilly numbers.
* Remember to put up reflectors at the end of your driveway so visitors know when to turn in to your place. Reflectors help alert other drivers to a driveway.
* More expensive but very effective, replace a cracked or outdated walkways while it's still summer. Interlocking pavers make it easy to do the job yourself.
* Update your flower boxes. When fall bloomers, such as mums and autumn sage are finished blooming, cut back the plants and poke in evergreen branches.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
