Great outdoor living spaces should be enjoyed by the whole family. During the last year many of you have started using your outdoor living spaces more often. You may have run out of fun ideas for spending time outside. Here are some suggestions for fun family activities to try.
Cornhole
This is a game where two people alternate tossing corn bags into a hole in the board across from where they are standing. Cornhole has its own standards and tournaments. I will summarize the rules but for the minutia check out the rules on the American Cornhole Association website.
Take two cornhole boards and place them 27 feet apart on a level surface
Stand no closer than the front edge of your board when you toss
Toss the corn bag into the hole
Alternate tosses between the competitors
Each player must pitch all four bags to close an inning
Players then swap boards and score themselves
A bag in the hole is 3 points
A bag on top of the board gets 1 point
The first player or team that receives 21 points by the bottom of a given inning wins
You can buy cornhole boards from the American Cornhole Association or from someone near you. Another option is a family project to make the boards and the corn bags. You will have to go to the American Cornhole Association website for the exact dimensions of everything. You can paint the boards any way you want after sanding the tops very smooth.
Bocce Ball
You will need a set of eight large balls and a smaller target ball called the pallina. Each set of four balls has a different pattern or color from the other set of four balls so you can distinguish them by team. You can play on any surface provided there are no obstructions on the court in any direction. Variations in grade or terrain features are considered okay. Competition courts are 91 feet long and 13 feet long. Backyard courts can be any size. A good size is 60 feet by 12 feet. The foul line is 10 feet from each end line and the center court is 30 feet from the end line.
Each team has one, two, or four people and four balls
A coin toss picks the first team up
They can choose either their team’s color or pattern or to toss the pallina
Balls are thrown, rolled, or bounced underhanded
One team rolls or tosses the pallina into play
The toss must cross the center line and stay on the court to count
If it fails to stay on the court, the other team gets to toss it
The team that tosses the pallina gets the first throw of the balls
The goal is to get as close to the pallina as possible
The ball must stay on the court
After the first ball is thrown, the other team throws their ball to get their first ball toward the pallina
Their first ball must stay on court
If a team fails to get their first ball on court, they must continue to try until they get it or run out of balls
Each team gets one throw and then the other team throws
Once both teams have gotten their first ball, the team with the ball closest to the pallina is the “in” team
The other team is the “out” team
The “in” team steps aside and lets the “out” team throw until they get to be the “in” team or run out of balls
This continues until all balls are thrown
That concludes a “frame” and points are awarded
The teams switch sides and do it again
The person throwing the ball must stay behind the foul line for their team
Balls that land off the court are dead until the next frame
If the pallina is thrown or hit out of bounds, the frame ends with no points awarded
One point is awarded to the team for each ball closer to the pallina than the other team’s closest ball
Only one team scores per frame
First team to reach 16 points wins
It is a good idea to read the complete rules at Backyardbocce.com for the subtle nuances that we may not have inadvertently left out.
Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun activity for any age. Basically, you give each team a list of things to find in the outdoor space and the team that finds the most items in the time limit wins. Try this at a local park for more space to spread out.
Teams can be any number from one to about five.
Designate a time limit from an hour for a relatively easy list for younger kids to a longer time for a tough list for adults.
Include some easy-to-find items even if the participants are adults to build confidence.
Once an item is located, it should be photographed for proof it has been found.
Make sure you do not award the prize until you have verified each item was found by looking at the photographs.
Decide if the winning team gets a prize that all members can share or individual prizes for each member of the team, or simply bragging rights.
Make Some Food
After all that running around, your family is going to be hungry. Let each person cook their own hot dog around the firepit. Then for dessert, make some smore’s. Most people know how to make this desert –graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows grilled on a stick. There are some “fancy” ways to make smore’s that are a bit different.
Use another candy bar in place of the plain chocolate bar. It is easier to cut the candy bar into individual pieces if you freeze it then slice it cold.
You can add fruit to the sandwich, especially sliced strawberries or berries.
Add caramel sauce or chocolate sauce to the smore’s
Replace the graham cracker with a cookie or flat ice cream cone wafers
Use Nutella instead of chocolate
You can make Elvis S’mores – graham cracker with peanut butter, banana, bacon, and marshmallow
Put candied bacon on top of the marshmallow for a salty-tangy taste
Host a Sports Watching Party
If you have an outdoor television, you can host outside sports watching parties. The Royals will look great on a large television this spring. Every seat will be a good seat at your house. With an outdoor audio system, the game will sound great, too.
Set Your Outdoor Living Space Up for Success
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can install a large screen television and outdoor audio system so you can enjoy your outdoor living space while you enjoy the game. Our trained Blue Crew knows how to install and tune the audio system for the television as well as listening to music outdoors. We can design a customized system to fit your outdoor living space and enhance your outdoor experience.
Need your outdoor living space fluffed up before a big event? We can come out and make sure everything is as close to perfect as is humanly possible. We typically come out the day before the event, so it still looks stunning at showtime.
Don’t have an outdoor living space? We can design one with your landscape and wishes in mind. Once we have worked through the design, our Blue Crew will install it for you, and can even maintain it if you like.
Contact Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping today to help you get your landscape and outdoor living space just the way you want it so your family can get the most out of your outdoor experience.
Just as this is the season to spring clean your house, it is the season to spring clean your garden. There are some tasks that should be done every spring to increase the chances of your grasses, perennials, trees, and shrubs doing well for the growing season. After you clean up your garden, it will be time to plant spring annuals. Here is a list of tasks to do to set your landscape up for success.
Remove Winter Debris
Remove leaves from your garden beds. You should also remove any straw, hay, or mulch you used to cover and insulate your plants. A buildup of these materials will make it hard for seedlings and perennials to reach the surface through the cover before they starve. They also provide a haven for pests to overwinter in. Now that it is spring, you want to show them the door. Similarly, you will need to either remove any leaves on the turf grass and compost them or run over them with the lawnmower to shred them and leave them to fertilize your lawn.
Prune Trees and Shrubs
It is time to prune trees and shrubs that have flowers on new wood. Prune out damaged and dead branches on all trees and shrubs. Be careful, though, as some branches may look dead after the bad winter storm but will put on new growth if you allow them to. If you are in doubt about a branch, very lightly scratch the bark off at the end of the branch. If you see a layer of green, the branch is still alive. Do not prune more than 1/3rd of the tree or shrub or you will injure it by over pruning. Do not compost trimmings from trees and shrubs as they might have diseases or pests that will contaminate your compost pile. Bag the trimmings and throw them in the trash. If they are too large to bag, cut into smaller pieces.
Cut Back Perennials
Just as you prune trees and shrubs, you need to cut back perennials. Perennials need to have diseased, dead, and damaged parts of the plant cut off so that they do not become infested with diseases and fungi. Remove leaves, shoots, and stems from the very bottom of the plant. Cut perennials to a few inches above the soil level if they bloom on new wood. If they bloom on old wood, wait until just after they have their flowers to cut them back. Bag the trimmings and throw them out.
Spring Ornamental Grasses Care
Ornamental grasses will benefit from being cut back in the spring. Cool season grasses need to be cut back early in the spring, when the snow and ice melt. Leave 1/3rd of the plant or you can damage the grass and it will always have problems. Warm season grasses need to be cut back to the ground, or no more than a few inches tall in mid to late spring. Before you begin trimming a grass, put on some heavy leather gloves as grass blades can be very sharp and will cut you badly. You can compost healthy grass clippings. Throw away sick or pest-ridden ones.
Every few years, ornamental grasses benefit from being divided in early spring. This involves digging up the plant by the roots and cutting it into smaller pieces. Make sure each piece has a section of roots. You then leave part of the plant there and plant the other pieces other places in your landscape or give them away. This reinvigorates the parent plant and gives you more grass plants for free.
Mulching Protects Your Plants
As one of your last steps, mulch all your garden beds, your trees, and your shrubs. Mulch soaks up water and releases it slowly to keep your plant hydrated between waterings. It also keeps the soil cooler in hot temperatures and keeps it warmer in cold weather. Finally, it helps keep weed seeds from growing in your garden.
Mulch should be three inches deep when you first put it down. Every year after that, add an inch of mulch to the top of the old mulch. Mulch breaks down during the year and loses about an inch in height each year. As the mulch breaks down, it fertilizes the plants around it. Do not mulch where you have planted seeds until they have sprouted. When they are over an inch tall, put down an inch of mulch. As they continue to grow, increase the amount of mulch until you have three inches of mulch in total. Do not let mulch touch the bark of trees and shrubs or they can rot. Leave a space around the trees and shrubs to prevent that. Leave at least a 4-inch space between the top of your mulch and the bottom of your siding. Some pests, especially termites, use the mulch as a bridge to reach your house and chew on it.
After Spring Cleaning
After the Clean-Up
After your garden is cleaned up, there are a few last tasks to do. Apply a slow-release fertilizer before mulching such at 13-13-13 or osmocote to provide essential nutrients for your plants. Spring is also a good time to apply a pre-emergent on top of the mulch to help prevent weeds. Make sure not to spread pre-emergents where you have planted seeds, or want to, or it will kill them. Both the fertilizers and pre-emergents work best when watered in after applying. Once it gets closer to Mother’s Day the threat of freeze usually passes and you can begin planting annual flowers such as begonias or petunias to add those pops of color to your garden.
Getting Help with Spring Cleaning in Your Landscape
Some people really like spring cleaning in their landscape. Others do not have the time or inclination to do so. Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can do your spring cleaning for you and get everything ready to shine. If you enjoy the result, but not the process, of doing these spring tasks, contact Royal Creations today and we can set you up on our Garden Care Subscription plan so you can spend more time with your family and less time with weekend chores.
Enhance your outdoor living space with outdoor audio. Eliminate the need to try to play your indoor system loudly enough to be heard outside, with the tinny sound that entails. With the right equipment, not only will it sound wonderful, but you can play your music on the patio while the kids can play their music by the pool. That keeps everyone happier.
If you have decided to install an outdoor audio system, there are several steps. Skipping a step can mean you are just never quite happy with the install. With the amount of money you can spend, and the amount of labor involved, you want to get it right the first time.
Make A Plan
Before you buy any equipment, you need to assess your space. Figure out how big the space is, what architectural features it has, and how many speakers it will take to cover it. A pair of speakers can cover 200-400 square feet in most cases. Too few speakers lead to overworking the ones you purchase, which will have poor sound quality and can blow the speakers. Too many speakers can waste money.
The acoustics outside are very different than the acoustics inside. Outside there are no walls to contain and reflect the sound. Unless you distribute the speakers properly, and use the correct speaker for each area, you will have loud spots and quiet spots. If you do not position the speakers right, you may flood your neighbors with sound. That would be a bad thing.
Speaker Considerations
The first rule when buying speakers is do not ruin your outdoor system by scrimping on your speakers. The second rule is buy outdoor speakers. Indoor speakers are just not built to last in the face of rain, snow, wind, sun, heat, and cold. The first time they get wet they will stop working. Even if you could somehow put the speakers in little houses to protect them, indoor speakers cannot handle the volume needed for the outdoors. They are designed for small, enclosed areas and are set to use the walls and ceiling to contain and reflect the sound.
Types Of Outdoor Speakers
Outdoor speakers come in wireless and hard-wired versions. The advantage of wireless speakers is that you can easily add them to your indoor receiver and control the whole thing on your smartphone. The disadvantage is that if you do not have a fast and stable internet connection in your home, the wireless speakers will not be able to deliver consistent sound. If your receiver does not have enough slots for the speakers you are using, you may have to get a new receiver that does.
Hard wired speakers deliver the best sound. They also work best for permanently mounted systems. One caution is that you must use heavy-duty, outdoor wire. Using internal speaker wire will cause static and the wires do not last long buried.
An example of an outdoor speaker installed in a flower bed.
When spacing speakers, be careful about putting them too close together. You will need to space them at least ten feet apart or they will interfere with one another. When placing the speakers, alternate right and left speakers so you have stereo wherever you are in the yard. You can purchase speakers that are disguised as garden rocks or bury more modern speakers partially for a sleek look. Place your speakers under natural cover such as trees and bushes to protect them so they will last longer.
Receivers And Amplifiers
You will need a receiver and an amplifier. The receiver gets the signals from the radio station and amplifies it before sending it to the speakers. However, it can only amplify the signal so much. You will need a multichannel amplifier to boost the signal so that it will reach each speaker with the strength necessary to have even sound around your space. Buy one that is compatible with your speakers.
Even if you have an indoor receiver, it is a good idea to buy a multi-channel receiver for your outdoor system. This allows each speaker to get a dedicated receiver channel. You can then segment your audio into zones just as your sprinklers have zones. One of the zones can be your indoor speakers so you can control your indoor and outdoor system from your smart phone. The zones can balance out soft and loud volume in your space. You can even use different zones to play separate channels. Make sure your receiver is compatible with the amplifier and speakers. Do not under power your speakers. You will need at least 40 watts per channel.
Now you have all components for your outdoor audio system. Be sure to test your speakers before final installation to make sure they are working as you expect before filling in the trenches that hold your wires.
Get A Professional To Design and Install Your Outdoor Audio System
Installing an outdoor audio system has a lot of moving parts. It also requires a lot of work. If you get it wrong, you will have to dig up the wires and move the speakers around until it sounds right. This can be very time consuming and incredibly frustrating. Consider how much your time is worth before tackling a big job like this.
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping has experience installing outdoor audio systems. Our Blue Crew includes trained audio/visual experts that can install an outdoor audio system that will serve your needs, the first time.
We use Coastal Source speakers. They are durable, reliable, and have the many shapes and sizes of speakers it requires to really fill your outdoor living room with the sounds you love. As always, our goal is to bring you the ultimate outdoor experience. Contact us today to request an outdoor audio system consult.
Winter burn is caused when an evergreen tree or shrub loses more water than it can take in. The damage ranges from brown, dry needle tips and leaf edges to the reddening of entire needles and leaves. In a bad case, entire branches can turn brown and die. Some trees, such as the one above, die entirely. Worse, the symptoms usually do not show until spring growth begins. Understanding the problem can help you prevent it.
Evergreens Never Go Totally Dormant
Even in the dead of winter, the stomates, or pores of the evergreen tree or shrub let some water out of the needle or leaf. This water has to be replaced with water the roots draw up into the tree. When the roots cannot draw up as much moisture as the tree lets out, winter burn occurs. There are several reasons why a tree or shrub cannot draw up as much water as it loses.
Drought During the Year
Roots cannot draw up water is the soil is too dry. If, at any point in the year, there has been dry weather, the tree enters the winter with drought stress. In fact, a tree or shrub that has suffered drought stress will always do worse in the winter than one who has been kept moist.
Frozen Soil, Frozen Roots
Evergreen trees and shrubs older than 2 years old should have roots that go deep in the soil. If the soil freezes deeper than the roots go, it cuts the roots off from soil moisture. It does not matter how moist the soil is, if it is frozen the roots cannot access that soil moisture. Evergreens younger than two years old do not have deep roots, so even a shallow soil freeze may cut them off from soil moisture.
Wind and Sun Are Not an Evergreen’s Friend
Winter burn is usually the worst on the side of the tree or shrub that faces the wind. As the wind goes over the stomates, it pulls water from them. This increases how much water the needles or leaves lose and increases the need for the roots to draw up moisture from the soil.
An evergreen shrub showing windburn on the side where the prevailing winds hit it.
Direct sunlight or reflected sunlight also increases water loss. If a tree or shrub get warm enough, the stomates open wider, letting more water out. The reflected sunlight and warmth from a building’s surface, especially bricks, concrete, or light-colored metal siding, can really burn a plant. For example, ornamental juniper is prone to this type of injury.
Preventing Winter Burn Starts with Water
When there is insufficient rain to keep the soil moist, it is important to give your tree or shrub a deep watering, regardless of the season. When the tree or shrub is under two years old, it needs a lot of water all at once every week during the spring, summer, and fall. Watering a little water every few days keeps the roots shallow. Deep watering trains the roots to grow deep into the soil, where the moisture they need is naturally present.
When evergreens are older than two, they only require watering spring through fall when it has not rained enough for a month to keep the soil moist. Again, deep watering is important. Stop watering when a good rain comes along or it freezes. Even if there is not a dry spell, when the first frost is forecast, but before it arrives, water the evergreens deeply to make sure the roots are well hydrated when the soil freezes.
Sealing the Water In
There is a product available that can greatly reduce the water an evergreen loses in the winter. Wilt-Pruf® uses a substance found in pine pitch to build a molecular film on the leaves or needles of evergreens that helps stop water loss. It must be applied on a warm enough day that the spray does not freeze before it reaches the evergreen. Wilt-Pruf® requires 2-3 hours of ultraviolet light to set up, so spray it on when there is at least that much daylight left before dark. Wilt-Pruf® gradually wears away, one molecular layer at a time, so it will need to be sprayed again on an above freezing day in three to four months if winter is not over.
Watering in Winter
Since evergreens never go totally dormant, they must be watered during the winter. When the temperature is above 40F, check the soil around the evergreens. If it is dry, give the trees and shrubs a big drink. It is best to do this mid-morning to allow the water to soak in before the soil freezes again. It is very important to water the evergreens whenever the soil is dry, and it is not frozen. It is essential they get water through the end the cold temperatures. When spring growth starts, revert to the regular watering schedule.
Mulch Will Help
Mulch conserves the water applied to the soil. It then slowly releases it to the evergreen. Mulch also protects the roots from the cold. Mulch 3-4 inches deep. Spread it three to six feet in diameter around the tree or shrub. Do not let the mulch actually touch the trunk or it will cause rot.
An evergreen showing winter burn to the tips of its needles.
Winter burn is frustrating because most damage is not visible until spring growth begins. The thing to remember with evergreens is to hydrate when the day is over 40F and the soil is dry. This will give them the best chance of surviving the winter without any injuries. For more information on taking care of your evergreens, ask us here at Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping.
