Home & Garden Month with Original Host of HGTV’s Groundbreaker, Joe Washington

SIMPLE WAYS & COOL NEW TOOLS TO REDUCE YOUR BACKYARD DIY & HOME FIX-IT WORKLOAD

HOME & GARDEN MONTH A GROUNDBREAKING HGTV ORIGINAL SHARES HIS TIMELY TIPS FOR SPRING

Home Improvement Expert Joe Washington Shows Your Viewers Innovative Ways to Use NEW Natural Methods to Improve your Home

Warmer days and shorter nights mean it’s time to get out garden tools, tidy up the yard and prepare your home spring and summer use.  In fact, creating a beautiful and comfortable outdoor living space has become a national obsession, according to Joe Washington, best known as the Emmy-winning original host of HGTV’s Groundbreakers. Joe is also an actor, and you may have seen him in movies like ANCHORMAN 2 and Forrest Gump.

Just in time to kick off the spring entertaining season, Joe is available to show your viewers some affordable ideas to create or rejuvenate their own backyard oasis, outdoor living rooms or outdoor kitchens. Washington will get you ready for outside projects and the many ways to get ready for an enjoyable spring and summer.
 
SOME TIMELY TOPICS FOR JOE’S SHOW & TELL:

  • STRESS RELIEF–Outdoor living spaces that cut yard maintenance & promote relaxation
  • ALL NATURAL–Planting strategies that will reduce the need for chemicals  
  • HOME IMPROVEMENT–Choose a DIY project like replacing old outdated faucets
  • BACKYARD BEAUTY–How to “deck” out a backyard that preserves the environment

TIPS FOR CREATING A BEAUTIFUL BACKYARD
TheHomeDepotVigoroIt’s time to go all out in your yard and it’s important to start with a quality fertilizer, and I found a great product at Home Depot. Vigoro Lawn Fertilizer allows you to distribute more fertilizer particles per square foot to deliver even feeding without burning existing grass. The formula improves your lawn’s ability to absorb water and nutrients, protecting it against heat and drought. Greening in just 72 hours, so Vigoro gets the job done fast. They have everything from bagged rock to mulch to soils to edible plants, which makes it the total lawn-care solution. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or an expert, or living in a city or the suburbs, Vigoro has everything to help you go all out in your yard this spring.

For More Information Visit: www.HomeDepot.com

IDEAS FOR REDUCING BACKYARD MAINTENANCE
echoI love cool tools, especially gadgets that make things easier. Check out this new ECHO 58-Volt Cordless String Trimmer, also from Home Depot. It’s equipped with a powerful battery and a trimmer that delivers the same professional-grade power as gas tools. It can handle even the thickest grass, and comes with a variabTheHomeDepotle speed trigger and adjustable cutting swath. You can also add blower, saw and hedge trimmer attachments to save money and space. ECHO’s Cordless System uses a 58-Volt battery platform to operate five different outdoor tools. Each tool features a brushless motor for superior power and maximum run time. Keep an extra battery on hand so you can move from mowing to trimming to edging without running out of power, or recharge batteries in under an hour so you are never waiting to finish a job.

For More Information Visit: www.HomeDepot.com

NUMBER ONE TIP FOR A GREAT LAWN
rainbirdOther than having a good fertilizer, it is water! That is why an automatic sprinkler system is a home improvement project worth considering. I recommend the by Rain Bird irrigation systems for its intelligent use of water. I have had one for 25 years. In less than a day, a homeowner can install the fully automated, automatic in-ground sprinkler system for less than $200–a fraction of the cost of a professionally installed sprinkler system. There are no tangled hoses to deal with and you will never again have to drag your sprinklers around the yard.  It’s Easy-to-Install and will save homeowner’s time and water, all summer long.

For More Information Visit: www.RainBird.com

RECOMMENDATION IN PLACES WHERE WATER IS SCARCE
rainbirdRain is scarce in a lot of areas on the country, and Rain Bird has a great solution there too. Their Sub-Surface Emitter Tubing system is the most efficient method of watering gardens because it saves the homeowner up to 70 percent of water compared to traditional irrigation. That’s because it places the water directly at the plants roots, helping to drive the roots to down, not to the surface like traditional watering. The tubing system is unique because it can be buried under the surface with no visible signs of any drip lines.  Its exclusive Copper Shield Technology is designed to prevent clogging and root intrusion, delivering even water flow all the way down the 50’ of tubing, so there is no loss of flow along the entire length.

For More Infromation Visit: www.RainBird.com

THINGS THAT MAKE SPRING CLEANUP EASIER
EYS LogoThere’s nothing like a coat of paint to spruce up your space; but painting can be messy if you aren’t using the right tools. If you haven’t tried it, look for FrogTape for use when painting is amazing. It has a patented PaintBlock® Technology with a super-absorbent polymer which reacts with latex paint and instantly gels to form Amy9a micro-barrier that seals the edges of the tape, preventing paint bleed. FrogTape makes everyone paint like a professional. Also, FrogTape is kicking off its fifth annual Earn Your Stripes® room makeover contest, beginning April 1st until July 1st.  DIYers in the U.S. and Canada can submit before, during and after photos of their room transformations using FrogTape® for a chance to win a $5,000 cash grand prize.  To enter visit FrogTape.com/EarnYourStripes. Additionally, all approved entrants will receive a free roll of FrogTape® Multi-Surface painters tape.

For More Information Visit: www.FrogTape.com/EarnYourStripes

WHAT PLANTS TO GROW IN YOUR AREA
black_eyed_Susan_by_scottstaleyIN THE SOUTH, my favorite is Black-Eyed Susan because loves the heat.  I also love the Obedient Plant. This fast-spreading plant offers beautiful spikes of snapdragon-like flowers in late summer. Native to the region, it'll add easy-growing grace to your garden as long as you give it plenty of room to roam. Plant Name: Physostegia Virginian Growing Conditions: Full sun or part shade and moist soil Size: To 4 feet tall and wide Grow it with: Black-eyed Susans for a stunning contrast in color and texture. Both bloom like crazy in late summer and into fall.

IN THE NORTHEAST, consider planting colorful but edible herbs.  Let pink-flowered creeping thyme (Thymus vulgaris) cascade over the edge of a pot. For brighter color, add the golden foliage of citrus-scented lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus) to the arrangement. Swap ornamental, flowering salvias for their equally attractive culinary cousins: Salvia officinalis 'Tricolor' and 'Aurea'. Thyme_Thymus_Vulgaris__SeedsTheir felted oval leaves blend beautifully with flowering plants and add flavor to poultry dishes. Herbs earn their keep in the landscape, too. In place of ornamental alliums, try chives (Allium schoenoprasum) and garlic chives (Allium tuberosum), which add vertical accents and long-lasting flowers to the garden and spice to the dinner table. Want an edible alternative to annual bedding plants? Leafy lettuce, chard, and kale offer exotic color and texture to flowerbeds and borders. Turn an eyesore fence into a productive patch with climbing beans, cucumbers, squash, and gourds. Let their foliage, flowers, and fruit add shade, privacy, and food for the table. Bon appetit!

June-9b-2013-18IN THE MIDWEST, shrub roses play a key role in the garden, because they can stand alone or can be combined with perennials and other shrubs. 'Paloma Blanca', a shrub with double white, cup-shape flowers in clusters, will turn heads — and noses — with its fragrance.  'Carefree Beauty' (Zone 4) puts out its double medium-pink flowers all summer. The flowers are fragrant and good-sized — about 4 inches across. You'll have the added benefit of orange hips to decorate the winter landscape. Carefree Wonder ('Meipitac'), hardy to Zone 4, blooms with fragrant semidouble rich-pink flowers on arching canes. It flowers continually through the season on a smallish-size shrub, just 4 feet high and wide. Glossy green foliage shows off the flowers. 'Tahitian Sunset' (Zone 4), a hybrid tea that grows to 5 feet high, brightens any garden with its yellow-orange buds that open to peachy apricot-pink while holding on to some yellow highlights. Its long stems are perfect for cutting, and the flowers — which keep coming — can be 5 inches across. With their strong anise scent, they can make quite a statement. The David Austin rose Heritage ('Ausblush'), hardy to Zone 5, looks like a delicate antique variety, but it holds its own against disease. Its cupped antique-pink flowers have an old-fashioned quartered look; the lovely fruity fragrance and soft green foliage complete the perfect picture. Heritage grows about 5 feet high.

colorful-cactus-21979036IN THE SOUTHWEST AND DRYER CLIMATES, there are plenty of colorful cacti and agave. Datura is a sprawling native wild flower that blooms all summer, or you can mix it up with some Mexican tarragon.  And for some color penstemon with white flowers and purple salvia and even primrose.  What all of these have in common is they can handle the sun and they don’t require a lot of water.