With the summer in full swing, many think more about vacation destinations and days at the ball park than they do their own homes. This month's newsletter focuses on two topics that any homeowner can relate to: Improving your Backyard and Home Emergency Preparedness.

Make Your Backyard a Summer Sanctuary

Fighting the summer crowds and traffic at the neighborhood park or beach can be enough to make even the most outgoing personalities wish they'd stayed home. Instead of, why not make transform your backyard into a tranquil retreat all your own? Here are a few simple improvements any homeowner can make the yard a destination worth traveling to.

Keep it Clean

While yard work may not be the most appealing pastime, a little sprucing up will make it easier to enjoy your backyard when all is said and done. Keep your lawn well trimmed and watered (it's easy, and it does much to improve your yard's appeal). Trim out-of control hedges, bushes and vines.

Pruning can improve the health and appearance of trees in your yard, but should be done with care. Making cuts at the wrong angle or during the wrong time of year can cause more harm to the tree than good. When in doubt, hire a professional pruning service, especially if any branches threaten power lines.

Have a Seat

Unless you particularly enjoy grass-stained pants, investing in some outdoor seating is an absolute must. Garden benches can provide a nice respite as well as antique style. Choose patio or deck furniture that match the surroundings, pass the grade for comfort and are durable enough to remain out in the elements. And at the end of the day, nothing quite sets one's mind at ease like the relaxing sway of an old-fashioned rope hammock.

Space to Play

Many homeowners make the mistake of over-filling their backyard with trees, lawn furniture, and the like. Don't forget the fact that one of the most attractive aspects of a backyard is open space itself. Space to play will be a hit with children and pets alike. When planting trees and bushes or adding other stationary elements to your backyard, consider how they might affect your yard's breathing room. If your yard is smaller in size, open air becomes even more prized.

Save Some Shade

While maintaining open areas is important, setting up shaded areas will allow you and your family to stay cool in the summer without having to constantly duck indoors. Perimeter trees can provide shade and privacy at the same time. Willow oak rises to about 50 feet in maturity and provides ample shade. Other excellent shade trees include ash, maple, elm and birch.

Canopies that extend from the over the patio or deck can also filter the sunlight. These can either be freestanding structures or lathes that extend from the house.

Fire it Up

When the sun goes down, outdoor fireplaces or fire pits warm you during cool summer evenings and set the yard alight with unmatched atmosphere. Outdoor fire features server as natural gathering places when entertaining, and fire pits are ideal for creating all the fun of campfires right at home. Outdoor fire features vary from elaborate built-in fireplaces to stone ringed fire pits to chimeneas (the clay Mexican fireplaces traditionally used for bread making).

Light the Night

Adding outdoor lighting is another way to add hours of outdoor enjoyment in the warmer months. Lights mounted on the exterior of the house can provide illumination. Consider mounting tree lights or lanterns where possible. Entrance lights or tier lights can provide subtle illumination along walkways, and well lighting is a popular choice for accenting trees, bushes and the sides of the house.

Prepare your home for emergencies

Disasters strike with little or no warning, their effects lasting far longer than the events themselves. During emergencies decisions must be made quickly under the most pressing of circumstances. The best defense for you, your family, and your home is to make the right preparations before a disaster occurs.

The first step is to get properly informed. Learn which disasters could potentially affect you and how to prepare for them. You'll then be able to determine what still needs to be done to make your home as safe as possible. Be sure to communicate with everyone in your household, and together come up with a Home Disaster Plan. Some items to include:

• "Safe zones" within the home during different kinds of emergencies, and what to do once there.
• Safe evacuation routes/procedures and designated meeting spots.
• Emergency telephone numbers and when to use them.
• A designated, out-of-state "family contact" (it's often easier to call long distance after disasters)
• How and when to turn off utilities.

Every home should also have an Emergency Supplies Kit. This kit should be stocked with items that would fill your most basic needs in the days following a disaster (a detailed list of emergency supplies can be found on the website of the American Red Cross). These can be stored in a large covered trashcan, duffel bag, or sealed plastic container. The following essentials, however, should be kept in an easy-to-carry container in the event of an evacuation:

• One gallon of water per person per day. Enough for three days is ideal.
• A three-day stock of non-perishable foods that require little or no preparation
• A fully stocked First Aid Kit
• Mess kits or plastic cups, plates, and utensils
• Battery operated radio (preferably a NOAA weather radio)
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Cash and/or traveler's checks
• Utility knife and manual can-opener
• Matches
• Emergency preparedness manual
• Toilet paper
• Soap
• Personal hygiene and feminine products
• One complete change of clothing per person
• Sturdy shoes or work boots
• Rain gear
• Blankets or sleeping bags
• Specialty items such as baby formula, prescription drugs, and contact lenses

Cindy Joynt -- Georgia Prudential Realty

(678) 313-4018

www.gaflproperties.info