From Swampy to Stunning
Get Trail- Ready
If prepared for the elements, you can enjoy hiking year-round. But if you embark on a trail in the extreme heat without the means to handle it, you place yourself on a perilous path. Heat, unlike cold, cannot be mitigated by simply bundling up. From maintaining proper hydration to donning the proper attire, here are three tips to ensure your summer hikes are safe and enjoyable! REMEMBER HYDRATION AND SUNSCREEN. Staying hydrated is key in any season, but it is especially vital when the summer heat beats down on you! Pack extra water for your hike and have water in your vehicle after you finish. If you are tired of lugging around extra water bottles, a hydration pack can help you carry extra H20 hands-free and take sips while on the move. To reduce the risk of painful sunburns, apply sunscreen to all exposed skin areas. Additionally, take a break every 40 minutes to reapply sunscreen as needed. AVOID HEAT EXHAUSTION. Heat exhaustion is the preamble to heat stroke, and its symptoms include headache, dizziness, muscle cramps, and copious amounts of sweating. If you experience these symptoms, seek out rest and shade immediately ; it’s a surefire sign you need to lower your body temperature. Once you stop sweating altogether, you should start worrying because that is a symptom of a life-threatening heat stroke! CHOOSE THE PROPER PATH AND ATTIRE. When hiking in the summer, it’s best to pick a path with ample shade. Alternatively, you can hike in darkness. Night hikes, illuminated by headlamps and flashlights, are a great way to escape the summer heat and experience the trail like never before. If you want attire that reduces your temperature and provides more protection, try wearing UPF-rated clothing to block harmful rays. Picking the right time, place, and attire can help ensure your summer hike is a scorching success! TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SUMMER HIKE
TRANSFORM YOUR YARD WITH PROPER DRAINAGE
Water is essential for a thriving garden or impressive front yard, but too much of a good thing could wash away all your landscaping plans. Standing water in your yard is bad for your lawn, encourages mosquitoes to gather, and can even damage your home. Ensuring proper drainage around your house is necessary for creating the landscape of your dreams and preserving it for years to come. By utilizing the correct techniques, you can address many common drainage dilemmas. BUILD UP LOW GROUND. Some areas of your yard with low or sunken spots may hold water and drain slowly. You can build up those points by adding organic material like topsoil so that it’s slightly higher than the rest of the soil around it. If the water continues to sit there, repeat the process several more times. Once you’ve built that spot up, you can sow new grass there. AERATE THE LAWN. If your lawn has had a lot of use and foot traffic, the dirt could be too tightly compacted to absorb water well. To help address this, you can use an aerator to make holes in the soil. The aerator will pull plugs of dirt from the ground, allowing water to reach the roots and prevent water from puddling in your lawn. This method is beneficial in areas like Indiana, which has high clay content in the soil. ADD DRAINAGE STRUCTURES. For DIYers, you can build several drainage structures to help alleviate standing water in your yard. You can create a rain garden by selecting moisture-loving plants that absorb and slow water down. To do this, you should excavate 2–3 feet of soil and build a berm and basin for overflow. Or you could create a dry creek bed, a shallow trench with stones or river rocks. These allow water to move through your yard without washing out soil and flow to a drainage area.
Anthony’s Lawn Care has the tools and expertise to improve your yard’s drainage. Call us today at 812-345-5694 for a free evaluation.
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