Take a look at this photo and tell me what you see.
Well you probably know from the title what this kitchen is missing…WINDOWS!
I spend a lot of time in my kitchen. Cooking, cleaning, loading the dishwasher, and putting away groceries. I have a beautiful view from my kitchen window. Some days I just stand there and stare at the view. Seriously. I do.
In the Olympia, Washington area, we have three builders with new construction homes. They are always PUDs. These are Planned Unit Developments.
What’s a Planned Unit Development (PUD)?
A PUD is a housing complex with very little free space. Houses are practically on top of each other. Most PUDs have a communal yard that they share. This is a PUD area in Lacey that consists of several PUD housing areas.
You can see from the aerial view that there is no room for yards with PUDs. So windows generally look out onto the neighbor’s siding. In response to the negative comments from buyers who hated this, many builders stopped putting in windows. :0 That’s my shocked face.
Aerial Views Using Google Maps
It’s very easy to see an aerial view (sky view) of the house you’re interested in on google maps. Click here to go to Google Maps.
Once you are on Google Maps, make sure you switch to satellite view so you can see the outlines of the homes and the streets. You can see whether or not this property is part of a PUD. So if there are no kitchen photos that show a window, it most likely does not have one.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article about kitchen windows and PUDs. Even in a competitive market like Lacey, houses are more than just real estate. They’re homes, where people live, and that means we want them to be functional, but beautiful too.
One of the things few people think of when they’re house shopping is what direction their house faces. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, homes that face north or south have at least one side of their home that gets a ton of shade. So what shrubs do you plant there? The answer in Washington is Astilbe. These look like cotton candy sticks with a ton of leaves around their base. I especially love the fluffy white ones.
Visions in Red Astilbe | Shade Loving Shrubs
Water Frequently
Astilbe love the water almost as much as they love the shade. So in the late summer months, July to September, make sure they get watered enough. If you have them lining the back side of your house where the sprinklers are, you can actually water them too much. If that’s an issue, line umbrellas over them facing the sprinklers. Just remember to remove the umbrellas afterward.
Bridal Veil Astilbe | Shade Loving Shrubs
Soil
Astilbe love loamy, moist soil in zones 3-8. That makes them perfect for the Pacific Northwest. The soil here is usually not sandy and not full of clay. The evergreens and decaying underbrush make the soil very loamy. The constant rain makes it very moist.
Fanal Astilbe | Shade Loving Shrubs
Winter Mulch
When the temperature turns cold for winter, put some mulch around the roots to protect them. But other that that, Astilbe survive the winter just fine. They’re hardy perennials that live year after year and provide beautiful plumes of color.
Milk and Honey Astilbe | Shade Loving Shrubs
Fertilizer
Astilbe are hardy and low-maintenance shrubs. But if you find them not blooming or looking limp, add some phosphorus rich fertilizer. Astilbe are like most flowering shrubs, they love phosphorus.
Purple Candles Astilbe | Shade Loving Shrubs
Propagating
As your Astilbe grow and thrive, they will eventually need to be thinned after 5 years. Simply dig up the plant, gently separate the root into several pieces, then plant them 12 inches apart. This makes Astilbe one of the most frugal plants you can buy. You buy them once and they give you an endless supply of new plants.
Rheinland Astilbe | Shade Loving Shrubs
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article about shade-loving astilbe. Even in a competitive market like Lacey, houses are more than just real estate. They’re homes, where people live, and that means we want them to be functional, but beautiful too.
Once you’ve bought your new home, you may find you need some hedges. In fact, immediately after you move into your new home, you should be thinking long term what you can do to increase its value when you sell it. Landscaping always adds curb appeal and functionality to a home, especially hedges.
Hedges in particular provide privacy, delineate property lines, and keep your kids safer in the yard because anything coming at them will have to jump the hedge or squeeze between the bushes to get into your yard. In some places, underground gas and water lines make it impossible to put fences, but hedges will work beautifully.
In Washington there aren’t many options for hedges other than boxwood. Boxwood really smells in the heat of summer, not the greatest hedge for near your open windows. What does make a lovely hedge are lilac bushes. It makes less of a hedge and more a row of small trees. They are beautiful and provide nectar to bees and butterflies throughout the summer.
Overgrown Lilac Hedge | Increasing the Value of Your Home
Climate and Sun
Lilacs prefer cooler climates, zones 3 through 7. Lacey, Washington is in zone 8. There are varieties that do well in warmer zones (like Lacey). California lilac is one of these, but it’s not really a true lilac, Syringa vulgaris. Common or French lilac, Syringa vulgaris, grows well in zone 8 as long as it doesn’t have too much sun (12+ hours a day).
Lilacs prefer 6 hours of sun a day. Any more and they may wither. Any less and they may not bloom.
Common or French Lilac, Syringa vulgaris | Increasing the Value of Your Home
Fertilizer and Soil
Lilacs prefer slightly alkaline soil that is well-drained. If the pH is more acidic, less than 6 pH, you can add a little garden lime at a time to the soil. Water is the perfect pH for lilacs, 7.0. An ideal lawn is 6.2 to 7.0 pH, so if your grass is a vibrant green then you probably have the perfect pH soil for lilacs.
In early spring, fertilize with phosphorus. After blooming, if needed, use a general fertilizer. Lilacs don’t always need fertilizer, so use sparingly.
Korean Lilac Hedge Few Blooms Nice Edges | Increasing the Value of Your Home
Pruning
Lilacs blooms on old wood. You will hear this over and over again. It means that after blooming, new buds form on the same stems as the dying blooms. If you prune your lilacs right after blooming, you will be able to prune before new buds have sprouted and can prune generously, up to 33% of the tree. I’ll say that again, prune right after your lilacs bloom before new buds form on the same branch as the dying bloom, and you can be assured of more blooms the following year.
Common Lilac Perfectly Pruned | Increasing the Value of Your Home
Warm Varieties of Lilacs
My favorite species of warm variety, zone 8, lilacs are these:
Blue Skies Lilac, Syringa vulgaris ‘Monote’ or Syringa vulgaris ‘Blue Skies’
Double Blue Lilac, Syringa x hyacinthiflora Scentara
Josee Reblooming Lilac, Syringa vulgaris ‘Josee’ –> these bloom repeatedly throughout the spring and summer
Sensation Lilac, Syringa vulgaris ‘Sensation’
Madame Lemoine Lilac, Syringa vulgaris ‘Madame Lemoine’ –> these produce beautiful fragrant white blooms
Angel White Lilac, Syringa vulgaris ‘Angel White’ –> these produce delicate white flowers
Royal Purple Lilac, Syringa x hyacinthiflora –> these produce dark purple blooms
Persian Lilac, Syringa x persica
Rouen Lilac, Syringa x chinensis
Quite often Korean Lilac is sold in Washington home improvement stores. If you look closely the leaves will be decaying and infested with mold and disease. They do not do well in Washington, although I keep seeing them sold here. Try a different variety.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article about lilac hedges. Even in a competitive market like Lacey, houses are more than just real estate. They’re homes, where people live, and that means we want them to be functional, but beautiful too.
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