Why Gardening is Important for Good Health

Gardening is more than just shoveling dirt and watering plants. It is a way to get outside with a purpose, enjoy the sunshine, get a little exercise and grow your own veggies and herbs! Gardening is great for people of all ages. It is a way for you to relax without being a couch potato.

Gardening Health Benefits

Below are 5 reasons gardening is good for your health:

  1. Exercise- It is likely that you spend far more time inside than outside. With working 40 hours a week, balancing a family and house it can be hard to find time for yourself, let alone time to do a little exercising. Did you know that spending 30 minutes a day in your garden counts as moderate activity? This is a great way for you to get a little physical activity between work and play.
  2. Spending time planning out what kinds of veggie and herbs you will grow is a mental workout in itself!While planning, you will get a chance to familiarize yourself with vegetation that does well in your area and how to best arrange it.
  3. If you suffer from depression, gardening is a great way to give you sun exposure and breakup your day to day thoughts. Spending time out in the sun is one of the best ways to increase your own serotonin levels, a natural chemical that works at fighting depression.
  4. Gardens have a calming effect on the human psyche. Simply having lively greenery around your home can improve your mood and reduce stress. Signs of life help to bring a feeling of renewal, especially after winter, and gardens give you a feeling of accomplishment that is nearly unrivaled. If you are making your yard look better or growing vegetables, you will have a constant reminder of your hard work, whether that is on a plate at dinner time or right outside your window.
  5. If you choose to plant a vegetable garden, you get the added benefit of home grown food. This is not only a great way to save money but the food is healthier and you know exactly where it is coming from!

About Monday West

Monday West has been designing beautiful things for over 20 years. With a degree from UCLA in Landscape Architecture, she is well versed on all classes of design and home landscaping. Her focus is on the client, and what best suits their family. She has designed projects in every style possible, from Contemporary, to Craftsman, to Eclectic. She has an eye for color and style, and she is able to envision the final idea that pulls it all together. Plants are her specialty, and the way they are paired is unique as well as practical. Monday balances the construction business with her husband, Bill West, three kids, three dogs, and a lizard in sunny southern California. Google +

7 Ideas for Backyard Pool Designs

Generally if you’ve seen one residential pool, you’ve seen them all. Too often people don’t do anything to give their pools individual flair, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be satisfied with an uninspired look. Here are seven ideas to consider for your new pool before you have it installed.

Before you have your pool installed consider some unconventional pool shapes and styles.

– If you like doing laps, you don’t have to get a standard sized pool. To accommodate smaller yards or people who would prefer a pool used for exercising versus pool parties, there are lap pools. They are longer and thinner than average sized pools, making it easy to slip outside for different kind of workout.Backyard Pool Designs

– To turn your backyard into a tropical paradise consider a lagoon-shaped pool. A lagoon-shaped pool will not only be different in style but if your backyard has an odd shape or a lot of vegetation this kind of pool lets you work around these restrictions.

– For an elegant design, go for the infinity pool. The pool design makes it appear like the water stretches on to the horizon. This is a particularly impressive pool if you have a body of water near your home or a large open area such as a cliff or hills.

If you like the standard pool sizes but want to make it look more individualistic, there are a few things you can do give your pool personality.

– By adding a black-bottom to your pool, you make it look classy and different. As an added perk, it can slightly increase the temperature of your pool since it absorbs heat, although the temperature difference may not be enough to be very noticeable.

– The Jacuzzi does not have to be located in an entirely different part of the yard. You can create a two layer effect by having the Jacuzzi overflow into the pool. Guests can quickly move from one to the other.

– If you want your pool to be more than just still water, you can have a waterfall added. It will keep the water constantly flowing while creating an elegant and relaxing atmosphere in your backyard.

– The easiest way to change the look of your pool is with the lighting. Use different colors and angles in and around the pool to give your backyard and pool a distinct look come sundown.

Creative Atmospheres is specialized in commercial and residential landscaping and design. For a free consultation to discuss your future pool and the dream you envision for your backyard oasis,contact us via email at info@creativeatmospheres.net or by phone at 949-302-8335 to set up an appointment!

Please visit our website to checkout our gallery of finished pools and spas http://www.creativeatmospheres.net/poolsspas/.

About Monday West

Monday West has been designing beautiful things for over 20 years. With a degree from UCLA in Landscape Architecture, she is well versed on all classes of design and home landscaping. Her focus is on the client, and what best suits their family. She has designed projects in every style possible, from Contemporary, to Craftsman, to Eclectic. She has an eye for color and style, and she is able to envision the final idea that pulls it all together. Plants are her specialty, and the way they are paired is unique as well as practical. Monday balances the construction business with her husband, Bill West, three kids, three dogs, and a lizard in sunny southern California. Google +

Keep Pests Off Your Plants the Natural Way

Over the years the public has been made far more aware of the risks associated with pesticides and herbicides. If you are concerned about adding chemicals to your garden, there are four natural ways of helping to keep your flowers, plants and herbs pest free. It will not only be healthier for your, but your garden life as well.

Egg shells are a great way of deterring larger animals, like deer, from feasting on your plants or flowers. This increases the amount of space you have in your garbage can while giving your garden more nutrients. As you spent time in the kitchen getting food ready, make sure to put your egg shells aside for later use.

Dish soap is another great regular kitchen item that works well in your garden. By putting a little dish soup into a spray bottle and adding a considerable amount of water you have an inexpensive and reliable way of combating aphids. You need only about one tenth the amount of soap and water. The few chemicals in it are not nearly as harmful as regular those made specifically for your plants.

Cayenne Pepper is something that most bugs do not like. By adding a little bit to your garden, you will find yourself coming across less and less ants as the pepper seeps into the soil. It is also a great deterrent to your pets. Your dog will be considerably less likely to dig in it and your cat will be less likely to use the gardens as a restroom.

The oddest thing on the list is panty hose. They have a wide range of uses, but in terms of pest control panty hose can cover your plants to discourage small rodents and birds, even insects. If you like to grow melons, panty hose are perfect for stopping ground rot. As the melons grow, slip them into the panty hose to keep them safe. It may seem odd, but it gives those older pantyhose a purpose again as it keeps the melons safe.

About Monday West

Monday West has been designing beautiful things for over 20 years. With a degree from UCLA in Landscape Architecture, she is well versed on all classes of design and home landscaping. Her focus is on the client, and what best suits their family. She has designed projects in every style possible, from Contemporary, to Craftsman, to Eclectic. She has an eye for color and style, and she is able to envision the final idea that pulls it all together. Plants are her specialty, and the way they are paired is unique as well as practical. Monday balances the construction business with her husband, Bill West, three kids, three dogs, and a lizard in sunny southern California. Google +

How to Keep Your Flooring Looking Brand New

Your new home is one that you should be able to cherish for a long time, so how do you make sure that your hardwood investments keep their luster long enough for you to get your money’s worth? Here are some steps that you can take to keep your flooring looking brand new:

Stain
A stain can add a beautiful finish to your floors, but make sure it’s waterproof. It’s especially important to stain the bathroom and kitchen areas, since these are the areas that will experience the most water damage if left untreated.

Dust
Dust particles can actually scratch your wood flooring. Breaking out the duster is never a bad thing. Microfiber dusters attract dust mites and trap them, so you never need to go over the same spot twice. Additionally, using a microfiber duster is safer than using a broom, as brooms often contain microscopic shards of glass and other things which can damage the wood.

Use Only Hardwood-Safe Products
When it comes time to mop your hardwood floor, ensure that whatever you treat the mop with will not eat away at the beautiful stain you’ve applied. Erosion occurs over time, so you won’t know if you’re screwing up until you look back at years of faithful cleaning to find that it just doesn’t have the shine that it once did.

Vinegar is commonly used in cleaning and should be avoided like the plague when it comes to washing hardwood floors. The pH in vinegar is so high that it can and will strip the lining off your hardwood even in trace amounts. Also avoid using furniture sprays on your floors. These leave an oily film, which not only takes the shine away, but poses potential problems with traction.

About Monday West

Monday West has been designing beautiful things for over 20 years. With a degree from UCLA in Landscape Architecture, she is well versed on all classes of design and home landscaping. Her focus is on the client, and what best suits their family. She has designed projects in every style possible, from Contemporary, to Craftsman, to Eclectic. She has an eye for color and style, and she is able to envision the final idea that pulls it all together. Plants are her specialty, and the way they are paired is unique as well as practical. Monday balances the construction business with her husband, Bill West, three kids, three dogs, and a lizard in sunny southern California. Google +

7 Secret Places in the Backyard to Hide Easter Eggs for Kids

Easter is this Sunday and the kids will wake up bright and early looking for their baskets and preparing for the annual Easter egg hunt. Instead of doing it inside, take the Easter egg hunt outside this year! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and you’ll find better hiding spots outdoors.

Below are 7 creative places you can stash Easter eggs this year:

  1. Gutter downspout. Do you have a gutter downspout right near the backyard? Put the egg just in the end of it. Kids will have to stick their hands inside to find it and many will look it over.
  2.  Tire swing. Placing eggs on the swings is fairly obvious, but will anyone think to look inside of the tire itself? Even if someone sits down on the swing for a minute, he may still miss the egg if he doesn’t check carefully.
  3.  Sandbox. Don’t be afraid to bury the eggs in the sand so that the children have to work to get to them. Think about hiding eggs in sand toys as well such as under overturned baskets or shovels.
  4.  Watering can. It may look like someone simply left out some gardening supplies after working in the yard, but a few of them may actually be hiding spots for Easter eggs.
  5.  Gardening gloves. On a similar note, gardening gloves are another item that you can leave on a picnic table or lawn chair as though they didn’t get put away. Carefully put eggs in the gloves and make sure they are not exposed.
  6.  Hanging plant. Think about ways to conceal or bury the eggs that will keep them well out of sight without hurting the plants. You don’t want kids to have to dig so much that they dig up the plants, too.
  7.  Bird bath. If the bird bath is full of water, kids may or may not think to check this spot right away. Look for ways to hide the eggs behind decorative elements of the bird bath.

About Monday West

Monday West has been designing beautiful things for over 20 years. With a degree from UCLA in Landscape Architecture, she is well versed on all classes of design and home landscaping. Her focus is on the client, and what best suits their family. She has designed projects in every style possible, from Contemporary, to Craftsman, to Eclectic. She has an eye for color and style, and she is able to envision the final idea that pulls it all together. Plants are her specialty, and the way they are paired is unique as well as practical. Monday balances the construction business with her husband, Bill West, three kids, three dogs, and a lizard in sunny southern California. Google +