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Weathered patio and deck part of your winter blues?

GET READY FOR SUMMER BY SCHEDULING A FREE CONSULTATION WITH ONE OF OUR OUTDOOR LIVING SPECIALISTS.

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Experience The Suburban Indy Home & Outdoor Living Fall Show with Capehart Landscape & Design

We are excited to be a part of the Suburban Indy Home & Outdoor Living coming up on September 20-23, 2018 at the Grand Park Event Center in Westfield!

Put on your walking shoes and get ready to wander the aisles of the more than 200 vendors in a relaxing and inviting atmosphere. You find everything (and everyone) you need to cross off your to-do list and add to your wish list. With a planned theme every day and a matching signature cocktails it is the ideal destination for your weekend enjoyment.

If you’d like to do some date night dreaming, try out Westfield’s great selection of independent restaurants Friday night and head on over, the show is open till 9. If a Sunday Fun Day is more your style bring the kids to beautiful Grand Park and enjoy the show as well as special kids activities like face painting, magicians and meet a greets with superheros and princesses.

Be sure to stop by our booth #313 and check out our latest creations in outdoor kitchens and fabulous solutions for outdoor privacy. Fall is a wonderful time to embrace planning for the perfect outdoor living space or landscaping updates and will give you some mental sunshine during the long Indiana winter!

For more information about the show and ticket purchase: https://suburbanindyshows.com/fall/features/#Exhibitors

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Visit Us at the 2018 Indianapolis Home Show!

It’s that time of year again…we’re so excited to be a part of the Indianapolis Home Show for the 7th year in a row! Come see us in Booth 8427 to experience the outdoor living display we’ve put together for you this year. We’ve had so much fun planning for the last few months, and we’re excited to share what we’ve come up with!

We will NOT be attending the 2018 Indiana Flower + Patio Show, so we very much hope you’ll visit us at the Home Show. See you there!

Booth: 8427

Location: Indiana State Fairgrounds

Dates: January 19 – 28

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Our Friends, the Honey Bees

Did you know August 19th is National Honey Bee Day? Since 2009, one Saturday each August has been designated as such….and with good reason! By now, most people have heard of the decline in the honey bee population. But they may not know why it’s happening or what it really means. With that in mind, we’ve decided to dedicate this month’s blog post to our fair, fuzzy friends: the honey bees!

Which bees are honey bees?

We’re not gonna lie…we have trouble with this sometimes, too. While honey bees are probably most often confused with yellowjackets, they’re frequently mixed up with bumblebees, wasps, and hornets, as well. We get it—when anything with a stinger is flying around your face, you don’t typically stop to identify the culprit…. You run! But killing a honey bee or its hive could have drastic effects on our way of life, so it wouldn’t hurt to know which insect is which.

Honey bees are the guys most people think of when they think of a bee. They’re medium-sized and slender, with a pointed abdomen and lots of pretty yellow stripes. Bumble bees, on the other hand are typically much larger, rounder, and fuzzier, often with blocks of color, rather than stripes.

Wasps are typically much more aggressive than bees, and where honey bees have a bit of fluff around their head and thorax, wasps are shiny and smooth, with narrower waists and abdomens. Yellowjackets and hornets are actually types of wasps, and yellowjackets are often the villains that go after and sting humans. They look much like honey bees, with similar coloring and striping, so are often confused with their gentler cousins. When a honey bee stings, however, its barbed stinger is ripped out of its body, effectively killing it. Therefore, they tend to sting only as a last resort.

Why are honey bees important?

It’s estimated that 1 in every 3 bites of food you take has benefited directly or indirectly from honey bee pollination. We rely on honey bees to pollinate not only the fruits and vegetables we eat, but also the seeds and grains used to feed livestock. We depend on pollination by honey bees to feed us, so if they disappear…well, we’d be in a very bad state. Without the industrious honey bee, farming practices would have to change radically, and food prices would soar.

Bees and bee products are also important to the health industry. Antibiotic treatments that include honey are used to treat burn victims, and bee sting apitherapy can be used to treat arthritis. There are even studies in the works investigating the use of bee venom in cancer treatments.

What’s happening to the honey bees?

For several years, now, we’ve been hearing about the baffling decline of the honey bee. Much of this is due to a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder, or CCD. CCD occurs when the majority of the worker bees in a colony disappear, leaving behind the queen and a few nurse and immature bees—without these worker bees, the survival of the hive is doomed. This isn’t a new phenomenon, by any means, but the drastic rise in the number of cases of CCD since 2006 is what has led to such concern.

We still don’t know exactly what causes CCD, but there are several suspects. Disease and infections, climate change, loss of habitat, malnutrition, parasites, and pesticides have all been cited as potential threats to honey bee colonies. A recent study conducted in Europe suggests certain insecticides could be responsible for harming already weakened hives.

What can we do to help?

  • Buy local, organic honey to help support your local beekeeping community. It’s delicious and it’s just about the most “green” sweetener you can buy.
  • Keep a bee-friendly garden, or add bee-friendly plants to your landscaping plan. Single top flowers such as daisies and marigolds produce lots of nectar and make it easy for bees to access the pollen. Plus, they add a splash of color to your yard! Choose a few different types, so you’ll have blooms throughout as many seasons as possible. (For the more bee-wary homeowner, consider planting your bee habitat in a side yard, or someplace where your family doesn’t congregate very often. This will help protect the bees from getting swatted, too!)
  • When purchasing plants for your landscaping, make sure they haven’t been pretreated with pesticides. While you’re at it, avoid using toxic, chemical pesticides and weed killers—especially neonicotinoids—when treating your lawn. As noted above, this could be a major factor in CCD!
  • Do you have more land than you know what to do with? Consider letting a local beekeeper take over a small corner to build a hive.
  • Donate to your local beekeepers association…or become a beekeeper, yourself!

Long live the bees!

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Summertime and the Partying is Easy

Summer is in full swing, and with the warmer temps and longer daylight hours, it’s hard not to get into the festive party spirit! Have you already called on Capehart to design your outdoor kitchen and lighting? We may be a bit biased, but we think those outdoor living areas are the perfect spot for summer entertaining! Below are a few simple tips for hosting your perfect summertime bash—al fresco!

Crunch the Numbers

This may seem like a no-brainer, but keep track of how many people you invite, and make sure you have plenty of…well, everything for them. It wouldn’t do to run out of food halfway through the buffet line. Nor would it be terribly comfortable for anyone if ¾ of your guests have to eat standing up because you didn’t drag out enough chairs.

Stick with Classic Recipes

Don’t stress out when it comes to cooking. Pick a handful of easy recipes that can be prepped in advance—more time to enjoy the company of your guests! And there’s really no need to reinvent the wheel: corn on the cob, hamburgers, and hotdogs are always a hit. Maybe break out some fancy condiments and sides to give the meal a twist of your very own.

Keep the Drinks Coming

This is the time to bust out those summery, fruity punch cocktails! Make up a big batch beforehand and make the cups readily available to allow guests to come back for more whenever they’re ready. For some extra fun, cut up some fresh watermelon, then turn the husk into a punch keg!

Prepare for Pests

Hot, sticky Indiana summers unfortunately bring along the ubiquitous mosquitoes. Keep them at bay by first ridding the area of any standing water. A few days before your shindig, empty out any flower pots, rain gutters, or kiddie pools to remove their breeding grounds. On the day of, set up a table full of bug wipes for your guests to use. You may even want to plug in a couple fans to blow the suckers right out of the yard.

Don’t Forget the Music

Set the mood with a bumping summer playlist that’s long enough to last the duration of your party (or several hours, at least). Stick to classic, upbeat crowd-pleasers to put everyone in a good mood. Spread 3 or 4 speakers around the party area—more speakers means you don’t have to turn the volume up so high and run the risk of blasting out your guests’ eardrums.

Provide Entertainment

Did you invite families with kids? Have plenty of activities to keep them entertained and out of the grown-ups’ way. Slip ’n’ slides are great for this. And classic yard games like cornhole, lawn darts, and horseshoes tend to be a hit with kids and adults, alike.

Don’t Forget Dessert

S’mores are always a good choice—especially if a bonfire features in your party plans. Another idea we love is an ice cream sundae bar! The perfect and most delicious way to cool off on a sweltering summer evening.

Keep Cool and Party On

Did we mention those hot, sticky Indiana summers…? Consider setting up cooling stations around your patio and yard—cheap paper or plastic handheld fans work wonders. Or roll up some washcloths and throw them in an icy, water-filled cooler. Your guests will thank you, we promise.

Happy barbecuing!

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Get Cookin’…in an Outdoor Kitchen!

Summer is almost upon us! With graduation celebrations, July 4th, and Labor Day coming up, we’re looking forward to pool parties, barbeques, and all sorts of fun in the sun.

Nothing turns a yard or patio into a truly delightful living space better than the addition of an outdoor kitchen—it’s one of our most requested summer projects! And we’re not just talking about cobbling a patch of ground for the grill, either (though, we can do that, too). Have you ever considered how much more enjoyable your summer life would be with a fully loaded, alfresco canteen? Here are just a few advantages of adding an outdoor kitchen to your home:

Expand Your Living Space

In the warmer weather months, our backyards tend to become an extension of our living areas. Who wants to be cooped up inside, when the sun is shining and the birds are chirping and all the flowers are in bloom? This doesn’t just have to be confined to lounging around, either. Relocate your kitchen outside, and you can soak up every single ounce of nature the day has to offer. Prep, cook, and eat the food on the patio…then sit back and relax with a cool beverage while you watch the sun set. The only time you’ll need to come inside is bedtime. And if you have a hammock, well…maybe not even then!

Great for Entertaining

Have you ever noticed how dinner guests always pack themselves into the kitchen while you’re trying to prepare the food? It can be tiresome on the best of days, but in the midst of a summer heatwave, it’s positively stifling! Bring the kitchen into the great wide open, and you have plenty of room to let your guests spread out and socialize—with plenty of breathing room for everyone.

Increase Property Value

An outdoor living space and kitchen is an investment, but one that will pay off in spades. It looks great, is relatively low maintenance, and essentially adds an entire room onto your house! Whether you intend to put your home on the market or stay put for years to come, this popular renovation is a surefire way to increase the value and appeal of your home.

Is your outdoor home ready for the summer? At Capehart Landscape & Design, we have the experience and skills needed to transform your outdoor dreams into a reality. Browse through our past projects to see for yourself what we can do. Then give us a call to get started!

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The Benefits of Outdoor Lighting

With summer quickly approaching and barbecue season in full effect, have you given any thought to your outdoor lighting? Transforming your backyard space into a beautifully designed and well-lit sanctuary is easier than you might think…and we can help! Here are just a few of the many benefits of illuminating your outdoor space for the season:

  • Beauty
    Adding lighting is a simple way to decorate your yard and patio areas. Not only can it provide ambience on a warm, summer night, it can highlight your home’s best features. Lighting also adds a lot to curb appeal—a well-lit house, inside and out, provides a warm, inviting atmosphere and can be a huge selling point, if you’re looking to put your house on the market.
  • Security
    Having a well-lit yard and house not only looks great, but can also discourage trespassing and theft. With fewer shadows to hide in and a greater risk of being seen, thieves and ne’er do wells will think twice about messing with your home. Lighting your home’s outdoor areas also helps your yard look more maintained and lived in—another deterrent for prowlers.
  • Safety
    Do you have a back porch you use for dining or relaxing after dinner? A pool or hot tub, perhaps? If you spend any time outside after the sun sets, investing in outdoor lighting is an excellent idea. Illuminating your outdoor living areas allows you to entertain and relax no matter the hour. Lighted walkways, patios, and pool decks ensure that you and your guests stay safe in the dark, without any unfortunate trips or accidents.

When you’re ready to transform your yard—lighting and all—give us a call!