News – Monica Groop

Say Goodbye to Clover in Your Lawn with These Tips

Even if you consider yourself to be the master of lawn care, there are going to be some weeds that you just can’t seem to get rid of. For many, that weed is clover.

Here in Australia, experienced landscapers will tell you white clover tends to be a perennial weed that rears its ugly head more often than not. Its stems can grow up to around 30cm long, and it can spread like wildfire. There are worse lawn weeds to encounter, but clover is undoubtedly one of the most persistent.

Just when you think you’ve killed it for good, it comes back with a vengeance. More often than not, killing the actual clover is the easy part, but stopping it from growing from seeds is a lot harder. Clover seeds thrive in high and low temperatures. They can even remain dormant for several years before deciding to grow where they aren’t wanted.

How to Get Rid of Clover

Now that you know what it is, the next step to get rid of it. Fortunately, there are several ways to go about it while carrying out your regular lawn care practices.

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10 Factors That Create Shade Sails Damage And How To Counter Them

If there is one description that shade sails cannot be labelled with it is fragile. In truth, if you were to ask most people who have shade sails they would describe them as robust, durable, and strong. However, despite shade sails being invariably reliable, they are not invincible. In other words, there are some factors that, if they were to exist, could compromise shade sails and their durability.

Some of these factors occur naturally, others are due to their owners making mistakes, and a lack of care and maintenance of the shade sails is also a major issue. The results can include shade sails looking grubby, them becoming damaged, and ultimately the need to replace shade sails arises long before they would normally have needed replacing, especially if certain preventive measures had been taken.

To know what some of these preventative and remedial actions are, you must first know what damaging factors they address, and so, to ensure that you do know them, based on the advice from the professionals at One Shade, we have outlined ten of the most commonly occurring ones below.

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Networking for Success – Building Industry Connections in Perth’s Renovation Sector

Whether you’re a seasoned contractor, a fresh-faced apprentice, or a savvy homeowner looking to dive into the world of renovations, one thing’s for certain: in this business, who you know can be just as important as what you know.

Let’s face it, the renovation scene in Perth is booming, but it’s also tight-knit.

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Five Benefits of Installing an Alarm Monitoring System

Alarm monitoring systems are becoming increasingly common across Australia. They provide an added layer of security for your home or commercial premises and help prevent intruders from robbing you or vandalising your property.

There are numerous different types of alarm monitoring systems available, but they are all based on the same core concepts. To put it simply, those using a monitored alarm system will benefit from real-time notifications if an intruder does attempt to break-in or vandalise your property.

In this article, we’ve outlined five major benefits of using an alarm monitoring service. Remember, it’s always a good idea to speak with a security expert to determine what sort of system is best for your property.

You Will Be Notified Immediately if Something Is Wrong

The first, and one of the most notable benefits of installing an alarm monitoring system is that they will notify you as soon as your security system is breached. There are a few different options here.

First, you can opt to have security notifications delivered directly to your smartphone, either via an app or text messages/email. Alternatively, you can contract a security company to take care of things for you. They will be notified as soon as there’s a breach and will be able to respond accordingly.

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How to Set Up a Perfect Home Office?

With the changing times, the question arises: why is our generation so different from all other generations when we think about the home office?

The answer is that the routines have changed drastically. Our ancestors have to spend their 8 hours of working in an office.

They must travel through various transports to reach their office and on the same vehicles after work.

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5 Great Outdoor Lighting Ideas For Your Concrete Swimming Pool

One of the great things about having a concrete pool on your property is that you have an almost unlimited choice of how to design it and the surrounding area. Not only does it add value to your property but the way in which the aesthetics of your property can be enhanced by a concrete pool is incredible.

Landscape Designers tell us an option for enhancing it further is with the use of outdoor lighting, which can turn what might look like a pleasant and attractive pool area during the day, into a stunningly beautiful location at night. To get the wheels turning in your mind in terms of ideas, here are 5 of our favourite options for outdoor lighting for pools.

Underwater Lights

This is one of our favourites as nothing makes a pool more appealing for a swim at night than the lights that are underwater. Not only can they make a pool look stunning, especially if they are coloured lights, but they perform a more practical function in terms of making the pool safer. With the water lit from underneath it is easier to see that someone is in the pool especially if the surrounding light is not particularly bright.

Spotlights

These are great when you want specific features in and around the outside of your property to be highlighted at night. You may have a tree, certain flowers, or it could be some items of the gardening and landscape design or poolside furniture that you want to shine a light on. If you install some adjustable spotlights they can be positioned to shine on the pool when it is being used, and again the use of coloured lighting will enhance the atmosphere.

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Defining A New Look For Your Contemporary Kitchen

Contemporary Design

While defining a contemporary kitchen, one must be clear about the contemporary styles. It means the design or interior planned or developed according to the present time. The contemporary style is not rigid but flexible. It is very dynamic in nature, as it is cannot be defined as one style but it keeps on updating with the passing time.

It also mixes various other small designs from the different era, which can help your kitchen look classier. The contemporary architecture that can be used in your kitchen design can be like embraced solid walls covered in a random manner, under a roof that will give you a boxy feel.

Currently, there is a trend of emerging in contemporary interiors, i.e. one can merge the kitchen with dining or the dining can also be merged with living but connected to the kitchen.

How to Decorate the Contemporary Kitchen?
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Maintenance Guidelines for Colorbond Roofs

All homes need maintenance of some kind to keep their value throughout the years. If you don’t maintain your property you will find that when you want to sell it, the price you had hoped for may not be there. Meanwhile, your home is going to pieces around your ears and a big storm could well bring it crashing down.

The roof is one of the most important parts of the home, but unfortunately it is also one of the most neglected, mainly because getting up on it is beyond many people. They either don’t have the agility any more, or they don’t have the time, or the right equipment. This need not be a problem; there are many professionals out there who can do the job.

The cost of having your roof inspected for damage is much smaller than the cost of replacing the ceilings or the frame that has rotted due to leaks that were not found in time. It is also cheaper than having to replace a roof that suddenly blew off in a storm because the screws holding it on were rusted and no one knew.

Maintenance for Colorbond roofing is not difficult. You simply have to keep sticks and debris such as leaf litter off it and check the screws to make sure they are not rusted. If there is a build up of mould or moss on it, this should be cleaned off after wetting, with a soft bristle brush such as a household broom – not a straw broom, though.

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What Type of Carpet Should You Choose?

Many people choose carpet by the cost, but while this should certainly be considered, there are other important criteria to use to ensure you get the best value as well as a carpet you can live with. It is a good idea to consider these points before choosing a carpet.

What the fibre is made from

There are several choices, and these need to be considered especially in regard to carpet cleaning whether you plan to do it yourself or hire a professional – from wool to synthetics such as nylon, acrylic, polyester and olefin. In many cases, a blend of wool and nylon or another synthetic is favoured because while wool is durable, adding a synthetic makes it even more hardwearing. Usually, blends contain 80% wool and 20% nylon.

The depth of pile you like

The depth of pile is an important factor because it has an effect on the look and wear of the carpet. Long, even pile shows footprints and even vacuum trails, but it is very soft, elegant and luxurious underfoot. It may not be the best choice for heavy traffic areas.

Shorter pile does not feel as soft, but it is harder wearing and ideal for heavy traffic areas. You can also get a combination of short and long which can add visual interest with a self-pattern and texture.

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Why Your Carpet May Need Dry Shampooing

The two primary ways to clean carpets are steam cleaning and dry shampooing. Neither name describes the cleaning action correctly. Professional carpet cleaners often use steam cleaning, with chemicals sprayed onto the carpet and hot water injected into the rug. Usually, a rinse cycle is done. The machine then extracts most moisture so the carpet dries quickly, at least in less than 24 hours.

But dry shampooing is not dry; it uses less water and chemicals, but the residue of shampoo and chemicals dries quickly. Dirt sticks to it, so it must be vacuumed out the next day by the homeowner. Since less water is used, the carpet will dry in a few hours. Even though the professional carpet cleaning method is not quite as good as steam cleaning, there are times when choosing a professional service, such as commercial cleaners, is better.

After you have finished renovating and want to get the dust and grunge out of the carpet.
If you expect visitors the next day and realise the carpet looks grubby.
You’ve had tradespeople in and forgot to cover the carpet.
You’ve had a party, and the carpet got sloshed as well.
You need to freshen the carpet up but don’t have time to wait for it to dry.

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