I don’t know about you, but I have the worst case of Spring Fever; I love it! I can’t seem to focus on the inside of the home because the outside keeps calling me to enjoy our beautiful mild weather. Since I know it won’t last, we could have snow or heat at any minute, I am outside at the first sign of sun and warmth.

You might want to think now about shade for the coming summer heat. If you have an existing trellis, make sure it’s sturdy and fix any parts that need repairing, especially if there are vines on it; you’ll want to get them trimmed before the fully leaf out. If you’ve been thinking about putting up a trellis, now is a good time to do it and you can consider planting vines or putting a shade cloth on top to give you defused light; plants in your ‘living area’ will appreciate a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day as well.

If building a trellis is out of your budget or expertise, then consider a shade sail, you can find them in most garden or patio shops, the home centers and on-line. They come in a variety of colors, so make that a consideration. You can put several triangular shades in the same color or vary them depending on your color scheme and place them at different levels and angles for added interest and to capture the maximum shade during the day.

Since wind is always a consideration, make sure your sails are well anchored. You can use guy wires with turn buckles for tightening, to secure it to an existing railing, fence or building. You MUST make sure that your guy wires are high enough for your tall friends to pass under without fear of de-capitation. Since this may be a challenge in some areas, place plants, hanging lamps or some noticeable object in the way, so people will have to walk around and not INTO the wire. You can hang little ‘flags’ on the wire to alert people there is a wire there and to beware.

Now is a good time to see where the best positioning for a trellis or shade sail. The shade sail will give you more flexibility as they can be repositioned without uprooting posts that are required for a permanent trellis.

Linda Hammond, IRN Designs Refined Rearranging your Room in a day 661-269-8214