ABC Blog
San Antonio

Featured Posts

Deer Proof Plants For Your Yard And Garden

. Posted by in • San Antonio
Deer proof plants

Is your yard a deer buffet? Do you plant a garden, only to wake up and discover your strawberries are trampled, your tomatoes have mysteriously vanished, and your greens are now sad little stubs? Thanks to deer, are your peach trees anything but peachy?

In many parts of San Antonio, deer face dwindling habitats and increased populations. In their search for their next meal, deer often find our yards a suitable substitute. As anyone with deer will tell you, they seem to eat almost everything.

Below we’ll look at ways you can make your yard and gardens less appetizing to deer and what deer proof plants you can add to your landscape.

Discourage Deer Visitors

When it comes to deer, you have a few lines of defense. You can make it difficult to get into your garden, you can try repelling the deer with chemical and physical tactics, and you can choose deer-resistant plants … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

How To Showcase Your Home This Holiday Season

. Posted by in • San Antonio

Selecting Holiday Lights That Are Right For Your Home

We love all the beautifully decorated homes in this city—especially during the holiday season. Don’t you? Whether they’re varied in color or snowy white, these arrangements put a smile on our faces.

There are many trends and options currently available to showcase your home before your holiday gatherings begin and your out of town guests arrive. Are you considering laser lights, or curious about what’s involved in setting your lights to music? We’ve compiled a list of outdoor Christmas decorating ideas to help you decide what options are the best for your home.

LED Lights

There are many benefits to LED lighting, so it’s no surprise more people are reaching for them instead of traditional string lighting.

For starters, they’re more energy efficient, using up to 90% less energy than traditional lighting options; one traditional bulb uses the same amount of energy as 140 LEDs. They also … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

Day of the Dead History & San Antonio Observances

. Posted by in • San Antonio
Day of the Dead history

In tandem with Halloween, another holiday takes the spotlight at the end of October and beginning of November: Día De Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. This is an important holiday for many people of Mexican ancestry and therefore is quite popular in San Antonio.

In this article, we will explore the history and traditions of the Day of the Dead, and list some of the major festivities that will take place this year in San Antonio.

What is the Day of the Dead?

People in Mexico celebrate Día De Los Muertos on November 1 and 2 as a way to honor loved ones who have passed away. You can also find Día De Los Muertos celebrations in Guatemala, Brazil, Spain and within US Mexican-American communities.

Day of the Dead is actually two different celebrations. November 1st is known as either Día de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocents) or Día de los … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

HVAC Inspection Checklist: Preparing Your Home For Fall

. Posted by in • San Antonio
HVAC inspection checklist

By the time the scorching San Antonio summer gives way to a slightly-less-scorching autumn, you’re probably ready for a break from the heat. But is your home prepared?

If you’re like most Texans, your air conditioning unit worked hard in the summer months. As you look forward to the coming cold weather, your entire HVAC system may need servicing to ensure that it continues to work perfectly. Here’s a quick HVAC inspection checklist of things to do to help you get started.

Clean Up Your Unit

Just as your home needs a deep cleaning a few times per year, you need to occasionally clean your HVAC system to keep it running optimally.

Outdoors

Clear leaves and debris away from your outdoor HVAC unit. This prevents any blockages from happening, as well as any reductions in the unit’s ability to provide heat.

Not all of the debris is located inside of the unit, however. Trim any other … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

A Mowed Lawn Is A Safer Home

. Posted by in • San Antonio
How to burglar proof your home

Landscape Design for Improved Home Security

September is peak time for landscaping and landscape design in San Antonio—and doing so has many benefits. It can create a backyard oasis, add aesthetic appeal to your home, and increase the value of your property. But did you know that a well-maintained lawn could help burglar-proof your home as well? While it might not seem obvious, a well-thought-out design can improve your home’s security.

Read on to learn how smart landscaping tricks can make your home safer and keep burglars off your property.

Increase Visibility

One of the first steps to improving your home’s safety is maximizing visibility. In other words, make sure there’s no greenery blocking your windows, doors, or peepholes. Be sure to keep overhanging trees trimmed and any shrubs or bushes at bay. For hedges and shrubs along windows, ensure they don’t grow higher than three feet to remove any potential screens or hiding … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

Three Reasons To Outsource Your Lawn Care

. Posted by in • San Antonio
i need someone to mow my lawn

For many homeowners, regular lawn care is the bane of their existence. You work all week long, take care of your family, run errands, attend kids’ sporting events – and the list goes on.

The last thing you want to do in your free time is mow, edge, and weed your lawn. Maybe you alternate between doing it yourself and hiring the neighborhood teenagers, but they aren’t always available. So you end up doing it yourself most of the time.

Wouldn’t it be nice to rid yourself of that burden, and still enjoy a healthy, well-cared for lawn? Consider hiring a lawn care service that will maintain your lawn and save you time and money in the process.

Choose Happiness

There are numerous reasons why choosing to outsource your lawn care is better than doing it yourself. The first one is self-evident: if you want to be happy, you shouldn’t spend precious time doing … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

How Often To Change The Air Filter In A House

. Posted by in • San Antonio
how often to change air filter in house

If you own an air conditioning unit, you know that changing the air filter is a common air conditioner maintenance task that must be performed so your heating and cooling system can run clean and pure air throughout your home.

Have you ever really thought about why is it so important to change your AC’s air filter? Or how often should you clean it? Keep reading to learn more tips about keeping your air conditioner running efficiently.

Five Reasons To Change Your AC Air Filter Frequently

There are quite a few benefits of changing your filter frequently.

Improved Performance

Imagine trying to drink water through a clogged straw. That’s a lot like how your air conditioning unit feels when it’s trying to draw air through a clogged filter. By switching out your air filter on a regular basis, you make it easier for your system to pull air in and keep things cool. This, in turn, … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

Using Compost to Maximize Your Soil’s Potential

. Posted by in • San Antonio
compost tips san antonio

Gardens and lawns need a variety of nutrients, but it’s not just a question of adding fertilizer. To maintain healthy plants, you also need to make sure there’s enough organic matter in the soil. This organic matter breaks down into a substance called humus which helps to maintain soil moisture and feed the tiny organisms that plants need to grow.

Adding compost to your soil is just what the doctor ordered for your landscape.

Below we’ll look at what compost is, why it’s important, and how you can use it to increase organic matter in the soil for the happiest plants on the block.

What is compost?

Compost is made up of decomposed materials such as leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps. Insects and tiny microorganisms help to break it down, and the resulting mixture is chock full of the nutrients plants need to survive.

When added to the garden or lawn, compost restores life … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

Household Flea Treatments for Pets, Yards, and Homes

. Posted by in , • San Antonio
Prevent Fleas on Pets

All pet owners know that fleas are a never-ending problem in warm climates. As soon as warm weather returns to San Antonio, fleas reappear with a vengeance, turning your cute pets into scratching machines.

As common as they are, there’s no simple solution to fleas. To successfully eliminate them in your home, you must simultaneously treat your house, your pets, and your yard. With effective treatment, you can kill adult fleas and remove their eggs, disrupting the flea reproductive cycle.

Below we’ll take a look at the problem and offer some solutions that will help you deal with flea infestations in your home.

Why are fleas a problem?

Fleas feed on blood. Their bites cause pets (and when populations are high, their human family) to suffer significant itchiness. In some cases, pets become allergic to the flea bites, causing dermatitis, scaly skin, hot spots, and skin infections.

When cats lick themselves to wash, they can … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed

Looking For A Better Night’s Rest? Adjust Your Thermostat.

. Posted by in • San Antonio
recommended thermostat settings

It seems that being tired these days is a common challenge for many people. With smartphones and other smart devices, working around the clock is the new norm – and it has become even harder to disconnect from our technological leashes.

While work stressors and a constantly connected environment may be interrupting our sleep schedules, there are multiple other factors to consider – like light, mattress quality, and diet. Surprisingly, something you may not have considered is that temperature can make or break a good night’s sleep.

But before you dial down your thermostat to nearly freezing, let’s learn a bit more about how your thermostat affects your body, and how, as a new homeowner, you can maintain an energy efficient home.

The Mirroring Effect

The temperature of your room or sleeping area has a significant effect on your quality of sleep. Despite your comfort levels during an evening at home, scientists suggest setting … Read Full Post »

Comments Closed