How to Choose the Best Manure for Your Garden

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Gardening, Home Improvement, Landcaping, Property Improvement

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Published: July 20, 2012

A little poo can do big things for your garden. Here’s what you need to know about selecting and spreading garden manure.

Fresh vs. baked

Although some farmers regularly spread fresh manure in their fields, backyard gardeners should compost or cure plant-based manure before adding it to soil.

Composting manure at 131 degrees F (compost heats up naturally; check temps using a compost thermometer) for at least 15 days does the following:

• Kills harmful pathogens, such as E. coli.

• Kills weeds’ undigested seeds.

• Dilutes ammonia that burns plants.

• Stabilizes nitrogen into slow-release compounds.

• Reduces odors.

Turn your composting manure pile every few days to ensure that all bits of manure are composted. When composting, more time is better, but pathogens will be dead in 15 days at 131 degrees F.

If you don’t have a compost pile, you can spread fresh manure on your garden in the fall, let it dry and cure over winter for at least three months, then turn it into the soil in spring. Dried manure is lighter and flakier than composted manure, and will leaven your soil and increase drainage.

Which poo is best?

Before selecting fresh manure, test your soil to determine what nutrients it lacks; then select manure that supplies needed elements.

• Fresh turkey manure contains twice the amount of nitrogen as cow manure.

• Sheep manure contains more potash than horse poop.

• Rabbit manure breaks down quickly and doesn’t burn plants.

To see nutrients in various types of manure, check out this information from the USDA.

Alpaca manure, rich in nitrogen and potassium, currently is in fashion among garden enthusiasts. Alpacas take 50 hours to digest food (horses take 1 hour), and produce poop pellets, which are easy to collect and spread.

Here’s a look at the Double “O” Alpacas farm in Gainesville, Va.

Caution! Never use meat-based manure from dogs or cats, which contain pathogens that can sicken humans.

Where to get manure

• If you keep chickens, horses, rabbits, or cows, you know where to find free manure for your garden. Most neighbors who keep livestock will be happy to let you muck out a stall or cage and keep all the fresh manure you can carry.

• Many alpaca breeders age poop in fields, and then give the cured manure to gardeners for free. See if there’s an alpaca breeder in your area.

• Garden centers and big box hardware stores sell bags of composted manure ($8 for 40 pounds of composted cow manure).

• Some zoos compost manure from their resident leaf-eaters — elephants, hippos, zebras, giraffes, gazelles — and either give or sell it to the public. Manure from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo is so popular that it holds fall and spring lotteries for the right to purchase its composted “Zoo Doo” ($8-$10 for a garbage can full). Call your local zoo to determine its poo policy.

How to spread manure

What to wear: Wear gloves, long sleeves, pants, and shoes or boots you can leave by the door: You don’t want to track manure into the house. To prevent contamination, some gardeners don’t harvest vegetables in the same clothes they wear to spread manure.

After working in the garden, launder clothes in hot water.

How much: Generally spread about 40 lbs. of composted manure over 100 sq. ft.

How to apply: Use a shovel or spade to turn composed manure into the top 6-9 inches of soil; side-dress plants with aged manure; or treat plants to a manure tea made by soaking bags of manure in watering cans or tubs.

How to Divide Plants

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Gardening, Home Improvement, Landcaping, Property Improvement

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Published: September 21, 2012

Make the most of your perennials by dividing and transplanting favorites that have outgrown their homes.

Why divide and transplant?

Plants need space to thrive. When they become too big for their garden spots, powdery mildew coats leaves, insects chow down on blooms and stems, and centers become brown.

When you divide and transplant, each perennial — the new and old — blooms more. Plus, divided plants are cheap plants — they fill in garden gaps and are a hit at neighborhood plant swaps.

When’s the best time to transplant?

Transplanting rule of thumb: If it flowers in spring, transplant in fall; if it flowers in fall, transplant when the blossoms fade.

But really, anytime is an OK time to move perennials if you can dig the ground and water the transplants. If you transplant in warm weather, avoid hot afternoons.

Early fall is particularly good because rain is more plentiful in most regions, and roots have an entire winter to grow and anchor themselves into the ground. Some happy fall transplants include:

• Peony

• Bleeding heart

• Hosta

• Spring bulbs such as tulips and iris

Plants that would rather be transplanted in spring are:

• Coneflowers

• Black-eyed Susans

• Mums

Dividing without tears

You don’t need a surgeon’s touch to divide perennials, which are hardier than they look.

“Just dig or pull it out; you won’t hurt it,” says Sheri Ann Richerson, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year-Round Gardening.

5 essential steps for dividing plants

• Prune the plant by about a third, which reduces its water requirements after transplanting.

• Place a shovel or spade where you want to divide the plant, push the tool down through the plant and roots, and pull up the divided plant.

• When dividing bulbs, dig up the mature plants and gently pull bulbs apart with your fingers.

• To divide hostas, cut roots with a sharp knife or shears.

• Trim the roots of divided plants, which makes them stronger and healthier (just like trimming split ends makes hair healthier).

6 essential steps for transplanting

• Give plants a nice long drink before transplanting. Immerse their roots in a bucket of water with a small amount of fertilizer for at least 30 minutes and no longer than overnight. Place the bucket in a shady place. This will decrease plant stress.

• Amend soil with compost from your pile or a slow-release fertilizer. Bulbs will appreciate a handful of bone meal.

• Dig a hole about twice the diameter of the plant.

• If you’ve got clay garden soil, place crushed gravel or terra-cotta pot shards in the bottom of the hole to increase drainage.

• Place plant in hole and cover with soil.

• Water thoroughly and check every day or two to make sure the soil is moist, not sopping.

More tips

• Divide and transplant perennials every 3-5 years.

• Dividing and transplanting temporarily stresses plants, so pick a day that’s not too hot or cold. A mild, overcast day about a month before the first hard frost is best.

• Let plants rest for a couple of weeks after blooming, which is stressful. Then transplant.

• If a heat wave suddenly appears, shade transplants with a beach umbrella and water daily.

How to Prevent Weeds From Ever Sprouting

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Gardening, Home Repair, Landcaping, Property Improvement

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Published: March 5, 2013

When it comes to weeds in your garden, an hour of prevention is better than a season of yanking.

But if you prevent weed seeds from germinating, your garden will be weed-free. Here are some surefire ways to keep weeds from growing in the first place.

Shhh! Don’t Disturb the Soil

Weed seeds “sleep” in your soil all the time, just waiting for sunshine to enable them to germinate. Left underground, many weed seeds remain dormant for years. So the less you disturb the soil, the more likely weed seeds will remain asleep.

Avoid high-powered tillers, and go easy on the hand cultivating. Sow your flower and vegetable seeds above the ground in mounds of compost, shredded leaves, or even in bags of topsoil. Better yet, plant seedlings and starts.

Smother Weed Seeds

Another way to keep seeds asleep is to cover your soil with sun-blocking organic or synthetic mulches.

Organic mulches — hardwood mulch, newspaper, cardboard, straw — degrade in a few months and improve soil structure and add nutrients. Synthetic mulches — landscaping paper, plastic — can last several seasons, but won’t help rebuild soil when they eventually degrade.

Heed these mulching tips:

• Wet the ground before you lay down layers of paper, which will prevent the paper from blowing away while you work.

• Scout yard sales for old carpet and wallpaper, efficient sun blocks that prevent weeds.

• Spread mulch 2 to 4 inches deep to suppress weeds and retain moisture.

• Always pick straw, not hay, to prevent weeds. Hay usually contains hayseeds, which will sprout where you’re trying to keep weeds out.

Learn more about mulching with our handy garden mulch guide.

Wage a Chemical Attack

Pre-emergent herbicides prevent weed seeds from germinating, but don’t kill existing plants and grasses.

The exact timing for applying a pre-emergent herbicide is hard to pinpoint because you must spread the herbicide before seeds germinate, which happens underground at different times.

Conventional gardening wisdom says spread pre-emergent herbicides when the daffodils pop or the forsythia wilts. But advance planning is the best way to determine when to spread. Log the date when you see the first weeds in your garden, then subtract three weeks to arrive at the date you should spread the pre-emergent herbicide next spring.

Grow Up Close and Personal

The closer together you plant your flowers and vegetables, the less space weed seeds will have to grow.

If you double-dig — loosen (don’t pulverize) soil at least 2 feet down — you can plant cheek-by-jowl, because plant roots can grow down, not out, to find water and nourishment. If you plant intensively in a diamond-shaped pattern — rather than rows — you’ll avoid barren spots where weeds will grow.

To keep weeds out of lawns, make sure your grass is lush and healthy so weeds have no room to grow. Reseed bald patches; fertilize if a soil test determines nutrient deficiencies; aerate in the fall.

Test your weed knowledge with this slideshow of common weeds.

Garden Watering Systems You Can Make Yourself

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Gardening, Home Improvement, watering systems

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Published: March 13, 2013

Easy DIY watering systems for gardens are lifesavers when hot weather moves in and thirsty plants moan, “Feed me!” once or twice a day.

• Drip hoses that save water by delivering moisture directly to roots.

• Self-watering planter that hydrates plants by wicking moisture from a water well.

• Ollas, buried clay pots that deliver water to roots on demand.

DIY Drip Hose

A drip hose soaks soil — drop by drop — without wasting water to evaporation or promoting disease by soaking foliate. A 50-ft. drip hose costs $14 at big box stores. Or you can make one yourself from any old hose you might otherwise toss into the trash. Here’s how.

• Rescue an old hose. Clean it and lay it on a flat surface, such as a wood plank.

• On one side of the hose, punch tiny holes 1 to 2 inches apart, leaving 6 inches with no holes on both ends of the hose. To make holes, use an upholstery needle or a tiny, 1/64-inch drill bit.

• Attach a hose cap ($1.80 for ¾-in. brass) to one end of the hose. Attach the other end to another hose that’s long enough to reach from a spigot to your garden.

• Turn on water so that drops fall from each hole along the hose. You want a drip — not a spray — so lower the pressure if too much water comes out.

• Wind the hose along the base of plants, then cover with 2 inches of mulch.

Self-Watering Earth Box Planter

An earth box is a self-watering planter that relies on the wicking ability of soil to continuously draw water from a built-in well. You fill the well through a tube — far less often than if you watered by hand.

An earth box can be any size or material, so long as it has a water reservoir and soil. Here’s a good one:

1. Select a Rubbermaid Roughneck Tote (24-by-16-by-12 inches; $6). Using a super-sharp knife, cut out the flat part of the lid, separating it from the lip.

2. Make “weeping cups” by punching 1/2-in. holes in two 16 oz. plastic cups until they look like Swiss cheese.

3. Take a 5-ft. long piece of ½-inch-diameter ABS pipe ($6), mark it off every 2.5 inches, and cut into 16 pieces. Use the remainder (about 20 inches) for your watering tube.

4. In the lid corners, cut out holes to fit two weeping cups and the watering tube.

5. Using a ½-in. drill bit, punch holes in the lid spaced about 1 inch apart (that’s lots of holes!)

6. Arrange the small PVC pieces in the bottom of the bin — they should be on-end and evenly spaced. Place the lid on top of the pieces. Place weeping cups and watering tube into their holes.

7. Pack the weeping cups snugly with potting soil, then fill the box with soil.

8. Drill a ½-in. drainage hole in the side of the box 2 ½ in. from the bottom.

9. Fill the bin with water through the watering tube. When it’s full, water will come out the drainage hole.

10. Plant.

Check out this video, which shows you how to make an earth box from two Rubbermaid tubs.

Make Your Own Ollas

Ollas (OY-yas) are earthen jars with thin necks and wide bellies that you fill with water and bury in your garden. Water seeps through the ollas’ unglazed walls to feed plant roots without wasting any water to evaporation or runoff. Eventually, plant roots grow around the ollas, drawing water when needed, creating a super-efficient self-watering system.

Make yours from extra clay garden pots and silicone caulk.

• Select two 8- or 10-in. clay pots with smooth rims that closely match each other.

• Caulk a bottle cap or piece of tile over the bottom hole of one pot to prevent water from pouring out.

• Cover the rim of one pot with a thick ribbon of silicone caulk. Place the other pot over the caulk and press lightly.

• Let caulk dry for 24 hours, then fill the pot with water to check for leaks.

• When you’re satisfied that your olla is leak-proof, bury it in your garden next to plants. Water in an 8-in. diameter; olla spreads 18 inches.

• Fill olla with water, and cover the hole with a rock or glazed saucer. Check water levels with a stick and refill as necessary.

Need a little garden inspiration? Check out these eye-pleasing cottage gardens and learn how to plant flowers and veggies together.

5 Awesomely Easy Landscaping Projects

Tags

Gardening, Home Improvement, Landcaping, Property Improvement

By: Dave Toht

Published: February 26, 2013

Ramp up your curb appeal with cool landscaping projects you can easily pull off in a weekend.

Use a charged garden hose to lay out a smooth curve.

Tip: A “charged” garden hose full of water makes for a smoother, kink-free curve; charge up by turning on the spigot but leaving the sprayer off.

With the hose as your guide, use a lawn edger or spade to cut away excess sod and make an incision for the edging. Tap in the edging with a rubber mallet and add the stakes. Trim the edging with a hacksaw, using a speed square to mark for cuts.

Specs and cost: Steel — $1.25 per lineal foot; aluminum — $2.25 plf; rigid plastic or fiberglass — $1.65 plf.

Tools: Garden hose, flour or powdered chalk, lawn edger or spade, shovel, speed square, hacksaw, rubber mallet, hammer.

Time: 1 day to edge a typical yard.

Read on for more easy landscaping projects:

Add an Earth Berm
Build a Wall for a Raised Bed
Install a Flagstone Path
Add a Brick Tree Surround

Project #2: Add an Earth Berm

The setup: Create an eye-catching front yard feature by shaping a few cubic yards of topsoil into an undulating berm. Topped off with mulch, groundcover, and bushes, a berm adds interest and buffers street noise.

Use a charged hose to outline the berm. Remove sod a couple of feet in from the perimeter. Add a few mounds, but max out at 3 feet high.

Specs and cost: Three cubic yards of soil is enough for a good-sized berm. Expect to pay $15-$20 per cubic yard and $15–$60 for delivery — a total of $60-$120.

Tip: Don’t be tempted by those bags of topsoil at the home center: At $2.50 per cubic foot, a cubic yard (27 cubic feet) will end up costing you $67.50.

Have a cubic yard of mulch dropped off as well ($15–$20). A dozen periwinkle starts, plus a few boxwood bushes and evergreens, will set you back another $140.

Total for an 18-foot-long berm: $215–$280.

Tools: Wheelbarrow, spade, shovel, garden rake, trowel.

Time: A day to form the berm, another half-day for planting and mulching.

Project #3: Build a Wall for a Raised Bed

The setup: A stacked flagstone wall for your raised beds has an old-world look that mellows any landscape. Best of all, you don’t have to be stonemason to build one.

Begin by laying out the wall with stakes and mason’s line. Tamp a level bed of sand for the first course. As you add courses, stagger joints at least 3 inches. Set each course back ¼-inch so the wall leans backward slightly. Once finished, back the wall with landscaping fabric before filling with topsoil.

Specs and cost: Choose a stone of consistent thickness. Flagstone might be limestone, sandstone, shale — any rock that splits into slabs. A ton of 2-inch-thick stone is enough for a wall 10 feet long and 12 inches high.

Cost: About $300 for stones and sand.

Tip: Permanent retaining walls should be backed by pea gravel for drainage. In some locations, walls taller than 3 feet high require a building permit.

Tools: Stakes and mason’s line, spade, shovel, a 2-by-4 that’s 8 feet long, a 4-foot level, garden rake, tamper.

Time: 1 day for a 10-foot-long wall that’s 12 inches high.

Want to see some cool retaining walls? Check out our slideshow, 8 Retaining Wall Ideas.

Project #4: Install a Flagstone Path

The setup: For a welcoming addition to your yard, add a flagstone pathway. Use a charged garden hose to mark a meandering path about 3 feet wide. Arrange flagstones within the path so they are 2–4 inches apart and mark their location with sprinkled flour.

Tip: Sprinkling flour over the stones creates a “shadow” outline on the ground. When you remove the stones, you’ll have perfect outlines for cutting away the sod.

Cut away 3–4 inches of sod beneath each stone, add a layer of sand, and level the flagstones as you place them.

Specs and cost: For a 40-foot path about 3 feet wide, plan on 2 tons of flagstones and about a cubic yard of coarse sand. Cost: About $550.

Tools: Garden hose, flour, spade, trowel, level.

Time: 1 day for a 40-foot path.

Want more detail? Get the inside scoop on our start-to-finish DIY paver project.

Project #5: Add a Brick Tree Surround

The setup: Installing a masonry surround for a tree eases mowing and looks great. All it takes is digging a circular trench, adding some sand, and installing brick or stone.

Tip: To create a nice, even circle around the base of your tree, tie a big loop of rope around your tree. Adjust the length of the loop so when you pull it taut, the free end is right where you’d like the outer edge of the surround to be. Set your spade inside the loop with the handle plumb — straight up and down. Now, as you move around the tree, the loop of rope keeps the spade exactly the same distance from the base of the tree, creating a nice circle.

Use the spade to cut into the sod all the way around the tree. Remove the rope, and dig out a circular trench about 8 inches deep and 6 inches wide. Add a layer of sand. Set bricks at an angle for a pleasing saw-tooth effect or lay them end-to-end. Fill the surround with 2–4 inches of mulch.

Curious what trees to plant? Our popular slideshow tells you which trees you should never plant in your yard.

Specs and cost: This is an instance where buying small quantities of materials at the home center makes sense. Brick pavers cost $.50-$1 each — figure about 20 per tree. A bag of mulch, enough for one tree, costs $2.50.

Tools: Rope, spade, trowel.

Time: 3 hours per tree.

The Ripple Effect

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real-estate, Residential Real Estate

Over the last few years since the economy tanked, there has been a lot of talk about job creation.  Now consider the ‘Ripple Effect’ of how business brings more business.  When you shop, that creates jobs, those business owners and employees  can now go shopping, and the cycle continues.  This occurrence happens on every level, and in addition, if you keep those dollars local it is good for your local community. You should especially consider shopping with mom & pop stores, because they are the backbone of our economy.  To help illustrate this, I have included a chart to show how much the big ticket purchase of a home helps our economy.

Recouping Your Remodel Costs

Tags

Home Repair, Remodeling, Residential Real Estate, Selling Your Home

Sometimes when people are ready to sell there home, they have an inflated idea of what their project has added to the value of their home.  The truth is, a home is only worth what the market dictates, it does not  always equate with the hard earned money, or sweat equity that you have put in.  So if you area going to live there a while, remodel in a way which you will get enjoyment out of the property while you are there.  If you are remodeling for the purpose of sale, take a close look at what your return will be – It will surely bring a quicker sale, but will it bring the added value you are looking for?  Either way, the chart below based on research from the National Association of Realtors will help to give you a realistic picture of of what you can expect in the way of a return, featuring the top ten remodeling projects to give you the best bang for your buck.

How to Remove a Popcorn Textured or Acoustic Ceiling • Ron Hazelton Online

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Home Improvement, Remodeling, Residential Real Estate

Popcorn ceilings, love em or hate em.  My experience with clients is that most don’t really like them.  I always love to see tips from Ron Hazelton, and here is his take on removing a popcorn ceiling.

How to Remove a Popcorn Textured or Acoustic Ceiling • Ron Hazelton Online.

Financing a Vacation Home

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home loans, Real Estate Finance, real-estate, Tuoumne count california real estate, vacation homes

Financing a Vacation Home

With the tightening of financing over the past few years, buying a vacation home is becoming a little more difficult. For those who have the cash though, it is a good time to make the purchase with home prices as low as they are. Above is an article from the New York Times on Financing a Vacation Home. If your ready to take the plunge, I would love to lend you my services in Tuolumne County, or refer you to Realtor in a vacation home market anywhere else.

Shorter Term Home Financing

Tags

finance, home loans, real-estate, save interest

  When it comes to purchasing big ticket items, society in general tends to asks 2 questions.  How much does it cost? and What are my monthly payments?  The big problem is that we tend to leave out the question, How much will the total cost be when it is paid off?

     Not considering the 3rd question, has put most of America into trouble at some point or another, including myself.  Your best bet is to pay off credit cards every month, in other words, live within your means.  Don’t use credit for things that do not have lasting value (like dinner, concerts).

     There are of course things that are just too big to not use credit for, such as a car or a house.  In both cases, a shorter loan term may cost slightly more, but the savings in interest can be huge. The chart below is a good example of interest savings.  When taking out a home loan, many of us need 30 years to pay it in order to afford the payment.  If you do not need it however, I urge you to go for the shorter term.  If you already have a long term loan, consider a refinance to a shorter term.  Another option is to make additional principal payments on your current loan, you would be surprised how little extra you need to pay to double your principal payment, especially in the early years.