Friday, September 11th, 2009
I was sitting on the front steps a few days ago when I looked to my left. I noticed a strange white powdery substance on the branches and stems of the Lilac bush right in front of the house. I stood up and walked towards it. As I got closer, I noticed a whitish coating on all of the leaves. I knew something was wrong. I have seen the white stuff on the leaves before, but I just thought that was the way things were supposed to be. The white stuff on the woody parts of the plant gave me concern.
I went inside and started doing some searches on the internet for “white coating on lilac leaves” and so on. I got the results I was looking for rather quickly. Apparently, “Powdery Mildew” is very popular. It infects a variety of plants and trees, with the Lilac being one of them.
There are any number of remedies to deal with Powdery Mildew, but they all boil down to doing one thing…spraying the infected plant with a fungicide. Where was I going to get a fungicide? Oh no, not another trip to Home Depot.
As I sat there in deep thought, I remembered a few years back when our old neighbor, Tim, was cleaning out his garage. He cleverly made a pile of small bottles next to our basement door. He said that I could either keep the stuff or just get rid of them. Gee, thanks Tim. Well, as it turns out, I kept them and I’m glad I did. I recently discovered that a few of the bottles contained a fungicide that can be used to deal with Powdery Mildew, Black Spot, Rust, etc… It’s called “Garden Safe Fungicide 3″ and uses an oil extract from the Neem tree, a native of India. The active ingredient in this fungicide is called clarified hydrophobic extract of neem oil, to be exact. It’s non-toxic and safe for the environment.
-
-
Powdery Mildew on Lilac leaves
-
-
Powdery Mildew on Lilac stems and branches
-
-
Rust spots on shrub leaf
-
-
Garden Safe Fungicide 3
-
-
Clarified hydrophobic extract of neem oil
I decided to give the shrub a nice spraying of this fungicide. I poured some of it into my handy dandy sprayer and hooked it up to the hose. I did my thing and sprayed the Lilac bush. I decided to leave it at that, just in case everything died because of it. The directions say to do this every seven days to eradicate the Powdery Mildew from the plant. A few days have gone by and I’m not noticing all that much of a difference. The good news is that nothing was killed because of the spray. I can now reapply and also tackle another shrub out in the front yard with what looks like rust spots on the leaves.
I’ll let you know how things turn out in a few weeks.
Related posts
Monday, September 7th, 2009
This is a project that I have been waiting all year to do. It’s called, “Overseeding the lawn” (the correct time of year).
Every time I have put down grass seed, it was during the hottest, driest time of year. The seed didn’t do much because there was nothing much to do. Eventually, I think it actually grew, but that was months later when things cooled off and the rain returned.
They say to overseed your lawn in early September. This is because, like I said above, the Summertime drought is most likely over and rain falls more frequently. Unfortunately for me, the ten day forecast shows ten perfectly orange pictures of sunshine. Only me.
The reason I did the whole lawn dethatch, aerate and overseed the day I did was because of the rain we got the previous two days. In order to properly aerate, you need moist soil. If the soil is too dry, the aerator can’t get down into the dirt deep enough and you won’t pull a substantial plug. I got plugs that were about one and a half to two inches long. I would offer a picture, but it’s been about a week since I did this job and the plugs are all dried up and not very attractive.
I thought I would breeze through this particular project. In actuality, it took longer than expected. First, I dethatched the grass. I did this by towing the dethatcher I bought at Home Depot around the yard. Since grass and thatch kept clumping up in the tines, I had to stop frequently to clean it out. After that was done, I put the bagger back on the mower and mowed the grass at a height of three inches. I know the general advice is to mow at one inch or less when overseeding, but I just didn’t have the heart to scrape the dirt when I had no guarantee of rain in the future. I am not about to water 11,000 square feet of grass either. Mother Nature is going to have to take care of this one.
After I dethatched and mowed, I pulled out the tow behind plug aerator and did my thing. I did a few passes over the lawn to make sure I roughed up the dirt enough. I did a good job, but I still think I should have done more. It’s just that while doing this kind of thing, you want to get it done. Driving around in circles isn’t all that entertaining.
Okay, so once the aerating was finished, I filled the seed spreader up with my custom mixture of Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass. I chose these two types of grass because the Kentucky Bluegrass is just awesome looking and it is supposed to spread to fill in bare spots. The thing is, it takes forever to germinate. The Perennial Ryegrass is a good looking durable grass that germinates much faster and will fill things in while waiting for the Bluegrass.
As I said above, it’s been about a week with no rain and there isn’t much action out there. I have been watering certain areas with my sprinkler because I have no illusions that a huge thunderstorm isn’t going to come and wash all the seed off the front hillside. I want to get that grass sort of anchored in there before that happens. Otherwise, I will have to let nature take its course and wait for the grass to grow on it’s own. I also have some seed left over to spread out if need be.
Here are some pictures for you.
-
-
Bare spot in lawn with hole from tow behind plug aerator
-
-
Bare spot in lawn with Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass grass seed
-
-
Bag of Scotts starter fertilizer
Oh yeah, I also bought two bags of Scotts starter fertilizer. Each bag is supposed to cover 5,000 square feet. I haven’t applied this yet because the directions say to water in immediately after application. Since I can’t water the entire lawn, I am going to wait for right before the next rainfall to spread this stuff around.
Related posts
Sunday, September 6th, 2009
Since it was fairly cool outside today, I am in the mood to write. Yes, outside temperature has an impact on indoor activities. If it’s too hot out, I tend to get lazy. If it’s chilly out, I get to work. Today was in the lower 70s and that’s just fine for me. Now this evening (right now) is in the 50s and that’s even better for me. I think I might have to order that big hoody I have been wanting a little early.
Anyway, I decided to run up to Lowe’s this afternoon after my companion and I finished discussing how much better Lowe’s nursery is than Home Depot’s. Actually, I have seen some good Home Depot nurseries out there, but Lowe’s does seem to have that area down.
I wanted to pick up a few things. I needed to get some fruit trees, some evergreens, a *** and a ***. I will leave those last two as a surprise for my next post.
Okay, so I got to Lowe’s. I quickly browsed their garden area and found that they didn’t have any small White Pines or Norway Spruces. What else is new…nobody ever seems to have any of them. I mean, sure, whenever they get them in stock, they sell out immediately. Hmmm…gee. Weird that they don’t order more to satisfy the hungry evergreen crowd. No, that would make too much sense. Just keep filling the aisles up with those medium sized evergreens that never seem to leave. Yeah, everyone wants those. Okay, sarcasm over.
I went shopping inside to get the other items I went there for and then I returned to the garden area. I looked through the fruit tree area and picked out two apple trees that I believed my better half would like. I was given a slight nudge from my partner before I left. She wanted something what would grow some fruit on it and no more of those crabapples that I love so much. Hey, if it’s good enough for my mate, it’s good enough for me (okay, I’m out of funny names for her).
The two fruit trees I decided on were a Red Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree and a Yellow Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree. I don’t think either of these types of apples are on our most favorite lists, but they were the only ones there and I needed something to plant in the front yard. Also, I have eaten Yellow Delicious apples and I don’t hate them. Red Delicious I can do without.
I got back and grabbed the shovel. I also grabbed the wheelbarrow and dug up some compost from my little compost area. That stuff is coming along very nicely and is chock full of worms. You just have to see it. I supposed I should have taken some pictures of it, right? Maybe next time. Sorry about that.
I brought the compost and trees up to the front yard and got to work. It took a few minutes to dig the holes because they were larger than I normally dig them. I thought it would be neat to follow the directions on the back of the tag for once. You know, “Dig the hole twice the size…blah blah blah.” Yeah, I did that and used the majority of the compost I dug up from the pile. We’ll see what happens. Usually, if I follow the directions on a plant, it ends up dying. Although, I did read somewhere that if you plant a tree correctly (instead of just shoving it in a shallow hole like I usually do), it will grow twice as fast as it would if you plant it incorrectly. I guess it has something to do with the roots being able to get out there in the dirt.
So, here are the photos of the two trees I planted today.
-
-
Red Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree tag from Lowe’s
-
-
Yellow Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree tag from Lowe’s
-
-
Red Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree
-
-
Yellow Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree
Related posts
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
10 Ways Gardening Can Help You Through A Recession
Costs add up fast in the produce aisle. Save some of that money by growing food yourself. Most herbs and vegetables grow great in containers – so they’re perfect additions to a sunny deck, patio, or balcony.
5 Homemade Chemical Free Bug Repellents That Work
Not only can insects be a nuisance in your garden, but they can ruin a perfect picnic or hike. Here are a few totally green, home remedy suggestions to repel insects without using toxic chemicals.
250,000 Tiny Greenhouses, Each Containing One Head Of Lettuce
During the early 1900s, Parisian urban gardeners employed the bell jars — called cloches — to protect their plants and raise salad greens early in the season. This was known as a practical guide to “intensive” farming the French way.
Company Designs And Maintains Organic Farm In Your Backyard
Most environmentally aware Americans would love a personal organic vegetable garden, but how many people actually have the time to cultivate one?. Thanks to a San Francisco-based company called MyFarm, Bay Area denizens can pay a weekly fee to have a backyard garden designed and maintained by professionals.
Tea Tree Oil: An Amazing And Versitile Substance
Tea Tree oil is a great multipurpose treatment to use on a number of ailments. Whether you are looking to repel insects in your garden or if you are looking to clear up your acne, tea tree oil is a great alternative.
Related posts
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
This is so cool. I bought my first LED house light this afternoon.
I had a small Home Depot list going on, so I thought I would do a little shopping today. This morning, I told Laura that I was going to head up the Glastonbury to get some stuff and she informed me that the night light bulb went bad last night. We like to have a night light in the hallway to avoid falling down the stairs when it’s dark. I put that on my list and off I went.
I knew that an LED bulb was the way to go, especially for this application. Since the night light is so far away from us when we are sleeping, the light the bulb gives off doesn’t need to be necessarily “pretty.” I think LED bulbs have a long way to go in that department.
The only thing I was concerned about was whether or not the Depot had any LED night light bulbs.
When I got to the store and the bulb area, I didn’t see any of the bulbs I was interested in. I actually had a 4-pack of the regular incandescent bulbs in my hand and was ready to stand up to put them in the cart, when I saw the little LED bulbs to my right. I think the 4-pack of incandescent bulbs were $3 and change and the 2-pack of LED bulbs were about the same. When I read that the incandescent bulbs had a life of 3,000 hours each and the LED bulbs had a life of 50,000 each, the decision was a no-brainer.
The really cool thing is that each bulb only costs $.25 cents per year to use. Now, you please tell me if that’s a good deal or not. I have absolutely no idea how much it costs to run a night light. I am sure there are some hours involved here because people don’t really keep night lights on all day long. Either way, $.25 sounded good, even if it was creative marketing.
Here are some photos of the LED night light bulbs.
-
-
Eternalite LED bulb package
-
-
Three LEDs in the LED bulb
-
-
LED night light giving off blue light
Related posts
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Okay, I have been waiting for this post for some time now. It is a follow up to my previous post, “Cleaning Gutters & Installing Amerimax Gutter Covers.” If you visit that post, you can see some comments going back and forth concerning these gutter covers and other gutter covers in general.
I had these gutter covers installed in June of 2008. When I had them put on, the installer really didn’t want to do it. He said that he hated these things and was always taking them off of people’s gutters. I believed him because when I looked in the back of his truck, there were piles of old wire leaf guards. Also, he is a gutter cleaner, so if everyone got gutter covers, he would be out of business.
There are some issues that drive people away from gutter covers. I would say the two main issues are ice buildup and pine needles getting stuck in the covers. Some of the comments in my other post describe six foot icicles. I will tell you about my experience with these gutter covers and then I’ll talk about icicles.
Amerimax gutter cover with oak leaf
Do you want the verdict? Okay, here it is….SUCCESS.
We went through the summer, autumn and winter and all that we have to show for it is one oak tree leaf stuck in the gutter cover. That’s right, one leaf stuck in the whole gutter system. During the winter, we had a few six inch icicles over the front door. That’s it. These gutter covers didn’t cause ice buildup in the least and handled the heaviest of rainfall. Also, leaves slid off with ease. We have many oak trees around the house and I watched the leaves come down on many occasions. We don’t have any nearby pine trees, so I can’t comment on the pine needle issue.
Let’s talk about icicles. Please read this short article on what causes ice dams and icicles found here.
As I said above, I had some comments describing huge icicles that were allegedly caused by gutters or gutter covers. The truth of the matter is, if a house is properly insulated, you won’t have an ice problem. Ice dams and icicles are caused by warm air leaking through the ceiling of your home and warming the roof. When that happens, the snow melts and water runs down the roof to hit a cold gutter or gutter cover. The water freezes and causes an ice problem. Ice dams and icicles are a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. The real problem, is heat loss.
Since the house we live in is properly insulated, we didn’t have any ice problems. I will tell you that we live in Connecticut and had about five or six nice snow falls. A few of them were about 12″ in depth. This is valuable information when trying to compare locations with ice issues.
So there you have it. My conclusion is…if your house is properly insulated, go for it and get some gutter covers. It will save you money on gutter cleanings and will make life easier. If you have an insulation problem, get the problem fixed before you install gutters or gutter covers. If not, you may find yourself outside one snowy night tearing them off your house in a frenzy.
Related posts
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
I have to post this for my father. He wanted to see pictures.
I am not sure I told you this already, but for the longest time, I was using a big 36″ wide solid door as a desk. It was mounted on 4″x4″s. It was huge and worked well, but I needed to grow up and get a real desk, so I took the door desk apart and put the parts in the garage. I tucked the 4″x4″s away in the corner nicely, and leaned the door against the front wall. It was kind of in the way, but not all that much.
Poor Laura has been crowded for a few months now on her side of the garage. It seems as though the ride-on mower, the push mower and the snow blower were all in her car’s way. She was able to pull the car in the garage, but it was a tricky maneuver each time. The main culprits were the ride-on mower and the snow blower. When she tried to walk in front of the car, the push mower’s handle would jab her in the stomach. It was hard to watch. It was even harder to receive those wicked stares during those times I did decide to watch.
A few days ago, I decided it was time to clean up the garage and get rid of that door. It was just sitting there. I figure that if I disassembled my home-made shelving unit, I could replace it with a “door work bench” that could park the push mower and the snow blower right underneath. You’ll see in the photos.
I just want to say that I am a master carpenter when it comes to these types of projects. I even use a level. It’s simply amazing.
To do this project, all I needed was a miter saw, a circular saw, a few 2″x4″s, some screws, a stud finder, a tape measure and a level. It was pretty easy. Let me show you the photos, but please ignore all the items on top of the work bench. I haven’t organized them yet.
-
-
Work bench in the garage
-
-
Showing 2″x4″s underneath work bench mounted in the walls
-
-
Shelf mounted above the work bench in the garage
As you can see from the photos, I simply mounted some 2″x4″s against the side and back walls. Then, I cut the door to size and placed it on top of the 2″x4″s. I used one of the old desk legs for the last corner. Remember, this is a thick, heavy, solid door. Also, since I had an extra piece of door left over, I decided to use some shelve brackets I had hanging around to put up a nice little shelf. I keep a bunch of stuff up there and even drilled holes in it to use some old hooks. Now, I get to hang extension cords and stuff like that.
See how nicely the push mower and snow blower fit under that beauty? I moved over the ride-on mower a bit, tucked those two under the work bench and now Laura is all smiles. Plus, I got rid of the door.
Related posts
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
That’s a pretty good question. I thought four tons was more than enough. I think that’s 200 bags. Here’s the kicker…it’s February 22 and we only have 30 bags left.
30 bags of wood pellets
In the last house, I bought two tons per season and we had about a half of a ton left over towards the end of winter. This time, we get four tons and will run out in early March? What gives?
Well, first of all, the last house was smaller. Second of all, we didn’t run the stove all day while we weren’t there. I don’t think there is a third of all.
Since I am a man of many plans, I devised one to handle this situation. Next week some time, I am going to run out to Home Depot to get 10 bags or so of wood pellets. That should get us through most of March. Then, we’ll just burn wood in the fireplace as the temperature gets warmer outside. For next season, I am going to buy five tons of wood pellets (and not give any away to my brother).
How many tons of wood pellets do you usually use?
Related posts
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Valentine’s day was here. I wanted to wash the car and have it nice and clean, so my lady and I could drive down to Foxwoods in style. It was pretty dirty and needed a good wash.
On my way back from tennis yesterday morning, I dreaded the idea of going downstairs, turning the water valve to “on” and then going back outside to hook up the hose on the water spigot at the front of the house. I think the part I hate the most is hooking up the hose outside and then having to unhook it to put it back in the garage. The reason I would have to go downstairs to turn the valve on is because of freezing in the winter. No valve downstairs, frozen and broken water spigot upstairs come spring.
I had a great idea. Why not install a water spigot inside the garage? This way, I can keep a hose hooked up all the time and not have to worry about the spigot freezing over the winter. I could use the spigots that are outside for watering and things like that over the summer, but for washing the car and things like that, I could use the inside one. I thought it would be very handy.
Since the area I wanted the spigot located in the garage was right on the other side of the washing machine hookups down in the basement, I figured it would be a pretty easy job. Somehow, I would just tap into the cold water feed for the washing machine. I really look forward to these types of projects because I have to get imaginative. I enjoy standing in the pluming aisle at Home Depot trying to figure things out. I really do.
Before I left for the Depot to get all the parts, I decided to drill a hole through the 2×10 that the floor was resting on. This 2×10 is up in the ceiling of the laundry room and down towards knee level in the garage. I would drill a 7/8 inch hole to see what I would find.
I drilled the hole from the basement and saw daylight. Lucky me. I went upstairs to the garage and saw a hole right where I wanted the spigot to be. Really lucky me. I started getting my thoughts together and made a little list. Then, I hopped in the car and drove over to Home Depot.
I am not going to give you the list of parts I bought here because I forget what they are. Hopefully you can see them in the pictures I will show you. As I post the pics, I will probably remember what they were. Take a look at the finished product.
-
-
Water hose splitter and on-off switch on cold water laundry feed
-
-
125 psi hose going through 2×10 from laundry room to the garage upstairs
-
-
Water spigot mounted to 2×4s in garage
Let me do a little explaining. I know the proper way to do this is with copper piping. I may change that some day. For this application, I used hose. Since I am aware that this is not a permanent thing, I put an on/off valve down near the splitter in the laundry room. I saw the hose in the store and couldn’t pass it up. When I am not using the spigot, I can just go downstairs to turn the valve off.
Also, the reason the spigot is mounted to 2×4s is because I wanted it really solid on the wall. I am probably going to tug on the hose as I pull it outside and I didn’t feel like having the spigot tear off the wall. It’s not the prettiest thing, but you should try to give it a wiggle. Nope. I know there is a 2×10 on the other side of the sheetrock, but the hole I drilled was a bit too big and the mounting screws weren’t sitting right.
After everything was all set up, I hooked up a nice brand new no-kink garden hose I bought last autumn to the spigot in the garage. I went downstairs to turn on the easily accessible on/off valve and then came back upstairs to drag the hose out into the driveway. I turned the spigot on and…well, that’s for the next post.
Related posts
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Yesterday, I had to run out to Home Depot to get some stuff for a little project I was working on (I’ll tell you about it in the next post). While making my list, I remembered that I needed some saw blades for my reciprocating saw. Remember me telling you about that in the “Replacing The Exhaust On A 1999 Honda Civic DX” post? If not, you should go re-read that post. It is quite fantastic.
While at the Depot, after I did all my “project” shopping, I managed to make my way over to the tool aisle. I found the reciprocating saw blades and promptly put two nice metal cutting blades in the cart. I noticed that they were priced at $3.99 each. That didn’t really bother me because I had a bunch of gift cards in my wallet. I figured that $8 wasn’t too bad. Then, I happened to look up to see a nice Dewalt reciprocating saw blade kit for $25 and change. I said to myself, “That’s too much. All I need is a few metal cutting blades.” I picked the kit up anyway. The kit has 11 blades and one handy-dandy blade carrying “tough-case.” I did the math and just couldn’t help myself. I was sold on the carrying case. I am so bad. I rationalized it by telling myself that I was saving money because I was getting all those blades at so much less than I would if I had purchased them individually. You see? I actually “saved” money by going out any buying something. Incredible.
Here, take a look.
Dewalt reciprocating saw blade kit
Related posts
TYSM I read this one and decided to try it out on my ACER (See, its not always HP with the problems)...