South Eastern Connecticut Landscaping

As temperatures here in the Midwest begin to eek into the low ’60s, it’s easy to forget that Mother Nature still has a few tricks up her sleeve to ruin your attempts at gardening. Temps during the day may be nice and warm, but when the sun sets, the dreaded frost may come out to hurt or kill your plants.

Don’t worry. It’s easy to be distracted by the warm temperatures during the day. It’s intoxicating. We’ve spent the last three months afraid to leave the house for fear of something freezing off, and now the sun is shining and you actually see some buds on the trees.

It’s perfectly fine to start your garden, as long as you remember to cover your plants up at night. This time of year, temperatures between the day and night can vary by 30 degrees or more. Your plants just newly sprouted from the ground can freeze if they are left uncovered.

You think that you can just cover them with a thin layer of plastic and shave your cotton sheets they wear, tear and dirt. The problem with plastic is that it doesn’t do much for the moisture aspect. It might keep them from direct frosting, but the plastic doesn’t breath, and all that cold condensation just sticks to it.

You are going to have to sacrifice the sheets and quilts, because they will actually keep them warm and absorb the night moisture. They are also breathable. It’s the same reason why you like wearing cotton in the summer.

Mother Nature doesn’t mean to hurt your plants. It’s not some grandiose plan to ruin your gardening aspirations. It’s just how the world works. When you live in areas that have all four seasons, there is bound to be an overlap. You can either wait until the frost is no longer an issue to start your garden, i.e. around the end of April, or cover up your plants. It’s your choice.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/hisgett/5217836747

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Those of us with specialized skills should use them to help our fellow man in times of need. We may not be experts or certified, but our knowledge is useful.

Watching and listening to the reports of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan reminded me that skills such as ours are greatly need by people throughout our communities. We don’t have to go all the way to Japan to find people who need us. Your local Habitat for Humanity needs volunteers who know how to patch holes in drywall, connect the wiring to a ceiling fan and help put up a frame of a house.

Charities often don’t have the money to hire people to fix things, so they depend on volunteers with knowledge to fix their leaky pipes and repair their air conditioners. You don’t get money out of it, but you will make a difference in people’s lives.

I remember volunteering for Habitat for Humanity one year, and we were at an elderly person’s house that needed some significant work. She had a dishwasher, but it stopped working a few months earlier, and she didn’t have the money to fix it. The woman was forced to hand-wash her dishes despite having severe arthritis in her hands.

She talked about having to stop every few minutes because her hands were hurting so bad. It turned out the dish washer had a minor problem that I was able to fix while I was there. She came by when I first turned it on and actually cried when it worked. I made a difference in her life with something as simple as fixing a dishwasher. I helped make her life a little easier.

Charities like Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross and United Way provide the things that people need to live. They help people when they are down, and I know that if I ever needed their services I would have them. There is no reason, if they need my services, that I shouldn’t offer it to them.

The news spends all its time talking about the devastation, but the real stories come from the people like you and me, using the skills we learned to help others.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/firstbaptistnashville/2658798046

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Today I begrudgingly bring you some very beautiful flowers. The only reason I’m hesitant is because of the tree that these perfect little white blooms flower from each spring. Can you guess it? If not I’ll give you a couple clues – it’s over planted. Still can’t guess? It’s smells awful in the spring, I’m talking rotting-fish awful. Still can’t guess? It breaks apart easily in storms due to its poor branching structure or for another clue think – great-big-Q-tips…I bet you have a clue. It’s the Bradford pear tree! The builder in our neighborhood saw to it that each and every house has two Bradford pears in the front yard. Why not two Yoshino cherry trees? Or for a native Bradford pear substitute they could have planted two serviceberry trees? If we had the serviceberries we’d also get the benefit of the edible fruit each year (as long as we beat the birds to it).  Nope we have smelly, easily broken, too often planted Bradford pears.  But at least they look nice for a couple weeks in spring!

Here take a peek:

The blooms are beautiful but emit a foul smell that attracts pollinators – yes it really does!

The branches frequently break in storms due to the convergence of the many branches at the trunk in a ‘V’ shape. Branches in a ‘V’ shape break off easily and take a large chunk of trunk with it. Branches grown at a more 90 degree angle from the tree won’t break off the trunk of the tree as easily and the bark and the tree has a better chance of survival and a nicer appearance after the accident.

And just so I can show you a photo of something in my garden I can be proud of:

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Home maintenance issues can spring on you when you least expect it. Especially when it’s a chore you really hate doing. I hate cleaning gutters. It’s nasty and wet and… ugh! So I conveniently forget about it for a while.

The bedrooms are on the second floor of our home, and as I woke the other day I looked over and noticed the gutters were filled with leaves and debris. I knew that water had to have been overflowing and the downspouts were probably even plugged. I thought back to when I cleaned them last and couldn’t remember offhand. That’s never a good sign.

So, I leaned over, kissed my wife on the cheek and headed out the garage to get my ladder. Cleaning out the gutters isn’t difficult; it’s just long and gross work.

1. The materials: You are going to need a sturdy step ladder that can reach to the roof. You won’t actually be on the roof, but you will need to be at roof level. A garbage bag for debris and a trowel to scoop up the nasties. A garden hose for down spout leaning.

2. The gutter process: Choose an area to start; it doesn’t really matter where, since you are going around the entire house. Place the garbage bag on the roof, so you don’t have to carry it with you. When it fills up, you can throw it to the ground and get out a new one.

Use your hands to scoop up the dry and slightly wet leaves and place them into the bag. If it has been a while since your last cleaning, then dirt and debris have likely settled to the bottom and become a caked-on layer. Use the trowel to scoop it up, but be careful not to poke a hole in the gutter. Repeat for the length of the house.

You should take breaks every hour or two. Standing on a ladder for a long period of time can be hard on your back, especially with all the arm movements and twisting you are doing to clean the gutter.

3. The downspouts: There are several downspouts along the gutter system. The spouts take the water flowing from the gutters and transports it to ground level. These can become clogged, as well, and are a bit more difficult to clean than the gutters.

Test if they are clogged by pouring water into the downspout. If the water comes out, then you’re good and can head inside for a well-deserved cold one. If not, then gird up your armor. Take a garden hose and stick it inside the downspout and turn it on. The water will hit the clog and ideally knock it loose. If you have a nozzle to adjust the spray strength, then that’s even better. If the clog persists, then run the hose down into the spout until it hits the clog and hope that knock out the clog.

If that still doesn’t break it loose, then you may have to use a stick to knock it loose if it is near. Sometimes a plumber’s snake can help, as well. Otherwise, you have to remove the down spout and disassemble it to find the clog. That is not fun. You should be careful because, just like the gutter, the downspout is a little flimsy and easily punctured.

Try and clean your gutters once a year. It’s an afternoon job, preferably on a warm spring day. Don’t be like me and procrastinate; that only makes the chore harder.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/akeg/2529849524

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Growing up in a small town, I was always under the impression that people just went from living with their parents to buying a house. I assumed people just gave you money when you wanted a home and you moved in. Easy as pie.

I was wrong. Dead wrong. Today’s home prices may be in a decline, but that doesn’t mean you can afford your dream home right out of high school or college. Odds are that you are going to need to rent something for a while, at least until you can save up for that house or find an area that you want to settle down in. Here is a quick reference on the types of rental units available.

Converted Apartments: This was my first apartment, and it is my favorite type of apartment rental. These are large homes, usually older, that have been remodeled so that instead of one big home you have two or three mid-sized apartments. The nice thing is that there aren’t that many people living with you, but landlords looking for a quick buck may put up some shoddy construction to make the apartments.

Apartment Building: When people think of apartment renting, this is usually what they think about. An apartment building is simply a large building specifically made for apartment living. Depending on the area, the buildings can have fewer than a dozen apartments or up in the hundreds. The apartments can be inexpensive and run down, or very expensive and luxurious, such as in cities like New York and Los Angeles. The problem with apartment living is that you can have hundreds of people living around you and have no control. The upstairs neighbors could fight 24-7, the downstairs neighbors could play their radio way too loud, and the neighbors on each side could be annoyingly loud love-makers. Out of your hands.

Duplex: This is a mix of a house and an apartment. It consists of two units, usually side-by-side, that are completely distinct and separate from each other. They can be converted homes or built with the duplex in mind. Converted duplexes tend to have thin walls, but many constructed duplexes have special soundproofing, so there is a complete separation between the two parties. Constructed duplexes tend to me more expensive than standard apartments because of their newer construction and amenities.

House: If you hate having close neighbors or want plenty of room to grow, then renting a house is perfect. Like apartment buildings, rented homes run the gambit on expense and quality. With the housing decline, many people are renting out homes instead of selling them, but that could be a double-edged sword for the renter. There are plenty of choices out there, but if the market improves, then the owner may try and sell it out from under you. There is nothing worse than spending several years in a rented home and then having your landlord say to be out in 30 days. “I just sold it,” they’ll say. In fact, this should be a topic that you discuss prior to signing the lease.

For more tips on what to look for in renting, the home-improvementblog.com has a great article.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/turkeychik/2468996425