If you don’t have the thick, lush lawn that you’ve imagined, you can rack your brain trying to figure out the cause.  While you wonder about watering practices and second guess yourself on fertilization, the problem might be a lot simpler.  It might be time to aerate.

Are there tracks in the lawn?  Are there tons of weeds despite a good fertilizer with weed prevention?  Are pests becoming a problem?  Is water pooling in the lawn after heavy rains?  Are there bare spots that you haven’t been able to help?  The soil might be compacted, and it might just take a little aerating to make the lawn thrive.  If you have a dry area, you’ll need to aerate more frequently.  There’s a simple and pretty unscientific way to tell when it’s time to aerate.  Grab a stick.  If the soil is difficult to penetrate with the stick, you should aerate.

You should choose a nice, clear day to aerate.  If the soil is wet, you will have a huge mess and a lot of explaining to do.  You’re also going to get compacted soil much more quickly if it’s wet.  If it’s too dry, you won’t be able to penetrate the soil with an aerator.  Pay attention to the weather.  You should have nice weather for as long as possible (a week at least) after you aerate for maximum benefits.

If you don’t yet have an aerator attachment for your mowers, you can rent one.  We recommend renting them before you buy one anyway.  There are different types of aerators with different features, and the best way to determine which you prefer is to try them out.  Aerators with spreaders allow the plugs (or cores) of soil to be spread throughout the lawn.  It’s fine to leave them, but they should be raked to make the lawn look better right away.  If you have a lot of clay soil yards or live in a dry area, you want longer spikes on your aerator.  You also want more spikes to play the odds.  The more spikes you have, the more likely at least some will penetrate harder, dryer soils.  In particularly dry areas, it’s a good idea to water a day or two before aeration, just to promote penetration.  Then simply mow in the same pattern you were going to mow anyway, with the aerator attached.

Aerating a lawn allows air, water, and nutrients to get to the roots of the grass.  It allows earthworms to move about.  Other good little organisms that take care of pests and naturally fertilize the lawn will thrive.  You’ll also break through some weed roots, and the healthier lawn will have a better fighting chance against the weeds.  You’ll have fewer problems with flooding, and the lawn will be more drought-tolerant.  Bare spots will fill in much better.

Right after aerating is the perfect time to overseed if you are trying to repair bare spots or filling in during fall for a green winter lawn.  By core aerating the lawn, you’ve perfectly prepared the soil to thrive on the seeds.  This should be done as soon as possible after aerating, and it’s best to remove the pulled plugs from the lawn if you’re going to seed.  It’s also a great time for water to get deep into the soil in dry areas, so watering after aeration is preferable.  If it’s fertilization time, it’s also a good idea to aerate first if it’s needed.

In hot, dry climates, you might need to aerate in summer, fall, and at the beginning of spring, depending on how dry the winter was.  In cooler weather grasses are better aerated early in fall.  They are too fragile and will recover more slowly if aerated in the summer, and fall is the perfect time to prepare them for winter.  If the soil is heavy with clay, you might need to aerate more often.  It’s a good idea to keep your stick (knife, screwdriver, etc) handy to check if the soil has compacted.

Aerating will save you time and money and watering in the summer will be better able to withstand drought, and they will be thrilled with their healthier, fuller lawns.  It’s well worth investing in a good aerator.

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Sometimes we get leaky faucets that cause annoying sounds during the night as the water drips from the faucet.  The leaks are relatively easy to fix in some instances.

Other times the leaky faucets may need repairing. To replace the faucet you must make the purchase of a new faucet kit. The kits are cheaper and easier to install than buying pieces one at a time.

When installing the faucet kit you must shutoff the water, which is usually below the sink, or somewhere else in the house.

After disconnecting the water, locate and unscrew the nuts found at the top of the faucet of the old faucets to loosen the nuts, and then pull up the faucet. 

 Once the old faucet is removed, you are ready to install the new faucet. Make sure the nuts are securely tightened on the faucet before reconnecting the water lines. At what time you reconnect the water lines and turn on his water, check for leaks before using the sink.

Improving your home is relatively easy in some areas. The repairs are part of improving the home and for the most part the process is easy. If the improver can follow a few instructions, repairs are never hard. Therefore, you must make sure to follow instructions carefully before repairing your home.

If you need to install a new shower, it is possible to do so without the skill of a contractor. Shower kits come with systematic instructions for installation.

Other kits are also available that come with systematic instructions for repairs and installations.

It is essential to follow instructions if you are not hiring someone to handle the task. If you follow the instructions carefully, you should not have a problem finishing the tasks.

Home improvement does many things. When you improve your home, you are making a statement while increasing the equity of your home.

Equity is important when you own a home. The equity of the home determines how much you can sell the home for, or how much a bank will loan you against your home.

Equity is enhancing the home. At what time a person applies home improvement it may lead to increases of taxes, but for the most part the value of the home is increased as well. This means that if you choose to sell your home, again you will have more advantages.

Repairing or installing a new faucet will only cost you around ten bucks, but it will increase the value of your home around a percentage or more. Thus, the equity adding another percentage is more than the price you will pay for a new faucet.

If you are installing a new faucet in the bathroom, or in the kitchen the kits are often the same price and you will follow the same procedures.

Anytime you purchase kits for improving the home, make sure you read the instructions to avoid problems. Reading the instructions will help you achieve accuracy.

Again, do not forget to check for leaks before completing the procedure. Most times if you follow instructions however, there will be no problem at all.

Repairing the home in the plumbing area is never complex, but if you are repairing plumbing that is more complicated you may want to get quotes before taking on the job your self.

On the contrary, if you are installing a new shower, purchasing a kit will cost less than hiring a plumber. The kits include materials, such as shower flooring, doors, walls and/or curtains, showerhead and faucet. Sometimes when you have a leaky shower, it is easier to repair by merely renewing the faucet, but if the shower is old, it may be wise to up the value of your home by replacing the entire shower.

If you are installing a new shower verses the faucet make sure you have all the tools you need, including 3/8 inch PVC pipes, or half-inch PVC pipe. You will also need Purple Primier, CPVC Cement, Philips, cutters, liquid nails, and silicon sealant.

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Most homes have gardens or yards. Some of these can be as big as those in mansions while some of these can be small. Despite the beauty of the flowers, trees and grass that make up the garden, the one thing that people take for granted is not being able to enjoy watching it longer. When one frequents public places such as parks, campsites, playgrounds, the zoo, one will notice that there are benches for people to stop and view what is there.

It also provides a break from walking and makes someone catch ones breath. A lot of advice on making the garden look better would instruct to buy new plants or make something unique using ceramics. Just like everything else, a bench is an accessory that one must also consider. No one can appreciate the beauty of a garden and the surroundings if no one is able to sit there and appreciate it. That is where the importance of the bench comes in.

Below are 5 quick considerations to ensuring an added bench will be an asset

1. Know The Area
A garden or yard as mentioned earlier vary according to the size of the home By identifying the places where one can best appreciate the garden, one will not have a hard time buying the right bench for that particular location. The size of the area where the bench will be placed is also very important since this will determine the number of benches one may one to put this after these have been purchased.

2. Know The Kinds Of Benches Available
Parks usually have benches made out of wood or marble. Rest areas along the interstate or even in the zoo use those made out of wood. After identifying the locations, one can easily check out what is available in the market then see which models are suitable for the garden. Some benches have an arm and backrest. Others have a table that go with it so one can enjoy a family barbecue in the back yard. These are some examples of what are available in the market and all it takes is for one to visit the neighborhood furniture store or do some research by the Internet. There are a lot of retailers who offer the same items online and the prices of these are quite competitive. Once the person finds a good bargain, one will just have order it then wait a few days for the delivery to arrive.

3. High Or Low Maintenance?
Benches like an automobile require some maintenance. If a bench is made of plastic and it gets dirty, one can simply wash off the dirt and wipe it making it good as new. Wood on the other hand requires high maintenance. To keep the varnish intact and sparkling, one would have to buy a spray and cloth to keep it in good condition. Benches made out stone or marbledon’t require that much maintenance. They do not rust like benches made out of steel or aluminum though these do chip off.

4. Usage – The Most Important Factor!
- Read a book
- Chat with the other members of the family
- Enjoy the garden
- Watch a sunset
- Eat outdoors
- Barbecue in style

5. An Addition To Your Home – Not Just A Bench
The best of way of buying the right bench for the yard or garden is to figure out the best possible bench money can buy. This does not mean the most expensive but the one that is there for a purpose and not for aesthetic purposes only. The other way if getting the ideal bench will be to build one. If the person were crafty, it would be no problem to build one after buying the right materials. Some pieces of wood, a bunch of nails, and a good hammer and saw. When in doubt how to begin, one can always purchase from the local bookstore an instruction manual or book since there have been several authors who have written about woodwork that show the various designs on how to do it.

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Composting your kitchen and garden waste is a great way to reduce the amount of waste you dispose of in your garbage bin. By composting your waste you can generate a free source of rich compost to help improve your garden, and also help to reduce global warming in the process.

How does home composting help to reduce global warming?

When sent to landfill organic waste is compressed under tons of other waste types.  The organic waste therefore does not have enough access to air, which restricts the waste from being able to decompose properly.  Instead of decomposing, methane gas is produced which contributes to global warming.

The Compost Bin
The first step to start composting at home is to get a compost bin.  You can either purchase a compost bin or you can make your own.  Compost bins can be bought from the majority of garden centers.  The government funded Recycle Now Home Composting Campaign also sells discounted compost bins.

The next important step is to decide where to position the compost bin, which can affect the overall quality of the compost that is produced.  For best results place the bin in a well drained area which has good access to sunlight.  The drainage will enable excess water to drain out of the compost and placing the bin in a sunny spot helps to speed up the composting process.

What waste items can I put in my compost bin?

There are lots of everyday waste items from your garden and kitchen that can go into your compost bin.  These are broken down into Greens and Browns.  Greens are the type of items that provide moisture and nitrogen and are quick to rot.  Items classed as Greens include:

Grass cuttings
Vegetable peelings
Leaves
Fruit
Tea bags
Weeds

Browns are waste items that take longer to rot but provide pockets of air, along with fiber and carbon.  This includes items such as:

Cardboard boxes
Newspapers (scrunched up)
Toilet roll tubes
Egg shells (crushed)
Shredded paper
Twigs and hedge clippings

How do I make a good quality compost?
To make a good quality compost it is important to use a good mix of both ‘green’ and ‘brown’ wastes.  It is simply a case of monitoring the compost and adding more waste depending on the look of the compost.  For example, if it looks too dry add more green waste, and if it looks too wet add more brown waste.  Every so often it is also a good idea to mix or turn the contents of your compost bin to add air.

How long will it take for my compost to be ready to use?
This will vary depending on the mixture of waste that is placed into the compost bin, the surrounding conditions and the weather.  In general it should take between 6 and 9 months for your finished compost to be ready to use.

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Be sure to use safe grilling practices as the peak months for grilling fires continue – July and August. Gas grills constitute a higher risk, having been involved in an annual average of 6,200 home fires in 2004-2008, while charcoal or other solid-fueled grills were involved in an annual average of 1,300 home fires.

Please be sure to follow the important safety tips listed below.

Safety tips:
1. Propane and charcoal BBQ grills should only be used outdoors.
2. The grill should be placed well away from the home, deck railings and out from under eaves and overhanging branches.
3. Keep children and pets away from the grill area.
4. Keep your grill clean by removing grease or fat buildup from the grills and in trays below the grill.
5. Never leave your grill unattended.

Stay Fire Safe!

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Build and Take Home a Worm Composter For Your Kitchen Scraps and Garden

Includes a double bin composter, worms, and bedding.
Saturday, July 9, 2011, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm
Location: SOUTH BAY BOTANIC GARDEN at SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE 900 Otay Lakes Road, Chula Vista, CA 91910
WORKSHOP FEE: $40.00
Register by email at: SustainableWorkshops(at)yahoo.com
619-752-5922
Reserve early, seating is limited.

Worms consume up to 50 percent of their own body weight in food each day — that translates into a lot of fertilizer.

Vermicomposting food waste offers several advantages:
It reduces household garbage disposal costs;
It produces less odor and attracts fewer pests than putting food wastes into a garbage container;
It saves the water and electricity that kitchen sink garbage disposal units consume;
It produces a free, high-quality soil amendment (compost);
It requires little space, labor, or maintenance;
It spawns free worms for fishing or feeding to your chickens.

South Bay Botanic Garden @ Southwestern College, consists of 4 acres of trees, shrubs, flowers, ground covers, various turf grasses, plant collections, and water features all framed in a pleasant setting.  As part of the Landscape and Nursery Technology Program at Southwestern College, the garden continues to be a learning facility for students pursuing degrees in the horticultural fields.  Don’t be surprised to see a group of students working on the garden or learning a horticultural skill.
Visitors can see how to grow and prune productive fruit trees for small back yards, find out what plants are the best for water-conserving landscapes, get ideas for paving and hardscape features, and take a look at our tropical, cacti and succulent, and ground cover collections.

The garden is a National Wildlife Federation approved sanctuary!  Don’t be surprised to see some hawks or owls nesting in the trees.

As the only botanic garden in the South Bay, we host onsite workshops pertaining to horticulture (plants), aquaculture (fish), vermiculture (worms) and many more gardening interests.

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One of the challenges during the summer in Eastlake, California is ants.  During the warm season, ants seek water and often invade our homes.

However, there is no point in just killing the ants you can see, this is actually only about 1% of the entire colony and when they do not come home to the nest more ants are automatically sent out.

The ideal situation is to find the main nest where the queens and all the other ants are and eradicate the entire colony with liquid bait.

You can try following the ant trail back to the main colony but this is near impossible as the trail may go behind skirting boards, along the inside of the walls and out somewhere at the other end of the house

The most effective treatment for homeowners is to bait the ants that are inside the home. The advantage of using Baits is the ants will take the poison back to the nest, the queen and the rest of the colony will feed on the bait and the entire colony will be destroyed.

Place the bait at different points along the trail the ants have been using. You should see heaps of ants scurrying to the bait. Do not kill them, just let them feed and you will see them leaving to go back to the nest.

The ant activity should subside within a few days. Keep topping up the bait until no more ants are seen.

Okay, you have put down bait but the ants are ignoring it! Would you believe that ants are fussy eaters and can alter their eating habits at different times of the year. It does not mean the bait is no good, just that the ants are looking for another type of food source, so try another bait such as liquid bait.

The above baiting treatment will solve your indoor problem but if you have heaps of ants outside they will eventually come back indoor looking for food or water.
Therefore you should be treating both the home and yard for ants.

Foundation – For effective ant control, you should spray the outside foundation of the home with an Insecticide repellant. A guide for spraying would be two foot up by 1 foot out, all the way around the foundation. Also treat the Windowsills, Door trims, Pipes, Cables and Pathways.
This should be done regularly, probably every quarter.

Yard – Treating the yard. The best solution for treating the yard is to use both Granules and liquid bait. Granules will last approximately 2-3 months. Liquid baits evaporate and need to be topped up regularly, especially if you live in a hot dry climate. Check frequently to make sure they have not dried up..

To recap, Gel Bait for Indoors, Sprays for the Foundation, Granules and Liquid Bait for outdoors.  This will solve all your ant problems if repeated regularly.

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When spring is on its way and the ground is soft, it is the perfect time for planting roses. Roses have been a very popular bloom over the years, not only do they look good, but they smell wonderful too.

However, planting roses cannot be done just anywhere or in just any climate. They need special care and treatment. Here are some tips that you need to consider in order to successfully grow roses:

1. Roses require about 4 to 6 hours of sunlight everyday. It would be best to plant your roses in a clear area where there are not too many trees or other types of plants. The reason behind this is that the rose may lack sunlight exposure and the roots are also likely to become intertwined with the rose and throttle its growth. If you wish to replace an old rose bush, you should remove about 1 ½ cubic feet of the old soil and replace it with new soil so that the newly planted rose will have fresh soil to start with.

2. When thinking about the position of your roses you must consider the type of rose you are planting. Place ramblers and climbers along trellises, fences and next to pergolas or arches. This is important to consider because they need space to grow freely and these positions are perfect for bigger blooming roses.

3. Roses will look good in island beds which can be mixed with perennials. Smaller roses make great edging plants, which are perfect for combining in front of taller species. Dig a hole large enough for the size of the root ball, but remember to loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole. You can also add bone meal which acts as a slow acting resource of phosphorus. This will help establish a healthy root growth for your roses.

4. You should be careful when considering the planting depth as this depends on your climate. If you live in a cooler climate, plant roses deeper, but if you wish to plant in a pot, you must dig about 1 inch deeper than the usual potted level.

5. Make sure that you place roses in the hole carefully. The hole should be refilled with soil so that the roots are covered completely. Before you make the final covering, water the rose. Then mound the soil about 8 inches high around the base of the plant. The earth will keep the stems from drying out until the plant is completely rooted. As the leaves open, you can remove the excess soil that surrounds the plant.

These some important tips you need to consider when planting roses.

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Energy efficient LED lighting will light up Chula Vista’s Civic Center complex over the holidays at no cost to the City. The display, featuring more than 250 light strands on buildings and palm trees, is part of an effort to encourage residents and businesses to make the switch to newer and safer energy saving technology.

By exchanging their traditional incandescent holiday lights for LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting strands, homeowners can reduce energy costs by up to 90%. Also, LEDs last more than 10 times longer than conventional lights, produce a brighter light, and have cooler operating temperatures—making them safe to touch and less likely to cause a fire.

LED technology is already used in digital clock displays, traffic lights, exit signs, and other everyday products and signage.
Chula Vista’s holiday lights and installation are fully funded through the City’s Local Government Partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric and the California Public Utilities Commission. The Partnership has allowed the City to upgrade its facilities with more energy-efficient lighting, heating, and air conditioning and provide no-cost energy services to the community. In addition, Best Buy is sponsoring the extra energy costs of the display estimated at $50 for the entire holiday season.

South Bay residents will also be able to exchange up to three incandescent holiday light strands for energy-efficient, multi-colored LED strands at two events in Chula Vista.   The exchanges will be held on Saturday, November 20 from noon to 5 p.m. at the Otay Ranch Town Center (2015 Birch Road) and on December 4 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Memorial Park (373 Park Way) before the Starlight Parade.

Shop Chula Vista for additional energy efficiency lighting and appliances at Best Buy and other retailers throughout the City.

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Chula Vista property owners are now able to receive low-interest loans in order to make energy-saving improvements at their homes or businesses. The loans are part of the city’s Home Upgrade, Carbon Downgrade program. Loans may be given for a variety of projects such as wall and attic insulation, water heater upgrades, efficient windows, solar photovoltaic systems, and cool roofing.

Ranging between $2,500 and $20,000, the loans have a maximum payback period of 10 years, and are secured through a lien on the participant’s property. All improvements must also be performed by an eligible contractor. Loans are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For additional program requirements and the “Eligible Contractor List,” please visit www.chulavistaca.gov/clean or call (619) 409-3893. The Home Upgrade, Carbon Downgrade program is supported through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.

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