Home & Yard Handbook

If you invest a bit of time now, you can ensure a bountiful harvest and a beautiful landscape to make this your best gardening season yet. Preparing a strong spring foundation means new plantings are better able to survive the heat, drought and pest attacks of summer.

“Start your garden off right by adding several inches of organic matter to the top 6- to 12- inches of soil,” recommends horticulture expert and author Melinda Myers. “Peat moss, compost, aged manure and other organic materials improve drainage in heavy clay soil and increase the water holding capacity of sandy soils.”

Incorporate a slow-release, low-nitrogen fertilizer like Milorganite before planting flowers and vegetables. “I like Milorganite’s low nitrogen formulation” says Myers. “This makes it goof proof so you will not harm young tender plants no matter what your gardening skill. Its slow-release nitrogen encourages overall growth without preventing flowering and fruit production that can occur when too much nitrogen is applied.”

Reduce weed problems and increase the health and vigor of your lawn by properly mowing, watering and fertilizing. “Mow high to encourage deep roots that are more pest- and drought-resistant,” Myers suggests. “Taller grass is better able to fend off weeds.” Mow often and leave the short clippings on the lawn to add nutrients, organic matter and moisture to the soil. Use a sharp blade for quicker recovery and a better-looking lawn.

Water thoroughly but less frequently to encourage deep roots. Water your lawn early in the morning to minimize water loss. If you allow your lawn to go dormant during drought, leave it dormant until temperatures cool, rains return and nature brings it back to life.

Use a low-nitrogen, slow-release fertilizer for your spring feeding. An organic nitrogen type fertilizer will not promote lush growth that is more susceptible to disease and requires more mowing. Plus if you stop watering or your community institutes a watering ban, it won’t damage the lawn. In fact, the fertilizer will stay in the soil until the weather improves and your lawn starts to grow.

Improve the health of trees and shrubs with proper watering and mulch. Water new plantings whenever the top few inches of soil are dry. Don’t forget about established plants. These need a helping hand during extended periods of drought. Always water thoroughly to encourage deep drought-resistant roots.

Maintain a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch around trees and shrubs. Woodchips, shredded bark and other organic materials help conserve moisture, suppress weeds and improve the soil as they decompose. Keep mulch away from the trunk of trees and crowns of other plants to reduce the risk of disease.

Myers suggests you create or expand existing mulch rings without the use of chemicals.  She says it’s simple, “Just edge the mulch bed, cut the existing grass short, spread a layer of newspaper or cardboard over the area and cover with woodchips or shredded bark.  The paper provides an extra weed barrier and eventually breaks down adding organic matter to the soil.”

Use an all-purpose fertilizer to give existing trees, shrubs and perennials a nutrient boost.  A low-nitrogen, slow-release formula encourages moderate growth that needs less pruning and is less susceptible to certain pests.

And don’t forget to take a moment to enjoy the beauty of spring while preparing your landscape for the season ahead. 

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Barking is natural communication for dogs.  When it becomes excessive, barking problems turn into people problems!  They make common sounds of barking, howling, growling, whining, grunting, yelping and a huffing noise akin to laughing!  Each communicates a different meaning.

Common Reasons Dogs Bark:

•  Elimination Barking: Spot needs to go to the bathroom!
•  Social Barking: It’s playtime!
•  Alarm or Territorial Barking: This warns of strangers or intruders!
•  Separation Anxiety Barking: In this dysfunctional behavior, dogs bark due to anxiety, panic or fear about being left alone!
•  Attention-Seeing Barking: Fido wants social interaction with you!
•  Resource Demanding Barking: Bella wants food, water, or treats!
•  Sympathetic Barking:  Buddy hears another dog barking and is saying “hello” or “Hey! I’m over here!”
•  Compulsive Barking: When the original problem is gone, the dog keeps barking in a rhythm.  Now barking is a nervous habit!
•  Noise-induced barking: Construction sounds, loud music, a vacuum cleaner or other loud noises may send your pooch into a barking frenzy!

How can you correct your noisy friend?

First ask, “why is my dog barking?”  The cause will lead you to appropriate solutions.  Consider a 5-bark rule.  After five barks, your dog should be quiet.  Don’t yell at a barking dog!  He may think you are joining in!  Punishment can create a fearful or anxious dog without even teaching silence.  Be sure to give him praise or another reward after three seconds of silence!

For more solutions on how to stop your furry friend from barking, whether it’s just during certain times of the day, or different spots in the yard, call your local behavior specialist at Invisible Fence® Brand at 585-271-1700.  Or, log onto www.invisiblefence.com!  

Kate Siwik is the Director of Sales & Marketing of Invisible Fence® Brand of Upstate NY—National Dealer of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2008.  Her dog, Princess, was adopted from Lollypop Farm in 2007.  Contact Kate at 271-1700 or email her UpstateNY@invisiblefence.com.

Just as your home’s decor is a statement of your taste and personality, so is your backyard. As the trend for enjoying customized decks and outdoor living space grows, personalized outdoor living areas are the latest in home improvement upgrades.

Building or updating an existing deck isn’t simply a great investment: It provides opportunities to personalize your backyard and customize the look to your taste. And with many families staying home this summer thanks to the economy, why not create your perfect location for entertaining?

“By designing your deck with accents, lights and unique accessories, you can transform your backyard into an outdoor retreat you’ll never want to leave, whether you’re catching up with friends over a grilled dinner in the evening or are curled up with a book in a lounge chair on a sunny afternoon,” says Chris Fox, marketing manager at Universal Forest Products.

With a new emphasis on value, durability and ultra-low maintenance, many homeowners seek deck materials that resist fading and staining. New Latitudes Capricorn Tropical composite decking, sold through dealers nationwide, is a good choice. Low-maintenance, eco-friendly composite decking material is made from a mixture of recycled wood fiber and postindustrial high-density polyethylene, which looks natural and feels great on bare feet.

Add unique touches to really make the deck your personal haven. Change your deck’s look with interesting balusters to match other decorative accents on your house or in your yard. You’ll find traditional bronze balusters, classic rounded rails or even scenic glass balusters, which give your outdoor room a clear view.

Then consider breaking up the wooden look of your deck with faux stone post covers, to help match the look of your deck to a stone house, to a backyard with stone pavers or to a stone wall. Easily installed over a wooden post, faux stone post covers come in several colors.

Finish off your railing system with post caps. Deckorators post caps, by Maine Ornamental, are functionally and artistically decorative. Maybe you’re interested in the more traditional black, stainless or pewter colors, topping a solar LED light to illuminate your deck for evening use. Or try a creative look with stained glass post caps, bringing a colorful flair to each deck post.

With so many new products and options available, you can transform your deck into a new outdoor living area. And because you designed it, it will perfectly fit your lifestyle. 

Courtesy of ARAcontent�

How to take 10 Years off the appearance of your palace

It’s Spring! Hooray! As I walked around the yard picking up fallen twigs and debris blown my way, I looked at the old place and decided that there are a few things that I should think about to give my home a facelift. While in the budgetary mode, a few simple changes can still be made.

Assess what needs attention. Is your home suffering from year old dirt on your siding, windows, and roof? The simple fix to clean just about anything, is a power washer. Power washers can be rented, but they are a relatively inexpensive purchase. Start at the top of your home and spray your way down. The roof can be washed and cleared of dirt and debris, work on the gutters too while there. If the paint is not in good shape, stand about 3-4 feet away while spraying.. you don’t want to loosen the paint even more. Wash the siding using a sweeping motion and let the water run down, until all the dirt is removed. While you have the sprayer out, wash the deck to remove stains and mildew.

Clean the yard. Pick up sticks, rake autumn’s leftover leaves, and clean up debris. Walking around the yard with your wheelbarrow , rake and garden clippers, visually decide what needs attention. Is it the garden? Does your house need painting? Is your patio furniture looking shabby?

Paint your shutters. A fresh coat of paint on the shutters will give your home a lift. Try a new shade of dusty aqua on a grey house, or a deep, blackish green on a brick home. While painting the shutters, also give your front door a color change. Try something new. Add a bright color, maybe orange or sunny yellow. Do your window boxes need a boost? Plant your window boxes with herbs this year. It is convenient to have your herbs close and off the ground when cooking. One year, I planted mine with different varieties of parsley. They were lush and full, and so easy to care for.

Edge your lawn. Place a stake at one point and then a stake at another point. Tie a string between them to make your straight line. Follow it with your garden tool to scribe an edge. If you have a sidewalk that has grass growing between the grooves, easily remove the grass with an old steak knife or sprinkle salt between the cracks. Use new mulch around your shrubs. Some towns offer it free. Call your town to find the location, bring some heavy plastic bags and a shovel and you are in mulch heaven.

How does your porch furniture look? Buy new throw pillows for the chairs, Pier One has so many to choose from. Remember they don’t have to match. Mix it up. Be creative. Try fresh, bright colors like grass green or orange. I made new slipcovers for my pillows from remnants in my fabric caboodle, using all mismatched stripes.

The most important fix to add Spring freshness to your home is buy a new door mat. There are so many to choose from this year. At your home stores, you can find florals, stripes, and amusing designs- more than a boring black ”welcome” mat. I found one that mimics a post card- too cute!

Have fun with your home’s appearance. Add color, bright color, this year. You will improve your home’s curb appeal, while taking years off your home’s face. 

Lana Torre is the owner of Evergreen Interiors and recipient of multiple Interior Design Awards including several Best of Show for Homearama.  Contact Lana at 223-8776 or email her lana@homeandyardhandbook.com.

Carmen Santora, Executive Director of the Better Contractors Bureau is warning consumers contemplating having their driveway sealed that there are contractors presently in our area from out of state using unscrupulous tactics when sealing driveways.

Santora says, “The usual rule of thumb when sealer is mixed is, for every 100 gallons of sealer 30-40 gallons of water should be added. The scam artists are doing it the opposite and in some cases we have been told that some are mixing as little as 10 gallons of sealer to 100 gallons of water.” In reality all you’re getting is black, colored water that will wash off with a rain.

In one such case a caller complained (wouldn’t give his name) and said that the contractor he went with practically was chasing the sealer down the drive way, that’s how much water was in the mix. He said he went strictly on price and he should have known better when he paid $39.00 after getting two other estimates for $89.00 and $99.00. He also forgot that when he did his driveway himself a few years back that it took 4 five gallons pails at approximately $15.00 each and along with having to buy a broom/squeegee the cost to do it then was $65.00 for materials only.

Consumers should watch out for special so called deals and especially watch for out of state license plates and don’t fall for the line, “I’ve got some sealer left over and can give you a really good price”. 

Remember, a good driveway sealer contractor will blow off the entire driveway, use a weed eater on the edges, cover the sidewalk between the truck and driveway to prevent accidental spillage from a storage tank and barricade the entrance when finished. 

Contractors should also carry liability insurance in case of damage to your property, such as over splash on your overhead garage door or siding. Remember, the old saying “you get what you pay for” really applies with driveway sealing. For a recommendation of BCB driveway sealers you can call the office at 585-338-3600 or go to the BCB website at www.the-bcb.net.  

Carmen Santora is the Executive Director for the Better Contractors Bureau.  The BCB is a non-profit consumer protection agency established in 1974 to be of assistance to the homeowner.  Its goals are to “protect & inform” the consumer, eliminate unscrupulous contractors, and upgrade the image of the home improvement industry.

New food chain specializing in Urban Farming coming to the Rochester Public Market

by Brenna Hartmann

Home&Yard Media Group is proud to sponsor the largest Urban Farming Edible Wall in the world, right here in our hometown Rochester, NY.  Green Living™ Technologies, sponsor of the Urban Farming Food Chain, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to end hunger in our generation, will establish Green Living ‘edible’ walls in Rochester’s downtown Public Market. Cookie Waller, program manager for The Rochester Teen Court, who is funded by the Center for Youth Services is excited that the students will have the opportunity to build and maintain these edible walls. As part of the Urban Farming Food Chain this link will be part of a global food chain, connected to each other by intention and design, and providing a model that is replicated across the country and abroad as a means of growing food in urban neighborhoods. A portion of the food harvest will be donated to local food banks and neighbors in need.

The walls used to grow edible crops vertically are one of a variety of green products produced by Rochester based Green Living™ Technologies. Thanks to the efforts and expertise of Green Living Technologies, the student members of the Rochester Teen Court program will utilize the opportunity to learn about green roof and green wall technologies. Green Living Technologies CEO George Irwin, a certified teacher has developed an educational component, which includes a 10-week unit plan to be implemented in the non-growing season. During the gardening season the Rochester Teen Court participants will be working hands-on, tending to the vertical farm. In the off growing season, the students will be attending classes to learn about green technologies.

According to George Irwin, the program will offer the students a skill set and enough knowledge to be prepared for an interview with many companies now involved in vegetative green technologies.

The Urban Farming Edible Wall pilot program, which has been implemented in the heart of skid row in Los Angeles, California, has provided empowerment, community involvement and education for those residents. The food grown on these walls can include tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, peppers, herbs and more.

The Rochester Teen Court Urban Farming Food Chain wall installation at the Public Market will begin with a launch event on Saturday June 27th, 2009.  During the growing season the wall will offer immediate access to fresh healthy produce in a time of great need, while simultaneously creating opportunities for team building, skills training and community involvement.

Engineered by Green Living Technologies these innovative food-producing vertical gardens will beautify the downtown core and help to lower heat index in the fight against global warming while providing Rochester’s Teen Court Program an educational opportunity to learn about green roofs, green walls and vegetative technologies.

For more information on the Urban Farming Food Chain Project, visit urbanfarming.org/foodchain. �

Greener Living = Healthier Indoor Air

If you want to live a more sustainable life and protect your family from cancer, you may want to learn more about one of the home’s most dangerous pollutants—radon. Radon is a cancercausing natural radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell or taste. It’s the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers and claims about 20,000 lives every year.

Although lung cancer can be treated, the survival rate is one of the lowest for those with cancer. Fortunately, many of the causes of lung cancer can be prevented—and this is especially true for radon.

The Office of the Surgeon General has issued a health advisory warning Americans about the risk from breathing radon in indoor air. Americans are urged to test their homes to find out how much radon they might be breathing.

Radon comes from the natural (radioactive) breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon can be found all over the U.S. It can get into any type of building—homes, offices and schools—and can climb to high levels if it’s trapped indoors.

For most Americans, the greatest exposure to radon is in their homes, whether those homes are old or new. Any home, any type, any location can have a radon problem. All homes need to be tested unless the building is a high-rise above the third floor. If your home has not been tested, now is a good time to take the test. This will help protect your family’s health and it’s easy to do.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends homes be fixed if the radon level is 4 picocuries per liter of air (4pCi/L) or above. While testing can be easy and inexpensive, millions of Americans still need to have their first home radon test to protect their family.

You can test your home yourself or hire a professional. Reliable testing devices are available by phone or mail order and can be purchased in hardware and home improvement stores.

Fixing a radon problem is easy too—and doesn’t have to be costly. Radon reduction systems can lower radon to an acceptable level. Even very high levels can be reduced to a safer level.

“It’s inexpensive to build a new home with radon-resistant features. A better home will be both greeener for the planet and healthier for your family,” said Fuad Reveiz, a member of the National Association of Home Builders.

For help in identifying radon companies, call your state radon office or visit www.epa.gov/iaq/whereyoulive.html. For more information, call 1-800-SOS-RADON (1-800-767-7236) or visit www.epa.gov/radon.

Ways to adjust driving to conserve fuel
Aggressive driving is much less energy efficient than normal driving, and speeding consumes more fuel over long distances. The reason for this lies in the engine; the engine works harder when accelerating or speeding, and therefore requires more fuel. To save fuel, accelerate slowly instead of slamming on the gas pedal, and brake easily. 

Looking for a home improvement you can really sink your teeth into?  Consider an edible wall! 

by Brenna Hartmann

Imagine having fresh dill for a homemade veggie dip, some chives for your sour cream or even lettuce for a fresh picked spring salad…all year long, right at your fingertips!  Sound delicious?  Trust me, it is.  Fresh, fragrant, organically grown herbs and veggies ripe for the picking from your own kitchen garden.  That’s right, you can have a vertical herb garden right in the heart of your home growing on your wall!  A relatively new concept here on the East coast, it is fast taking hold as people seek greener and healthier lifestyles.

One of my home improvement themes this year is designing a “natural” kitchen.  I began my project by eliminating chemically toxic cleaning products and replacing them with my own home  brewed products consisting of eco-friendly ingredients like baking soda and vinegar.

I have regularly been replacing damaged and scratched non-stick cookware and plastics with more enviro-friendly and reusable products like glass storage containers and stainless steel cookware.

I have upgraded to energy efficient appliances and have installed dimmer switches.  I am using Energy Star-rated light fixtures and bulbs.  So what’s next?  Naturally…the food I am preparing and eating.  But, like many homeowners, I have limited  horizontal space for growing fresh herbs and vegetables and my short outdoor growing season is further limited by the climate here in upstate New York.  Now, thanks to Green Living Technologies, I am  growing fresh herbs and lettuce right on my kitchen wall!  I have installed an edible, vertical garden.  Complete with automatic lighting and irrigation system, this simple modular panel construction allows me to grow my own organic produce year round!

My edible wall is by far my favorite home improvement project to date.  The aroma of the fresh cut herbs is indescribable and for a fraction of the amount of money I would spend growing annually or purchasing costly store bought herbs, I have a beautiful, sustainable and eco-friendly garden wall, right in the heart of my home.

As an added benefit, the plants in my edible wall also serve as air purifiers.  You may be aware that formaldehyde is emitted from many products in our homes such as carpet, plywood, particle board, adhesives and even draperies.  The leaves and the stems of the plants in my edible wall absorb the volatiles during the day and the root zone continues the work at night.  Now that’s a great green bonus!

I am delighted and proud to have a natural kitchen.  Now I just have to learn how to cook!

You can view a video of the installation on my website www.homeandyardradio.com.  Click on the link “Living Greener”. 

Brenna Hartmann is the co-founder of Fixin’Chix Inc., a do-it-yourself enterprise that includes a comprehensive home improvement website; how-to workshops, seminars and publications; and a product line. Brenna is dedicated to empowering women “do-it herselfers” (DIHers) who have the passion and desire to improve their homes. Brenna writes the popular Fixie Chick home improvement column found in Home & Yard Handbook, and is the co-host of “Home & Yard Radio with the Fixie Chick” on 950 ESPN. Brenna lives in Webster with her husband and two children.

Q: Saw your ad in the Home&Yard Handbook and I’m hoping you can tell me what’s the best way to get rid of these grayish white spiders that seem to love my bathroom & kitchen. I’ve been bitten a couple of times and once the bite became very infected. The bites are very nasty in that they swell up and leave a hole in your skin. I don’t know where they are coming from, they just appear out of nowhere. I’ve killed 4 today. Please Help! – L.C.

A: I am no spider expert so I had to incorporate the help of my 9 year old on this one. We have similar sounding spiders in our house but have never experienced a bite from one. Aaron (my 9 year old) and Noah who is 6 and I went on a spider hunt the other night and our investigation turned up the following: we believe the spider that resembles our house spider which is grayish white and we always referred to as a milk spider, is actually a yellow sac spider. They are common in our region and when we looked closely his rear section was tinted yellow. According to our research they typically live outdoors but come in during the cool fall weather and will lay eggs. They are hunters and wander around for food versus using a web to hunt. They make tube or “sac” webs to live in during the day and are more visible at night.

 A couple of thoughts on their elimination: they eat insects so avoid having ants and other prey in the house and the spiders are less likely to come in. Keep firewood and brush away from the house and keep tree branches trimmed away from your roof. Spiders can enter through very small holes so keep up on caulking and be sure windows and doors are sealed well.

A few years ago my wife got some Black and Decker pest control repellers that simply plug in to an outlet and they have greatly reduced the spider population in our home. Our lot is surrounded by trees and has a lot of landscaping against the house so we will probably battle with some type of insect forever.

I found the website www.asktheexterminator.com to be very helpful in this research. I would recommend calling a professional to verify the type of spider and recommend a process of elimination for your particular problem.

Thanks for your email question and for reading, and remember to listen live Saturdays at 10 to Home and Yard Radio on 950am.  

Email your questions to me at: Len@HomeAndYardHandbook.com

Hello May!!! We are in full swing of the season we call Spring! I just wish by now I could say Goodbye to having my heat on in the house.  There have been a couple of days I have turned it off, only to wake up the next morning with it 62 in the house.  My family is tough but our pet birds are the ones that are shivering!  I am hoping that as the month warms up we can turn the heat off for good.  It has been great to get outside so far and work in the yard.  

Everything is starting to bloom and come up.  You can start fertilizing your shrubs, now is the time for your azaleas. I read that you can put lime around them to make them more pink, or an acid for a blue color.  I am going to try that this year, I will let you know how it works for mine.  I am going to hold off until after memorial weekend to put any annuals in the ground.  My grandmother was an avid gardener and always said to wait until then because of the risk of frost before then.  It is important to start watering what is up if we are not getting enough rain.  If you do have anything planted early and we are at risk of frost, you can cover the plants with newspaper to protect them over night.

This month the Lilac Festival will be going on from May 8-17.  It is always enjoyable to get down to Highland Park and stroll through the hills.  Especially if you catch a warm day with a breeze, the aroma from the lilac bushes is great. There is also a good line up of live music. 

I would also like to invite everyone to check out agreenroof.com website. Home & Yard has teamed up with George Irwin from Green Roof Technologies, the City of Rochester and many others to bring a living wall to Rochester.  It will be located downtown at the Public Market.  If you view the website you will be able to understand a little more what exactly a “living wall” is. It is going to be one of the largest edible walls in the country that will supply food cupboards in our city.  We are in need of volunteers to help, if anyone can donate some time for the assembly or tending of plants please contact us at 227-9970, we will be providing more information and putting together a volunteer list. The finished project will be in June, so there is a lot that is going to need to get done.

We will document the progress as it begins on our websites, homeandyardhandbook.com and homeandyardradio.com.  

Thank you for your continued support and Happy Spring!!!!!!