Category: Fireplaces

Honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.) Are highly aromatic landscape vines and shrubs climbed during U. S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 10, depending on species. Even though they are generally hardy, honeysuckles may be plagued by problems with aphids from the landscaping. Fortunately for lovers of the sweetly scented plant, effective aphid control is within reach of their home gardener.

Aphids

Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects which feed on plants by directly removing the nutritious fluids included inside tissues. The potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae) is the most common aphid found on honeysuckle. This rather large purple or green aphid will feed in clusters, together with young aphids feeding together with their parents. Populations begin on lower leaves and work their way upwards and outward along affected honeysuckles.

Damage

Small colonies of aphids may feed undetected, but when populations explode, plants feel that the demand placed on them by those insects. Leaves respond by curling, yellowing or appearing distorted. Younger honeysuckles may exhibit a general loss of vigor or even die in the face of a large infestation. All these sap-feeding insects also exude a sticky substance called honeydew that can attract other problems.

Honeydew, Sooty Mold and Ants

Honeydew is the end product of aphid feeding and is mainly composed of sugars and excessive nutrients. Ants are highly attracted to honeydew and safeguard virtually any aphid colonies they find to be able to have a secure supply. Ants may even go as far as to transfer aphids from plant to plant to be able to further raise their numbers. Honeydew also attracts sooty molds — but these fungi don’t feed on the plants themselves, their black colonies can grow so thick that they interfere with photosynthesis.

Management

If aphids are already being farmed by ants, the ants must be eliminated before the aphids can be effectively controlled. Using baits and sticky obstacles will rid aphid colonies of the protective ants. In many cases, aphids may simply be hosed off influenced plants, because they go too slowly to reattach before they starve. Where colonies are widespread, a weekly application of insecticidal soap when ambient temperatures are below 80 degrees Fahrenheit kills aphids on contact. Spraying the undersides of leaves with either water or insecticidal soap is crucial to control.

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Remodeling a room is a job with a difficulty level that dramatically changes with how much farther beyond the visual facade you need to go. While a basic new coat of paint or setup of a wainscot might be easy enough projects, when it comes time to do a complete room remodel, you need to have a plan in place to make sure the project goes smoothly and is as near as possible to budget.

Construction to Code

One of the first misconceptions about remodels is the fact that it’s a simple matter of footage. This only applies if you are doing superficial adjustments, like applying a coat of paint. Beyond that, you’ll find coding laws and needed permits to create structural adjustments to a room, both at the city level and at times according to home owners associations. Always begin with city building inspectors and move from there. This ensures your home is constructed to code and also covered by various insurances, and you are able to utilize city utilities like electric and water without being penalized.

Working With Current Materials

Although replacing drywall is not a technically challenging part of remodeling, it’s time and labor intensive. If you can, avoid ripping off the drywall if you are seeking to save money and effort. Instead, opt for installing new stuff on the wall that work well with drywall, like a coat of paint, wainscots, paneling, tile and stucco. The exact same holds for floors. Carpet must be removed if you want to install something else in its place; plastic, tile and hardwood floors can serve as a platform for other installations so long as they’re structurally sound, like floating hardwood in addition to an existing vinyl floor, or carpet in addition to hardwoodfloors Not all substances can be set up in addition to others, like tile in addition to hardwood, so always check with manufacturer guidelines first.

Wiring

If you must do any new wiring, you are going to be cutting to the present drywall, which means messed up afterward. In addition to that, all new wiring must be inspected by a city inspector or a qualified electrician to make certain you’ve wired everything correctly. If you’re stripping off each the drywall from the wall and installing new stuff, utilize each the present wiring and outlets — provided that they’re in operating condition. Search for frayed or burnt places to understand if you need to replace anything. Because face plates on the outlets and switches are interchangeable, the sole concern is if the present wiring is great.

Load-Bearing Walls

The most complex component of a remodel is if you opt to add windows or a door to an present wall. This is not something to do by yourself, since you need the help of a structural engineer to ensure you don’t destroy your home by cutting the vertical supports to the roof and any flooring over the first. After you have consulted with a engineer on the best way to frame the door or door, the ceiling above could be temporarily supported with adjustable ceiling jacks that take the weight of the roof over as you make the seams and add the necessary braces to strengthen the door or window.

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Edging around a garden border serves to contain dirt, soil or spreading groundcovers while also excluding creeping turfgrass and side or vehicle traffic. It also contributes to the general aesthetics of the landscape. A broad range of edging types are potentially implemented around a garden’s border and fluctuate in ease of maintenance and installation, permanence, appearance and other features.

Trench or Cut Edge

A trench, or cut edge, border merely involves cutting a trench or V-shaped dump into the ground across the edge of a garden and requires no edging substance. A sharp spade or edger is used to make a trench 4 to 6 inches wide with a similar depth. Occasional re-cutting through the entire year is needed to maintain grasses from growing into the garden, but this type of edging permits for garden expansion or the addition of a different edging material later.

Wood

Landscape timbers, logs or standard construction timbers used as competition around gardens are rather durable and affordable and also can attract a natural or rustic feel to the website. Wood can potentially create a raised edge or, installed flush with the dirt, serve as a mowing strip. When it isn’t placed in a prepared trench, lengths of rebar, spikes or similar hardware are pounded through pre-drilled holes to guarantee the wood in place.

Bricks, Pavers and Stones

Various types of bricks, pavers and stones can function as fashionable and durable garden edgings and are available with many different shapes and colors. These materials handle changes in curved and grade garden borders greater than landscape timbers. They create a distinct, neat border, although installation is more time-consuming and challenging. Interlocking pavers generally need no mortar to remain securely in place; mortar may increase the sturdiness of a brick or stone border, although setting bricks or stones properly in a prepared trench is generally sufficient. Bricks, pavers and thick stones set flush with or extending only slightly over the ground surface also make an excellent mowing strip that eliminates trimming around the garden.

Concrete

Concrete edging creates a tidy edge, is very durable and can be potentially executed as a mowing strip so that no trimming along the garden’s edge is needed. But its relative permanence can limit garden expansion and other landscaping choices, and also the concrete can be pretty difficult to install. The concrete is poured directly in position in a kind constructed for the edging or is created just one section at a time in a mold before it cures and is set in place.

Plastic, Bender Board or Metal

Plastic, bender board or other composites are typically cheaper than other edging materials such as bricks or pavers. The flexibility of plastic or steel edging makes them quite simple to install around a garden with a curving border. For installation of these types of edgings gardeners dig a trench and attach the edging material into bets they then pound into the ground. But steel and plastic edgings are usually considered less attractive than other materials, though bender board is frequently designed to look like wood. Plastic can break from foot or mower traffic.

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If your child is fond of rock music, then a rock ‘n’ roll-themed bedroom may be just the ticket, then giving him a cool place for him to sleep and also for him and his buddies to hang out, listen to songs and also have fun. Rock ‘n’ roll-themed things are as close as your neighborhood music store, big box retailer or party supply store; carry your child with you and stock up on everything you need, then allow him to help you paint the walls and also arrange the decor.

Colours

Strong, vibrant main colors are striking and make perfect sense for a rock ‘n’ roll-themed bedroom. Paint the walls in a neutral color, then add accents in red, yellow, blue and black or even neon, or even go daring and use the solid colors as your most important hues. If your child has a favourite band, then hang a poster or framed T-shirt out of a concert on the wall, but first use the colors in it to match paint hues for the room’s walls.

Instruments

A typical rock band has guitars and drums and often a keyboard; using these tools as motifs in a room is a fast way to amp up the motif. Keyboards are simple to include: utilize keyboard-patterned fabric as trim on curtains; utilize keyboard-patterned wallpaper trim next to the ground; or paint piano keys around the walls. Install drumsticks and old wax heads as wall decorations; hang a guitar on the wall for a stunning nod to rock ‘n’ roll. The guitar does not have to function; pick up a vintage guitar at a thrift store and paint it to coordinate with the room.

Records

Vinyl records are connected with rock ‘n’ roll, and because they’ve largely fallen from usage, they are plentiful secondhand and earn an appealing selection for decoration. Glue the documents together or drill holes in them to make them easier to utilize. Group records together to make a wall screen, or use them to make a framework around a headboard, poster or corkboard. Utilize a file like a picture frame by gluing a big photo in the middle of this album.

Graffiti

Give your child permission to write on the walls, or even do it yourself: Paint lyrics from your boy’s favorite songs, song titles, quotes or the names of famous bands or musicians around the wall. Have your child put his own name on the wall, too. Or paint on a board and then hang the board rather than painting the walls so it’s possible to alter the words readily. Use stencils to make this project easier.

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Grown for their lime-green, bronze or bronze deep-red fruit, dazzling spring flowers or glowing fall leaf, pear trees (Pyrus spp.) Make a striking addition to your lawn. Less temperamental and disease-prone than plum, peach or apple trees, pears seldom need pruning to make the most of their flower or fruit production. A pear tree with yellowing leaves is a pear tree in trouble. Speedy diagnosis and restorative activity give it the best chance of recovery.

Pre-Emergent Herbicide Damage

Pre-emergent herbicide sprayed to avoid weeds around pear trees often causes chlorosis, or yellowing, as leaf borders and between leaf veins. Leaf death might occur. Old leaves endure the most damage.

Nitrogen Deficiency

Smaller-than-normal leaf and yellowing old leaves dropping from their stems signal a pear tree with nitrogen deficiency. This rare condition requires lab leaf analysis. Scattering high-nitrogen urea fertilizer and watering it in the dirt around the tree corrects the deficiency. Repeat just with a rediagnosis of the problem.

Iron Deficiency

Iron deficiency produces green-veined, yellow fresh foliage. In severe situations, the stunted leaves are almost white, with yellow borders and suggestions. Root damage and poorly drained or compacted dirt multiply the consequences. Treat iron-enhanced fertilizer. Iron chelate applied to the ground, or iron chelate foliar spray, provide temporary remedies. Always utilize fertilizers, soil amendments and foliar sprays in the company’s recommended strength.

Potassium Defieciency

Calcium deficiency causes chlorotic leaf margins and interveinal tissues. Damage spreads, finally killing the whole leaf. It looks first on recently matured foliage that will wrinkle and curl over time. New growth dies back in the year. Potassium nitrate or potassium sulfate worked into the ground, or routine feeding with a potassium-enhanced complete fertilizer, restore potassium levels.

Managanese Deficiency

Manganese-deficient pear trees have green-banded, yellow fresh leaves. Since their manganese stores decrease, dead spots develop between their veins. This deficiency generally affects plants in poorly drained or alkaline soils. Incorporating a dose of manganese sulfate into the dirt addresses this lack. Manganese-chelate foliar spray temporarily relieves the symptoms.

Zinc Deficiency

Zinc-deficient pear leaves are small, pointed and narrow, with a solid-yellow shade. They sometimes have dead patches. Pear leaf opening in dense tufts in the ends of very slender limbs is a classic indication of zinc deficiency. Alkaline or phosphorus-rich soils and superficial cultivating practices all contribute to the problem. Zinc-enhanced fertilizer heals the lack. For rapid-but-temporary progress, utilize zinc chelate foliar spray or soil amendment.

Pear Psyllas

Pear psyllas, miniature, reddish-brown winged insects, lay yellow eggs that hatch into yellow nymphs. The feeding nymphs inject leaf-yellowing toxins into the pear tree foliage, threatening its development and fruit production. A late-winter spray of petroleum-oil implemented in January or February, before the adults lay eggs, controls psylla residents.

Pear Scab

Pear leaves with yellow spots progressing to dark olive-green suggest a scab infection. The leaf may crinkle, twist or fall as the fungus progresses. Scab strikes in spring, when rain or irrigation splash spores from fallen to healthy leaves. Management includes immediate removal and destruction of the dropped leaf and morning watering to shorten drying time.

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Holly (Ilex spp.) Is a large genus of evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs which — depending on the species — grows at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 11. After the foliage of the holly bush begins to discolor, wilt or fall prematurely, you know something isn’t right with the plant. Unfortunately, various diseases attack holly bushes, resulting in damaged foliage. Identifying the offender is the first step in controlling the leaf infection. Once identified, treat according and implement preventive steps to protect the holly bush from future diseases.

Cylindrocladium Leaf Spot

Cylindrocladium leaf place presents itself as small, circular yellow discolorations on the holly bush foliage. Because the stains mature, they begin to darken to hues of tan or brown edged in blackish purple. Infected foliage falls from the holly and branch dieback happens. Controlling this respiratory disease starts with removing the infected branches with pruning shears and fixing the bush using 2 applications, 14 days apart, of thiophanate-methyl fungicide. This fungicide will also help stop the disease if implemented continuously throughout its growing stage starting at bud break with 14-day periods.

Anthracnose

Anthracnose strikes American holly (Ilex opaca), Chinese holly (Ilex cornuta), English holly (Ilex aquifolium), winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and inkberry (Ilex glabra), causing brownish blotches to look on the foliage. Pinkish-orange spore masses will develop within the blotches, and dieback may occur. Fungicides containing chlorothalonil or thiophanate-methyl implemented in late spring can protect against anthracnose from damaging the holly bush. There is absolutely no effective chemical control once the holly bush becomes infected with this fungal disease. If the bush develops this fungal pathogen, prune diseased branches off the holly to help stop it from spreading.

Internet Blight

Internet blight is prevalent in humid, warm weather conditions and typically affects holly shrubs with dense canopies and poor air flow. Holly bushes infected with web blight develop brownish spots in the bottom and edge of the foliage. Because the stains mature, they develop larger and darken to a black shade. These spots may cover whole leaf surfaces and will either fall from the bush or cling to the stem. Fungicides containing thiophanate-methyl, iprodione and chlorothalonil help prevent web blight but won’t cure the fungal infection. Along with preventive fungicides, make certain holly bushes are spaced far enough apart to permit air flow between the plants and through their foliage.

Botryosphaeria Canker

Botryosphaeria canker can affect most species of holly and generally appears after extreme fluctuation in temperature or after periods of drought. The leaves of infected plants begin to yellow and fall from the bush. Stems begin to girdle and dieback happens. Cankers develop on the rectum and can enlarge, girdling that limb. If not treated, the whole holly bush can succumb to the disease. No chemical treatment will control botryosphaeria canker, and emphasis is on appropriate maintenance techniques. Only develop the holly bush in well-drained soil and add mulch around the plant. The mulch protects the holly’s roots from abrupt temperature fluctuations.

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Plantation shutters and blinds offer casually classic appearances with the functional benefits of light control and insulation. Even though they’re often seen gracing the window, you may want to boost your blinds with a window treatment that adds color, curiosity or a tie-in with the room’s decor. Building a simply-styled curtain, cornice, valance or wall edge is in the reach of most do-it-yourselfers. When deciding what size treatment you require, be sure to permit room for clearance at the top and sides of the window frame, so your shutters and blinds may operate correctly.

Simple Curtains

Simple curtains, composed of textile panels hung in the pole by clip-on rings, give a fashionable accent that doesn’t conquer your plantation blinds. Plain, textural materials such as muslin, burlap, linen blends or canvas are in keeping with the plantation theme, but you may use any color or print that suits the room’s decor. After measuring your windows, including clearance at top and sides, determine the size of your completed panels, which collectively must be 1 1/2 times the window width. You can use pre-made panels or make them from textile yardage, sheets, tablecloths or a canvas dropcloth. Machine-sew hems on all four sides, or even make a no-sew version by ironing the hem with fusible tape. Clip the curtain rings evenly across the panel’s top edge, spacing the rings around 6 inches apart. Thread the rings onto the curtain pole, and fasten the pole in its wall brackets.

DIY Cornice

A cornice box may be the crowning glory of your own farm blind window treatment, plus it doesn’t need to be a complex woodworking task. You can produce a cornice from lightweight materials such as foam core or cardboard. Fashion the box as an open, shallow “U” shape that fits on the top of the window frame, allowing for clearance so the blinds function correctly. Wrap the front part of the cornice with the decorative fabric of your choice above a layer of quilt batting to pad the structure. Tape the cloth and wrap on the inside of the cornice with packaging tape, or fasten it with pins. Hang the cornice with adhesive picture strips or by attaching it to your U-shaped metal curtain rod and brackets.

Roman Shade Valance

The soft, horizontal folds of a Roman shade echo the horizontal lines of plantation blinds. Building an accurate Roman shade that pulls up and down together with cord is an involved DIY project. A simpler approach is to produce a Roman shade valance that has the horizontal folds, but doesn’t move. Make a fabric panel that covers the width of the window frame and is one-half to two-thirds as long. Make horizontal pleats throughout the width of this panel to pull it up to the desired span. Stitch or tack the folds to hold them in position, and hang the valance from a curtain pole or mounting board.

Decorated Wall Border

A decorated edge on the wall around the window creates interest and may visually expand the window to give it more impact within the room. This is a powerful choice for plantation shutters since there’s absolutely no cloth to interfere with their operation. Although painting a freehand edge is really a personal touch, you don’t need to be artistically inclined to utilize this result. You can apply a wallpaper border around the window frame, like. Or, stencil a repeated pattern to produce the edge. Craft and home improvement stores sell wall stencils, paints and accessories, along with instructions and, from time to time, free tutorials on how to use them.

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Placing a bed beneath a window is often considered a decorating no-no. The arrangement presents decorating challenges — especially if the window is thin — but it’s sometimes necessary due to the room. If you have to place your bed beneath a narrow window, leaving the window undressed or under aroused only emphasizes its clumsy dimensions. Rather, hang curtains in order that they stretch past the window’s frame and create the illusion that a larger window lies behind them.

Position the Bed

When you have to place your bed below a tall, narrow window, then use the arrangement to your advantage. Your bed will help camouflage the awkward window, and also the window covering you pick might accent your bed’s headboard — or even substitute for one. Center your bed beneath the window, enabling adequate floor space around its foot and sides. Measure the width of your bed and the height of the wall behind it. Once installed, the curtains should equal the width of your bed. Hang them near the ceiling and nearly to the floor. But confirm they don’t interfere with floor or wall vents.

Choose the ideal Curtains

Whether you get your curtains or make them yourself, then you’ll need two panels whose combined width is double the width of your bed. As you’re making the illusion of a larger window, then start looking for closely woven opaque fabrics instead of lace or sheers. When an expanse of bare wall is visible through the curtains, the illusion will not be prosperous. Select light-blocking or sealed drapes — if lighting and temperature management are worries — since the window is directly above the bed. Some curtain fashions move better on a pole than others. Grommet- and tab-topped curtains easily slide to every side of the window. Should you use rod-pocket curtains, tiebacks can pull the curtains from the window.

Install Hardware and Rods

When you shop for curtain rods and brackets, don’t procrastinate. Verify the rod is strong enough to hold the curtains you opt for, and the mounts must hold the pole securely and safely. Choose a rod style that complements the curtain material along with the room’s decor along with other hardware. To install the curtain pole, follow the manufacturer’s directions and use the right fasteners. Since the mounts are being mounted onto drywall or plaster instead of wood trim, they must be secured to a wall stud inside the wall or secured with anchor or toggle bolts. Use a measuring tape to mark the position of the mounts onto the wall a few inches from the ceiling and equal to the width of the bed. Test the pole to confirm it’s straight and protected in the mounts before you hang the curtains.

Add Finishing Touches

Your new curtains create an appealing backdrop for your own bed while hiding a tall, narrow window. When you want to let the sunshine in, open the curtains just to the width of the window to keep up the illusion you have created. To store the panels in place when they’re open, install a decorative bracket to either side of the window framework mid-way. Made from wood or metal in a number of fashions, the brackets give your window treatment a completed look. You may also use fabric or tasseled tiebacks and secure them into the window with little hooks. If your curtain rod contains plain finials, swap them out for finials produced from glass or cast metal in a style that suits your bedroom’s decor.

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Plug-in outdoor pest repellents typically emit a flashing light, audible alarm or high-frequency sound that people can’t listen to, to discourage wildlife, insects or birds from hanging around your lawn. But scientific research has shown these repellents may not be effective at maintaining unwanted garden pests away.

The Effectiveness of Pest Repellents

Ultrasonic electronic pest repellent apparatus produce sound waves greater than 20,000 hertz (cycles per second), that only creatures and bugs could hear. There’s little scientific research to show these types of devices actually deter pests, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They’re deemed ineffective against possible garden nuisances like biting insects, cockroaches and ticks, notes North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. These devices are also considered ineffective against other bugs, including ants. Electronic ultrasonic and sonic devices made to discourage wildlife, like small creatures, from damaging your garden aren’t generally successful against their intended targets either, states Clemson Cooperative Extension.

Further Pest Repellent Limitations

Electronic Dutch, ultrasonic and visual plug in pest repellent apparatus may work on some insects initially, including rodents, raccoons, deer, birds or crickets. Regrettably, these unwanted garden visitors seem to become quickly accustomed to them. This eventually makes the apparatus ineffective against these and other insects, according to research published in the September 2013 issue of “The International Journal of Engineering and Science.”

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Coffee grounds, rich in sulfur and tannic acid, are sometimes used as mulch around acid-loving plants like hydrangeas (Hydrangea spp.) , ranging from hardiness from U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 10. Don’t make that coffee grounds mulch thicker than 1 inch, however, or it may prevent rainwater from percolating through it. Gardeners also add coffee grounds to the seeds of carrot (Daucus carota subsp. Sativus) when putting them because the coffee grounds gag carrot root maggots. Coffee grounds, however, aren’t the only table scrap which may be of assistance to beleaguered gardeners.

Citrus Peels

To a cat, the newly turned and fluffy soil in your garden bed may look like one large litter box. Prevent all of your neighborhood felines by making use of the “facilities” by strewing orange or lemon peels above that soil. Cats reportedly are repelled by the odor of citrus, which makes them sneeze. You also can utilize these rinds as easy slug snares since slugs will be enticed to curl up and wrap under them during daylight hours. Peek under the peels in the early hours to spy on and dispose of the slugs.

Banana Peels

As opposed to slipping on your banana peels, consider slipping them into the garden soil around your rose bushes (Rosa spp., USDA zones 2 through 11, based on the number). Their high potassium material reportedly will cause those trees to really go bananas with blooms. Use about only three peels for every single bush, snipping them to pieces with kitchen shears first to help them break down fast. Banana below the ground is supposed to repel aphids over the ground, too, though nobody has been able to describe why that usage works.

Crushed Eggshells

Instead of “shelling out” for pricey slug bait, scatter crushed eggshells around plants that you would like to protect. Slugs are understandably reluctant to drag their soft bodies through eggshell shards and should detour around them instead. You also may be able to prevent blossom end rot in tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum, USDA zones 8 through 12) by working about four calcium-rich, crushed eggshells into each planting hole once when putting your tomato seedlings.

Used Teabags

Like coffee grounds, tea leaves are rich in tannic acid. As opposed to throwing away used teabags, cut those that contain black or green tea and spread the leaves above the soil below your acid-loving plants. In case the teabags are totally biodegradable, it is possible to simply slip them under the plants’ mulch instead of cutting them open. You also could place some used teabags under the soil of the acid-loving potted plant, where its origins can draw nutrients out of them.

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