Lawn Care Service

Archive for April, 2011

There’s nothing like fresh vegetables from your own garden. All the hard work is rewarded when you take the first bite. The freshness you get from the garden to your table can’t be bought in a store. When most people think about vegetable gardens, they think of tomatoes or corn on the cob. Here’s some less common, but fun things you can grow.

1. Scarlet runner beans – These pole beans are both decorative and delicious. Make sure they have something to climb on and watch them go. The profusion of bright red blossoms is gorgeous and very attractive to hummingbirds. They produce 9-10” flat, wide beans that can be cooked while they’re green and tender or left to mature as a shelled or dry beans. The unusual back and purple dry beans are great for soups or can be used for decorative crafts. Since they’re an heirloom seed, save some of the seeds and plant them again next year.
2. Kohlrabi – This unusual vegetable is easy to grow and delicious. The plant forms a bulb just above ground with leaves sprouting from the sides and top. To harvest, cut just beneath the bulb and discard the leaves. After peeling off the outer skin, enjoy the mild turnip flavor either raw or cooked. Don’t let them get over-mature in the garden or the flesh will turn woody.
3. Spaghetti squash – The flesh of this unusual variety of squash really does look like spaghetti. Poke some holes through the hard outer shell and cook them whole in the oven or microwave. After splitting them open, scoop out and discard the seeds. Remove the noodle-like flesh with a fork and serve with sauce or butter and Parmesan cheese.
4. Ground cherries – This unusual fruit is actually a berry, not a cherry. Growing on tomato-like plants, the ½ inch fruits are golden-yellow with a papery husk. Remove the husk and they can be eaten raw or cooked and have a flavor similar to strawberries. The abundant harvest of fruits can be used in pies, preserves or jams.
5. Red Peter peppers – Most peppers are hybrids, but this rare heirloom pepper is quite unusual. Most people grow them to shock their prudish neighbors by the self-described shape, but they’re great for making chili powder.
6. Gourds – Not an edible vegetable, gourds are grown for their decorative properties. Great for fall decorations, they come in just about any size or shape you can think of in a variety of colors. People like to use the larger sizes for bird houses.
7. Purple beans – This variety of green bean was developed to make them easier to see when harvesting. The dark purple color is a stark contrast to the green foliage. If you’re not comfortable with eating purple beans, don’t worry. They turn green as soon as they’re cooked and are quite delicious.
8. Romanesco – A hybrid form of cauliflower with an unusual look, this veggie is sure to attract attention. Light green in color, the florets are spiral spikes instead of the billowy shape of the normal cauliflower. You’ll love the mild nutty, sweet taste and your vegetable tray never looked so elegant.
9. Oregano – Most people don’t think of growing their own herbs, but why not have the freshest spices along with your fresh vegetables. Oregano is a perennial that if not contained, will spread everywhere. Cut the leaves in spring or early summer when young and tender to be used fresh, frozen or dried. The plants will continue growing and produce a profusion of tiny light purple flowers that honey bees love.
10. Hops – This fast growing vine is great for ornamental screens and can grow up to 20 feet high in one year. The fragrant blossoms look like light green pine cones and are used in making beer. The vines die back each winter, but sprout from the crowns at the ground again in spring.

Gardening is considered one of the most healthy hobbies you can have. Even though it can be a lot of hard work, it can also be very relaxing and a great way to enjoy the outdoors on a lovely summer day. Enjoy the fruits of your labors with beautiful, colorful flowers and tasty vegetables, but have a little fun with it too.

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If it wasn’t for the weeds I’m afraid my lawn wouldn’t be very green. Yes, the weeds have won. If it’s green and my mower cuts it, they can plan on staying. These are ten of them that have taken over my lawn.

1. Dandelions – If she were alive today, how many people would want to murder the woman from England who brought over that first package of dandelion seeds. She thought they were so lovely, but millions of people have been trying to get rid of them ever since. It takes at least three mowings to get through the flowering and seeding stage for my lawn. I swear they duck when I go over them with the lawn mower.
2. Creeping Charlie – Otherwise know as ground ivy, once this stuff gets going in your lawn, it’ll choke out all the grass. True to its name, it creeps along close to the ground forming a dense green mat. A member of the mint family, it has a pungent aroma and gets cute little blue or purple flowers.
3. Clover – It’s a good thing I don’t mind having clover in my lawn, because it’s really hard to get rid of. I’m constantly weeding it out of my vegetable garden and flower beds and it keeps coming back. The deer really like it though.
4. Quack Grass – As long as it’s grass, what’s the problem? Quack grass isn’t the most ideal lawn grass and really tough to eradicate. Any little piece of root that’s left in the ground will continue to grow.
5. Crabgrass – I always get quack and crabgrass mixed up. The difference is, quack grass grows very tall and crabgrass is short and bunchy. It doesn’t make a very good lawn grass either. The problem is that crabgrass is so short that it can still go to seed even if it’s been mowed.
6. Poison Ivy – Since most people are allergic to the oil on their leaves, poison ivy is not welcome in anyone’s lawn and it’s very tough to get rid of. Persistent mowing will keep it at bay, but it will keep popping up wherever your mower doesn’t reach, such as around trees and along fences.
7. Wood Sorrel – Similar to clover, I actually think sorrel is pretty. It has three heart shaped leaves and gets tiny yellow flowers. Another variety has reddish purple leaves and tiny white flowers. It may be lovely, but most people don’t want it growing in their lawn and it can be very pervasive.
8. Plantain – This tough little weed loves to grow in lawns. Plantain has oval shaped leaves and grows in a clump close to the ground, so mowing over it doesn’t bother it much. Actually, this herb has medicinal qualities and the juice from the leaves works well to stop the itching of insect bites.
9. Chickweed – Another herb with medicinal properties, chickweed is also very invasive. With tiny leaves and little white flowers this weed spreads along the ground in a tangled mess. If you try to pull it, the fragile stems break off leaving the root in the ground to sprout again. I hate this stuff when it gets in my gardens.
10. Thistles – Yikes! Nobody wants thistles growing in their lawn, but how do you get rid of them? If you mow them off, they just keep growing in a prickly clump on the ground that is not fun to step on with bare feet.

There you have it. I’ve got all ten of these weeds in my lawn and then some. I use Roundup around the base of trees and along the edges of buildings and flower beds to keep the weeds there at bay. Besides quack grass and crab grass, surprisingly I actually do have some lawn grasses that continue to survive. I could spend quite a lot of time and money trying to get rid of the weeds, but instead I just keep mowing them and hope for the best. It looks nice for a day or two and then those darn dandelions pop up again.

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If you’ve never trained a dog before, it can be easy to revert to disciplines that we have seen others use or methods that we would use with children. At times, these can actually make matters worse. Hitting or causing pain to a dog in any way is not only inhumane, but it can cause your dog to either become more aggressive or to cower in fear. Below are listed ten humane, and widely used, training techniques for dogs.

1. Spray bottle. Having a small spray bottle with water in it can be a very handy and effective disciplinary tool. A quick squirt of water in its face will be unpleasant but not harmful. When this technique is consistently repeated when the negative behavior is happening, the dog will begin to recognize that the behavior has unpleasant consequences.
2. Chin taps. A couple of firm taps under the dog’s chin combined with a firm no can communicate your displeasure in a much stronger measure than you may expect.
3. Tone of voice. Your tone of voice is one of the most effective tools you have. Understanding this one thing can make a huge difference in the training process for your dog. Yelling and shouting will not affect a dog in the same way it does another human being. It is important to calm a dog when disciplining them, and a raised voice will tend to excite them and even cause them to bark back, on occasion. Commands should be firm and consistent. Praise should also be delivered in a calm but soft voice.
4. Time out. This is one form of discipline that you can carry over from your children to your pets. Placing your dog in their kennel for a short period immediately after the behavior can help reinforce your direction for them.
5. Positive reinforcement. Discipline is not just about your dog’s negative behavior. You should also be providing positive reinforcement when they do the right thing. Doggy treats immediately following their successful trip out of doors is just as important as the discipline that follows an accident in the house.
6. Ignoring. Dogs love attention from human. Scolding them is attention. Hitting them on the rump with a rolled newspaper is attention. You can often be reinforcing negative behavior when you use these methods. Keep your reactions calm and removing them from human contact can be a much better solution.
7. Physical relocation. To housebreak a dog, or train them stay off a rug, for example, you may want to simply pick them up and place them where they are supposed to be. If they urinate on the floor, immediately pick them up and bring them outside. If they are on your oriental rug, and aren’t supposed to be, pick them up and place them back on the wood floor.
8. Distasteful consequences. Providing negative consequences to replace positive ones can quickly change a dog’s behavior. Some hot pepper mixed in the trash will make it much less appealing in the future. Bitter spray on chewable items can eliminate their appeal.
9. Collars. Correction collars can be another good training device when used correctly. They allow you to maintain control and administer the discipline immediately when the behavior happens.
10. Remove the reward. If your dog is doing something you don’t approve of, they are mostly likely gaining some positive reward from it. If you can eliminate the positive reward, then you may also eliminate the behavior.

With any of these discipline techniques, the key is consistency. If you aren’t consistent, your dog receives mixed messages and will not understand what you are trying to communicate. If something is ‘wrong’, it should always be wrong. If the rug is off limits, it must always be off limits. When attempting to train a dog, you must be willing to discipline yourself, as well.

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