Improve Your Home and Garden
Looking at the images of Haiti’s earthquake and the devastation that followed was a wake up call for me. It’s hard to stay worried about the surcharges on your cell phone bill while you watch a terrified but unwavering husband wait outside the rubble of his home for days to see if his wife will [...]
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And that’s a good thing. I never knew much about central vacuum systems until I got my Beam 101 lesson from Stuart Krawll of Beam of St. Louis. The company has been in business for 28 years, and it’s one of the exhibitors at the St. Louis Builders Home and Garden Show. Beam makes more [...]
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October is a great time to work in your garden as leaves are dropping and that first frost hits. Getting lawns and flower beds ready for winter will make for a beautiful garden in the spring. Here is a list of things to do in your backyard in October. OCTOBER GARDEN TIPS: October Lawn Care [...]
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Saving money with solar energy in the United States can be fairly simple if you set up the home to use the energy from the sun. There are several ways of achieving this from simple solutions such as bigger windows and using certain stones as flooring to installing solar panels on the roof or in [...]
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Do you have areas of your home that don’t get natural light or don’t get enough natural light? Are there areas that you would use more if they were just a little brighter? The new Solectric™ Day-Light System is a cutting-edge “electronic skylight” that can brighten any dark area of your home. The Solectric™ Day-Light [...]
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Thanks to advancements in alternative wood products and the use of wood treatments on older wood constructions, your fence and deck options are getting greener. Richard Lusa, CEO of Fence Depot, Inc., in St. Louis, MO, says more and more of their products are rated as green building products by the LEED criteria. Some of [...]
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Many people who have brought their first blooming orchid home from the garden shop secretly nurse a dream of having their very own greenhouse someday. They envision a greenhouse filled to the brim with beautiful, thriving orchids that provide countless hours of happiness on cold winter days. Greenhouses come in all sizes, shapes, elaborate and [...]
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Fish Pond with water plants and decking Here are some tips for caring for your pond now that it’s summer… Be mindful of how and what you are feeding your fish. We’ve had a lot of customers with green water lately. Many of their problems can be traced to the type of food they’re using [...]
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“In order for sustainability to work, it has to work for everyone.” In the wake of corporate greed and unethical business practice, these words from green building visionary Terry Black are a much-needed breath of fresh air. Black’s company Green Way Supply, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, has been building sustainable homes for three years, but the company [...]
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Its late summer and your container garden is not looking very good. The summer heat has taken its toll and some of the plants have stopped flowering. You could pull all of the plants out and replant the entire flower pot or you can rejuvenate the container garden using only a few new plants and leaving [...]
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In this bumpy economy, many people have turned to home remodeling and improvements rather than moving. Combining the practicality of a greenhouse and the charm of a sunroom, home conservatories are becoming a popular choice for homeowners seeking to update and improve their living space. History of Conservatories Conservatories were born when northern European explorers [...]
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Like most of the rest of the country, I am becoming increasingly concerned about my carbon footprint, that is, the amount of the Earth’s resources I use each day. I am especially worried about how dependent we in America have become on foreign oil. It seems that we are often at the mercy of whichever [...]
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I was remodeling an old farm house in McMinnville, Oregon this weekend and the attic insulation rained down on me. I thought it looked a lot like the vermiculite we use in gardening but never heard of it being used as insulation. Six hours later I am writing this blog about the link between this [...]
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The largest sustainable lifestyle event in the Pacific Northwest returns for its fifth year to the Portland Expo Center. Find earth friendly products for you, your Northwest home & garden and your budget. From cutting edge solar technologies and eco-chic fashion to better energy efficiency for you home and sustainable outdoor living, if it’s green [...]
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How do you know when to replace windows? After all, the investment is sometimes large and the choices of replacement windows overwhelming. You can chose from wood or vinyl, double pane or triple pane, and the list goes on. Much of the decision will depend on your budget; however there are many reasons why [...]
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Most of us feel better on a sunny day. But did you know that sunshine can be captured to save you money on your energy bill? Homeowners across the county are mounting solar panels on their homes to capture the sun’s rays and convert them into solar electricity. Sunlight Solar, based in Oregon, is a [...]
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Let’s Eat Edible Native Plants By Barbara Simonson Many people are becoming much more aware of the native plants that grow in their areas. But have you given any thought to the native plants that we can eat? Let’s sit down with a cup of tea made of dried wild strawberry leaves sweetened with honey [...]
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Container Gardening Combinations for Flower Pots I love container gardening but the usual plant combinations seen in magazines do not interest me and make for boring flower pots…in my opinion. Sure, they are colorful, but they lack that personalized touch for which I look. Maybe it’s that plant pots with annuals seem like a waste. Maybe it’s [...]
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Lawn To prevent grub damage in your lawn, apply insecticides containing halofenozide or imidacloprid. Or, wait until August to apply curative controls if there is a problem. Do not try to control crabgrass in your lawn after mid-July with post-emergence herbicide. It is often too large to control well. Live with it until it dies [...]
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