Improve Your Home and Garden
I don’t know if a tree that falls in the woods makes a sound if I’m not there, but I do know that when a tree falls, it sparks a marvelous chain of events that support the forest ecosystem. That event is decomposition.
Mother Nature, in all her wisdom, created enterprising microbes to begin the process [...]
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I moved my peony bush last year from the back yard to the front of my home. I didn’t need to hire a professional to do that job, but I wouldn’t have minded renting someone else’s back for the afternoon. This summer, I’d like to swap out an ailing evergreen for a red maple, plant [...]
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Think about the last time you relaxed. Did it come naturally to you? Or did you have to work at settling your mind? Was it nearly impossible to resist the urge to check your email or your Facebook account?
In today’s hectic, wired, and always-connected world, it can be hard to just do nothing. Many of [...]
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Like photography or woodworking, you can never own too many tools for hobby gardening. And like other hobbies, owning the right suite of garden tools determine if you achieve worthwhile results.
Here are the indispenable tools we recommend for your garden tool collection:
Originally posted 2008-06-10 16:48:17.
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Whether for resale value or just the daily enjoyment of your home, sustainable landscaping designs are great investments.
Sure, you can create your own garden and landscaping plan. But starting with a professional’s design ensures that all of the latest developments are incorporated. After that initial stage, handling maintenance yourself will be simpler and more enjoyable.
Rich Hayes [...]
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Set your 10-year-old inner balloonist free at the Builders St. Louis Home and Garden Show
I want to be 10 years old again.
This year at the Builders St. Louis Home and Garden Show, I want to be 4-ft high, have a cookie in my pocket, and be responsible for nothing.
I don’t want to worry about how [...]
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While it may not be landscaping season where you live, it is definitely home and garden show season. These mega shows offer consumers a one-stop shopping experience where you can shop and compare without driving all over town, and in some cases all over the state.
Most of the time these homeshows feature show gardens in [...]
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Visit the Builders St. Louis Home and Garden Show this weekend for green home design inspiration
Ten years ago, you were green if you recycled your plastics and insulated your attic. Five years ago, we were told to change to CFL light bulbs and buy a hybrid car.
Now, in the spring of 2010, America’s building, landscaping [...]
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The beauty of a backyard water feature is universal. You know you want that calming, peaceful atmosphere. But the real question is – are you cut out for pond maintenance?
Let’s find out.
Did you know that backyard ponds and fountains require a lot of work? It takes diligent monitoring, frequent chemical additions and a super-intelligent mind [...]
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Paints and stains are harsh, often harmful chemicals. Granted there are a handful of “green” paint products coming out on the market.
But what happens when you need to rejuvenate and protect wood that has braved the elements for years? It’s hard to find an environmentally friendly product for that job, can you?
Relax – there is a [...]
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These days, stress is hard to avoid.
It comes at us in many different forms – from work, school, relationships, and just too many things to do and not enough time to do them. Stress causes sleepless nights. And that lack of sleep can lead to poor health – including stress-related pain and overall anxiety.
Hydrotherapy has [...]
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Ever stop to think about what it means to throw something away?
Where is “away”?
Just because you throw it away from where you are, does that mean it’s gone?
What if there were no weekly garbage pick up? If we were responsible for our own waste disposal, would the average American family still throw out more than [...]
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Many homeowners have discovered that their front and back yards can be used as outdoor rooms, before and after dark. It follows, then, that a homeowner should take outdoor lighting design as seriously as their interior design.
Low-voltage landscape lighting has become very popular. Jim and Tracy Landsiedel own NiteLites of Cincinnati, OH, which puts them in a [...]
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Creating a garden that attracts birds is a relatively simple task. It consists of supplying them with three basic elements: food, cover, and water. Most homeowners start with, and sometimes end with, putting out a bird feeder with cheap bird seed. Then they wonder why only a few species of birds show [...]
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Millions of people are on the path to a greener lifestyle. It doesn’t matter where you are along your journey; the important thing is to keep taking steps forward… even baby steps count!
What’s a green baby step? Changing out your light bulbs for CFLs, planting a tree, grabbing a sweatshirt instead of cranking up the [...]
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I saw a photo of a topped tree, and I immediately thought of St. Louis. A few years ago there was a days-long power outage caused by tree branches falling on power lines. City workers trimmed the trees as they repaired the power lines.
Each spring since then, the city goes through the neighborhoods and cuts back any [...]
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Gardeners in seaside locations encounter a unique set of challenges, including salty spray; drying winds; sandy soil that may lack nutrients; and (in Zones 5-6) cold winter weather.
Salt can be damaging in a variety of ways. It stunts plant growth and can sear foliage. The damaging effects of salt cannot be neutralized with chemicals or [...]
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Native plants in gardens can have four-season interest. One beautiful, interesting shrub is Ilex verticillata (Winterberry – Zones 4-9). It is a medium to large shrub (6-12 feet tall and wide), which has brilliant red berries throughout fall and into the winter. In fact, the berries, if not eaten by birds, can [...]
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Are you a multi-tasking, citrus-peel-loving, planet protector? Consider stocking-stuffers of 16 fl. oz. bottles of Organic Orange TKO concentrate made from d’limonene extracted from orange peels. It will be like giving 50 gifts in one.
Not surprisingly, the man who invented Organic Orange TKO was a Canadian environmental lawyer, who decided to make his life’s goal [...]
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