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    How To Bring Nature To The City

    By | February 12, 2008


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    How To Bring Nature To The City
    Submitted By: Greg Williams
     
    [Word Count: 540 words] [Viewed: 3 time(s)] [Don’t forget to rate this article] [Report this article]
     

    Well, you?ve just spent an incredibly long week at work, shut inside your cubicle working on the quarterly report. You?ve had little time outside ? basically the time it takes you to go from your house to the car to the office and back. By the end of the week you ate your lunch from the vending machine in the lounge rather than take the time to run out to visit your favorite hot dog vendor, just to get the work done. Now that you?ve finished and are ready for a much-needed and well-deserved weekend, you head home with nothing but relaxation on your mind.

    Stepping into your apartment, you are greeted with a hungry cat (did you feed Speckles this week????), a basket of dirty laundry (the elves didn?t pick it up?) and a dead houseplant. Not very inspiring.

    Spruce It Up!

    What to do? You?ve neither the desire nor cash to head out to the mountains for the weekend (packing, unpacking and then more laundry), but can?t see spending a dreary two days with these uninspiring surroundings. It?s easier than you think (and less expensive) to liven things up for yourself. Since you probably plan to eat this weekend and to do so must go to at least one store to get said food, take a look at what your friendly supermarket has to offer in respect to plants and flowers. Go ahead and buy yourself a bouquet. Get a big one that you can separate into smaller arrangements to spread throughout your home. Try again with the houseplants?pick out a few hardy looking ones and bring them back with you. Pick up a new watering can ? just having something new to use can inspire you to actually use it. It?s a lot more satisfying to water the plants with a groovy little watering can than with your coffee pot.

    Once you?ve returned home with your new plants or flowers, open up! Even if it?s hot or cold outside, it?s a good idea to freshen up the place with some outside air. You may only be able to keep the windows open for a little while, but it will do you and your place a world of good. (Of course this wouldn?t apply if you?re currently in the midst of a dust storm, blizzard, hurricane, or plague of frogs?I would assume that if any of these things were happening you would not be looking to bring quite THAT much nature into your surroundings?)

    If you?ve the benefit of a balcony, patio, or even a communal outdoor area where you live, take advantage of it. Get out there with a lawn chair and soak up some rays. You might discover that you have one or two interesting neighbors that are worth getting to know. One of them might even have some pointers for your houseplants. You could invite them over for a drink on those cool summer nights by your toasty chimenea; or you could plan a clean-up and planting day followed by a BBQ or a glass of wine or cup of coffee. You?ll reap the benefits in more ways than one.

    Article Tags: home, pick, youve

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    Fertilization For Your Lawn
    Submitted By: Craig Elliott
     
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    When it comes to keeping your body healthy, learning the basics of proper nutrition is the first step. Your lawn is no different. Fertilizing your lawn provides it with the necessary nutrients it needs to be healthy and attractive. So, in order to do this right, here are the basics for fertilizing your lawn this season.

    Why is Fertilization Important?

    When you give your lawn the proper fertilizer, you will ensure that your lawn maintains its healthy look and feel. Here are some of the ways that fertilizer will help your lawn:

    Fertilizer promotes new root and leaf growth - By adding nutrients to your lawn, you will increase new growth for your lawn, making it even healthier.

    Fertilizer can help reduce the spread of weeds - When your lawn is healthy, it can often fend off the advances of weeds far better than any other weed killing solution. Also, if you already have weeds, a good fertilizer can help control them.

    Fertilizer helps to lessen damage - If your lawn is walked on often or you live in an area with pests, fertilizing can help to lessen the damage these factors can cause.

    Fertilizer is a multivitamin for your lawn - By adding fertilizer to your lawn on a routine basis, the nutrients that are lost due to environmental conditions will be replaced.

    Kind of Fertilizer

    The important thing to note is that all types of grass and soil require different fertilizers. When choosing the best fertilizer for your lawn, you must first learn both the type of grass and the type of soil in your yard. If you are not sure, you may consider bringing a clipping of your grass and a soil sample to the lawn care store or have TruGreen choose the fertilizer that is best for your lawn.

    Here are the four main kinds of fertilizer you can buy:

    Liquid - This Liquid formula is generally easier for some soils to absorb, especially when the soil is not very moist (i.e. clay based). Liquid fertilizer is taken into grass quickly and will begin to produce results within weeks. However, since the fertilizer is absorbed quickly, you will need to reapply every few weeks for maximum benefit

    Granular - The Granular formula of fertilizer is a bit more slow acting and is applied to the surface of the grass. Granular fertilizer can be easier to measure because you can see where the fertilizer is being placed and adjust your application when necessary. Just add water to this fertilizer in order for it to be absorbed into the lawn.

    Slow release - These fertilizers can come in two different formulations - Sulfur Coated (that takes about 8 weeks to absorb) and Polymer Coated (which take about 12 weeks). They are also known as Water Insoluble Nitrogen fertilizers and should only be used as recommended.

    Quick release - These fertilizers are geared toward large applications as in farming and commercial use. These fertilizers are Water Soluble Nitrogen and will need to be reapplied every two to four weeks.

    Before You Start

    There are three simple steps that you must take before you can fertilize your lawn:

    1. Find out the kind of grass you have

    2. Test the pH of the grass soil. You can do this easily by using pH strips that are
    designed for lawn testing. These can be found at your local lawn care store.

    3. Measure the size of your lawn in square footage.

    These steps will ensure that you buy the right fertilizer as well as the right amount needed to get the job done right.

    When to Fertilize

    Depending on where you live in the United States, you will need to apply your fertilizer at different times of the year.

    For those in the northern areas, you will need to apply your lawn fertilizer at the end of the hot season, but before it gets too cold. You will also want to fertilize in the spring just as the ground is beginning to thaw.

    Residents living in the central areas of the U.S. will need to begin to fertilize in the spring as the grass begins to turn green. Then, fertilize again after the hot season is over.


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