This is a cooperative blog: a co/blog. We've really just started this experiment, so give a few months to get some momentum. Each of the five charter authors involved are responsible for a different set of topics, and each will post on their own schedule. We hope you enjoy the content provided here, and find it useful. The information provided is meant as opinion and editorial purposes only, and should never be taken as professional advice.

Five Good Reasons to Fertilize Your Lawn

Archived in Landscape, Do-it-Yourself | 1 Comment

Great grass needs tender loving care, and this means regular and meaningful feedings. If you mow and mulch you’re one step closer, but it doesn’t mean you’ve got all your bases covered. Fertilizing your lawn appropriately is as important as keeping it watered. Why? Here are five good reasons to fertilize your lawn.

1) …because grass is unnatural. Don’t believe me? Ask yourself this: if you had neither seeded nor sodded would you have a lawn? Or would you have a muddy, weedy mess full of local scrub, clover, thistle, et cetera? I’d wager on the second. Your lawn is there because you or someone else planted it there. True, it’s a hardy plant and it will do very well where it is if you feed it well, but in the world of landscaping and competitive plant biology, grass is the visiting team. It has a disadvantage right from the start.

2) …because you walk on your lawn. Crush, stomp, rip, tear, break. You use your lawn to separate your feet from the muddy mess hidden below. You know perfectly well that grass is something of a living carpet, and like any carpet can succumb to eventual wear and tear. Lucky for both you and the grass, a healthy (well fed) lawn will look after repairing itself.

3) …because grass can be a real fighter. Weeds are always — repeat, ALWAYS — trying to find a way to break through the defenses put up by your grass. Whether your lawn is twenty days or twenty years old, a fertilized lawn means that it can choke down intruders through strong, healthy root systems and sustained growth.

4) …because you mow. And — especially if you are like some of my neighbors who quickly stuff their clippings into big orange garbage bags that wind up on the curb — the nutrients, minerals, and potential organic fertilizer you just clipped off wind up in the landfill. It’s not like cutting your hair. This is true damage to the plant, and while it will recover you had better feed it occasionally to give back what you just took away.

5) …because your lawn is an ecosystem. Look close. Besides you and your PETS, there are a lot of critters who make use of your grass. From the small — insects, spiders, worms, and other creepers — to the slightly larger — birds, mice, and rabbits — you are hosting a local ecosystem who’s tenants are probably typical renters: messy and destructive. Think of fertilizer as just another landlord duty.

Please remember: I’m just a guy who has done this work for myself, once. This is just my experience, so do more research before you start. I welcome any comments or updates that anyone with more experience might provide. Cheers!

Popularity: 27% [?]

Read more posts by Gary W (About the Author)

del.icio.us Digg it Earthlink Furl iFeedReaders ma.gnolia Maple.nu Netvouz Netscape RawSugar reddit Scuttle Shadows Simpy Spurl StumbleUpon Wink Yahoo MyWeb

Posts that might have similar content:

Gary’s Construction Anecdotes >> For your convenience, here are some of the articles I've written on my landscaping and contruction experiences. As usual remember: I’m just a guy who has done this work for myself, once. This is just my experience, so do more research

When can you walk on new sod? >> I've been getting this question a lot lately: when can you walk on new sod? Having had my grass down for a little more than a month, and having talked extensively with a neighborhood of folks in a similar position, I think

Slashing Advertising - Episode #1

Archived in Television, Reviews, Advertising | No Comments

Brainstorm? Whatever. I had an idea for another feature column. And this is the FIRST episode. I’m calling it Slashing Advertising and how it works is this: we all watch television. When we see an advertisement that is trying to be clever, but failing miserably, then I slash it to bits, giving my readers a recap of the plot and three reasons why I think it fails.

Episode #1: Those Honey-Flavored Bran Bars (They taste great!)

Exhibit A: [The Product] Those Honey-Flavored Bran Bars — which, in my opinion, are actually pretty scrumptious — that everyone assumes taste like honey-coated cardboard.

Exhibit B: [The Ad] You’ve surely seen this one. A guy is on his way to work, riding the elevator and eating [The Product]. He says something like “These [The Product] sure tastes great.” The immediate response to this is that the woman riding in the elevator with him, drinking a glass of water, laughs or gasps or chokes in disbelief (call it what you will) and showers him with a spray of beverage from her mouth.

The scenario is repeated over a couple times until we reach the final act: Same guy sitting in a board room with a stereotypical meeting about to commence. The woman at the head of the table is (again) drinking a glass of water, and the fool of a protagonist about to repeat his catch phrase — “These [The Product] sure tastes great.” Instead, he pauses, waits for her to swallow the water, and — beat — says it. From behind comes the shower of water from some other woman.

Ba-Dum! Dum…. Tish!

The Case:

1) Spitting in disbelief: roughly defined refers to the act of spraying a medium pressure jet of fluid from one’s mouth in response to some kind of audible cue, specifically an unbelievable statement overheard from — in this case — a friend, or person nearby. I thought most of us learned to control this type of social faux pas back in kindergarten. Where did the population of this office go to school?

2) Let me just ask this: What kind of normal, well adjusted, middle-aged man wanders around the office eating bran bars and starting conversation with his colleagues by chanting some line about the flavor of his snack? Is this guy some kind of social retard? Are we expected to emulate him? Look up to him? Is he single? He must be.

3) In the course of a morning, our protagonist has eaten — let’s say — four bran-based, fiber bars. Perhaps his colleagues are all spitting in disbelief because the office shares a co-ed washroom? “Another one, Frank! Dude, we all have to WORK here! Your office already smells like a rendering plant.” This guy must sit there all day clenching his sphincter muscles, he’s so darn regular.

The Verdict: [The Ad] hocking [The Product] wants us to be like (let’s keep calling him) Frank. But Frank works with an odd group of spitting women, and Frank unfortunately suffers from some kind of severe social ailment which seems to be amplified by another unexplained bowel disorder. I personally eat [The Product] — occasionally, and in moderation — and [The Ad] almost makes me want to run away screaming.

This one gets a big ‘F’ — for Flatulence.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Read more posts by Andrew S (About the Author)

del.icio.us Digg it Earthlink Furl iFeedReaders ma.gnolia Maple.nu Netvouz Netscape RawSugar reddit Scuttle Shadows Simpy Spurl StumbleUpon Wink Yahoo MyWeb

Posts that might have similar content:

Television Showdown Index >> Television Showdown on Haddow Drive I’m all into the feature columns so I’ve been fiddling with some ideas around a “television showdown” where I pit two similar shows against each other on a variety of standard criteria. The criteria are always the

Movie Moments - Episode #1 >> This is Episode One of my feature column, the Movie Moments on Haddow Drive where arbitrarily rank "The Best or Worst of..." a themed movie moment or movie entire. There is no method here. Just opinions. Episode #1: Top Five Most Ridiculous

Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds. Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^