Does Your Garden Have Balls?

It's easy to see why landscapers create pom-poms on our properties. It takes a few mere seconds with gas-powered pruning shears to make a ball or freeform shape. Pruning by hand to achieve a more natural shape requires time and experience.

  – read more-

http://larchmont.patch.com/blog_posts/does-your-garden-have-balls

 

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Might Your Houseplants Have Mites?

If your potted plants are looking a little sorry right now — wilting, new growth shriveling or a general lack of unhappiness — it could be short winter days or dry heat. Or it might be minuscule troublemakers: spider mites.   – read more –

http://larchmont.patch.com/blog_posts/might-your-houseplant-have-mites

 

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What’s Bugging You?

When it comes to pest control, often the best thing to do is... nothing.   – read more –

http://theloopny.com/blog/whats-bugging-you/

 

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Your Lawn on Drugs.

It’s practically a ritual in Westchester. Spread fertilizer on the lawn in the spring and fall, maybe even twice more during the summer, so it stays a bright green. Add limestone to keep the soil alkaline, to increase nutrient uptake. Apply a pre-emergent to control the weeds. Spray Roundup and pesticides when needed.   – read more –

 

http://theloopny.com/blog/your-lawn-on-drugs/

 

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Can You Save a Storm-Damaged Tree?

Most trees will survive lost limbs. The key is not to leave a ragged edge, which is harder to heal. It's better to make a clean cut. This will allow the tree to grow over the wound and compartmentalize it.   – read more –

http://theloopny.com/blog/when-to-say-goodbye-to-a-storm-damaged-tree/

 

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Salt – Bad For You. Bad For Your Yard.

Salt is bad for your health. It turns out that salt is bad for gardens, too. Every time rock salt is used to melt ice on a road or walkway, it damages nearby vegetation in two ways.   – read more –

http://theloopny.com/blog/salt-is-as-bad-for-gardens-as-it-is-for-diets/

 

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Garden Now? Are you Kidding?

For those of us who can’t wait for Spring (uh…everyone…?), we’ve compiled a garden checklist to help combat winter blues, indoors and out.   – read more –

http://theloopny.com/blog/garden-now-are-you-kidding/

 

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Good Things Grow on Trees

I recently went back to visit my old Queens neighborhood. I had fond memories of walking to school through a tunnel of maple-lined streets. But the place was hardly recognizable. No trees had been planted to replace the old, majestic giants, now gone. The street looked naked and harsh. I see the same thing happening to our neighborhood.   – read more –

http://theloopny.com/blog/good-things-grow-on-trees/

 

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I Speak For The Trees

Trees surround us, mute and towering. Most people know very little about how to buy, plant or care for them. So I have elected myself tree spokesperson with this primer on the care of trees.   – read more –

http://theloopny.com/blog/i-speak-for-the-trees/