Search Results for: label/pruning

45 results

Our new front yard: history

Avatar photo
Back to the Garden, front yard series, Garden Design, Gardening
19 Comments
...ly collect the spines, and then your gloves are ruined forever. We put off pruning it one year too many, and suddenly, this year, we realized we couldn’t harvest any of the fruit, because it was all growing too high to reach. So the fruit would rot up at the top, then fall to the ground to attract flies. Meanwhile, the heavy branches were beginning to stretch over the sidewalk, threatening passersby. It was also blocking light to the fruit trees–n...

Read…

What are trees worth?

Avatar photo
Fruit Trees, Gardening, Nature Awareness, Permaculture, Thoughtstylings, Trees
21 Comments
...ntities. It is worth calling a professional arborist to give them a proper pruning, or to consult if they look stressed. Yes, this costs money, but removing a mature tree once it has died from neglect, disease or bad pruning is a much more expensive proposition. If you live in a drought-stricken area, water your trees--even if you’ve never watered them before. They don’t have the resources they once had, and while they’ve been hanging on like cham...

Read…

Tippy Tap, Beta Version

Avatar photo
Domesticus, Water and Power, Water Conservation
9 Comments
...I gave the bottle a quick coat of paint because I couldn’t scrape off the label and couldn’t stand to wash my hands while that psychotic, chemical peddling teddy bear stared up at me. The mechanics of building a tippy tap are quite simple, but fairly situational, so you’ll have to improvise around the shape of the water bottle you choose, and decide on a hanging method which fits your needs. Some basics: You need support The bottle has to hang fr...

Read…

DIY Sage Deodorant

Avatar photo
Body Care, Domesticus, How-to
14 Comments
...this in the original bottle, which is, happily, glass with a pump top. The label from the bottle even peeled off easily! Thank you, Weleda. Then I added about 20 drops of essential oils to the bottle, which holds 100 ml/1/2 cup. I used a blend of sage, lavender and tea tree. I can’t tell you how much of each, because I was fiddling with it as I went, but the sage and lavender dominate. I held back on the tea tree because it has such an assertive o...

Read…

What laundry detergent should I use for greywater applications?

Avatar photo
Water and Power, Water Conservation
35 Comments
...l because they are essentially salt-based (look for the word sodium on the label). They play well with aquatic life, bless them, and they’re a fantastic alternative to more toxic detergents if your laundry water is going to the sewer, but they aren’t good for soil microorganisms. Surely you’ve heard that salting the land is a bad idea? You don’t want to salt your garden. It’s worth adding that the drier your climate, the saltier the soil, because...

Read…