How Much Sun Does Yellow Barberry Need?

Barberry shrubs (Berberis thunbergii), also known as Japanese barberries, are exceptionally difficult, easy-to-grow, versatile plants which have many different uses in a house landscape. A high number of barberry cultivars can be found, several notable because of their brightly colored, golden-yellow foliage. These attractive shrubs have few requirements, but require a lot of sunlight the keep their bright colours.

Barberry Characteristics

The barberry bush gets its name from the ample thorns that cover its branches, making it a particularly good choice as part of a hurdle planting. Barberries are deciduous and generally have dense foliage. They’re usually one of the first shrubs to demonstrate new leaves in the spring. All barberries have inconspicuous flowers, followed by red berries in the autumn. Standard types of barberry trees have green leaves which change to red or orange in autumn. Yellow varieties have vibrant leaves which do particularly well in summer heat, which can scorch leaves on standard cultivars, and usually retain their yellow colour into autumn.

Sun

Foliage on yellowish barberry bushes keeps its bright shade best when the plant is grown at a place that receives sunlight for most of the day. Some light colour during the day will not interfere with the plant’s growth or health, but its bright and vibrant foliage is likely to turn into a greenish shade when sunlight is not constant. For compact cultivars, a website in the front of a sunlit tree boundary is best. Taller varieties can do well as specimens in full sun or at the back of a sunny bed, providing other plants nearer the front are spaced well apart and never likely to colour the barberry bushes.

Other Conditions

Yellow barberry shrubs grow well in any kind of soil, provided it is well-drained. They require only moderate levels of moisture and can tolerate dry spells quite well. Barberry bushes should be fertilized with a balanced, overall purpose formula early in spring, before new growth appears. They’re also quite tolerant of allergens, making them excellent choices in urban areas, and have no serious insect or disease issues. Pruning is best done in late spring or early summer, after the plant’s tiny flowers have disappeared.

Varieties

A number of barberry varieties with yellow foliage are sold in garden centers or through gardening catalogs. They comprise “Sunjoy Gold Pillar” and “Aurea,” both achieving a height of 3 to 4 feet with vertical growth habits; “Bonanza Gold,” also known as “Bogozam,” a compact plant only 1 1/2 feet tall; and “Golden Nugget,” a dwarf plant which reaches a height of only 12 inches and is approximately 18 inches wide. All varieties do best in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 4 through 8.

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The Rock Salt Concentration required to Kill Plants

Rock salt and table salt are basically the same thing: sodium chloride. But rock salt is unrefined and also in bigger chunks, while table salt is ground smaller. Rock salt is frequently less expensive and may be employed to cover a bigger area if you need it to destroy plants. It can change the salinity of the soil for years, so use it on your yard with care.

Concentration in Water

It doesn’t require much rock salt to effectively kill plants in your yard. Mix 1 cup of rock salt with 2 cups of water. Add it to spray bottle or pour it straight above the plants that you want to kill. Using boiling water helps dissolve the rock salt and destroy the plants boiling water hurts their leaves like it will your skin.

Dry Concentration

Just a few grains of rock salt are sufficient to kill plants. Sprinkle the salt across the base of the plant and allow it to naturally break down at the soil’s moisture. For small weeds, like dandelions, you might only need four or three chunks. For larger plants, try out a few of this salt. It works relatively fast, so if you don’t observe the plants wilting in around 2 days, add a little more rock salt about the plants’ bases. Watering the plants shortly after adding the rock salt will allow it to dissolve into the dirt.

Soil Changes

A major problem with using rock salt even in small concentrations is that is tends to remain in the dirt for years until water leaches it outside. The salt increases soil salinity, which dehydrates the roots of plants and keeps them in absorbing nutrients that are necessary. If you include too much rock salt and it starts to change plants that you want to remain, in addition to ones that you wish to kill, start watering the plants deeply every day to try to flush the salt out of the dirt. You may not have the ability to conserve those plants, because it could take weeks of daily watering to return the ground into a feasible salinity, but it is possible to restore the dirt so that new plants may grow.

Where to Use It

Salt doesn’t always stay where it’s set — it may be washed off into your flower bed or lawn, killing large swaths of plants that you want to keep. Some salt-tolerant plants like the bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) can endure a bit of runoff, but not a complete concentration of rock salt applied nearby. Apply the salt on a day with no chance of rain to allow it to soak in where you want it without the prospect of runoff. The best places to use rock salt are those in which you don’t ever need plants to grow, like cracks in your driveway or along fence lines.

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The way to Sod a Yard With St. Augustine Palmetto Grass

There are two methods to establish new grass in your lawn: by seed or using sod. Sod refers to mature grass exploded over surface soil and held together by its origins. Installing sod is merely a matter of transplanting, similar to moving an established plant from indoors to outside. Even though a more expensive process than seeding, sodding has several advantages, such as flexibility when planting, since you can lay it at any moment during the season. The “Palmetto” varietal of St. Augustine grass is a fast grower that thrives in Mediterranean climates and carries root fast, which makes it an ideal choice when sodding a lawn in U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 8 through 10.

Preparation

Search your lawn for rubbish, stones, large limbs and debris left from building function and discard. Remove weeds by hand as required. Turn the soil having a mechanized tiller until loosened and aerated.

Apply a starter fertilizer high in nitrogen and phosphorous, such as 10-20-10, at a rate of 10 lbs per 1,000 square foot. Add 1 inch of compost over the top layer of the soil. Till the starter fertilizer and compost to a depth of 4 inches to incorporate.

Rank the tines of a garden rake against a stationary surface of the lawn, such as the edge of the pavement, porch or driveway. Rake the lawn at a straight row until you reach the end of the yard. Increase the pressure on the rake that the closer you get to the end of the lawn to make a downward 1- to 2-percent slope away from the fixed surface. Continue raking the entire yard.

Return to the start of the row and then row again. The soil must be 1 inch below the amount of the fixed surface when completed to allow the sod to fit against it properly. Continue grading the soil, sloping it from all fixed surfaces. Also fill in any holes in the ground, as they gather water and inhibit runoff.

Turn the rake over and place the bottom of the tines from the borders of their fixed surfaces and then press firmly to tamp it down. Fill the lawn roller’s drum with water and then roll above the ground the exact same manner you graded it — row in one direction.

Irrigate the ground with 1/2 inch of water, which works out to approximately 2-1/2 gallons of water per square foot . Permit the planting site to settle for a single week.

Sodding

Moisten the topsoil gently with a hose if not moist from the previous irrigation.

Rank the loose end of this roll St. Augustine sod in the left end of their lawn and unroll it over the ground. If you need to lay the other roll of sod at the exact same row following the very first to make it into the end of the lawn, unroll a new roll where you left off and cut to fit using the utility knife. Fill at the seam where the two pieces of sod join soil or compost, and tamp down lightly with a garden spade.

Rank the loose end of another roll of sod on the right end of the lawn as you did with the left hand. Unroll the sod and cut to fit using the utility knife, then filling the flux using soil as required and tamping it into position.

Alternate between the left and right sides of the lawn placing sod, unrolling and cutting to fit as required. However, stagger the ends of adjacent rows and create a brick-wall pattern to avoid one seam running across the width of the lawn. As you reach the end of the roll after laying an adjacent strip, then stop a few yards short of the end and cut it using the utility knife. When you roll up the strip beside it, then don’t cut it short, and so on for the remainder of the lawn. After the sod strips match in the middle of the lawn, you most likely have to cut the previous roll lengthwise to allow it to fit between the 2 strips on either side of it.

Survey the lawn for uniformity in height. If you see a few layers of sod sitting a little lower than others, add enough soil underneath them to raise them until level with the remainder of the lawn.

Drain 2/3 of this water from the lawn roller and go over the lawn again to release any air trapped underneath the sod. Water the sod daily to keep it moist until it takes root.

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The way to put in a Spin-In Duct Fitting

Spin-in collars reduce the installation time of a duct division line by eliminating the need for screws to hold it in place. Rather, the collars sandwich the duct wall between an internal collar and an outer tapered bead. The correct hole size is required to be sure the spin collar sits securely in the wall of the duct. Once correctly installed, the spin-in collar will provide a fail-safe connection involving a duct back line and the atmosphere register distributing air through your house.

Determine Spin-in Diameter

Measuring the width of the spin-in is the very first step in ensuring it fits correctly from the duct. Taking the dimension from the wrong end of this fitting will permit you to receive a fictitious dimension which will cause an incorrectly hole. Always measure the fitting from the conclusion of the fitting with the taper and subsequently add 1/8 inch to the diameter, allowing room for the fitting to spin at the duct.

Cut and Prepare the Hole

After quantifying the hole, a hole cutter is required to ensure you cut a circular hole at the face of the duct. The hole cutter consists of a pulley that is simulated, a three-sided drill bit and a pivot point. After transferring the pivot point, the smooth finish of the drill bit fits into a drill engine. Rotating the cutter gradually will cut a perfectly round hole in the sheet metal. A 1/2-inch slit is required after cutting, to permit the internal collar to slip through the duct wall.

Safe the Spin-in Collar

Replacing the spin-in collar from the duct demands sliding the border of the internal collar into the cut slit and spinning the fitting clockwise. After one full revolution, the internal collar will pop through the duct and the spin-in collar will sit loosely in the duct. After installation, you put the handle in an accessible location, then pull the internal flange to the bottom of the tapered bead by squeezing them together — in several places — with a pair of self-locking pliers to lock it in place.

Seal the Collar Edges

Even a tight spin-in collar will flow air around its linking point to the ductwork. Apply a water-based sealant to the base of the collar with a paintbrush to prevent air leaks. The sealant requires 24 hours to harden; during this time, you cannot run the air conditioning system.

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A Smoking Washing Machine

However you look at this, a smoking washing machine spells trouble in all capital letters. This is a job for the intermediate or advanced do-it-yourself individual to undertake. If you’re a first timer or beginner, then it is time to call the pros as a smoking washing machine typically signals serious motor or clutch problems.

Machine Hums Loudly, Smokes But Does Not Start

When an electric engine starts up, it is going to draw five to six times its normal operating current for a brief time period, until the engine reaches two-thirds of its working speed. A defective start switch, or bad start or run winding in the motor is going to keep the motor from starting correctly, along with also the high in-rush present will keep on causing the motor’s windings to overheat and burn. The burning motor winding is actually the cause of the smoke. Regardless of what the initial cause of the issue, when it calms to this point, you need to replace the engine.

Machine Squeals and Smokes

A slipping drive belt will lead to a loud squealing noise. Together with the smoke coming from the overheated drive belt is going to be the distinct smell of burning rubber. A slipping drive belt may be caused by an improperly adjusted idler pulley or a mechanical jam somewhere in the drive train. It could also be brought on by a drive belt so badly worn that the automatic tensioner can no longer compensate for the wear. In the case of a mechanical jam, it could be a issue with the clutch, the transmission or even bad tub bearings. Those are all hard repairs that you won’t have the resources for and you need to call a professional. However, replacing a worn belt or even correcting the tensioner pulley are simple tasks requiring nothing more than a large screwdriver and an adjustable wrench.

Light Smoke With Burning Smell

Light, wispy smoke coming from the base of the washing machine signals a problem with the transmission shifting solenoid. Smoke coming from the upper back of the machine signals a bad fill valve solenoid. And smoke coming from the control panel signals a terrible timer motor. Replace the faulty parts as needed.

Other Potential Causes

Smoke coming from a washing machine could also be the result of a flaw in the electric wiring, but this is actually the probable cause. A partially broken wire will arc above, causing the cable’s insulation to overheat and burn. A hot wire may also arc over to the machine, again causing the insulation to smoke and burn. Usually when this kind of problem exists, there will be, aside from the smoke and the smell of burning plastic, the distinct smell of ozone created by the arcing. In cases such as this, simply search for signs of burned insulation on the wiring.

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Types of Fountains for Ponds

Ponds need oxygen to keep plants and fish healthy. Adding a fountain to your landscape pond not just creates aeration for the water, but in addition, it creates a focal point for your landscape. You may opt to work heaters during particular hours of the evening, or you can select lighted models to give visual interest to your property at night.

Pumps

Before you select any type of fountain, then you should start looking for a pump that is acceptable for the pond. Clean water or lined ponds don’t have a lot of debris that flows to them from runoff. These ponds are typically clear all the time. A pump having a lip seal typically works nicely. Ponds that have a sand or soil bottom have dirty water after a rain. Particulates from the water can clog a lightweight pump and quickly ruin it. Opt for a industrial grade trash pump to the fountain in this type pond.

Waterfalls

A waterfall along the side of the backyard pond not only supplies the tinkling sound of music falling through space, but it blends in with its natural surroundings. If possible, plan the installation of the waterfall at precisely the exact same time you construct the pond. Adding the nest from the pond’s design enhances the general all-natural look of this water feature. As you make this type of pond fountain, then remember that the greater the waterfall, the more pumping power you will need. The pond also needs a deeper place below the waterfall to work as a catch basin to amplify the sound of the water.

Rocking Bamboo Fountains

Another fountain that you place along the edge of a pond is a rocking bamboo fountain. Occasionally called “shishi odoshi” or deer scarers, these fountains have moving parts that fill with water and empty on the rocks. When the container is empty, it pops up a flow of water refills it. The fountain frequently makes a clacking noise as it fills. This sound often startles wildlife and also keeps them away from the pond.

Floating Fountains

Unlike slopes and shishi odoshi fountains, floating fountains rest in the center of the pond. A wide variety of nozzles are available that let you spray the water in an assortment of shapes and heights. Generally speaking, the water should spray no greater than half of the width of the pond. You may add multiple floating fountains to larger ponds to make a diverse water display. Some models of floating fountains include lights so you can enhance your property during the nighttime hours as well as during the day. As you choose a floating fountain, then pick one that has a pump that offers enough horsepower to produce the spray you desire.

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Bloodworm Larvae in Koi Ponds

As their name says, bloodworms are a blood-colored wormlike creature measuring about 1 millimeter long. These wiggly aquatic worms are a common sight in standing bodies of water, and though they might seem intimidating, they are usually not a cause of alarm. Actually, bloodworm larvae can be helpful to your koi pond.

Kinds of Bloodworms

“Bloodworms” can refer to the seams of a nonbiting midge (Chironomidae) along with the parasite also called blood flukes (Schistosoma). Even though chironomidae aren’t harmful to individuals, unless the man or woman is allergic to these, schistosoma — which is not found in the United States — has infected over 200 million individuals worldwide. Schistosoma, detectable only under a microscope, which is usually located throughout Africa, South America and Asia. This parasite lives in certain species of freshwater snails and contaminates the water.

Nonbiting Midges

The bloodworms in your koi pond are the pillars of nonbiting midges known as chironomids. These insects resemble tiny mosquitoes but don’t bite people or feed on blood. Nonbiting midges lay their eggs on the surface of ditches, streams and ponds. These eggs sink to the bottom of the pond and hatch a couple of days later. The larvae, known as bloodworms, consume organic matter in the pond, which helps maintain the water clean and clear. Bloodworms generally transform in the pupa stage about two to seven weeks following hatching. They remain in this stage for about three days before swimming to the water surface and also appearing as an adult chironomid.

Bloodworm Larvae and Koi

Bloodworms in your koi pond aren’t something that needs concern. The larvae don’t harm any plants growing in the pond and also are beneficial in many ways. As well as helping to keep the water clean, bloodworm larvae are a food source of fish like koi. Bloodworm larvae are high in proteinthat is essential for healthy koi. Frozen bloodworms are offered for purchase at pet stores, and also some pond owners increase bloodworm larvae for use as food for their fish.

Factors

If bloodworms aren’t welcomed guests, several control options are available that won’t hurt the koi. The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis var. Israelensis targets only the pillars of specific pests, like nonbiting midges, and will not hurt the koi fish in the pond. Another option is to attract predatory insects to feed the nonbiting midges. Dragonflies and damselflies prey on the adult midges while their larvae feed on the bloodworm larvae. Submerged, marginal and floating aquatic plants added in and about the koi pond lure dragonflies and damselflies into the area.

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5 Most Common Mulches

The principal purpose of mulch would be to improve the soil structure and mineral levels, and also to safeguard it from humidity and humidity changes. There’s a wide array of organic substances that work nicely as mulch for gardens and landscapes, however, a handful of these substances are used more often than the remainder of residential grounds. Five of the most commonly used mulches offer many advantages to your soil and plants, and are readily available and very affordable.

Wood Products

Wood mulch is available ground, shredded or chipped. Shredded mulch is usually made of thin strips of tree bark. Ground mulch consists of very fine to medium-sized wood particles. Ground hardwood mulch is particularly dark and rich in appearance and appears attractive in the landscape. Chipped wood mulches are coarse in texture and therefore are the most commonly available kinds of wood mulch. Soft woods like pine can increase acidity in your soil, making it ideal for mulching azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Hardwood mulch tends to become alkaline, so it is ideal for just about any sort of plant that does not need an acidic soil.

Compost

Compost is commonly used in home landscapes because it is a great soil conditioner that’s not hard to make yourself. Compost is created by combining various kinds of yard waste, such as leaves, plant debris and grass clippings, and may also include kitchen waste. The substance is mixed and left to decompose until it’s a blended material rich in nutrients. Compost is also commercially available at garden centers and greenhouses. One disadvantage of compost as mulch is the nutrient content and acidity of compost changes dependent on the substance used.

Yard Clippings

Lawn clippings are generally used as mulch since they decompose quickly, enrich the soil and also cost nothing. Lawn clippings should be applied dry, but if you want to employ new lawn clippings, spread them securely so that they don’t form a crust or mat down and heat up, which can lead to odor problems. If you’ve treated your yard with pesticides, don’t use clippings for 4 weeks after application. Whether dry or fresh, apply lawn clippings in thin layers, adding new layers per week after mowing your yard. One disadvantage to yard clippings is the potential weed seeds that could be combined with the grass, so check the soil regularly for weed seed germination to remove weeds before they become problematic.

Leafmold

Leafmold is a frequent mulch material that’s available in your landscape, or by municipal composting facility. It is made up of partially decomposed leavesthat are typically composted from the autumn to be prepared for use as leafmold mulch in the spring. Leafmold is an ideal mulch for adding nutrients to the soil. Newly fallen leaves may also be used, but will take some time to decompose, so nutrients aren’t as readily available to your plants as they are with leafmold.

Straw

Straw mulch made of wheat or oat grains, winter rye or hay is commonly used in residential and farm landscapes due to its availability and low price. It can be a powerful mulch material so long as it is free of weed seeds or mould. Pine straw mulch is also widely used and can be commercially available in large bales. Pine straw is made of pine needles and is a wonderful mulch material for improving soil structure and drainage. Both kinds of straw are best for preventing erosion of the soil during winter rains or as summer mulch in vegetable gardens.

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