Best book to read for a First Time Owner Build
amoore1205
9 years ago
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9 years agospartanhill
9 years agoRelated Discussions
First time lawn owner's intimidating blank slate
Comments (1)Find a landscaper with a tractor and an attachment called a box blade. The box blade almost always comes with ripper tines. Using the rippers, they can unearth anything except big tree roots. You should have a crew of friends on hand (beer and pizza) to help get the debris out of the way of the tractor. That process should not take long if you have enough people. Then the driver can retract the rippers and drop the box blade. In less than an hour he should have a perfectly profiled surface for planting anything. Here is what the tractor/box blade looks like. The tines are in the up position and the box is down. For organic help, look at the Organic Lawn Care FAQ in the Organic Gardening Forum at Gardenweb. It is posted in many lawn care websites. In general lawn care should be pretty easy and inexpensive. Here is the 123 of lawn care. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Even if all you have is weeds, follow that guide for this season. You'll be surprised how nice well kept weeds can look. Also keep reading here and other sites to learn more. In the fall, if you want to, you can reseed with the grass of your choice. In your area I believe rye is most popular....See MoreTime for a reading list and book suggestions
Comments (30)Sueb, I seem to be in the minority with the Is This Tomorrow book. It got pretty good reviews on Goodreads, but I just thought did not like the writing or the story line. I wonder if I missed something! I can't wait to read Me Before You - I read another JoJo Moyes book this summer and while the subject matter didn't sit that well with me (involves an affair), I really liked it. I also loved The Kitchen House, Defending Jacob and Elizabeth Berg books. Looking at your list, it seems we have similar tastes so not sure what it was about that Caroline Leavitt book but though I finished, it wasn't one I'd typically recommend. I just finished about called The History of a Pleasure Seeker. Oh my! I never read that really erotic book (can't think of the name of it but it was all the rage earlier this year tho' didn't interest me) but um, this book was had quite a few erotic sex scenes that I had no idea before I read the book. I thought the book was actually fairly well written for a new writer but the ending was lacking. I have no idea how I happened upon it - I didn't have it on my list of books to read so I think it must have been on display and I grabbed it on a whim. Totally not the genre I typically read but it was a decent read....See MoreBest Books Read in 2014
Comments (29)Hi, Sheriz! My background is English lit and up until only about 8 years ago did I start reading anything contemporary! I had an English professor that once told us that even if we lived to be 100, we still wouldn't have time to read everything we want to read - so choose wisely. I took her advice to heart! However, after my third child was born, I needed to read something other than the classics. I'm finding that I seem to gravitate toward historical fiction the most. My reading list from 2014 contains a lot of historical mystery because I am trying my hand at writing my own mystery set in the 1930's, so I felt like I should have something to compare it to. Since you're a Georgette Heyer fan, which one do you recommend the most? I liked her style, but Pistols for Two was a collection of short stories, which I didn't realize when I bought it. I'd prefer a novel! Any suggestions? I've enjoyed looking at everyone's reading lists, too. I tend to steer away from book clubs because I don't have time to read something I'm not that interested in just for the sake of a discussion, but this is a nice alternative! Right now I'm reading Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen. Anyone else? It's well written and an interesting story, but a little slow. Thanks for sharing! Michelle...See MoreFL detergent recommendations, first time owner.
Comments (6)Hi, I'm in NYC and have had two different cheap compact front loaders ( An Italian made Whirlpool and a 10 year old Malber) over the last 10 years and currently have a Bosch dishwasher. I use both liquid and powder detergents in the washer and just dose carefully. I usually use All Free and Clear for a family member who has significant sensitivities to all fragrances and dyes. I play around with a variety of detergents including various ethnic specific detergents for myself. I think I'm becoming obsessed. LOL Yes, IMHO too much of any softener or liquid detergent and cold water will gunk up and eventually kill any washer. Warm and hot water are your friends. In my building I usually only get between 105- 115 degree water which isn't all that hot, but my machine does not dumb down the water temp so I'm ok for now. I will be adding a tiny point of use water heater just to get true hot water washes. My dishwasher did not do a good job with Kirkland detergent and only adequately with Cascade complete, however I ordered Dropps from Amazon and had better results, but still not as good as my older Bosch I have in my weekend place. Good luck. I think you will enjoy having clean clothes when you want them instead of waiting for the service to bring them back. And the pleasures of a dishwasher are never to be underrated....See MoreUser
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