Baseboard and trim/casing experts - please need advice on thickness?
Denitza Kotov
7 years ago
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Help! Lawn expert advice needed on fungus in October
Comments (35)>>The fertilizer I used was 18-0-18 so do you think 10 pounds for 4000 sq ft was the correct amount? 10 pounds per 4K is 2.5 pounds per thousand. That's 0.45 pounds of nitrogen (and potassium, but that doesn't matter so much). It's on the low side. 5.5 pounds per thousand square feet, or 20-22 pounds on 4K, would be the amount to target 1 pound of nitrogen per thousand. For a feeding in the lull period, though, 0.45 pounds of N is fine. The grass isn't particularly demanding in mid to late October. When you winterize, plan to target 5 to 6 pounds per thousand square feet, though. That feeding goes directly into carbohydrate storage after processing. One thing. Potassium's pretty harmless, but there's no need to pay for it or use it if your potassium levels are good. If you're not sure, or if your soil test shows a good K level, purchase nitrogen fertilizers that have numbers like 29-0-5. They tend to be cheaper per pound and don't add things your soil doesn't require. However, even potassium overapplication isn't much of an issue until it gets extreme. A pound or two of potassium per thousand square feet per year isn't extreme. >>I'm going to try the soybean meal and cornmeal next Spring - what does it specifically do and what am I replacing by using it? (The cornmeal is good to help prevent fungus right?) Each organic has its advantages and disadvantages! Corn meal or cracked corn (I like cracked as it flows more easily, but my local grain mill's idea of corn meal is powder-fine) are a poor feeding of the lawn at 1.65-0.65-0.40, but help with fungal resistance for the season. Corn can be applied in fantastically high amounts as a soil conditioner without doing damage and without generating nearly as much stink as other things will (due to the low nitrogen levels). Corn was my go-to when I was adding organic material to the lawn. At the time, it was very cheap, and I regularly dropped 60 pounds per thousand. Soy is a fantastic feed at 7-2-1, but at the amounts used it's not as good a soil conditioner (it works as well, by weight, as corn, but you use a lot less weight). Application of 15 pounds per thousand square feet four times yearly will feed your lawn completely with no other feedings (except winterization, which is special) required. Soy has no other specific advantages, but since it's the heaviest hitter in terms of protein (which means nitrogen), it tends to be the primary feed used by organics people. Soy will replace the feedings you're currently doing if applied in early to mid May, August first, September first, and October first. Your late summer and fall dates may back up a little bit from mine as your climate is a bit colder. Southerners use cottonseed meal instead of soybean meal. Same difference. Alfalfa might be nice once per year in mid September at 10 pounds per thousand. If you wish. It contains growth hormones that will encourage the root density of the lawn to increase. Don't overdo alfalfa as too much in the way of growth hormones actually stops growth. Milorganite is a nice fill-in if your lawn's color is paler than you like. It has good nitrogen levels, some phosphorus, and at 4%, a ton of iron (iron is a minor element and not used in large amounts). Constant use can raise iron levels in the soil and even out the color so it's always the darkest green it can be for the season, weather, and watering levels. Most other things that you can get, like oat hulls, rice hulls, brewer's grains, and so on are comparable to corn in terms of nitrogen and good as soil conditioners if you can get them cheap. Used coffee grounds. These are comparable to corn, although they're exceptionally attractive to worms. Their advantage is that most Starbucks' and many other coffee shops save their spent, pressed grounds for people who want to use them in composting or soil conditioning. Call around and you can sometimes get loads of these for free. Compost is great, and a wonderful soil conditioner, but essentially does nothing to feed the lawn. Worms like it, and it also puts back bacterial and fungal species that have been wiped out by chemical use or flooding. It's not on my recommended list due to the weight, cost, and the fact that you can do all of this with other stuff--but there's an exception to that rule, which doesn't apply here....See MoreSurgery indicated..need expert advice
Comments (13)Ray: Forgive me--maybe this answer is too long, but if you are really interested in helping your tree, maybe it will help. Two bits of advice. First, how to work high in your tree: Given the height of the tree we are talking about, how you handle it may depend on the kind of physical shape you are in and/or your fear of heights. I am an "old hand" at cutting out double leaders or "coaxing" new ones. I have been tending about 20 acres of spruces and pines for many years. Even now at age 70 I am well able to climb up tall pines and work, but I dont do much any more because most of my trees are now 80 feet tall or more and 20 to 30 feet to the first limb. But for many years I climbed these trees, even after I had pruned off the lower limbs, using a ladder to get up to the first whorl. But there is a limit to how thin a top you might want to climb up into, depending on how much you weigh. Here is my technique. First, you should get two strong straps, something like 4 feet long with a loop at one end and an easy to use clip at the other. I use two to tie around me and the trunk of the tree to be double safe and for comfort. Using these straps I am not only safely tied in, but I can use both hands to work. As I climb the tree I carry a 20 inch bow saw, and if a limb or two obstructs my progress, I cut it out of the way. Then when I get to where I need to work, the bow saw is a good tool for making some kinds of cuts. I may also carry up a pole saw with a hook to anchor it on branches as I go up. I use this if I need to reach higher than I can climb. To shorten the small banches in a whorl, you can use simple hand clippers you can carry in your pocket. Climbing these trees may seem like a lot of work, but I had a wonderful time doing this--swaying in the tree tops on a windy day, enjoying the view of all the surrounding trees from a tree top. What exhilarating fun!! I usually did not want to climb down!! Anyway, another option for trees about as tall as yours is working from the ground with pole pruning saws. Most that you can buy in a store are not long enough. I have a bunch of 6 and 10 foot Azel pruning poles I got from Ben Meadows. These are bolt together aluminum poles, and you can work fairly easily with lengths of 20 or 26 feet, and if you are strong, and patient, maybe another 10 feet more. But these are fairly expensive, as are the pruning heads to go with them, so climbing may be your best option if you just have one or a few trees to tend to. Also, working from the ground to do "surgery" is not really good, because your cuts are not so precise. I use my poles mostly for pruning off dead limbs after the trees are rather tall. Now, for the second bit of advice: what is best for your tree. I really donÂt like the splint idea, partly because I donÂt think it really improves the final result much, if at all, and second because it is much more difficult, especially if trying to work at the top of a tall tree. If you go with the pruning/shortening method, I think it is best to wait at least a year, and maybe two is better. And, if you decide to climb, if you wait, the top of the tree where you need to work will be stronger and easier to climb up to. At first, using this pruning method, the top of the tree will not seem to be really straight--there will be a very noticeable "crook." But over time this will straighten out, and as the trunk thickens, and the side branches grow, you will hardly notice it. Also, using this pruning method, just to give a little more detail, it is especially important to really shorten or completely cut off, any branch in the whorl that is basically opposite to the one you select for the leader. This is because an opposite branch will have an tendency to deflect the leader, so it will not straighten up quite so well. When you shorten the branches in the whorl, if you wait just one year, cut back one "node, if you wait two years, cut back one or two nodes, depending on what seems to give the best result (advantage to the new leader). --Spruce...See MoreBaseboard and trim/casing experts - please need advice on thickness?
Comments (4)I can't think of any reason why you would want the trim to overhang the baseboard by 1/4". This is exactly what you would get with 1/2" baseboard and 3/4" trim. Using baseboard and trim of the same thickness is the common practice. Perhaps there's a good reason for using 1/2" thick baseboard, but it is likely to look rather flimsy. Using standard 3/4" for baseboard and trim would seem to be a better plan....See MoreThickness of door casing & baseboard
Comments (21)JDS - Why is MDF not a good choice with the sharp edges? This stuff feels pretty solid to me. I know that MDF and water don't mix well but I'm not putting it anywhere that it will be exposed to water. Wood mouldings are about triple the price and I can't find the same style in wood. Copying this design would have to be custom made and that will cost even more. Sombreuil - I don't know what you mean by exposing end grain. I assume that doesn't apply to MDF since there is no grain? But what about wood baseboards and casings? At the dawn of carpentry they probably couldn't manufacture or cut baseboards and casings as precisely as is possible today. If I were to use wood, is there any reason not to make the baseboard and casing the same thickness?...See MoreDenitza Kotov
7 years agoDenitza Kotov
7 years agoDenitza Kotov
7 years agoDenitza Kotov
7 years agoJane
7 years ago
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