Pool cage/pool screen alternatives to keep cat safe
Allie Smallwood
5 years ago
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Missi (4b IA)
5 years agojmm1837
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Cats! How to keep them out!
Comments (24)Well, personally I never garden without my gloves on. Too many soil born diseases that have nothing to do with cats. I think I'd have a "Monk" attack if I actually had to dig with my bare hands. Having said that I do have to keep my cat out of my freshly sown plantings and for that I use hardware cloth which I make into low Quanset hut type structures that I place over the seed rows(they look like this: ( only right side up). Cats won't walk on them and when the seedlings are high enough I remove the quanset hut structure. Cats won't purposely walk on the small plants as a rule. Don't make them too high though or that will intrigue a cat to see what's going on under the hump. As for mulch, once it settles down my cat mostly leaves it alone....See MoreLooking into the reality of getting a pool (Baltimore City, MD)
Comments (5)If you are able to install a screen cage your maintenance needs will be much less than, say, a very landscaped, windy lot like mine. My cousin in FL has basically a "cruise-control" new build pool with a cage, solar, salt system, timers, etc. Lucky! On the other hand, DH and I spend maybe an hour a week on maintaining our 1970s pool (mostly broken into five-minute tasks a few times per day). -We add chlorine daily (2 minutes - but when we remodel our pool we are going to get a dosing pump so this will become a "fill the tank every two weeks" chore. If you get a salt system or dosing pump up front, this will save you time and the headache of those late-night conversations: Did you set the alarm? Lock the door? Did you put the chlorine in the pool? Ugh!) - skim leaves and empty the skimmer baskets every other day or so and both weekend days in the summer when we are in the pool all day (5 minutes), more during leaf-drop or windy seasons because we don't close the pool in the winter - drop our robot (Polaris 9300 sport) in to vacuum almost every day as needed, whenever we see leaves on the bottom of the pool, then pull it out and clean the basket with the hose and wind it up (5 minutes) - backwash the sand filter and empty the pump basket as needed (5-10 minutes, about every 10 days) - top off the water lost to evaporation and backwash and splash out (turn the hose on and let it run on a timer - 1 minute) - brush the pool all over with a whale-tail brush (this kind of brush is more efficient and time-saving than the regular type) (30 minutes, every few weeks. This probably should be an every week type thing, but we keep good chemistry so found we don't need to do it that often. We do brush the steps - which the robot cannot clean - every week, 2 minutes) -full test panel with my own test kit (get Taylor K-2006 and you will not regret it) instead of taking water to the pool store where they just want to sell me lots of chemicals every weekend (10 min) The worst time-suck on a pool is ignoring it. We struggled so much with our pool last summer because we didn't understand our pool chemistry. Now that I have the better test kit, I know exactly what I need and when, and after diligently testing daily in the early summer, I go a week without testing, just dosing my chlorine every night has kept my pool swim-ready at a moment's notice, which is awesome. The robot has been a major time (and marriage!) saver, as DH and I do not argue over if the pool is "dirty" enough to drag the old vacuum out and hook it up and go through that whole process, which is usually an hour or two. There is a pool maintenance sample schedule at trouble free pool dot com under the pool school button in the upper right. Pool school has saved me this summer, I'm a total convert. Good luck!...See MoreMosquitoes and pools
Comments (11)We broke down after 35 years of being eaten alive outside and inside our home and starting spraying. We use the company Orkin. 2 of our neighbors had been spraying for several years and highly recommended it. After the first spray, we did not see one mosquito and could not believe it really worked. Continued that way for 2 months until fall set in. We started late last summer so next summer will be the real test. So far we are sold on spraying and we did research this to be sure there would be no adverse impact on our pets, children and think/hope it is safe. Oddly everything I read on the internet about spraying said it was not effective but that has not been our experience to date nor the experience of our 2 next-door neighbors....See MoreCage or no cage
Comments (9)This wide-angle photo shows the large (36' x 60') screened enclosure my wife Suzanne and I had installed over our pool in Naples, Florida (Zone 10b), at a cost of $10,000. It replaced the original enclosure which measured just 24' x 36', the exact dimensions of the concrete patio surrounding the 12' x 24' pool. The new structure went beyond the patio 12' in three directions, by encompassing part of our half-acre garden. The area within the enclosure was thereby enlarged by 250%, so we're now able to use the space as a mosquito-free outdoor dining area. If you can afford such a pool cage, you'll be saving the cost of installing retractable patio screens. (You can click on each photo to enlarge it to see its details.) The second photo shows the narrower (36’) end of the enclosure, with the rest of the structure seen through the screening. The remaining photos show its interior, where we’ve planted many native flowering shrubs in the area around the original patio. There I also created two large water lily ponds where hundreds of goldfish and other species are breeding. The screening protects the fish from the beautiful but hungry herons, egrets and other water birds flying overhead. We were also breeding six different species of butterflies within the enclosure, keeping them and their caterpillars safe from the frogs, toads, lizards and other predators. The space is also frequently used for the informative gardening classes given by our Gardeners of Southwest Florida group. Like the group's free membership, the classes are always free, and are scheduled on weekends two or three times a month throughout the year. They’re taught in the gardens of different members of the group each time, often by professional horticulturists. That gives the members (now totaling over 1,300 gardening families around Naples and Fort Myers) the opportunity to see what’s growing in many different gardens, as well as the screened enclosures of those who have swimming pools. Hundreds of photos plus full details of the 123 previous and upcoming gardening classes and upcoming classes are on the group’s extensive website at ww.meetup.com/FloridaGardeners. Shown above: The two leaders teaching a garden class within the pool cage to 40 group members seated on the other side of the pool....See MoreAnglophilia
5 years agomcbriec
5 years agoUser
5 years agoNHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years agocearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
5 years agoPatricia Colwell Consulting
5 years agojust_janni
5 years agoMissi (4b IA)
5 years agoAllie Smallwood
5 years agoMrs. S
5 years agoMrs. S
5 years agorobin0919
5 years agoMissi (4b IA)
5 years agolyfia
5 years agolyfia
5 years agoSaypoint zone 6 CT
5 years agosuzyq53
5 years agorockybird
5 years agoAllie Smallwood
5 years agokatinparadise
5 years ago
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