You have to read the label of the product you are using. If using pure neem oil though it's unlikely there is any label indicating how to use it as an insecticide since it is also used as a leaf shine or health care product. Simply put the best use of neem oil is any means of application where the bugs eat it. The reason neem oil is effective against bugs is it has a naturally occurring chemical which does a number on bugs that eat it. The key is the bugs must eat it. Take pure neem oil and pour it on a bug and nothing happens. Mix it with water and hose down a plant and anything that takes a bite out of the plant gets messed up. As a result neem oil isn't all that effective as a soil drench unless insecticidal soap is added and it's the soap that kills the soil pests. In short if you have fungus knat larvae in outdoor plants your best bet is a dry mulch like pebbles or sand to keep adults from laying eggs and prevent larvae from escaping. If you require a soil drench use insecticidal soaps (commercial brands only please, no homemade stuff). Neem oil is best used as a foliar spray to keep leaf eating bugs away. Used preventively it also offers some control/prevention for foliar diseases like powdery mildew.

We raised Carolina wrens in a pig flower pot which sat on the deck railing. They chose this pig with the tough thorned aloe vera plant for 3 years running. To sort of hide the nest from our movements, I located the tall pot of bougainvillea in front of it. The day the fledgelings flew, I always called it WHEN PIGS FLY. They are still hanging around our garden, fussing at us for trespassing, and I still call them the Pig Family. Now we have the second pair of bluebirds in a nestbox in the hosta garden. They have babies in there and when I am close enough I hear them begging for food. I sure hope they fledge before the weather gets too too hot. Last year the pair abandoned the 2nd round of babies because it got too hot. This year I spray the area around noon to 2pm to cool it down. It helps a lot. I also have out water bowls and birdbaths, but the favorite way to shower for all the birds seems to be rubbing on the wet leaves of the peach and camellia trees while the sprinkler is running. Or the doves bathe on top of the umbrellas; Water is a prime concern and I have containers of it out everywhere....which I refresh daily to avoid mosquitos.

The worst winter that I experienced was 1978-79. It snowed heavily the night before Thanksgiving and the ground was not clear until sometime in late March. We had several major storms that dumped heavy accumulations of snow and dealing with the snow became the major issue of the winter. I was a brand-new homeowner that year; the proud owner of a three story townhome in a development named "Bright Oaks". We bought an existing unit that had been built when the developer still had a conscience, so the buildings had been carefully positioned to preserve many of the large old oaks. As a result, our building had been slanted in relation to the street. Our neighbor in the far north end of the building could barely fit his enormous Cadillac in his driveway, but at the other end of the building we could park three full size cars end to end in our driveway. The south side of our driveway was a small hill with a lovely ancient oak atop it. The other side of the driveway was a narrow strip of lawn that we shared with our immediate neighbor. By the end of January, shoveling the driveway meant scooping up a shovel full of snow, walking the length of the driveway and then going down the street about 30 feet to a clear spot on the hillside, clear meaning that the snow wasn't already piled higher than your head. Then walk back to get the next scoop of snow. It was just a bit time-consuming! In mid-January I had to take the train to downtown Chicago on a Saturday morning for work. When I left home it had started snowing again, and the train station lot had not been plowed. I park legally on the street and headed downtown. By shortly after noon, it became obvious that the storm was so bad I should head home, so I left for the train station. A combination of heavy snow and bitter cold had disrupted even the commuter trains. The schedule was out the window and they were running on a "load and go" basis. Maybe that should read "load and stall"? What should have been a 90 minute trip took about four hours. Switches were freezing, the diesel engine would not run at full speed, and crossing gates acted up everywhere. As the trip took longer and longer and the snow got deeper and deeper, I began to wonder how I would ever get my car off the street, or more simply how I would get home at all. When the train finally pulled into my station, I was surprised to see my husband and our neighbor, the owner of the enormous Cadillac, come walking out of the trackside tavern. My husband had decided to come help me get the car out, but the neighbor saw him leaving and offered to drive instead, since the big old boat handled better in the heavy snow. (Note to younger readers: this occurred in a time before the existence of cell phones and SUV's. We did have electricity, though.) The two waited out the storm in the tavern until they heard the train come in. They had heard enough about the travel problems that day to know that I would be on THE train. I don't think I was ever so happy to see two people in my life! It took several hours the next day to excavate the car from its white tomb on Main Street, but we got the job done. Finally we came to the long-awaited day in early March when it was warm enough to melt a significant amount of snow. I came home to find the ceiling of my first floor entryway on the floor. An awful lot of homeowners learned all about ice dams that spring, as the damage became all too apparent in the thaw. We ended up with a new ceiling and a full paint job on two floors to repair the damage. Fortunately, our homeowners' insurance covered the damage. We've had colder weather, strong winds, heavy rains, you name it, but I still rate that winter as my worst weather experience ever. V.

in most cases, the "set back" for an undermount or self rimming sink is 4 inches. this is measured from the very front outside edge of the stone, to the front inside wall of the sink bowl. The 4 inch dimension can vary though, as sinks do have variation in the overall depth (from front to back) but (around) 4 inches is kind of the standard in the industry. hth kevin