When should you refinish existing stairs and when should you cap them?
Dawn
last year
last modified: last year
We have replaced all the flooring on our main floor with engineered hardwood, and the colour doesn't match the wood on our existing stairs. The stairs are a dark mahogany colour and the new flooring is a light beige. The shape of the end cap on the stairs also needs to be updated. Not sure what is the best considering the budget as well.
Many suggested I add a photo so here it is. Its a bit messy but we are in the midst of renos. You can see the new lighter flooring at the base of the stairs
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PROJoseph Corlett, LLC
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When should a graft be allowed to produce fruit?
Comments (4)Thanks, I won't let it fruit this year. The graft is about half way out on a larger branch that runs almost horizontal and comes out the side. I was looking at it tonight for a few minutes and see that the leaves that have come out look rather stunted, kind of drouthy. A graft from a different tree from the same property grew about 2 feet like a water sprout last year and has leafed out this spring with normal looking leaves. I'll try to get some more vigor in the blooming scion and remove the flowers to help get more energy directed towards the leaves....See MoreWHEN would you amend existing bed?
Comments (9)You can add the lime anytime to bring up the ph. Agricultural lime is ground limestone, and will not injure the plant roots even if sprinkled directly on them. It is slow dissolving and so will take some time to work. Do it now. Amending with compost should be done only when first planted and during the growing season. Why waste that wonderful compost on dormant plants? You can use compost on your still growing garden and expect some result. But if your garden has really failed, and you don't intend to plant more veggies, save the compost till next year. I'm a believer in green manure crops to improve soil tilth and fertility. It really works the same as composting, but is used over the entire space. I would sprinkle some buckwheat seed and lightly rake it in to the top 1/2 inch. It will sprout in 3-5 days, and in about 5 weeks you can till it in, or hoe it into the soil. That's a quick fix for this year. In the fall, Sept. or early Oct. sprinkle some winter rye seed and rake that in. It will sprout and hold the soil over the winter. In the spring it will start to grow and I usually till that in when it's about a foot tall. That will add more organic matter to your soil than the amount of compost you can make. Next year when you plant your crops, only use the compost within the row, or directly on each plant, like tomato plants. That way you're not waisting compost between rows. Do the green manure thing as often as you can. I can get two seedings of buckwheat in one season, if I'm not using the area for anything else. At the very least do the winter rye planting each fall. That will go a long way to improving your soil. My motto, feed the soil, and the soil will feed your plants....See MoreWhen should I start a new compost pile?
Comments (6)Congratulations on your big compost pile. Those tillers work wonders in helping make it, don't they? With a pile that big, you could pile half of it up on the other half, kinda like I have done in the picture that I linked on down in this thread, and start a new pile where you have cleared it out. It will go ahead finishing and breaking down. As mentioned above, if it is to a point where you are satisfied with it, to put it on your garden would allow any leacing to go into the soil where it would be of benefit. I like to till mine in some and usually add it when I mow and mulch knee high greens and add a layer of shredded oak leaves and aged horse manure. I usually turn all that under with my moldboard plow which flops it over upside down with some dirt on top of it. I let that set awhile through a few rains and hopefully freezes before bedding it up to make my rows for next spring. It is hard to make a bad choice with good compost, what ever you do, it will continue to break down and become plant food that the plants can use. Good luck with your choice. Just my .02 Bill P....See MoreWhen should I move Crepuscule?
Comments (3)I don't know 'Crepuscule's reputation as being difficult to move, but I moved mine twice in its early years and it didn't seem bothered about it. In my climate I would transplant a rose or shrub in mid- or late autumn, once the heat was gone and the plant had gone dormant, or as dormant as it would be likely to be, but before snow, frozen ground, and other unpleasantnesses of winter. I try to plant everything before Christmas, to give the plants the winter to get established before drought the following summer. However, your colder climate and different kind of summer may require a different planting schedule, and I'd like to hear what other zone 5 or 6 gardeners have to say on the subject: would shifting 'Crepuscule' in fall render it particularly susceptible to freezing to death in winter? Melissa...See More
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