Paul Cummins
- May 8, 2017
- 1 min
Selective Weed Killing
No need to buy weed and feed. Can do both functions separately. In fact the granular stuff doesn't work unless the lawn is wet. This attaches to your hose and you can spray it just where you need it. It won't kill crabgrass unless crabgrass has emerged already. It kills most of the weeds by growing them to death: using 2-4-D an auxin I used in college to cause strange growths. When you prune plants auxins are released to encourage new growth. Gotta respect the complexi
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Paul Cummins
- Sep 18, 2016
- 1 min
Losing soil along a sloping foundation?
I'm not a fan of painting the timbers: they will flake soon and look grimy. Just need to be sure the soil and mulch doesn't get too close to any wood framing. Can also run drainage pipe parallel with the timbers to draw water away from the house. In terms of installation it works well to drill 3/8 inch holes and drive 1/2 inch wide-two foot rebars in with a sledge hammer (FUN)! Say "Who's your daddy?" with each throw of the hammer. #drainage #garden
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Paul Cummins
- Jun 29, 2016
- 1 min
New Paving Grid Systems
These grid systems are very versatile. They can keep gravel in place or grow grass that you can drive on. These sturdy tiles that can be driven on without fill make the most sense to me. One type recommends topsoil be mixed with the gravel base 50/50 to help the grass be successful. These are easy to install and repair and best of all provide a porous surface: eliminating all sorts of problems requiring resurfacing, drains, or complete demolition. Obviously, this type of
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Paul Cummins
- Mar 31, 2015
- 1 min
The walls don't need to come a tumblin' down!
Yesterday I saw a house on a hill with a crumbling garage wall buckling and other retaining walls cracking due to the simple lack of proper drainage and weep holes. For weep hole drainage dig a post hole every couple of feet and line the holes with landscape-fabric filled with gravel...then drill weeps hole near the bottom of each gravel column. For drainage along walls dig a sloped trench, line with landscape fabric, line with gravel, then lay plastic drainage pipe covered
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Paul Cummins
- Sep 6, 2014
- 1 min
Great grass!
Easy grass growing! In early fall or spring simply spread Pennington Smart Seed (needs less water, guaranteed to grow!) and cover with about half an inch of Miracle Grow or Vigoro lawn soil (which has up to six months of fertilizer in it) and just make sure it has enough water to get established (on hot days you may need to water twice a day). Needs care all season to develop strong roots. Having moved from Illinois, where there is 100 ft of loamy topsoil and you can actually
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