Traditional Architecture

How to Figure Out the Yardage to Cover a Couch

Whether you decide to reupholster your old couch or create a simple slipcover for this, you have to be able to figure out how much material you want before you can begin on the job. Some time spent using accurate measurements and calculating the total size of your couch can spare a lot of frustration and cost by making sure you have plenty of fabric to work with. Remove the seat cushions and measure the height and circumference of a single cushion. Multiply the height dimension by two and add the total height to the circumference. Multiply this result by the total number of seat cushions, and write down the result. Repeat Step 1 to the rear cushions, if there are any. Assess the length of the sofa. Make sure to measure in the very longest point. This is usually in the edge of the outermost point of their arms….

Tropical Style

Can You Intend Prior To Applying Preemergent?

If you’ve had lawn grass problems in the past, your grass will usually repeat the same growing pattern in the spring. As a preventive course of action, you have to apply preemergent herbicides to the yard before the weeds emerge. Preemergent herbicides prevent weed seed germination. Before applying the herbicide, you must maintain your lawn’s health using regular mowing. New Lawns Sensitive grass purifiers require time to set themselves before you apply any preemergent herbicides. In general, your lawn needs to be mowed approximately three times before you use any substances. This enables the grass roots to stretch deeper to the soil for nutrients and moisture when strengthening the grass blades as they mature. Solid grasses contribute to a well-aerated soil structure that offers ample space for the preemergent to spread evenly throughout the lawn, where even deeply embedded bud seeds cling to the chemical program. Established Grass Healthy lawns…

Tropical Style

Info On Jatropha

A distant relative to the poinsettia and native of Cuba and the West Indies, the tropical evergreen shrub Jatropha only flourishes in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 and 11. Although many species exist under the Jatropha genus, the most popular and commercially accessible cultivar for home gardeners is variously called spicy jatropha, peregrina and firecracker (J. integerrima “Compacta”). Clusters of rose-red flowers appear on the 4- year to 6-foot tree the majority of the year. Tropical Blooms One-inch flowers saturated at a pinkish-red hue are hot jatropha’s most distinguishing attribute. Masses of those flowers, held erect over the foliage, can attract attention to a certain area of the garden. Typically multitrunked, the plant boasts leaves, as long as 7 ins, that could possibly be oblong or fiddle-shaped. Almost as interesting as the blooms, the new foliage comes in purple but turns a bright, shiny green. Butterflies often…

Tropical Style

Water Plants for Small Ponds in Complete Sun

Small ponds provide a number of the very same benefits as a sizable body of water, but without taking up a great deal of room. Adding plants to the pond will create a balanced ecosystem while providing hiding places, food and nesting areas. If the small pond receives six to eight hours or more of sunlight, then pick pond plants that thrive in full sunlight. Marginal Plants Some species of grasslike aquatic plants grow best in the borders or margin of small ponds. Needle spikerush (Eleocharis acicularis) and corcksrew rush (Juncus effusus spiralis) are just two such marginal plants that won’t overtake the small pond with large leaf. Needle spikerush — sometimes called dwarf hairgrass — rises to only about 8 inches tall in shallow water or along the edge of slopes. It provides shelter and protection for tadpoles and small fish. It grows in full sunlight in U.S. Department…

Furnishings

How to Remove Debris From Pond Using Garden Hose

Ponds provide aesthetic appeal and cultivate energetic pond life also maintained. But garden ponds are easily overrun with bacteria, weeds and overgrown plants that detract from the beauty. In spite of usage of a pond skimmer and filter, debris accumulates at the bottom of the pond, necessitating use of a high-pressure hose to dislodge it for elimination. A main step in using a water hose to wash your pond is skimming and draining the water so you’re able to reach its floor where algae and other beings gather. Fill a holding tank with pond water and place it in a shaded area. Place a piece of plastic sheeting in the area as well. Use a holding tank and sheeting in the appropriate size to the amount of pond life and plants in your pond. Transfer all pond life into the holding tank utilizing a fine-mesh net and long-extension skimming tool….

Tropical Style

Decorative Vines to get Fences

Vines serve many purposes in the landscape and are often valued for their ability to add grace and beauty to a fence. A vine-covered fence provides a degree of solitude for an outdoor space or breaks the monotony of a long, unsightly fence. Typically classified by their scaling habit, vines grow up a fence by clinging, twining or tendrils. Clinging Clinging vines may require a little bit of help initially, as the vines climb by small rootlets that attach themselves to the timber. Once the vine is established, it rises a fence with no advice. Vines suitable for growing a fence comprise Armand’s clematis (Clematis armandii), a hardy perennial vine valued for its stunning blooms. Armand’s clematis, suitable for growing in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 3 through 9, reaches heights of 15 to 20 feet at maturity. Cross vine (Bignonia capreolata) is a showy vine with trumpet-shaped blooms that…

Gardening and Landscaping

Water Features for your Front Yard

Ancient civilizations in Egypt and the Far East first incorporated water gardens to the landscape. Ponds with papyrus, water lilies and swimming koi forged a relationship between man and nature. Europeans carried on the tradition with formal pools and Greek- and Roman-inspired fountains. For modern Americans, what was once a backyard oasis is more frequently being brought to the entrance to buffer the noise in the road and greet the house’s guests with serene beauty. Advantages of Water Features Close Entrances Soothing, rhythmic sounds like water trickling in a fountain, along with other organic sounds such as birds splashing in a birdbath, can trigger strong emotional reactions. These sounds may even have physical consequences, perhaps lowered blood pressure, for those arriving home at rush hour. Feng shui, the Chinese system of subtly manipulating energies to attain balance with one’s surroundings, favors small ponds, fountains and birdbaths in entryway gardens. Therefore,…

Home Cleaning

The way to Finish Metal With Hand-Rubbed Oil

Ferrous metals need a finish more than wood does — without one, most quickly combine with oxygen to form rust that deteriorates or discolors them. Traditional smiths finish metal with wax or oil; when choosing oil, a drying oil, such as boiled linseed or tung oil, is a much better choice than raw linseed oil or mineral oil. It’s also a good idea to thin the oil before applying it and to heat the metal to improve penetrability. If you are just searching for a hand-rubbed finish on a non-ferrous metal, you can get one with spray paint or dipping substances. OIl-Finishing Ferrous Metals Prepare the metal by scraping off any previous finish that’s flaking or peeling, using a wire brush and scraper. Ideally, the alloy ought to be bare before you oil it. If the alloy has a preceding coat of lacquer, remove it by rubbing the metal down…

Home Painting

Advantages and disadvantages of Silicone Bakeware

Silicone bakeware acts as a modern alternative to old-fashioned cast-iron, glass, glass and ceramics, performing just as well in several antivirus software. Although it is fairly versatile, it is far more delicate than its predecessors, requiring special care when removing baked products to stop tears or punctures. Space-Saving Silicone Unlike other forms of bakeware, silicone is flexible enough you could even bend it, if necessary, for storage. This flexibility makes it a bit easier to shop than traditional cooking pans and trays. But removing baked items such as cupcakes from silicone proves a bit easier as well, since the bakeware may be pushed or bent to pop up the cooked item out once the silicone cools a bit. Even though it is flexible, mashing the bakeware repeatedly beyond popularity to store it at a much-too-small space may eventually break or break the silicone. Simple Cleaning Silicone holds up to both…

Tropical Style

Do Taproots Assist Hold the Soil in Place and protect against Erosion?

Erosion is one of the banes of home gardening. Often thought of as a phenomenon which affects beaches and hillsides, vandalism also eliminates dirt from home gardens when conditions are appropriate. Installing shrubs, flowering plants and other plants usually helps keep dirt in place only when they have fibrous root systems. If they’ve taproot systems, your erosion-control campaigns would not have as much success — unless the taproots have extensive lateral roots. Development of Soil Erosion Soil erosion occurs when something carries away soil on a regular basis and the dirt isn’t replaced. As an instance, water may wash dirt down slopes, and wind can blow away dry dirt. The dirt within an erosion area gradually lessens over time, leaving exposed rock or such shallow layers of dirt that planting becomes hard unless topsoil is additional. When water or wind can’t be controlled, then controlling erosion requires stabilizing the dirt…