Plant Tress to Save Energy and Grow Value By Brad Broberg

Here's some interesting info from our friends at HouseLogic. You should check out that site! Landscape Vision loves it!

Trees don’t ask for much—dirt, water, sunlight. Yet they provide a wealth of benefits: They improve the air you breathe, cut your energy bills with their shade, provide a home to wildlife, and add beauty and value to your home.

But every year, 3.2 million acres of forest are cut down, according to the Nature Conservancy. Several million more acres are lost to fire, storm, and disease. That’s why planting new trees and protecting the ones we have is so important. You can do your part by

• Caring for the trees in your yard

• Supporting tree-planting activities in your community

• Donating to organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy, which works to preserve the world’s trees and forests, and American Forests, which offers a unique way to take action. First, use its online Climate Change Calculator to determine your carbon footprint. Then, make up for your emissions by donating to a forest restoration project.

Why should you care about trees? Bankable benefits

The most tangible bang from your bark comes from energy savings. Three properly placed trees could save you between $100 and $250 a year in energy costs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Trees save energy two main ways. Their shade cuts cooling costs in the summer. In winter, they serve as windbreak and help hold down heating costs.

The National Tree Calculator estimates that a 12-inch elm in an Omaha yard can save $32.43 a year on your energy bills; the same tree in Atlanta would save you $11.89 annually. The calculator also breaks down other dollars and cents benefits of your tree, like decreasing storm water runoff, removing carbon dioxide from the air, and increasing property values.

In our elm example, the 12-inch tree adds $40.23 to the Omaha home’s value and a $57.33 to the one in Atlanta. And as trees grow larger, they can add even more value.

A 2002 study by the USDA Forest Service pegs the value a single tree adds to a property of about $630. Of course, tree value depends on size, species, location, and condition.

Adds Frank Lucco, a real estate appraiser with IRR-Residential in Houston, “On a $100,000 home [in my market], as much as $10,000 of its value could be associated with mature trees.”

That’s peanuts compared with the role trees play as the lungs of the planet. A report by the Trust for Public Land estimated that one mature tree takes 48 pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere each year and returns enough oxygen for two human beings.

Plant your tree in the right spot

To get the full benefits from your trees, choose the right one and put it in the right location. Planting a deciduous tree on the west side of a house provides cooling shade in the summer. In winter, after it loses its leaves, the same tree lets in sunlight that cuts heating and lighting bills. On the other hand, an evergreen on the west side blocks sun all year long, making a home colder and darker in winter. Rather plant evergreens, a great choice for blocking icy winter winds, on the north side of your home.

If you’re planting a new tree, think about its fully grown size and shape before you dig. Branches from a tree located below power lines can cause outages as it grows. Roots from a tree located too close to a home can damage the foundation or block sewer lines. The wrong tree in the wrong place could actually lower your home’s appraised value if it’s deemed hazardous, says Frank Lucco, a real estate appraiser with IRR-Residential in Houston.

Tree costs

Expect to pay $50 to $100 for a 6- to 7-foot deciduous tree, such as a katsura or evergreen. The same tree at 15 feet will cost $100 to $200, according to Brad Swank of Molbak’s Nursery in Woodinville, Wash. The Arbor Day Foundation sells saplings for as little as $8-$15, or less if you’re a member.

Since trees cost money, be cautious about any home construction work. “Tree failure can happen seven to 10 years after construction, primarily because the root system fails when the soil is compacted,” says Thomas Hanson, a member of the American Society of Consulting Arborists from Kirkland, Wash. Also watch for diseases or pests that can threaten trees in your yard and community.

Become a tree advocate

Ensuring that your community has lots of healthy trees doesn’t have to be more complicated than a trip to the nursery and a hole in your backyard. Dig it twice as wide as deep. Let kids push in the dirt and help water weekly until the tree is two years old. The Arbor Day Foundation will tell you how to select the right tree for your needs and climate, where to plant it, and how to maintain it.

The foundation also is a great place to look for community and educational programs.

• Its Tree City USA initiative provides expert advice and national recognition to cities and towns that want to establish tree-management plans.

• Its Arbor Day Poster Contest for fifth-graders gives teachers a fun way to help students learn the importance of trees.

• Its nationwide list of volunteer organizations lets you search for tree care opportunities in your state.

Considering everything trees do for you, it’s the least you can do for them.

Brad Broberg is a freelance writer from Federal Way, Wash. A former newspaper reporter and editor, he writes about business, health care, and real estate for REALTOR Magazine, the Puget Sound Business Journal, and Seattle Children’s Hospital, among others. He’s lived in the same home for 22 years—a home he shares with seven towering Douglas fir

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/plant-trees-save-energy-grow-value/#ixzz16GLqAl8p

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. While it may have been religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.^[1] It is sometimes casually referred to as Turkey Day.

In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is Columbus Day in the United States. In the United States, it falls on the fourth Thursday of November.

The precise historical origin of the holiday is disputed. Although Americans commonly believe that the first Thanksgiving happened in 1621 atPlymouth, Massachusetts, there is some evidence for an earlier harvest celebration by Spanish explorers in Florida during 1565. There was also a celebration two years before Plymouth (in 1619) in Virginia. There was a Thanksgiving of sorts in Newfoundland, modern-day Canada in 1578 but it was to celebrate a homecoming instead of the harvest.

Thanksgiving Day is also celebrated in Leiden, in the Netherlands. A different holiday which uses the same name is celebrated at a similar time of year in the island of Grenada

What does Thanksgiving mean to you?

At Landscape Vision it's all about FAMILY,(and good turkey always helps)

Holiday Fire Safety Tips By: Pat Curry

 Landscape Vision wants you and your family to be safe this holiday season. Please read and practice the following. 

Happy holidays for Landscape  Vision

From out friends at Houselogic.com

Residential fires during the holiday season are more frequent, more costly, and more deadly than at any other time of the year. The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) reports more than double the number of open-flame fires on Christmas Day than on an average day, and about twice as many on New Year’s Day. And when those fires occur, they do more damage: Property loss during a holiday fire is 34% greater than in an average fire, and the number of fatalities per thousand fires is nearly 70% higher. When the source of the fire is a highly flammable Christmas tree, the toll in property and lives is even greater.

To keep your household from becoming a holiday fire statistic, here are some safety tips to follow.

Cooking

Cooking is the top cause of holiday fires, according to the USFA. The most common culprit is food that’s left unattended. It’s easy to get distracted; take a pot holder with you when you leave the kitchen as a reminder that you have something on the stove. Make sure to keep a kitchen fire extinguisher that’s rated for all types of fires, and check that smoke detectors are working.


If you’re planning to deep-fry your holiday turkey, do it outside, on a flat, level surface at least 10 feet from the house.

Candles

The incidence of candle fires is four times higher during December than during other months. According to the National Fire Protection Association, four of the five most dangerous days of the year for residential candle fires are Christmas/Christmas Eve and New Year’s/New Year’s Eve. (The fifth is Halloween.)


To reduce the danger, maintain about a foot of space between the candle and anything that can burn. Set candles on sturdy bases or cover with hurricane globes. Never leave flames unattended. Before bed, walk through each room to make sure candles are blown out. For atmosphere without worry, consider flameless LED candles.

Christmas trees

It takes less than 30 seconds for a dry tree to engulf a room in flames, according to the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Standards and Technology. “They make turpentine out of pine trees,” notes Tom Olshanski, spokesman for the U.S. Fire Administration. “A Christmas tree is almost explosive when it goes.”


To minimize risk, buy a fresh tree with intact needles, get a fresh cut on the trunk, and water it every day. A well-watered tree is almost impossible to ignite. Keep the tree away from heat sources, such as a fireplace or radiator, and out of traffic patterns. If you’re using live garlands and other greenery, keep them at least three feet away from heating sources.


No matter how well the tree is watered, it will start to dry out after about four weeks, Olshanski says, so take it down after the holidays. Artificial trees don’t pose much of a fire hazard; just make sure yours is flame-retardant.

Decorative lights

Inspect light strings, and throw out any with frayed or cracked wires or broken sockets. When decorating, don’t run more than three strings of lights end to end. “Stacking the plugs is much safer when you’re using a large quantity of lights,” explains Brian L. Vogt, director of education for holiday lighting firm Christmas Décor. Extension cords should be in good condition and UL-rated for indoor or outdoor use. Check outdoor receptacles to make sure the ground fault interrupters don’t trip. If they trip repeatedly, Vogt says, that’s a sign that they need to be replaced.


When hanging lights outside, avoid using nails or staples, which can damage the wiring and increase the risk of a fire. Instead, use UL-rated clips or hangers. And take lights down within 90 days, says John Drengenberg, director of consumer safety for Underwriters Laboratories.  “If you leave them up all year round, squirrels chew on them and they get damaged by weather.”

Kids playing with matches

The number of blazes—and, tragically, the number of deaths—caused by children playing with fire goes up significantly during the holidays. From January through March, 13% of fire deaths are the result of children playing with fire, the USFA reports; in December, that percentage doubles. So keep matches and lighters out of kids’ reach. “We tend to underestimate the power of these tools,” says Meri-K Appy, president of the nonprofit Home Safety Council. “A match or lighter could be more deadly than a loaded gun in the hands of a small child.”

Fireplaces

Soot can harden on chimney walls as flammable creosote, so before the fireplace season begins, have your chimney inspected to see if it needs cleaning. Screen the fireplace to prevent embers from popping out onto the floor or carpet, and never use flammable liquids to start a fire in the fireplace. Only burn seasoned wood—no wrapping paper.


When cleaning out the fireplace, put embers in a metal container and set them outside to cool for 24 hours before disposal. 


Pat Curry is a former senior editor at BUILDER, the official magazine of the National Association of Home Builders, and a frequent contributor to real estate and home-building publications.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/holiday-fire-safety-tips/#ixzz16GCJ2hQi

Putting the Garden to Bed/Getting your Garden ready for Winter.

Our friends at The Old Farmers Almanac have some advise to but your garden to bed.

Unless you garden year-round, there comes a time when you must put your garden "to bed." Doing a thorough fall cleanup means a healthier, more vital garden next spring!

Putting Your Vegetable Garden to Bed

You can postpone the inevitable (that is, winter) for a while by covering your vegetables with old sheets or bedspreads on cold nights, but the declining light and chilly daytime temperatures will naturally bring plant growth to a halt.

• Leave carrots, garlic, horseradish, leeks, parsnips, radishes, and turnips in the garden for harvesting through early winter. Mark the rows with tall stakes so that you can find them in snow, and cover them with a heavy layer of mulch to keep the ground from thawing.
• Pull up tomato, squash, pea, and bean plants. If they're disease-free, compost them. If any are diseased, either burn them or discard separately. Pull up and put away the stakes.
• Before the ground gets too hard, remove all weeds and debris and eliminate overwintering sites for insects and disease.
• Gently till the soil to expose any insects who plan to overwinter; this will reduce pest troubles in the spring and your garden site will be ready come spring!
• Once most of the garden soil is exposed, add a layer of compost, leaves, manure (if you have it), and lime (if you need it). Gently till into the soil.
• Another option is to sow cover crops such as winter rye to improve your soil and reduce weeks. See our Related Article above on Cover Crops for the U.S. and for Canada.
• If some areas have hopelessly gone to weeds, cover them with black plastic and leave it in place over the winter and into the spring to kill sprouting seeds.

What to Do With Herbs

• Sage is a perennial in most areas and does not need special treatment for the winter. Before frost stops its growth, cut a branch or two to dry and use in stuffing at Thanksgiving!
• Rosemary is a tender evergreen perennial that should be sheltered outside (Zone 6) or potted up and brought inside (Zone 5 and colder) for the winter.
• Thyme is fairly indestructible. A perennial, it will go dormant in the fall, then revive by itself in the spring.
• Parsley, a biennial, will withstand a light frost. In Zone 5 or colder, cover it on cold nights. It has a long taproot and does not transplant well.
• Chives are hardy perennials. Dig up a clump and pot it, then let the foliage die down and freeze for several weeks. Bring the pot indoors to a sunny, cool spot. Water well and harvest chives throughout the winter.

Putting the Berry Patch to Bed

• In early to midfall, prune summer-bearing raspberries, leaving six of the strongest brown canes for every 1 foot of your row.
• Prune fall-bearing raspberries ruthlessly, moving them to the ground after they have borne fruit. New canes will come up in the spring.
• Plant blackberries in the fall and mound up the soil around the canes to prevent hard frosts from heaving them out of the ground.
• Cover strawberry beds with straw or hay.

Putting Roses to Bed

• You may water roses regularly through the fall; no need to fertilize starting 6 weeks before the first frost.
• Remove any dead or diseased cane.
• After the first frost, mulch plants with compost or leaves to just above the swollen point where the stem joins the rootstock.
• In areas where winter temperatures are severe, enclose low-growing roses with a sturdy cylinder of chicken wire or mesh and fill enclosure with chopped leaves, compost, mulch, dry wood chips, or pine needles.
• Before daily temperatures drop well below freezing, carefully pull down the long canes of climbing and tea roses, lay them flat on the ground, and cover them with pine branches or mulch.

Perennials and Flowers

• Water your perennials and flowering shrubs in the fall; they will thank you for it this winter.
• Once the ground has frozen hard, cut perennials back to 3 inches and mulch them with a thick layer of leaves or straw.
• If you plan to put in a new flower bed next spring, cover that area now with mulch or heavy plastic to discourage emergent growth when the ground warms up in the spring.
• Before a heavy snowfall, cover pachysandra with a mulch of pine needles several inches deep.
• Move potted chrysanthemums to a sheltered spot when their flowers fade. Water well and cover with a thick layer of straw to overwinter them.
• When a frost blackens the leaves of dahlias, gladioli, and cannas, carefully dig them up and let them dry indoors on newspaper for a few days. Then pack in Styrofoam peanuts, dry peat moss, or shredded newspaper and store in a dark, humid spot at 40° to 50°F until spring.

Preparing Trees

• Protect small trees or shrubs from extreme cold by surrounding it with a cylinder of snow fencing and packing straw or shredded leaves inside the cylinder.
• Inspect your trees. Remove any broken limbs, making a clean cut close to the trunk.
• If you're planning to buy a live Christmas tree this season, dig the hole where you'll plant it before the ground freezes. Store the soil you remove in the garage or basement, where it won't freeze. Place a board over the hole and mark the location so that you can find it if it snows.

Garden Odds and Ends

• Empty all your outdoor containers to keep them from cracking during the winter. Store them upside down.
• Hang a bucket over a hook in your toolshed or garage and use it to store hose nozzles and sprinkler attachments.
• On a mild day, run your garden hose up over a railing or over the shed to remove all the water. Then roll it up and put it away.
• Mow your lawn as late into the fall as the grass grows. Grass left too long when deep snow arrives can develop brown patches in the spring.
• Don't leave fall leaves on the lawn. Rake onto a large sheet or tarp, then drag to your compost pile in thin layers mixed with old hay and other material. Or, rake the leaves into loose piles and run the mower over them to turn them into mulch for perennial and bulb beds.
• Cover your compost pile with plastic or a thick layer of straw before snow falls.
• Drain the fuel tank on your lawn mower or any other power equipment. Consult the owner's manual for other winter maintenance.
• Scrub down and put away your tools. Some folks oil their tools with vegetable oil to avoid rust

The above tips are just a start! How do you clean up your garden? Please share your advice with us.

Garden Design doesn't need to stop during the winter, purchase Landscape Vision landscape design software and spend your the winter getting ready for Spring. Check out our Easy To Use Software.