Lawn Equipment Maintenance

Maintaining Lawn Equipment

How much do you know about your lawn equipment?

Do you have a lawnmower, weed trimmer, blower edger, or any other gas-powered piece of yard equipment? If so, do you maintain them on a regular basis? Do you know how often you should perform routine maintenance? Have you ever maintained them? Do you even know how to maintain them? Have you taken them in and spent hundreds of dollars on servicing them? If you're like most Americans then you probably don't take care of your yard equipment like you should.

Nick Federoff shows KCAL 9 and viewers how to and when to maintain and service your lawn equipment.

Free Lawn Equipment Care Guide PDF

Dividing Strap Plants

Conquer strap plants by dividing them! Strap plants are those that don't have leaves you're accustomed to seeing on tree or shrub. Their leaves are modified and kind of look like thin or wide belt straps growing out of the ground. Some strap plants are: daylilies, Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus), Clivia and Fortnight Lily (Morea). Nearly all strap plants grow some kind of flower. Some flowers are grown on large stocks while others on dainty, tiny stalks. Either way, they add to every landscape. The best time to divide strap plants is...

Why Are Husbands Like Lawnmowers

Lawn Mower They are difficult to get started, emit foul smells and don't work half the time.

Planting Roses on KCAL 9

When to plant roses:

Growing beautiful roses begins right from the beginning at planting time. The best time to plant roses is between January and March. Roses go “dormant” or "fall asleep" during these months so it’s a good time to plant them right before their active growing season starts.

Compost Calculator

How Much Compost Do I Need?

For Composting and Mulching, spread 1-4 inches of compost on beds.As a Soil Amendment before planting new beds, use 1-4 inches dug or tilled into the soil.

Cloning Plants

cloning plants Did you know you've been growing cloned plants in your own house for years - and I bet you didn't even know it!

Cloning plants, especially houseplants, has been done for years. Tissue culture is the official process. This is the reproduction of a plant in a chemistry laboratory. What’s done is to grow a small piece of plant in a test-tube. The mixture it grows in is gelatinous with cane sugar, growth hormones, and water. Sounds tasty!

Every two weeks, or so, they can cut the plant in half, or quarter, making two (or four) plants where they had one. In a few months, one can produce a million duplicate plants. In real numbers, doubling, say 16 times, gives 64,800 plants.

And, a cloned plant normally will take on the characteristics of the original plant: good form, less insect and disease problems, etc.

Clay Vs. Redwood Pots

clay pots How do you know if you should use a redwood container or a clay pot for that Ficus tree?

When choosing a container to grow any kind of plant you need to look at what it is going to do for you on a short term and long term basis. Redwood containers, for instance, come in rectangular, square, and octagonal like shapes. Redwood lasts for a long time but has a tendency to bleed and stain. In addition, they aren't the best containers to transplant to or from year after year. The bands will loosen and will fall apart. However, you can't beat a redwood container for that rustic look.

Clay pots, on the other hand, seem to be a gardener's staple item. Problem is, if not coated on the inside or protected with a sealer on the outside the clay pot breathes too much drying your plants out. Clay pots are much less expensive than redwood containers and most need to be drilled on the bottom to allow proper drainage, most nurseries provide this service - but, you have to ask for it.