Chance Gates' Blog

By: Laura Fisher Kaiser http://members.houselogic.com

Published: January 28, 2011

Carefully plan and plot your garden to add value to your home and make the most of your time and money.

So don’t impulsively drive to your garden center. Walk your land, consult an almanac, test the soil, and make a budget. You’ll save your back, your budget, and your home’s curb appeal.

Tip #1: Get to know your land

Before shelling out money for new plants, consider what’s thrived and died in past gardens. Ask, “Is this plant doing its job? Adding beauty? Providing shade? Creating borders?” Give a pink slip to landscaping that’s not pulling its weight.

If you’re a newcomer to gardening or to the area, scout the neighborhood to see which plants look happy and which wither on the vine.

Keep in mind that even plants appropriate for your growing zone might not work in your personal patch. Your particular soil conditions, sunlight patterns, pest populations, and available water will determine what will grow. Your local cooperative extension service can analyze your soil and recommend amendments and suitable plantings.

Tip #2: Become sun savvy

Even experienced gardeners make mistakes. They plant shade-loving plants in full sun or sun-loving plants in partial shade. Before planting anything in your garden, compare the amount of sunlight your landscaping needs for the amount you have.

Evaluating garden sunlight is tricky because daylight is a moving target: Seasons change and plants mature and cast different shadows.

So before plotting plant beds and tree locations, study the movement of the sun throughout the day and, if you have time, throughout the year. Calculate how many hours of sun each garden section receives. Then check planting directions to make sure your greenery will get what it needs.

Tip #3: Become water wise

Over-watering plants can kill your landscaping and budget. To avoid death by water, know how much and when your greens need to drink: Sales tags should have watering directions.

Drip hoses are thrifty ways to water plants, because the water goes directly to roots, drop by drop. Wind drip hoses around tree bases and bottoms of shrubs. Put hoses on automatic timers to avoid over-watering.

If you have an in-ground sprinkler system, install an ET (evapotranspiraton) controller. These systems, which use real-time weather data sent by satellite to control when sprinklers turn on and off, can cut water use by as much as 30%. The controller costs between $300 and $400, depending on system size, but many municipal water agencies offer rebates, particularly in the arid Southwest.

Tip # 4: Mulch much

Spreading a few inches of mulch in landscaping beds protects your plants and shrubs from drying out, and makes beds look tidy and uniform. Mulch also keeps down weeds and moderates soil temperature.

Organic mulches–grass clippings, wood chips, pine needles–eventually decompose and add vital nutrients to your soil and landscaping. Organics also encourage worm growth, nature’s own soil tillers and fertilizers.

Shredded bark mulch from the garden center provides a rich look for your beds, adding curb appeal. It also prevents dirt from splashing on leaves.

Tip #5: Color your garden

Stick to a simple color scheme for flowers and blooming shrubs in your garden. Your landscaping will look more cohesive and professional.

Massing plants of coordinated colors creates a sense of luxury and order. If you like pinks, add lavenders and blue-hued plants. If hot red is your color, mix with yellows and oranges.

Keeping to a single color family in your garden also narrows your focus when roaming plant center aisles. If you are a gardening newbie and can’t tell a tea rose from a trumpet vine, ask the store’s plant expert for help. Most will be glad to exchange their knowledge for a sale.

Also, gardening catalogs and websites often group complementary colors together. Some even provide a complete landscape plan, which you can faithfully recreate.

Tip #6: Avoid invaders

Ivies, grasses, and vines will fill in your garden quickly, and just as quickly take over your landscaping. Once these “invasives” take root, unearthing them is difficult, and in some cases, impossible.

Your garden center doesn’t call these spreaders “invasives.” They are billed as “fast growers” or “aggressives,” but often that’s code for non-native plants that take over the landscape and crowd out locals by stealing nutrients, light, and water.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains a list of invasives that includes various ivies, grasses, weeds, vines, self-seeding varieties of bushes and shrubs, and even seemingly innocuous herbs, like mint. Your county extension service can steer you toward the species best suited to your garden. Warning: If you love growing mint, grow it in a pot on your deck or patio.

Tip #7: Beware of neighbors bearing green gifts

You should love thy neighbor, but don’t ever take cuttings from their gardens unless you know exactly what they are and how they grow. Self-seeding perennials, such as Black-Eyed Susans and coneflowers, will quickly fill bare spots with splashes of color. If you tire of them, just grab a spade and dig them out.

But if a neighbor extends a slender stalk of Rose of Sharon, or other invasive tree species, run away screaming. These trees will spread throughout your yard and grow roots so deep that only a professional–or the better part of your weekend–can dig and pull them out.

Tip #8: Plant shade trees for natural A/C

Shade trees planted on the south and west sides of a house reduce cooling bills–up to 25%–and lower net carbon emissions. So include shade trees in your landscaping plan.

Choose shade trees according to their size at maturity, which could be 20 years away. Dense deciduous trees–maples, poplars, cottonwoods–are good selections because their leaves cool your house in summer, and their bare branches let light in during winter. Plant them close enough to shade your house, but not so close that they will overwhelm the space.

If you want a faster growing shade tree, about 2 feet per year, select a northern red oak, Freeman maple, or tulip tree.

Tip #9: Power down your lawn mower

The Environmental Protection Agency says gas-powered lawn mowers contribute as much as 5% of the nation’s air pollution. Switching to new generation electric and push-reel mowers—which are lighter, quieter, and kinder to your lawn than power mowers—reduces emissions and cuts fuel consumption.

To mow three-quarters of an acre of grass with a power mower requires 1 gallon of gas. As gas prices head to $4 per gallon, you could save $100 a year by switching to a muscle-powered or electric machine. An electric or good push-reel mower costs $150 to $250, so it will quickly pay for itself.

Tip #10: Grade your landscaping

Once a year, walk your property, cast a hard eye on your garden beds and ask, “Is that plant doing its job? Is it growing into its space, or wandering wherever it likes? Are leaves healthy or spotted with mold and pests? Are these greens improving curb appeal or just making my house look overrun?”

If a plant or shrub isn’t working out, it’s compost. If shrubs are growing too close to your foundation–1 foot away is good–transplant or prune them.

Make sure trees are growing no closer to your house than the width of their mature canopies. Otherwise roots can burrow into foundations, and overhanging branches can trap moisture against the roof or siding, leading to rot and insect damage.

Check your flowering plants and shrubs to see if they are indeed flowering. Too few or dull blossoms should rally after a dose of fertilizer or layer of compost. An inexpensive alterative to commercial fertilizers is manure tea. Fill the foot of old pantyhose with a clump of cow or horse dung, tie the hose to the watering can handle, and let the manure steep in water. You can get weeks of nutrition from a little bit of dung.

Logging in allows you to save your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and open houses on the property.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.comhttp://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable For a free copy of my report   “5 Steps For Reno/Sparks Homeowners To Prevent Foreclosures” go to my about page http://chancegates.com/about and ask for more information on preventing foreclosures. or   to request a modification.  If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

By: Oliver Marks http://members.houselogic.com/articles/7-gardening-mistakes-to-avoid/preview/

Published: February 10, 2011

Even veteran gardeners make rookie mistakes, like giving plants too much water and too little space. Here are common garden blunders. Consider yourself warned.

It’s easy to misjudge and make a mess out of your landscaping. Here are seven common garden blunders, and how to avoid them.

Mistake #1: Too many changes, too soon

The excitement of buying a new home, plus a stretch of warm spring weather, often creates a passion for yard work. But don’t just do something, stand there! What looks like a spring weed might be a fall-blooming vine; that bare spot in March might reveal tulips in April.

Try this instead: Live with your land for a year. Observe how many hours of sunlight each part of your garden gets. Test the pH of your soil to determine if acid-loving or alkaline-loving plants will be happy in that particular patch of heaven. Observe when your lawn greens up in spring and becomes dormant in late summer.

The money and time you save by watching and waiting will be your own.

Mistake #2: Too much togetherness

Trees and shrubs that look properly spaced when you plant them will crowd each other and compete for water, sun, and nutrients in a few years. If you’re lucky, you can transplant some bushes; if you’re not, you’ll have to throw away starved shrubs.

Try this instead: Before digging, read spacing instructions. Give trees plenty of space–you can always fill in later. Stagger bushes and plants and create two rows, which will create more breathing room. The results will look absurdly sparse at first. But live with it. In a few years, your shrubs will fill empty spaces without suffocating each other.

Mistake #3: Planting without a plan

Planting new garden beds without a long-term landscape plan is like pouring a house foundation without blueprints. Your haste results in a waste of time, money, and muscles.

Try this instead: Draw a simple sketch of your yard–what’s there now and what you might add later, such as patios, outbuildings, and pools. Bone up on the trees and shrubs that grow best in your soil and climate. Go online and click around landscaping sites that help you pick plants and design beds.

Visit your local nursery or home improvement center where design staff can answer questions and make suggestions. Or hire a professional landscape designer to create a starter plan for as little as $250 to $500. Find a professional at the Association of Professional Landscape Designers or the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Mistake #4: Neglecting the root of it all

Even the hardiest plants need a little help putting down roots in new locations. Sprinkling the foliage doesn’t nourish the roots, the plant’s nerve center. You must deliver water to the root ball below the ground, or your plants will be stunted and short-lived.

Try this instead: Place the hose at the base of new bushes, trees, and plants and let the water trickle out for 20 to 30 minutes, twice a week (more during hot spells), for 4 to 12 weeks. Or snake a soaker hose ($20 for 50 feet) through your beds, which will deliver slow and steady water to roots.

Mistake #5: Forgetting the sun

Too many gardeners pick plants based only on looks, not the growing conditions plants require and the conditions that exist. Rookies will plant sun-loving perennials under an old oak tree or sun-shy hostas in the open. They look great for about a week, and then die.

Try this instead: Observing the spot where you’re going to put the plant and estimating the amount of sun it gets over the course of a day during the growing season. To translate that into the language on plant labels, use this key:

Mistake #6: Over-watering

An automatic irrigation system is a luxury that keeps your landscape hydrated throughout the growing season with almost no effort. Unfortunately, auto-watering can bring disease, root rot, and a premature death to plants; it also wastes water.

Many gardeners set watering timers for 15 to 20 minutes each morning, which wets the surface but doesn’t soak deeply to nourish roots of large trees and shrubs.

Try this instead: Water for 40 to 60 minutes only two to three times a week. Check with the company that maintains your irrigation system for local recommendations. A deeper soak also helps lawns develop deeper root systems.

Mistake #7: Budget blunders

Your landscaping can fall victim to construction bulldozers that park on lawns and dig too closely to trees and shrubs. New construction also demands rethinking your landscape plan to accommodate additions.

Unfortunately, many home owners don’t include landscaping in their construction budget. They end up with a beautiful new family room, screened porch, or solarium, and a few lonely azaleas planted around the foundation as an afterthought.

Try this instead: Allocate 10% to 20% of your construction budget to the landscape—both hardscaping and plants. If your construction spreadsheet can’t stand another line item, make a plan to landscape–in stages, if necessary–as soon as possible after construction is completed.

Logging in allows you to save your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and open houses on the property.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.comhttp://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable For a free copy of my report   “5 Steps For Reno/Sparks Homeowners To Prevent Foreclosures” go to my about page http://chancegates.com/about and ask for more information on preventing foreclosures. or   to request a modification.  If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Image by bill barber via Flickr

By Stephanie Andre

RISMEDIA, September 10, 2010–Now that fall is fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about preparing your lawn for the winter months and even the spring.

According to TruGreen, it’s important that homeowners understand how to care for their lawns, trees and shrubs in fall before the end of the growing season. The experts at TruGreen offer five fall green space tips to homeowners to better prepare their outdoor living rooms for spring’s vigorous growth.

ASSESS
Thoroughly walk your property and inspect lawn, trees and shrubs as these plants prepare for dormancy in late fall and early winter. Identify problem areas in need of treatment, pruning or replacement. Note patchy areas, where grass has thinned out or is in need of valuable nutrients and appears as light green. Also look for weed and pest infestations and overgrown shrubs and trees, especially those with the potential for interfering with roof and power lines. Consider a qualified expert, such as TruGreen, to properly gauge your lawn and landscape needs.

AERATE & PRUNE
Help your lawn breathe through fall core aeration to strengthen roots and to prepare for a hardy spring workout. Conduct corrective pruning of trees and shrubs in fall to enhance plant appearance and vigor, and thin rather than top-shear and overgrown shrubs and flowering trees to preserve their overall shape.

REPLACE
Fall’s favorable weather conditions, as well as moist and warm soil temperatures, create the ideal opportunity for successful seeding of bare lawn areas and overseeding of healthy grass to improve your lawn thickness and density. Replace dead or floundering plants in fall for a healthier landscape and improved curb appeal in spring.

MOW & MULCH
Mow your lawn into the fall and avoid removing more than one-third of the leaf blades with each cut. Return grass clippings and back to the soil for added lawn nutrients and use tree leaf compost to nourish plants.

FEED
A good fall feeding gives roots of lawns, trees and shrubs the energy needed to prepare for a healthy spring green revival. Keep fertilizer on target to prevent run-off and sweep fertilizer granules that may reach pavement back onto your lawn. Use a trained specialist, such as TruGreen, for insect and disease control measures customized to your region to help trees and shrubs thrive.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most of Northwest Nevada neighborhoods.  I can be reached by email @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

RISMEDIA, August 28, 2010–Got a hundred bucks and a free weekend? Then you’ve got what it takes to invest in some yard care improvements.

“Some of the best upgrades to your yard can be done with a few dollars and a few hours,” says Trey Rogers, Ph.D., the Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor. “When budgets are tight, get creative and do it yourself.”

For those who’d like one-on-one advice from Rogers, enter the Yard Smarts Boot Camp. Attendees will learn how to easily take care of their yard, tour amazing green spaces and win a new lawn mower and more. Visit www.yardsmarts.com to enter.

What can you do for $100 right now?

– Mow the right way. Don’t scalp your lawn. Instead, let it grow a little longer, which is healthy for the lawn. When you mow, cut only one-third the length of the grass blade. Cost: About $3.00 for a month of mowing.
– Apply bark mulch. Few things dress up a yard more than mulch around flowerbeds and trees. Cost: About $3.00 per bag.
– Fertilize naturally. When you mow, leave a light layer of grass clippings on the lawn as a natural fertilizer. Cost: $0.
– Maintain your mower. Once a year, change the oil, replace the spark plug and change the filter. Tune-up kits are available and make it\ easy. Cost: $10-14 for a walk-behind mower.
– Let nature water your lawn. If water is costly where you live, let nature handle irrigation. If too little rain falls, your lawn may go dormant, but unless you are in a drought situation, it will green up
again when the rain falls. Cost: $0.

With the rest of your $100 bill, splurge on some annual flowers to dress up your front doorway, patio or deck.As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search house available in the Reno/Sparks and all Northwest Nevada neighborhoods.  I can be reached by email @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

By Paige Tepping

RISMEDIA, August 27, 2010–Now that summer is beginning to wind down and cooler weather is on its way, it’s time to get some of the routine home maintenance out of the way before it gets too cold. If you don’t prepare your home in the fall season, and clean up the yard, when spring comes along, you could be left with an unsightly mess. Lisa Udy, a Realtor in Utah offers the following tips to prepare your home for the cold months ahead.

Clean out the rain gutters – If you have rain gutters on your home, fall is the best time to get them cleaned. Cleaning rain gutters isn’t that difficult of a task, it’s just a tedious one. The easiest way to get rid of the junk is to use a high pressure hose, and then use a small trowel to get rid of the rest of the debris. Once you have gotten rid of all the debris, give your gutters a final spray.

Take care of your pots and planters – If you’re like most homeowners, you have some planters or potted plants sitting around the yard. Before it gets too cold, be sure to empty the dirt out of any pots or planters and put them in a place where they won’t freeze. If you don’t empty or store your planters, there’s a good chance they will either crack or fall apart.

Rake the leaves – Keeping your yard free of leaves is an important task for homeowners. If you have numerous trees in your yard and piles of leaves that you don’t take care of, you might find that your grass is dead once spring arrives. Leaves can smother your lawn and replacing a lawn can cost a lot of money, so it’s a good rule of thumb to get rid of the leaves in the fall.

Weed and feed the lawn – The best time to weed and feed the lawn is in the fall. If you add weed killer in the fall, the weeds will store the poison in their roots during the winter season, and will prevent a breakout in the spring. By feeding your lawn with fertilizer in the fall, you are promoting healthy root growth, and this will help your lawn grow greener and faster in the spring.

Give your tools a tune-up – Once you have finished your fall maintenance chores, make sure you clean your tools and store them in a dry place so they will be in working order once spring arrives. Be sure to store metal shovels with the head upwards, as this will help detour rusting when it dries. Sheers need to be oiled up, wheel barrels should be left upside down and don’t forget to spray off the underside of the lawnmower.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search house available in the Reno/Sparks and all Northwest Nevada neighborhoods.  I can be reached by email @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

By Stephanie Andre

RISMEDIA, July 9, 2010–The dog days of summer are here, alive and well. Getting out in the garden and keeping your lawn green are very important but so is conserving water. Remember – it’s the summer; it’s going to rain. From checking the kitchen faucet to watching your laundry loads, there’s plenty we can all do to save water.

Here are some tips from Pennsylvania American Water on how you can conserve water and reduce the environmental impact of water consumption both indoors and outside the home:

1. Water your lawn only when it needs it. An easy test to tell if your lawn needs water is to simply walk across the grass. If you leave footprints, it’s time to water. (An added benefit of watering less often is that fewer, deep-soaking waterings encourage deep root growth and stronger turf.)

2. Water in the early morning. As much as 30 percent of water can be lost to evaporation by watering during midday.

3. Set your lawn mower one notch higher to make your lawn more drought-tolerant.

4. Use drip irrigation hoses to water plants, and water in the early morning or evening.

5. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your sidewalk, driveway, or patio.

6. Forego the hose and wash your car with a bucket and sponge instead. According to EPA WaterSense, a hose left running can waste as much as six gallons per minute while a bucket and sponge uses only a few gallons to do the job.

7. Keep a bottle of cold tap water in the refrigerator. You’ll avoid the cost and environmental impact of bottled water and you’ll have cold water available in the summer without running the faucet.

8. Run dishwashers and clothes washers only when they are full. If you have a water-saver cycle, use it.

9. Adjust the water level of your clothes washer, so that it matches your load size.

10. Regularly check your toilet, faucets and pipes for leaks and have them fixed promptly. An easy test for toilet leaks from EPA WaterSense: Place a drop of food coloring in the tank. If the color tints the water in the bowl without flushing, there’s a leak. Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, you probably have a leak.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates