Hot Tips for a Cool Summer
	Summer is upon us and so is the hot weather. We can choose to be miserable and suffer through the heat, or we can be smart and make a difference.
One way to be more comfortable is to turn down the air conditioner and enjoy the artic air. This works well until the utility bill comes. Energy rates have increased rapidly in the last few years making the artic air solution not very practical. There is one solution that not only makes you more comfortable, but can also save you money or even make you money. The key to comfort lies in the landscape. With properly placed trees and shrubs, you can reduce you energy bill by up to 50%. When plants, especially trees, photosynthesize, they release a large quantity of water into the air resulting in natural evaporative cooling. Research has shown that an environment that is shaded by plants will have an air temperature that is 3 to 9 degrees cooler than non-shaded areas. So plant those trees & shrubs. But you should be careful where you plant or you will actually waste more energy than you save. We want to reduce the summer sun as well as allow maximum warming winter sun. Placing trees on the east and west sides of the house have maximum summer cooling effect. These shade the walls and windows when the sun is low in the morning and evenings. If you place trees that shade southern winter sun, you may well have an increased energy bill. To create maximum savings, you need to select a large shade tree such as a Chinese Elm or a Autumn Fantasy Maple that will grow large enough to shade the southern roof in mid summer and loose their leaves in winter to allow the needed heating. Shrubs and vines also provide sun protection and increased insulation and result in significant energy savings. Proper placement of trees and shrubs not only save you money, but can also make you money. There is nothing that has a higher return on home resale value than the landscape. On the average, landscaping returns 110% of the investment and continues to increase over time. So get out and make your summers more comfortable and more affordable by planting trees and shrubs in your yard today.

Taming the Creature in YOUR Green Lagoon
	So you have built a pond. It started out sparkling clear and inviting. But soon it began to turn green. The next day it wasn’t just green, but you couldn’t even see the bottom or even tell if you had a bottom at all for that matter.
Finally you got tired of the green muck and drained the pond. Once again it was sparkling clear and inviting. But soon the green came once again… This is what happens with most new pond owners. The natural ripening process of the pond is enough to make someone want to give up and turn that new pond into the newest planter addition. But it doesn’t have to be difficult. When a new pond is installed it is necessary to help nature a bit with creating an ecological balance in your new pond. A few easy steps will make the process simple and painless. First we need to check the pH of the water. A swimming pool test kit will work nicely. Adjust the pH with the addition of soda ash or acid. Your nursery or swimming pool supply store can help you with this. Once the pH is adjusted to 7, add baking soda to keep it where you want it. This acts as a buffer and makes it very difficult to change the pH after you put in the baking soda. So be careful. Adjust the pH, and then add the baking soda. Once the pH is adjusted, we can work on making the green yuck disappear. The green yuck in nothing but algae that just loves the new play area that you have so generously provided. But algae needs three elements to grow. First it needs proper temperature. In the winter when it’s cold, the water is too cool for algae to grow. The water is crystal clear, and the green lagoon monster is nowhere to be found. We can not do much about this temperature factor short of dumping loads of ice everyday. So, we will leave this one alone. The second element algae need to grow is sun light. In the fall and winter when the days are short and the sunlight is less intense, algae do not grow. Again we have crystal clear water with no effort. We can control this a bit in the summer. By placing plants in the water that shade approximately 50% of the surface area, we can substantially reduce the algae growth. Water lilies and water hyacinth work particularly well for this purpose. The third element that algae need is nutrients. If it does not have food, it can not grow. When we first put water in our new pond, there is nitrogen in the water that feeds the algae. Also, with an existing pond that has gone through the winter, the decayed leaves and rainwater have provided great nutrition for the algae. By adding plants to the pond, these nutrients will soon be consumed and the algae will once again not be able to grow. The addition of a natural bacterial agent such as Ultra Clear works well to speed up this process. This ripening process does not last long. With the proper balance of plant, fish and snails, the water will clear quite rapidly. In fact, you will find that the water will typically be green for 2 to 3 weeks. Then suddenly over night the water will be clear. So don’t despair, and don’t change that water. Let your local nursery provide you with the cure for your creature of the green lagoon.

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