Dear Neil: What can we use to avoid sticker plants on property near a lake? When do we treat, and what should we use?

A: There are many plants that produce stickers, burs, prickles, thorns, brambles and all other manners of painful appendages. So without knowing the exact plant, Im taking a bit of a long shot. Usually when that question is asked of me, it refers to grassburs, and the best means of dealing with them is to apply a pre-emergent weed killer, usually granular, before the seeds ever start to germinate. In many part of Texas, that means that you must do so immediately, and for northern areas, a couple of weeks from now. Apply Dimension, Halts or other labeled pre-emergent one to two weeks before the average date of the last killing freeze in your area, and then follow that application with a booster shot exactly three months later. The products are effective for about 100 days, hence the need for the second treatment. Water lightly immediately after you make the application.

Dear Neil: We have a large wasp or hornet nest (size of two basketballs) about 40 feet high in an Arizona ash tree. It is in our backyard, and were wondering if we should take any action against it. Their activity is starting to pick up rapidly with the warming weather.

A: Im never going to win on this answer. My first (noncontroversial) suggestion would be to have a licensed pest elimination company or entomologist identify the insects for you. My tendency is always to leave nature alone unless my family, pets or I are threatened. These things are so high and far away from your home that they will probably coexist with humanity without problems. Ive encountered similar outbreaks in the trees out from our house, and Ive never worried much. Yellow jackets are the one insect that I do not allow to build nests in our landscape. They are too aggressive and unpredictable. But their nests are not large. Control, should it be necessary, is definitely a job for a professional due to the height of the nest. Thats not the complete answer you wanted, but its a good start. Finding out what they are will help a lot.

Dear Neil: Last year we transplanted two Italian cypress trees right next to our in-ground pool. They are 8 feet tall and are doing well, but my wife feels we need to move them again, fearing they could hurt the pool. Its hard work, and Im afraid well damage them. Will they hurt the pool if we leave them there?

A: Italian cypress are not known to have huge, damaging roots, but any plant can cause damage to concrete if its planted too close. These trees, left unpruned, will eventually grow to 35 or 45 feet tall, so you will certainly have huge plants there. Talk to pool people. They will know the strength of the side walls of the pool. Have a landscape contractor in to look at the setting. Right next to ... (to use your term) does scare me, but I dont know if you mean 18 inches of several feet away. There would be a big difference.

Dear Neil: We had JaMur zoysia sod planted three years ago. A sprinkler system went in at the same time. It has all done very well, except for one area about 10 feet by 6 feet. The grass was thin there last fall, and it looks like bare ground there now. I fertilized last fall (18-6-12), and all areas are watered uniformly. There is a tree nearby, but it doesnt seem to shade this area any more than the rest of the yard. We do walk across the area as we go into the house, but its supposed to be able to withstand that. What can we do?

A: Lets try to sort through the facts, the unknowns and anything you can do to get to the cause. Start with the sprinklers. They probably wont be the cause, but theyre easy to check. Turn that station on for a few minutes and watch every head to see if it delivers water uniformly to the area of concern. If that seems to be fine, move on to the shade. In most cases where Im called to a friends home for this kind of troubleshooting, it ends up being excessive shade. Im not saying thats true in your case, but it is in probably 95 percent of the landscapes I visit. There is a threshold of how much light grass must have to survive. Just a few feet can make an hours difference in the amount of shading, therefore in the vigor of the turf. Do the best you can at this early, still-bare time of the growing season, to see if there might be any significant difference. Visit the spot several times over the course of a sunny day to watch the shadow patterns. I would doubt that the foot traffic is the cause. You would have seen paths. You could also do a little probing and digging to see if the soil in that area is the same as in the rest of your lawn. It may have shallow rock. If none of that comes up with a lead, try some more grass this spring. That wont be very expensive, and maybe you can watch it more closely to see what transpires.

If youd like Neils help with your plant question, drop him a note to Gardeners Mailbag, PO Box 864, McKinney, TX 75070 or email your questions to mailbag@sperrygardens.com. Watch here for his reply.

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Best way to deal with grassburs is by applying a pre-emergent weed killer

March 2, 2014 Police Blotter

Threats Last week, someone wrote that Castle Rock High School and its vice principal will burn on 0228 in a bathroom. An extra patrol was conducted.

Damage Somebody reportedly stripped rubber casing from wires that cross Pacific Avenue Friday. The Kelso Public Works Department was notified.

Fraud A person reportedly tried to use a stolen money order Friday at Fibre Federal Credit Union on Commerce Street in Longview.

Drugs Kelso police Friday arrested Burney Llyal Miller, 39, on suspicion of second-degree criminal trespass and drug possession.

Harassment Longview police Friday arrested Peter C Johnson, 46, on suspicion of felony harassment and disorderly conduct.

Vehicle theft

Fred Meyer, 3000 block of Ocean Beach Highway. Longview. Friday.

Theft

200 block of Colorado Street. Longview. Friday. Two fold-out gazebos.

Originally posted here:
Police Blotter: March 2

Mother Moved To Tears When Her Son Receives Mind Intelligence Blessing
This young man #39;s brain functions are dramatically improved after receiving Dr. and Master Sha #39;s blessing. Dr. and Master Zhi Gang Sha is a soul leader, an ex...

By: Zhi Gang Sha

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Mother Moved To Tears When Her Son Receives Mind Intelligence Blessing - Video

More Fences | Mod | Minecraft Pe 0.8.1
Mod : http://www.mediafire.com/?rx8yfrayz6c1n91.

By: Alex Crafter

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More Fences | Mod | Minecraft Pe 0.8.1 - Video

Could more snow fencing along Highway 400 have prevented Thursday's 98-vehicle crash, or at least mitigated the storm's impact?

Bruce Holtom, owner of FenceSource in Barrie, says it would be worth trying.

Snow fence is and has always been very effective. The higher the snow fence, the more snow it will grab, he said Friday. In most years, in most applications, one stretch of four-foot-high fencing does a good job.

You really do get lulled into a false sense of security when you have three or four mild winters, and all of a sudden it gets like this.

This clearly isn't like most winters. Just entering March there are already near-record snowfall levels in the Barrie area.

Thursday's squalls brought not only snow but gusting winds to the area, creating white-outs that led to the early morning, chain-reaction crashes on the 400.

Gary Lyon of Barrie said they might have been prevented.

Perhaps it would have made no difference in this case, but why has MTO not investigated putting up wind barriers along these open stretches of (Highway) 400? he asked. The greenest option would be trees, but something like the noise barriers you see along 400-series highways might help. Has this ever been studied?

The MTO, of course, is Ontario's Transportation Ministry, which is responsible for all things connected to the 400-series highways (see pullout).

Years ago we used to see a lot more snow fence installed than we do these days, Holtom said. Everybody's watching budgets (today), and we've had some milder winters.

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Could snow fences in the Barrie/Innisfil area have prevented this week's pileup?

Verdict

Victor Hewgo has taken well to fences and was just caught by Cheltenham-bound Holywell over course and distance 10 days ago. Despite his penalty, he'll be tough to beat again but COWARDS CLOSE could flourish now tackling fences as he's already a winner between the flags. He was well backed over hurdles here on his reappearance and can recoup losses now. My Dads Horse was a long way behind Victor Hewgo over a shorter trip here in January and Perfect Candidate was due to run at Newbury yesterday.

Perfect Candidate (IRE) 33-1 (11-0) Held up towards rear, outpaced before 5 out, stayed on from last, nearest at finish, 4th of 7, 10l behind Victor Hewgo (11-0) at Doncaster 3m nov chs (4) gs in Jan.

Victor Hewgo 5-2 (11-7) Tracked leaders in 3rd, went 2nd at 2nd, ridden before 3 out, led last, kept on and headed towards finish, 2nd of 5, 3/4l behind Holywell (11-7) at Doncaster 3m nov chs (4) gs in Feb.

Cowards Close (IRE) 3-1fav (10-11) Chased leaders, chance 3 out, weakened approaching next, 7th of 11, 17l behind Mister Dillon (10-11) at Doncaster 3m hcp hdl 0-140 (3) gs in Dec.

My Dads Horse 20-1 (10-12) last of 5, well behind Western Warhorse (10-12) at Doncaster 2m 3f nov chs (3) gs in Jan.

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Park Hill Hospital Novices' Chase 3m

March 1, 2014

Scoresheet

BARTONVILLE, Texas - The SMU equestrian team improved to 4-1 at home with an 11-9 (1425-1361.5) victory over No. 8 TCU on Saturday afternoon at Sleepy P Ranch. Junior Emma Roberts (flat), freshman Sylvia de Toledo (fences) and freshman Jaclyn White (horsemanship) turned in MOP rides.

Roberts improved to 3-1 on the flat in the spring, after cracking the lineup over the break. The Mustang junior added a fences victory for her second-straight two-point performance. Roberts' victory over fences was her fourth of the 2013-14 campaign. Sophomore Schaefer Raposa also did the double on Saturday, recording a 68-64 flat victory and an 83-78 fences win.

On the western side, freshmen Morgan Redwine and Jaclyn White turned in two-point afternoons. Redwine's double is the second of her young career.

The Mustangs grabbed four points on the flat, also getting victories from senior Julianna Fischer (63-53) and sophomore Alex Butterworth (76-70). SMU also won fences by a count of 3-2, getting points from de Toledo (83-76), Raposa (83-78) and Roberts (84-80).

SMU got four points out of the two western events on Saturday. In horsemanship, Redwine defeated TCU's Rylee Morgan 70.5-66, while White's MOP earned her a 74 in her one-point win. On the reining side, Redwine tallied a 61.5, while White edged TCU's Chantz Stewart 67-66.5.

The Mustangs will now await the bracket for the 2014 NCEA Championships that will be held in Waco, Texas, from April 17-19.

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W. Equestrian. SMU Tops No. 8 TCU 11-9 In Final Home Competition Of 2013-14

New locker rooms and restrooms will be built at the Corona del Mar High School pool, just one of many back-burner projects benefiting from extra city funding recently made available.

The $338,000 contribution to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, requested by City Manager Dave Kiff, draws from higher-than-expected revenues in Newport Beach this fiscal year, coupled with last year's budget surplus.

The City Council on Tuesday appropriated more than $14 million to help pay for a wide array of improvements throughout the city, such as the locker rooms.

Most of the money $12 million came from a revenue surplus in the general fund in fiscal year 2012-13.

Another $1.2 million came from other funds like the IT strategic, lifeguard headquarters and tidelands funds, according to a staff report.

Of the $2.82 million in increased revenue estimates, the city appropriated $1.1 million. The money came from increased property tax estimates, plus more sales and hotel bed taxes from an improved economy.

The funding, which had not yet been given a specific budgetary use, will contribute to a wide array of needs, including a general liability fund, retiree health insurance and city improvement projects.

Municipal projects that will benefit include expansion of the LED streetlight conversion, Ocean Boulevard pavement replacement and concrete alley replacement in Newport Heights. Reforestation efforts and park re-landscaping will also get extra support.

The Fire Department will receive funding for paramedic emergency services, lifeguard dispatch equipment and facilities maintenance.

"The council has made it clear to me that they want to see more and more money going back into the community, so that's what I'm proposing to do with almost all of the surplus and the increased revenue," Kiff wrote in an email last week.

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Extra cash in city coffers being put back into community

Last week, I wrote about the annual Wild Ones conference on designing with native plants and the ideas of speaker Douglas Owens-Pike, founder of EnergyScapes, a St. Paul-based landscape and garden design business that Owens-Pike launched in 1989.

In those days, Martha Stewart was in charge of matters of taste, indoors and out. Her gardens combined traditional English flower borders with the more formal perfectionism of the French and Italian style, all clipped parterres and geometric shapes.

In the glossy pages of Martha Stewart Living and the comparably impeccable Garden Design magazine, the trend to a more relaxed aesthetic became evident in the '90s, as more of the gardens featured native prairie plants and grasses and more of the gardeners credited organic methods for their success.

There seemed to be less emphasis on chemicals and more on how to make compost.

We were advised to mulch our beds and let the organic matter decompose to feed the soil. We were told to ditch the leaf-bag attachment on lawn mowers and let the grass clippings stay put.

As to design, why slavishly copy European gardens? Why not implement an American style?

Garden design has always swung between man's penchant for controlling nature and nature's genius at painting the land with flora that suits the climate and topography and meets the needs of wildlife.

Owens-Pike all along had focused on the plants. An ecologist by training, he believed healthy native soils are best suited for growing healthy native plants.

The plants have a twofold purpose: They beautify the Earth because they are renewing it.

I've often wondered, what exactly is "healthy" soil?

Link:
Blundering Gardener: Here's the dirt on how to grow healthy plants in healthy native soil

LOS DEL HALA vs LOS GUERREROS Z final halabalusa 3vs3
TODA LA SAGA http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfqL_bITdafog5pJPHUgwWo1ZRwiTLMX5LOS GUERREROS Z vs NDM semifinal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU-vI6so...

By: DEMOLITION RHYMES

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LOS DEL HALA vs LOS GUERREROS Z final halabalusa 3vs3 - Video