Victoria Park Lawn Mowing - Lawn Care Services
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Ground covers are a popular alternative to lawn grasses. They require far less maintenance (mowing, watering, fertilizing) than grass and are an important part of sustainable landscaping.
Ground covers can reduce maintenance, beautify problem areas and add a new dimension to your landscape. And March is an excellent time to plant them.
For a list of great ground covers for sun, shade and partial light conditions, click here.
Planting now will provide ground covers with a chance to become established before hot weather arrives.
The term ground cover is applied to low-growing plants, other than turf grass, used to cover areas of the landscape. Perennial, evergreen plants having a sprawling or spreading habit are most often used.
The plants are generally short, from a few inches to 18 inches tall, but taller-growing plants also are used appropriately in certain situations on a larger scale.
In addition to the beauty they provide, ground covers also have practical uses. Since most people are reluctant to walk through ground cover areas, they provide barriers to foot traffic and can guide movement through a site.
Some ground covers are effective in erosion control. Because they don't have to be mowed, they also reduce landscape maintenance and are useful in areas where mowing would be difficult, such as on steep slopes, under low-branched trees and shrubs, where the roots of large trees protrude and in confined areas.
Ground covers also are a good solution to areas under trees that have become too shady for grass to grow (mulching is another option).
When selecting a ground cover, first consider the growing conditions; is it sunny or shady? This will determine which plants you should choose.
From my watch list, lets have a short view of Alliance Resource Partners LP (ARLP), that looks undervalued based on the Peter Lynch Price Value.
Deere & Co (DE)
Description:The company has a market cap of $30,643 M. It is a provider of advanced products and services for agriculture and forestry and a major provider of advanced products and services for construction, lawn and turf care, landscaping and irrigation. The company and its subsidiaries have operations which are categorized into three major business segments: agriculture and turf; construction and forestry; and credit. The agriculture and turf segment, created by combining the former agricultural equipment and commercial and consumer equipment segments, manufactures and distributes a full line of farm and turf equipment and related service parts including large, medium and utility tractors; loaders; combines, cotton and sugarcane harvesters and related front-end equipment and sugarcane loaders; tillage, seeding and application equipment, including sprayers, nutrient management and soil preparation machinery; hay and forage equipment, including self-propelled forage harvesters and attachments, balers and mowers; turf and utility equipment, including riding lawn equipment and walk-behind mowers, golf course equipment, utility vehicles and commercial mowing equipment, along with a broad line of associated implements; integrated agricultural management systems technology; precision agricultural irrigation equipment and supplies; landscape and nursery products; and other outdoor power products.
Ratios: DEhas a ROC of about 11.33%, a ROA of 4.78% and a ROE of 29.22%. All these ratios are better than 90% of other companies of the Global Farm & Construction Equipment Industry.
Compared to history of Deere & Co, ROC reached a maximum level of 30.93, ROA reached a maximum level of 6.20 and ROE reached a maximum level of 44.93.
Current level
Best level of history
Industry Median
ROE
29.22%
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DE is below Peter Lynch Earning Line
AUBURN | Auburn's city council stands against a proposed series of cuts to public transportation service routes in the city and Cayuga County.
Councilors formalized their opposition Thursday to budget reductions to the Centro bus service, which operates in Cayuga County and three other counties in central New York.
Part of a proposal to close that deficit is to reduce weeknight service hours in Auburn, cut Sunday service connecting Auburn to Syracuse, eliminate all Lake Avenue and Owasco Road service and eliminate weekly and 30-day unlimited ride passes for Auburn customers.
The city of Auburn intends to draft a letter to Centro formalizing its opposition against the proposed cuts. Mayor Michael Quill said he will reinstate that position at an upcoming public hearing on Monday at Auburn City Hall.
"It's for folks who work different hours in Syracuse," Quill said. "It's a way for them to commute back and forth."
Quill found unanimous support from his fellow councilors. Councilor Debby McCormick said many people rely on the service on a daily basis as public transportation, she said, is a fundamental part of city life.
"It's ridiculous that they're cutting public transportation," she said.
Councilor Peter Ruzicka said he believes the state government will most likely provide additional funding for this service given the amount of public reaction the situation has garnered.
Indeed, state legislators in Albany recently agreed to bolster Centro's budget by $25 million to close the gap, though action is pending approval from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to Syracuse.com.
"It is desperately needed not just here in the city, but throughout central New York," Ruzicka said.
Continued here:
As public hearing looms, Auburn councilors oppose Centro service cuts to Cayuga County
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Newswise After a seemingly never-ending winter, temperatures have finally warmed and spring is in the air literally. In fact, people with spring allergies are most likely already experiencing sneezing, watery eyes and fatigue because of tree pollen.
Our area of the country typically experiences high tree pollen levels from March through May, says Marjorie Slankard, M.D., Director of Allergy and Immunology at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ. This years colder weather may have delayed the process a bit, but now that the warmer weather has hit pollen levels are expected to shoot up.
According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), more than 40 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergies, and this is expected to be one of the worst seasons we have seen for tree pollen.
But there are ways to help control your allergy symptoms and reduce your suffering. Here are some tips from the Dr. Slankard and the ACAAI to help keep seasonal allergy symptoms under control: Know your triggers. Make sure you know what is causing your symptoms it may turn out that pollen is not the culprit. Speak to your primary care doctor, who may recommend you see an allergist who can identify the source of your symptoms. Treat before you sneeze. Dont wait for allergy symptoms to hit before you take your medication. Allergists recommend you begin taking your over-the-counter or prescription allergy medication one week before symptoms typically hit, or as soon as the pollen counts are measureable. Monitor pollen and mold counts many media sources report this information during allergy seasons. Keep indoor air clean. Use air conditioning and keep windows and doors shut at home, and in your car during allergy season. Stay inside as much as you can from 6 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. when pollen counts are highest. Take a shower, wash hair and change clothing after being outdoors working or playing. If you can, delegate outdoor chores like mowing the lawn. If you cant delegate the chores, consider wearing a mask to cut down on your exposure to outdoor allergens. An allergist can help you find the type of mask that works best. When home and over-the-counter remedies aren't enough, see your doctor. For many people, avoiding allergens and taking over-the-counter medications is enough to ease symptoms. But if your seasonal allergies are still bothersome, don't give up. A number of other treatments are available. For some people, allergy shots, called allergy immunotherapy, can be a good option. The treatment involves regular injections containing tiny amounts of the substances that cause your allergies. Over time, these injections reduce the immune system reaction that causes symptoms.
About The Valley Hospital The Valley Hospital, a 451-bed, acute care, not-for-profit hospital located in Ridgewood, NJ, is part of Valley Health System, which also includes Valley Home Care and Valley Medical Group. Valley is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. These include 10 consecutive recognitions for service excellence by J.D. Power and Associates for inpatient care, six consecutive awards for patient safety and quality care from the Leapfrog Group, and Gold Seals of Approval from the Joint Commission in 12 clinical areas, including six for cancer care, more than any other hospital in the nation. Valley has also been recognized by Healthgrades as one of Americas 100 Best Hospitals for joint replacement and orthopedic surgery. Valley has also been honored three times with Magnet designation the nursing professions highest honor. Key services include cardiology, oncology, womens and childrens services, emergency care, orthopedics, and neurosciences. For more information please visit http://www.ValleyHealth.com
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Beating Seasonal Allergies
"THE POOL MASTER," ANTHONY ARCHER-WILLS, RETURNS TO ANIMAL PLANET FOR AN ALL-NEW SEASON OF AQUATIC AMAZEMENT
-- Anthony Archer-Wills Vision Transforms Bland Spaces into Natural Wonderments In Six-episode Season Beginning Friday, April 3, at 10 PM ET/PT -
(Silver Spring, Md.) - Is it easy to tell the difference between what's natural and man-made? With Animal Planet's THE POOL MASTER, you hardly can. The pools may seem like they were placed on Earth by Mother Nature herself, but really, they were forged by a man with a smile on his face and a gin in his hand - pool master extraordinaire Anthony Archer-Wills, to be specific!
Beginning Friday, April 3, at 10 PM ET/PT, Anthony returns with a splash for a six-episode season of THE POOL MASTER. Alongside this charismatic British landscape visionary are his talented site manager Dave Duensing and master excavator Ed Kading. Watch this trio transform backyard dreams into natural masterpieces.
This season, Anthony and his team meet new clients with this concept in mind: to turn their run-of-the-mill backyards into jaw-dropping natural pool paradises, which exude utter tranquility, charm and artistry - that is if Anthony's ideas don't go over budget. Each episode depicts the constant battle between Anthony and his designs. Do his wild ideas trample the limits set by his clientele, or do the grand finales render them speechless?
No design is ever the same, and between bad weather, buried rock slabs or unmarked pipes, no build is ever easy either. In addition, Anthony always incorporates surrounding natural resources - he unearths local rocks, plants and shrubs and then reuses them in his final designs to create the illusion that these pools have always been there. Of course, Dave and Ed need to be careful as Anthony is easily distracted and can get lost to an offer of afternoon tea and scones or a boat ride. But they always find a way to finish the job, and with gin and tonic in hand, the team takes a step back and admire the fruits of labor - pools that co-exist harmoniously with nature and surpass the clients' wildest expectations.
Dreams become reality during this season of THE POOL MASTER with the following pools:
Going, Going, Gong!: Anthony and his team rip out a boring backyard and replace it with a Japanese water garden paradise. Complete with a mountain hot tub, multiple waterfalls, a gong and rocks that blow fire, it's a dream come true for everyone!
You can take the girl out of England: Anthony and his team create a British-inspired heavenly escape for a Texas family. The design includes a pool big enough for friends and family, a "teazebo" for afternoon tea and an elephant-sized surprise behind the family's once-fenced-in garden.
This is not a fire drill: Out on the arid hills of Northern California, a fireman's family needs to be rescued, and Anthony comes calling! Anthony not only fixes the home owner's amateur attempt at building a pool himself, he also prepares the family for the worst by linking the new and improves pool to a hydrant system, providing an added level of fire safety.
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"The Pool Master," Anthony Archer-Wills, Returns to Animal Planet for an All-New Season of Aquatic Amazement
New projects to change KK's landscape
They include The Loft apartments and Imago shopping mall, Riverson Suites and Gleneagles private hospital, and the Oceanus shopping mall and Pelagos Suites.
"In particular, Jesselton Quay by SBC Corp Bhd and Mah Sing Group's Kota Kinabalu Convention City are paving the way for the regeneration of the old Jesselton port area which will also be home to an international cruise terminal and international convention centre," says Knight Frank, a leading independent global property consultancy headquartered in London.
"Both developments are of mixed use in nature and will comprise a combination of retail, office, residential properties and hotels," it says.
"Major mixed use developments such as Aeropod Tanjung Aru (by SP Setia), Sutera Avenue and PacifiCity are continuing to progress through construction and the release of new phases are being received well by the market as evident from the favourable take-up rates," it says.
"There were not many residential launches in 2014 but there are a few that are worth eyeing," says a property observer.
Among them are the Harrington Suites, by Interland Properties Sdn Bhd, Jesselton View by Bina Puri Holdings Bhd and Sutera Avenue Residences by Mah Sing group, incidentally the same properties that Knight Frank highlighted.
Harringston Suites has 116 units in five layouts sized from 2,445 sq ft to 3,455 sq ft and are priced from RM1.8 mil to RM2.9 mil.
Jesselton View is a low-density apartment development with only 80 units housed in five-storey and 11-storey blocks. The size ranges from 809 sq ft to 2,922 sq ft and are priced from RM522,000 to RM2.08 mil.
Priced from RM605,000 onwards, Sutera Avenue Residences comprises 320 units of serviced apartments in three towers, with built-up areas ranging from 726 sq ft to 1,220 sq ft.
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New projects to change KK's landscape
Landscaping Design Ideas For a Small Yard
Trellises are a good way to make use of vertical space.
If you have a small front yard, you may feel constrained, and mistakenly believe there is nothing that can be done with the space. While small front yards do limit what you can accomplish with your landscaping, they are by no means impossible to work with. When designing a contemporary landscape for a small front yard, keep a few factors in mind to maximize space.
Many front yards are limited in the amount of square footage, but dont forget that you can build upwards. A modern feature for a front yard is a metal and wire trellis with a vine or climbing plant trained on to the wires. Consider creating a shaded sitting area in your yard by putting up a small arbor over a garden bench and training ivy on to the arbor for shade. Opt for modern metal garden benches to give your sitting area the contemporary look you desire.
You may feel as though your small front yard precludes building smaller sub-gardens or installing a small patio. Breaking up the yard with distinct zones can make the yard appear larger than it is, and will allow you to get more use out of the space. Consider installing a small walking path around the perimeter of your yard. Line the path with different gardens, such as rock and shade gardens, and choose lighting with a modern look, such as polished aluminum landscape lights.
Grass is an attractive element when it provides the base for other landscaping features. A well-manicured front lawn enhances the look of the house behind it. But with small front yards, grass takes up valuable real estate and doesnt always pay dividends. Small lawns are also hard to mow and difficult to maintain. Consider removing the lawn and instead installing a walkway and garden plots. To achieve a modern look, consider colorful composite stone for your path. Many modern composite materials can be installed without the need for pouring a concrete footer.
A small front yard does not mean you need to shy away from water features. While a large koi pond is probably not possible, a small fountain or fish pond brings attractive sights and sounds to your yard. Ponds and fountains require electricity to run their pumps and filters, so placing them closer to your house will make it easier to run electrical wiring. Opt for metal or geometrically shaped stone fountains and square or rectangular ponds to create a modern look for your water feature. Consider combining lighting with your pond or fountain to create an attractive focal point for nighttime strolls through your garden.
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Landscaping Design Ideas|Small Yards|Backyards|Hills ...
Land Clearing - MowCheaper Lawn Care
Going through trees and 4ft. high grass with a Gravely Compact Pro 34".
By: Mow Cheaper
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Land Clearing - MowCheaper Lawn Care - Video
Land-use and land-cover change (LULCC); also known as land change) is a general term for the human modification of Earth's terrestrial surface. Though humans have been modifying land to obtain food and other essentials for thousands of years, current rates, extents and intensities of LULCC are far greater than ever in history, driving unprecedented changes in ecosystems and environmental processes at local, regional and global scales. These changes encompass the greatest environmental concerns of human populations today, including climate change, biodiversity loss and the pollution of water, soils and air. Monitoring and mediating the negative consequences of LULCC while sustaining the production of essential resources has therefore become a major priority of researchers and policymakers around the world.
Land cover refers to the physical and biological cover over the surface of land, including water, vegetation, bare soil, and/or artificial structures. Land use is a more complicated term. Natural scientists define land use in terms of syndromes of human activities such as agriculture, forestry and building construction that alter land surface processes including biogeochemistry, hydrology and biodiversity. Social scientists and land managers define land use more broadly to include the social and economic purposes and contexts for and within which lands are managed (or left unmanaged), such as subsistence versus commercial agriculture, rented vs. owned, or private vs. public land. While land cover may be observed directly in the field or by remote sensing, observations of land use and its changes generally require the integration of natural and social scientific methods (expert knowledge, interviews with land managers) to determine which human activities are occurring in different parts of the landscape, even when land cover appears to be the same. For example, areas covered by woody vegetation may represent an undisturbed natural shrubland, a forest preserve recovering from a fire (use = conservation), regrowth following tree harvest (forestry), a plantation of immature rubber trees (plantation agriculture), swidden agriculture plots that are in between periods of clearing for annual crop production, or an irrigated tea plantation. As a result, scientific investigation of the causes and consequences of LULCC requires an interdisciplinary approach integrating both natural and social scientific methods, which has emerged as the new discipline of land-change science.
Changes in land use and land cover date to prehistory and are the direct and indirect consequence of human actions to secure essential resources. This may first have occurred with the burning of areas to enhance the availability of wild game and accelerated dramatically with the birth of agriculture, resulting in the extensive clearing (deforestation) and management of Earths terrestrial surface that continues today. More recently, industrialization has encouraged the concentration of human populations within urban areas (urbanization) and the depopulation of rural areas, accompanied by the intensification of agriculture in the most productive lands and the abandonment of marginal lands. All of these causes and their consequences are observable simultaneously around the world today.
Biodiversity is often reduced dramatically by LULCC. When land is transformed from a primary forest to a farm, the loss of forest species within deforested areas is immediate and complete. Even when unaccompanied by apparent changes in land cover, similar effects are observed whenever relatively undisturbed lands are transformed to more intensive uses, including livestock grazing, selective tree harvest and even fire prevention. The habitat suitability of forests and other ecosystems surrounding those under intensive use are also impacted by the fragmenting of existing habitat into smaller pieces (habitat fragmentation), which exposes forest edges to external influences and decreases core habitat area. Smaller habitat areas generally support fewer species (island biogeography), and for species requiring undisturbed core habitat, fragmentation can cause local and even general extinction. Research also demonstrates that species invasions by non-native plants, animals and diseases may occur more readily in areas exposed by LULCC, especially in proximity to human settlements.
LULCC plays a major role in climate change at global, regional and local scales. At global scale, LULCC is responsible for releasing greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, thereby driving global warming. LULCC can increase the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by disturbance of terrestrial soils and vegetation, and the major driver of this change is deforestation, especially when followed by agriculture, which causes the further release of soil carbon in response to disturbance by tillage. Changes in land use and land cover are also behind major changes in terrestrial emissions of other greenhouse gases, especially methane (altered surface hydrology: wetland drainage and rice paddies; cattle grazing), and nitrous oxide (agriculture: input of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers; irrigation; cultivation of nitrogen fixing plants; biomass combustion).
Though LULCC certainly plays a critical role in greenhouse gas emissions, the complexity and dynamic interplay of land use processes favoring net accumulation versus net release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases makes it a poorly constrained component of our global budgets for these gases; an active area of current research. A further source of uncertainty in estimating the climate changes caused by LULCC is the release of sulfur dioxide and particulates by biomass combustion associated with agriculture, land clearing and human settlements. These emissions are believed to cause regional and global cooling by the reflection of sunlight from particulates and aerosols, and by their effects on cloud cover.
Land cover changes that alter the reflection of sunlight from land surfaces (albedo) are another major driver of global climate change. The precise contribution of this effect to global climate change remains a controversial but growing concern. The impact of albedo changes on regional and local climates is also an active area of research, especially changes in climate in response to changes in cover by dense vegetation and built structures. These changes alter surface heat balance not only by changing surface albedo, but also by altering evaporative heat transfer caused by evapotranspiration from vegetation (highest in closed canopy forest), and by changes in surface roughness, which alter heat transfer between the relatively stagnant layer of air at Earths surface (the boundary layer) and the troposphere. An example of this is the warmer temperatures observed within urban areas versus rural areas, known as the urban heat island effect.
Changes in land use and land cover are important drivers of water, soil and air pollution. Perhaps the oldest of these is land clearing for agriculture and the harvest of trees and other biomass. Vegetation removal leaves soils vulnerable to massive increases in soil erosion by wind and water, especially on steep terrain, and when accompanied by fire, also releases pollutants to the atmosphere. This not only degrades soil fertility over time, reducing the suitability of land for future agricultural use, but also releases huge quantities of phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediments to streams and other aquatic ecosystems, causing a variety of negative impacts (increased sedimentation, turbidity, eutrophication and coastal hypoxia). Mining can produce even greater impacts, including pollution by toxic metals exposed in the process. Modern agricultural practices, which include intensive inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers and the concentration of livestock and their manures within small areas, have substantially increased the pollution of surface water by runoff and erosion and the pollution of groundwater by leaching of excess nitrogen (as nitrate). Other agricultural chemicals, including herbicides and pesticides are also released to ground and surface waters by agriculture, and in some cases remain as contaminants in the soil. The burning of vegetation biomass to clear agricultural fields (crop residues, weeds) remains a potent contributor to regional air pollution wherever it occurs, and has now been banned in many areas.
Other environmental impacts of LULCC include the destruction of stratospheric ozone by nitrous oxide release from agricultural land and altered regional and local hydrology (dam construction, wetland drainage, irrigation projects, increased impervious surfaces in urban areas). Perhaps the most important issue for most of Earths human population is the long-term threat to future production of food and other essentials by the transformation of productive land to nonproductive uses, such as the conversion of agricultural land to residential use and the degradation of rangeland by overgrazing.
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Land-use and land-cover change - Encyclopedia of Earth
