How To Build A Tow Truck

Helping New England farmers keep their old barns standing. How will you finance the work? If the foundation is stone, you might need to engage a stonemason. Fortunately for this group, John Porter knows his way around old barns.

A barn could house your livestock and your machinery, it can act as a storage area for hay and tack, it can be a workshop and a studio, and it might even do all of these things at once.

When you think of building a barn, images of a solid post and beam structure with a stone foundation that will stand for centuries may come to mind. Pole barns are typically built in increments of 10 or 12 feet, such as a 20-by-36 feet.

Well, for those of you who have some spare time today, let us go there! In 1840 a plant was imported from Mexico which boosted the cirque cultivation and is still of prime importance nowadays; the chouchou (see tThe alligator pear is widely grown throughout...

The open space, while beautiful, makes it challenging to install outlets and plumbing because no interior walls means no place to hide outlets and pipes. As barn home architecture gains popularity, there are more options than ever for affordable barn...

Check with your state historic preservation office for more information about available tax credits. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has a free publication, Historic Barns: Working Assets for Sustainable Farms , which highlights the importance...

That's good ecological news. Here's to great green solutions to the age-old question of how to keep your animal and yourself warmer or cooler as the seasons change. Installation: Cotton insulation comes in batts, making it possible to install yourself...

Or, if this is a dead end, but sure you put the flare into open tunnel, as shoving it into the blind end will just end up smoking you out, or you can extinguish the flare by shoving it in the dirt.

A big part of what attracts people to Dave's Garden has always been our forums, where gardeners ask and answer questions for one another. Females need damp soil to deposit their eggs and since their life span is only about a week, it is possible to stop...

It simply won't happen. I do make drainage holes in the container bottoms and line them with landscape cloth so the the soil stays put.This method should allow you to design whatever looks best on your table and change the mulch every growing season if...

Moist or dry?Think about these variables as some will rule out certain plants. If you're not getting ANY blooms, then by all means, go ahead and cut it way back like you did; this is called rejuvenation pruning.My husband generally comes out in April...

Potting mix is expensive and if you need to supplement with bagged material, you can actually buy garden soil or humus cheaper. We hope you find these questions (and answers, penned by our admins and writers) helpful as you grow your gardening knowledge!

Here you will find 100s of specific subscriber-only forums dedicated to, among other topics,Basically, organic gardeners try to grow food and/or pretty flowers without artificial fertilizers or chemicals.

Occasionally we come across a question that we find particularly interesting or intriguing. Gardening is both art and science, with some luck and skill thrown in for good measure. We hope you find these questions (and answers, penned by our admins and...

Color develops when the tree quits producing chlorophyll, so any changes during the season might jump start the process. If your branch tips start to die, you should check with your County Extension Agent for local issues with crape myrtles.answers: Stress...

The theory of using deep throated flowers is a good one, but some bees simply chew a little hole in the base of a tubular flower and never miss a beat. They were coming up in a cut along a trail, where there were few other plants to compete with them.It...

I have some scarlet milkweed that I'm going to try and over-winter in the ground, so we're in the same boat. When the worst of the winter is over, remove the bucket and pull the mulch back so your plants can wake up.

There are beds of garden soil on either side for other plants (strawberries), gravel and decorative river rocks purchased by the truckload, larger rocks from digging in the yard, and miscellaneous recycled concrete pads and bricks for the stepping stones.

We hope you find these questions (and answers, penned by our admins and writers) helpful as you grow your gardening knowledge! Our writers and admins will handpick a few of your questions and answer them in an upcoming Ask-a-Gardener, one of our Saturday...

Muster your self restraint and touch just a few plants at a time to your skin, and watch for reactions. Fortunately the only whitefly-attacked plants I own that have flowers are the Hibiscus, and they are easy to replace (so I remove them).

It also has white spots on the stem too.'growing - or not growing - under a very shady tree. Should I give up on it, or what should I do? Are the roots from these behemoths very invasive and/or should I think of installing this palm elsewhere?"Remember,...

If that isn't the issue, I'd look to the soil. Occasionally we come across a question that we find particularly interesting or intriguing. Squash and cucumber vines will abort fruit in heavy clay soil that is too wet.

I was advised to dig them back up and plant them at a shallower depth. Then replant the bulbs at least six inches apart each way. A fungus attacks your seedlings at the soil line and they will wilt, rot off, or become stunted and refuse to thrive.

Answers: Since you're growing 'Bouquet Dill', which is NOT a nice compact bouquet but a back-row border plant of up to 6 feet tall, and since it's now late November and you live in Maine, unless you re envisioning an entire basement herb garden, I suggest...

It can't take up water until it grows new roots, and meanwhile extra humidity around it will keep it from wilting. By your picture I can see you're referring to a Paulownia dragon tree, or Empress tree.

Whether you're creating instant gardens for a special event like a family reunion or a birthday party, or you're just short on gardening time in general, the result will be spectacular!

It's a constant creation, and you really can't go wrong. You many want to try a handy tool that I found at the Better Homes and Gardens website called the “Plan-a-Garden” (check it out at bhg.com under “gardens”).