Prepared Timber

If your farm acreage has ample forestland, there are ways to earn some money from both timber and nontimber use. Diamond willow, for example, is popular among wood-carvers and furniture makers for its unusual, irregular diamond-shaped segments with varying...

Most beneficial insects do not have specialized mouthparts for accessing nectar. Stop using pesticides. Companion plant to lure beneficials. « More Dirt on Gardening » Tags beneficial insects , beneficials , good bugs , Lists , pest insects , pests

They lay their eggs on stalks to protect them from predators—and each other! Green lacewings turn to cannibalism if no other food is present soon after they hatch. Aren't their eggs amazing?

My favorite parts are when I share the interesting ways I shot all the macro images of insects for the book (I had a refrigerator full of bugs!) and when we discuss how companion planting can attract specific beneficial insects to the garden.

5 Cupola A Cupola, the dome-like structure on top of a barn (often with a weathervane perched on top), is a traditional element on a barn home. It's one of the most iconic rooflines in rural America.

Part 2 includes fence building instructions. If you are in need of an instant windbreak as we were, but haven't the funds to purchase trees or shrubbery large enough to create it perhaps this may be a practical alternative.

“Kimberly-Clark has been integrating sustainability into all aspects of our business—from the design and manufacture of our products, to serving the communities where we operate and sell our portfolio of essential products,” says Suhas Apte, Kimberly-Clark's...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluate all wetland activities before issuing the required permits. A highly prized timber tree for centuries, a cypress tree also provides a habitat for a variety of wildlife...

This can also delay your completion date, which can increase your construction loan interest, costing you thousands. Glu-Lam: Wood is glued together and milled into specific profiles.

You will also find Tabebuia with white, magenta or red blooms, but these may be harder to find. Adding this tree to your landscape is worth the effort it will take to find the plant.

If you are looking for a pine tree that grows fast with a straight trunk and attractive needles, the loblolly pine () may be your tree. This pine is also important to wildlife, providing food and habitat.The loblolly's native range runs across the American...

Douglas firs are also not technically true firs because they do not drop their cones to spread seeds, like balsam and other firs do. Douglas firs can have more of a bluish-green coloring than balsam firs.Balsam firs can live for up to 200 years, while...

Their seeds are eaten by squirrels and birds, which distribute the seeds to new areas. Pine cones are used as decorations and also in crafts. Siberian dwarf pine, mountain pine and bristlecone pines are examples of pines that grow in environments hostile...

With cultural information on growing and maintaining dozens of different perennials, this book comes off my shelf many times during the growing season. Coleman speaks from years of experience and is happy to share his life's lessons with humor and wit.

One of the nifty parts is that I have inherited a whole lot of old stuff. The bad news is that during the heavy rain a few days ago, a leak developed in the ceiling of the room I'm planning to use as my office.

The silver maple can bloom as early as February in some instances.Spring foliage usually appears before the flowers in most plants. Maples are important for timber and sugar production.

Also ask if they will rake and bale the pine straw for you or if you should deliver it to them raked.If you must rake the needles yourself, use a standard garden rake. Pine straw is a popular mulch in the southern United States.Contact your county extension...

Some states offer tax credits to help with the restoration or rehabilitation of historic barns. “The roof is one of the first things to go,” says Michael Woodford, treasurer for the National Barn Alliance and vice president of Woodford Bros., a family-owned...

Prevent overgrowth and spreading by installing root barriers around the plants. Clumping varieties form shallow root masses that stay in a clump.Running bamboo varieties grow more quickly than clumping plants, with an average growth in height of 3 to...

Ask lots of questions! As you learn, record the important biological and landscape features of your forest in your farm journal to help you organize and plan for woodland uses. Does your woodlot have a lot of paper birch trees?

“Once you move it and put new siding and roofing on, an old barn will last just as long or longer than any conventionally built barn,” says Boyle, who built his upstate New York home in 1975 using recycled barns.

So we called in an excavator to fine-tune the grading and also began what is still an ongoing project: filling each joint with new mortar mix and sand. And where would we store the hay?

A good friend gave me an early Christmas present last week. Lucky for me, my friend did manage to find it at a local nursery that never carried it before, and he nabbed it, knowing how much I've wanted one.

Anvil use can be as simple as a base for straightening bent metal or as complex as making metal bowls or other decorative work. The step is softer than the face, making it easier to redress or resurface if a chisel damages the step.

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott from Washington State University and Dr. Jeff Gilliam from the University of Minnesota tested these myths under controlled conditions to determine if they really work.

A regular balanced fertilizer with anof 10-10-10 is fine once the tree is a couple years old.Slash pine trees also benefit from a layer of mulch around the base, which keeps weeds in check and helps keep the soil evenly moist.

Appreciated since Victorian times, Coleus (now Solenostemon) lights up gardens and window boxes like precious gems. Many internal cellular functions in our bodies are activated with the cAMPmechanism.