How to Trim a Banana Tree After Freezing

How to Trim a Banana Tree After Freezing

Banana plants (Musa spp.) Are tropical herbs which do not do well in cold climates. They can be increased in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9b through 11, in which it seldom freezes. Sub-freezing temperatures can cause the banana plant to die back to the ground, but before you take out your saw to remove the dead material, you need to evaluate the situation prior to making a fatal error for your banana plant.

Analyze the leaves and pseudostem of the antioxidant plant after a freeze. If they are brown and wilted, you should remove them when the weather allows.

Look at your weather forecast to the next two weeks. Leave the damaged part of the banana plant in place if there’s a prospect of more freezing weather.

Saw the banana plant down to the ground after the icy weather is finished.

Cover the cut portion of the banana plant with a thick layer of mulch to protect it from the cold for the remainder of the winter. At the spring, the banana will regrow from the rhizome when the soil warms.

See related

The way to Identify Cherry Trees

The way to Identify Cherry Trees

Like all great artists, mother nature repeats her patterns objectively using just moment variations, making the phrase “unique” hard to apply. The cherry tree (Prunus spp.) is no exception. Even though the froth of spring blooms, polka dots of lemon and gray-brown, peeling bark may appear to differentiate the tree from all others, a number of different trees in the Prunus genus closely resemble the cherry. A cherry tree fundamental physical characteristics would allow you to pick it from a lineup even though they may be inadequate to differentiate it from relatives in the genus Prunus. You can always identify a cherry and distinguish it from its relatives, however, if you know what details to examine.

Look carefully at the flowers. Cherry tree flowers grow in white or pink clusters, with all blossom stalks arising from one central point. On the flip side, almond tree flowers grow in pairs, peach trees grow single flowers, and blackthorn trees bear flowers either separately or in pairs.

Count the styles. A style is that the long tubing topped with the stigma that connects into the flower’s ovary, the part that becomes the fruit. Each cherry tree blossom has just 1 style. Flowering crab-trees are able to look uncannily like cherry trees, but each flower has four to five styles. The flowers of the mespil tree have five styles, and apple and pear tree types have two to five.

Assess the fruit. Cherry plum trees and cherry trees appear to be mirror images even if decorated with fruit, but cherries are a bit smaller than cherry plums. If the fruit steps 3/4 of an inch or less, it is a cherry; cherry plums and routine plums are 1 inch or bigger.

Analyze the leaves. The cherry tree toothed leaves have been lance-shaped or oval and pointed at the tip. They are arranged alternately on divisions. As the tree is deciduous, its leaves fall in autumn.

Circle the tree to inspect the bark. A cherry tree bark is brownish or grey or a shade in between, and it often has thin rims running horizontally across the back. In some varieties, the bark peels in places to reveal a mahogany color beneath. A cherry tree may range between 6 and 40 feet tall, so height isn’t a distinguishing element.

See related

The way to Install a French Drain System

The way to Install a French Drain System

Poor drainage in a yard or close a structure can create awkward puddling, negatively impact the health of vegetation and lead to leaking or excessive humidity in a basement or crawlspace. 1 possible way to tackle a drainage issue is to install a French drain system which effectively transports water from structures or exposed low spots to a ditch, pond or municipal drain. The phrase “French drain” traditionally described a trench dug with a sloped bottom and filled solely with aggregates like gravel or rip-rap, but modern French drains typically include a lined, gravel-filled trench which also includes a perforated pipe to get more efficient drainage.

Dig a trench or trenches where you plan to install the French drain, making certain that the trench network extends through problematic low spots in the landscape, or alongside any exposed structure, to an appropriate outlet. Make the trench at least 12 inches wide and 24 inches deep, bearing in mind that the trench should slope gradually toward the outlet and your general thickness depends on the nature of the water issue. For example, if you are installing the French drain mainly to capture surface water, a shallow trench is appropriate, but if you are addressing potable water beside a structure, the trench should be as deep as the foundation footing.

Pound a stake into the ground at each end of each trench section and extend a string with a line degree attached between the bets, ensuring that the string is level and then mark the point at which the string is level on each stake.

Measure the distance between each pair of bets and calculate the essential drop in elevation between each pair of bets so that the trench bottom has a slope of at least 1 percent. For example, if a section of a trench is 50 feet, the thickness of the trench should increase .5 feet, or 6 inches, over that distance. Step down the second bet and adjust the string to this new degree.

Shape the bottom of the trench so that the string rests gently on the trench bottom.

Line the trench with landscaping material. This will definitely keep silt from entering the pipe and gravel, clogging it and shortening the effective life of this machine.

Place the 4-inch perforated PVC or corrugated plastic piping in the middle of the trench so that the perforations in the pipe have been oriented downward.

Cut any sections of this perforated PVC piping to dimension so that they fit in the prepared trenches, run a little piece of sandpaper across the inside and outside of the cut pipe ends to remove any burrs and dry fit the PVC pipe segments with couplings so that the entire piping system is joined together. When you have the pipes and couplings fit with them, make corresponding marks on each pipe end and the coupling it attaches to so it is possible to align them correctly before the PVC cement dries.

Spread PVC primer along the inside of each fitting and about the outside of the pipe end where the two will join together and let the primer dry for about 10 seconds.

Spread an even layer of PVC solvent cement over the primed surface on the pipe and in the matching and rapidly fit the pipe to the coupling a quarter-turn in the marked orientation. Twist the pipe or fitting as you push them together so that the marks are aligned and hold the pipe and fitting together securely for at least 15 seconds. Repeat this priming and re install, working from one end of this drain system to the other, until each of the pipes and couplings are securely joined.

Decide on a level on top of the pipe in various sections to be certain that the slight slope established on the trench bottom remains and remove or add soil or gravel under the pipe to correct the slope, as needed.

Add at least 12 inches of coarse, clean gravel across the drain pipe from the trench.

Cover the gravel layer with landscape material.

Fill in the remainder of the trench with gravel, other aggregate or the fill you eliminated when digging the trench.

See related

How to Force Crabapple Blossoms

How to Force Crabapple Blossoms

Flowering crabapple branches declare the coming of spring. You can enjoy the fragrant blossoms a few weeks prior to the tree comes into bloom by forcing divisions inside. Collect crabapple branches in February, once the buds start to swell. The hardiness of crabapple trees varies with the species and cultivar. Most will bloom in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 5 or 4 through 8 or 9.

Cut lateral stems of fresh development which are attached to a principal branch utilizing hand pruners. Choose the ones that have lots of flower buds. Make sure the loss of this stem won’t impact the form of this tree. Cut close the point where the stem attaches to the main branch so you don’t leave a stub.

Fill a large container with room temperature water and submerge the crabapple branches in water. Leave them to soak several hours or overnight.

Stand the crabapple branches in a bucket of water and set the bucket in a cool place for 2 times; warm temperatures in this stage decrease the quality of the flowers. Mist the branches from time to time to help keep the buds moist.

Eliminate the crabapple branches from the water and re-cut the ends of the stems. Scrape off the lower 2 inches of bark on every stem. Change the water in the bucket and put the branches back in the water.

Move the bucket to a place with bright, indirect sunlight. Change the water once or twice a week to stop bacterial growth and re-cut the base of the stems weekly. Watch for buds to open in 2 to 3 weeks.

Arrange the branches in a vase of water. Prepare a floral preservative according to the package instructions and use it to prevent the development of germs and prolong the display. Keep on re-cutting the stems and changing the water at least weekly.

See related

Chemicals to Kill Bamboo

Chemicals to Kill Bamboo

Bamboo (*Bambusa*, *Fargesia*, *Phyllostachys* and *Pleioblastus* spp.) Is really just an extremely tall-growing kind of evergreen grass. It’s hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 to 10. Running-type bamboo species like yellow groove (*Phyllostachys aureosulcata*), hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9, will grow rampant if they aren’t included. Utilize a non-selective herbicide to kill stands of bamboo which have outgrown their allotted place or if the area has to be cleared for new landscaping.

Glyphosate Herbicide

Utilize an herbicide which includes glyphosate to kill bamboo at the spring, summer or early autumn. It’s applied to the leaf or cut stumps. The herbicide, absorbed through the leaf or stump, goes via the bamboo to kill the roots of this plant.

Glyphosate Foliar Application

Cut the bamboo stalks off as near the ground as possible with loppers or a saw at the spring. Let the bamboo grow over the summer. In late summer or early autumn once the leaves are older, spray them with the herbicide. Dilute glyphosate concentrate at a rate of 2 percent or even 2 2/3 ounces of concentrate per gallon of water. Mix it in a tidy, 1-gallon milk jug or similar container. Pour the solution into a spray bottle or hand-pump pressure sprayer. Ready-to-use herbicides containing 1 percent glyphosate will even be successful. Spray the leaves and stems till they are moist but not dripping. 1 treatment should do the task, but keep an eye on the bamboo for a single year and re-treat, if needed, when fresh leaves are older. The leaves must begin to turn yellow and wilt within a single week. Don’t dilute the glyphosate in a higher concentration rate. It will kill the conductive tissue before it can reach the lower plant components and the bamboo will grow back.

Glyphosate Cut Stump Application

Utilize a ready-to-use herbicide which contains 8 to 10 percent glyphosate or dilute glyphosate concentrate to 8 to 10 percent to eliminate cut stumps in the summer or spring. Mix 13 ounces of 41 percent glyphosate concentrate into 1 gallon of water for 10 percent concentration. Mix it in a container, pour it into a spray bottle or bucket. Take it outside when cutting on the bamboo. Cut the bamboo stalks as near the ground as possible with loppers or a saw. Spray the herbicide or use a paint brush to coat the cut stump immediately after cutting the bamboo down. Thoroughly cover the entire top surface of the stump. It should not need to be retreated but, if the leaves grow back, then apply a foliar spray with glyphosate diluted to 1 to 2 percent.

Glyphosate Precautions

Apply glyphosate early in the day so it will be dry before day. Don’t spray glyphosate on a rainy afternoon or when rain is predicted within one day. Protect neighboring plants from drift as the herbicide can damage them. Use cardboard or plastic sheeting to cover nearby plants and also leave it on them for a couple hours to be sure the herbicide has settled. Wear protective eyewear, gloves and rubber gloves when using lasers. Keep people and pets off from the treated bamboo before the herbicide is completely dry.

See related

Are Thujas That Switch Brown Dead?

Are Thujas That Switch Brown Dead?

Thuja, also called arborvitae (Thuja spp.) Is a family of evergreen plants used frequently for hedges, accents and foundation plantings. The divisions are composed of sprays of flattened, scalelike leaves, accented by small, oblong cones. 1 well-known member of this group is oriental arborvitae (Thuja orientalis), which grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 11, depending on variety. Though generally trouble-free, thuja may sometimes be subject to branch browning. Brown branches don’t necessarily mean the tree is dead.

Health Assessment

Prior to taking any action, identify if the branch or branches are dead or not. If the branch is dead, then it will snap off on your hands when you bend it. A living branch is flexible. Once you have ascertained if the departments or division in question are living or dead, start looking for other clues. In case lots of the branches at various places on the plant snap off, the thuja is probably dying or dead. If the problem is only in 1 part of this plant and most of the divisions are flexible, it is possible the thuja can be stored.

Climate-Related Problems

Hot, dry summers can cause thuja divisions to “flag” or turn brownish. Spreading a 2- to 3-inch layer of organic mulch around the roots and increasing watering until dry and hot conditions subside should help keep the rest of the branches green. Winter temperatures can be a problem too. If the winter is cold, leaf may turn bronze, brown or dark in reaction. Usually no action is necessary and the discolored leaf will turn green again as temperatures rise in spring.

Root Problems

Root problems may create parts of this thuja to turn brown. If the root ball’s shirt is well below the edge of the surrounding ground at planting time, then the thuja may fail because it is planted too deep. Similarly, if the young tree is root-bound at planting period, together with roots girdling the dirt ball, the tree will start to turn brown within its first year. Slice through circling roots and spread the roots out gently prior to planting to avoid this problem. Eliminate any burlap or twine from around the thuja’s root ball at planting or they may also prevent root development.

Thuja Treatments

A thuja that’s completely brown and dead should be eliminated and its root ball assessed for signs of problems. A soil test may help determine if soil variables were to blame. If death was caused by compacted dirt, a buildup of fertilizer, soil pH that is too low or root weevils, those conditions must be treated before you plant a replacement. If a herbicide was implemented nearby, and you think that may have murdered the thuja, wait until the following year to replant. If browned branches are caused by a treatable condition, prune them away, apply the right therapy and track the thuja closely for signs of recurrence. When pruning, use shears that have been wiped with a cloth soaked in rubbing alcohol. This helps prevent the spread of infection.

See related

Nitrogen Food for Kaffir Limes

Nitrogen Food for Kaffir Limes

Even if its aromatic green leaves and bumpy, green fruit rind weren’t crucial ingredients in Thai cooking, the kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix) would be well worth growing for its deliciously fragrant white blossoms. Also called Thai lime, the frost-tender tree grows to 25 feet tall when planted outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 12. Elsewhere, grow it like a compact houseplant and summer it outside. Like all citrus varieties, kaffir lime needs regular applications of high-nitrogen fertilizer.

The Way Nitrogen Helps

A kaffir lime requires nitrogen to encourage lush, healthy foliage. Without lots of leaves to photosynthesize its food, then it does not have enough energy for flowering, fruiting and crushing disease and pest damage. To get a tree grown for its edible leaves, adequate nitrogen is important.

How to Determine Nitrogen Content

Look at the first of the N-P-K statistics on a fertilizer’s label. An “N” number of 10 means that the fertilizer contains 10 percent nitrogen, therefore a 50-pound bag could have 5 lbs of actual nitrogen. To provide your lime with 1 pound of actual nitrogen, you would use 10 pounds of the fertilizer. If the “N” number were 20, the bag could contain 20 percent, or 10 lbs, of actual nitrogen. Five pounds of the fertilizer would provide your lime with 1 pound of actual nitrogen. The greater a fertilizer’s “N” number, in other words, the less of the fertilizer the tree requires.

Fertilizing a Young Lime

In the first year after planting, fertilize your kaffir lime monthly from early spring to late summer. Use 1 tbsp, or the brand’s recommended number, of granulated 21-0-0 ammonium sulfate fertilizer. Scatter it evenly over the root ball and then water the tree well. Starting in the second season, fertilize every four to six months between spring and late summer. A second-year kaffir lime gets 1/2 cup of 21-0-0 granules per program; raise the 1 cup in the third year and 2 cups in the fourth. Spread them a few inches from the back to 1 or two feet beyond the dripline, where rain falls from the outermost branches to the ground. Water the soil slowly to a thickness of 1 inch, or about 6 gallons of water per 10 square foot.

Fertilizing an Established Lime

A proven kaffir lime needs between 1 and 1 1/2 lbs of actual nitrogen per year. That amounts to between 5 and 5 7 1/2 lbs of 21-0-0 ammonium nitrate. Divide the fertilizer into four equal portions and implement it every four to six weeks beginning in February. Keep the granules away from the back and sprinkle them evenly over the roots. Extend the coverage 2 to 5 feet beyond the dripline and water the top 1 inch of soil.

Recognizing Nitrogen Deficiency

If your lime’s leaves have started yellowing from the lower branches up and out of their hints toward their stems, it’s nitrogen deficient. In a Mediterranean climate, a lack is most likely to happen when winter rains leach sulfur in the soil.

See related

DIY Repurposed Bathroom Vanities

DIY Repurposed Bathroom Vanities

The real problems you face when repurposing furniture would be the dimensions of your toilet, your imagination with, the thing you need to work, and the thickness of your skills. Homeowners have repurposed items to be used elsewhere but recently they have turned to classic, vintage or even cast-off contemporary furniture as alternatives to the bathroom vanities from off the shelf. Units may often hold a couple of toilet sinks, while concealing the plumbing and supplying extra storage. You can spend money on two or this Luxurious sink when you examine an old piece of furniture for a few bucks at the flea market, yard sale or a thrift shop you wanted.

Dresser to Bathroom Vanity

An outdated dresser with antique glass knobs functions well in a toilet with a new sink. Basically are holes cut to accept the drain piping and plumbing of the sink, and a portion of the rear cut to align with all the plumbing that comes from the wall. Simply clean out the dresser and coating it with a polyurethane finish that is protective or abandon it as-is for a look in your bathroom’s decor.

Console Table

A table with a shelf at the bottom presents an bathroom vanity. Choose a metal P-trap because you will have the ability to see it to go beneath the sink; white or black PVC piping will not look fine. Cut a hole to drop in a sink using a lip that keeps it. You have to cut holes for the faucet and handles, like with a vanity. Store towels on the shelf beneath the sink and add a basket to home often-used toilet supplies. Refinish the table in your stain and complete, or abandon it as-is based on your design scheme.

Vintage Mirrored Dresser

A classic mirror dresser has new life breathed into it when it is used in the toilet as a vanity. Since the mirror is connected to the dresser, you do not have to hang out a mirror, and the dresser offers ample storage. Paint the dresser utilizing painting methods that are classic, make it as-is for a look, or paint it black and employ a transparent shiny finish to utilize in a home that is modern.

Transformational Buffet

When you have the table which goes with this inherited dining buffet or sideboard, turn it to some bathroom vanity that is repurposed. You may need to cut the legs a bit down if it is too tall for your master toilet, but adding two vessel sinks atop only requires access for plumbing. Cut the holes for the sink drains, faucets and handles, and open its rear to accommodate the plumbing up. The drawers in the centre provide needed toilet storage, while supplying under-the-sink storage and the two cupboards on either side hide the plumbing.

See related

How to Make Napkin Rings Made By Silk Flowers

How to Make Napkin Rings Made By Silk Flowers

Set a pretty table with silk flower napkin rings themed to the room, holiday or the color of your decor. Preserve your budget to get a wonderful linen tablecloth and matching napkins. Then wave your DIY wand above a couple of craft supplies and festive floral napkin rings seem as if by magic. Choose either of two procedures to make the place setting decor; both homemade napkin ring styles are easy and sturdy enough to soften often.

Stretch Napkin Ring

Cut one or two silk flowers in their stalks, very near the base of the flower, for each napkin ring. Push a threaded needle through the flower bases, singly or 2 at a time.

Select one wide, fabric-covered hair elastic for each napkin ring and position the silk flower on the elastic. Sew the flower securely to this elastic band.

Knot the thread, then cut it off and slip the floral ring over a rolled or gathered napkin.

Green Napkin Ring

Cut the stalk of one silk flower, leaving just enough of this wired stem to wrap around a plastic shower curtain ring.

Wrap the stem and the base of the flower in green florist’s tape. Continue winding the tape across the curtain ring, overlapping each new layer of tape to completely conceal the ring.

Cut the tape after the whole ring is covered in the blossom is fixed to the ring. Squeeze the end of the tape to the covered ring so it is indistinguishable. Slide the ring over a rolled napkin or the narrow end of a folded and fanned napkin.

See related

How to Install a Fiberglass Wall Liner

How to Install a Fiberglass Wall Liner

Fiberglass wall liners are used with a tub or shower pan. The wall liners are watertight, and they work as the surround at the tub or shower when installed correctly. Liners are designed to work with their brand of tub or shower, but many permit you to modify the liner to fit your existing tub or shower. It is essential that you use cement planks in your walls as a substrate to prevent mold growth. Your cement planks ought to be level and straight for the best installation results that are liner.

Gauge the width of your wall. Place the wall liner onto a floor. Assess the diameter of the liner. The liner should be the exact same length or more than you want. It is unlikely your wall corners are straight. Place the liner on the wall as as possible with the liner level and also with the surface of the bathtub or skillet if they’re crooked. Place a compass together with the metal tip against the wall and the pencil onto the liner. Find the widest gap and open the compass to that width. Proceed the end of the compass along the wall with all the compass hauled away from the wall in a 90-degree angle. Scribe the wall edge onto the liner.

Cut with a rotary tool across the line that is scribed. Fit back the liner on the wall and to the corner. Mark the height of the liner onto the wall. Lay the liner back on the floor. Measure from the surface of the bathtub or shower pan to your mark. Transfer your measurement. Assess the width in your mark height and transfer your measurement. Assess the width and transfer that mark.

Check to find out how crooked your second corner is. When it’s every bit as jagged, notice the total amount of the location that is very crooked. Quantify that amount. Insert that measurement to the width of your liner on top and bottom marks. Use a straightedge to draw a line and cut on the fiberglass. Position the liner at the corner and scribe the correct fit. Cut your liner again. It should fit comfy and level. It become tight or ought not bind on the wall.

Apply construction adhesive on the wall. Use an adhesive. Position your liner and press it in the adhesive. Pull away the liner after a few seconds. Wait a moment and then press on the liner back . This will activate the adhesive and make it stick immediately.

Draw a vertical line in the facing edge of your bathtub or shower pan up the wall to the height of the liner. Repeat on each side. Measure to a line from the corner. In case your corner is crooked, utilize your scribing method to add the amount of the crookedness. Cut, recut and scribe. Your edge should stay level and vertical. Glue, lift and press on the panel.

Cut your faucet wall liner to dimension using the techniques. Quantify for the holes for the faucet head and taps and transfer those measurements to the liner. Check your measurements. Cut through the liner in your measurement saws. Glue, lift and press on the panel.

Fit the corner to the rear and side wall. Mark the edges of the corner onto the fiberglass in pencil. Apply glue within the marks to the fiberglass. Remove the paper backing on the adhesive strips built into the corner pieces. Press, press on and lift the corner. Repeat with the second corner. Allow the paste.

See related