Maintaining your home's landscaping and yard

• Here are some essential tools to maintain your yard:

• Trowel - Without a trowel, no perennials would be planted, no containers potted and no bulbs buried in the ground. The strongest trowels are made of steel and the lightest are made of cast aluminum. Handles are fashioned of wood or easy-grip plastic. Those designed with handle and blade all in one piece offer greater durability.

• Watering can - Whether for spot-watering wilting plants or fertilizing containers of annuals, a watering can is a garden essential. Generally, those with a longer spout are better balanced. Easy-care, lightweight plastic watering cans work just as well as the more attractive brass and copper ones.

• Transplanting spade - With its long, narrow blade, a transplanting spade gets into tight spots in the garden, reducing the likelihood of damage to nearby plants. It’s also more suitable than traditional spades to dig holes deep enough to accommodate plant roots.

• Fork - A garden fork is indispensable for safely lifting out the roots of an established perennial, dividing overgrown plants or harvesting root vegetables. Stainless steel blades are the strongest.

• Pruners - Keep overgrown shrubs and trees within bounds with a good pair of secateurs or pruners. The by-pass types are better buys than the anvil pruners because they make cleaner cuts. Look for secateurs with a swivel handle – they’re easier on the wrist.

• Wheelbarrow or garden cart - Wheelbarrows make light work of trucking through the garden with heavy sacks of soil or unwieldy bags of peat moss. Whether you choose a conventional wheelbarrow, a garden cart, buggy or wagon, it’s sure to take a beating in the garden so buy one of good quality.

• Edger - Place the finishing touches on your garden with an edger. This moon-shaped hand tool slices into the ground to create a clean, sharp edge between flowerbeds and lawn.

• Soaker hose - Sprinklers water lawns – soaker hoses irrigate gardens. Placed at ground level, this perforated hose trickles water into the soil, slowly delivering moisture to the root zone – just where plants need it.

• Sprinkler irrigation - Brown spots in your lawn can mean bad sprinkler head coverage, which is a good indication that a filter (or a head) is clogged and needs cleaning. Spray heads have water ports (nozzles) in a variety of arc patterns, including full, half, and quarter, circle, and variable. A slot cut in the edge of the head allows water to flow out in the arc pattern.

The drop type spreader (shown at left) "drops" a set rate of fertilizer. This type is best suited for a limited space in order to avoid wide dispersal on sidewalks and driveways. The amount of fertilizer that is spread depends on the opening setting, the type of fertilizer used, and the speed at which the spreader is pushed.

The broadcast type, also called the rotary or cyclone type, (shown at right), has a rotating disc that "throws out" a circular pattern of fertilizer as it is pushed. This type is best suited for large areas with a wide dispersal range to cover. Both types of spreaders have opening settings for different fertilizer formulations. The settings are only approximate at best, and it is important to calibrate the spreaders before they are used.

Too much fertilizer can be harmful to the lawn and may lead to water pollution through run-off or leaching of nutrients. Some brands of fertilizers have setting information on the bag; other brands don't. Since the amount of nitrogen in fertilizers varies, remember that you should be figuring your application rates from pounds of nitrogen needed, not just pounds of product.

• Forecasters are predicting below average rainfall for San Diego -The following tips will help you keep your lawn healthy during drought periods and still allow you to do your part to conserve water.

• Water Efficiently - Don’t Skimp. If you have to cut back on watering it is better to increase the time between watering rather than increase the amount of water you apply during each irrigation. Light sprinkling does little good for your lawn. Instead water to a depth of six to eight inches to encourage deep rooting. These deep roots offer grass a larger reservoir of moister to draw from to withstand dry periods. To measure water penetration, probe the soil with a stiff rod or screwdriver. The rod or screwdriver will move easily through moist soil but will be harder to push when it reaches dry soil. Do not to water at night but water early morning. When watering in early morning you don't loose water from evaporation like you would do during the middle of the day and you do not enhance diseases (since the water will evaporate from the leaf blades in a few hours) as you would by watering late in the evening or a night (by watering late in the evening the water sits there and provides and ideal conditions for disease buildup).

• Watering Trees - Water young trees regularly. Water every week during dry weather. The first one to two years are especially important for roots to become well established.

• Note About Tree Roots - Tree roots spread to the tips of the branches, often farther. Compacting the soil, cutting the roots, or changing the level of the soil that covers the roots can slowly kill existing trees. Before doing landscape or home construction or underground utility work, consult an urban forester on how to best work around existing trees and avoid tree problems

• Fertilizer - Fertilize at the beginning of the growing season with a product that contains a timed-release fertilizer that lasts many weeks. Repeat according to package directions.

• Pest control - Ants, roaches and other pests wander indoors looking for food, water or a better environment. Stack wood away from the house and off the ground on a base of elevated, pressure treated 2 x 4 lumber . Inspect basement floors and exposed wood in the basement for moisture, especially boards close to the ground. Be sure to seal cracks around molding surrounding exteriors doors, windows and openings in areas where utilities enter the house or basement Spray the perimeter of your home against pests by creating a preventive barrier in and around your house. Avoid standing water in your garden by using a fountain or circulating pump to water.

• Pruning - Late winter is the perfect time to take a stroll around your trees and shrubbery and get them into shape because the branch structures are devoid of leaves and clearly exposed. This not only makes the plant's architecture easier to see but also easier to clean up. What's more, the spring blooming will rapidly heal any accidental cuts from your shears.

• Topiary - Topiary is the pruning and training of a plant into a desired geometric or animal shape. The procedure involves a pre-made animal wire armature filled with moss. Here are the steps:

• Soak the moss in water.
• Open wire sculptures into its two (2) halves.
• Squeeze out excess moisture in moss.
• Stuff ears, feet, tail & nose with small amounts of moss at a time using fingers or suggested tools to pack firmly.
• Decide if you are going to decorate/plant the face
• Place your first plug (it may be necessary to shake off excess soil) into the face area without pressing against the wires.
• Gently pull the longer stems of plant material through the wires.
• Gradually push the root ball against the wire, continuing to pull plant stems through.
• Gently stuff some moss against the root ball, sides and base, to hold the plant in place.
• Restrict plant material to the sides and top of your piece: continue to add moss and plant plugs in the first half of the wire frame.
• Repeat steps 1-10 for the second half.
• Join the two halves together using the plastic connectors provided, usually at the top, bottom and sides. At first, pull together until all parts join together. The nut picker is great for pulling the end of the plastic wire back through the frame. Tighten, cut off excess plastic.
• Trim excess moss with scissors.
• Gently place plant stems over frame, hold in place using wire fern picks or if not available, cut and bend #20 wire into picks.
• Soak complete frame in a bucket of diluted starter fertilizer or, if too large, water with fertilizer.
• Keep in a shaded area for several days out of the wind until plants settle in.