• Check hoses and sprinklers for holes and leaks from damage and wear. Replace or repair as needed to conserve water.

• Buy hoses with lifetime warranties. Use a permanent marker to write the name of the store where the hose was purchased. That way, you can just take the hose to the store for easy exchange if needed.

• Use hoses that have a diameter of 5/8 inch instead of 1/2 inch. The bigger hoses work better. Use hoses made from recycled materials.

• Last call to prune azaleas. These shrubs will begin producing flower buds for spring in a couple of weeks. So get out there this weekend and prune the azaleas.

• Now is a good time to spray annuals, perennials and container gardens with some liquid fertilizer. Use at half the recommended strength.

• Pinch back mums. This encourages bushy growth and delays flowering.

• Replenish mulches around the garden. Do this to conserve moisture and control weeds.

• Gardenias often get black sooty mold on the leaves during the hot, humid summer months. This fungus looks like soot is covering the leaf. Although ugly, it rarely kills the shrub. Try spraying with a fungicide.

• Plant pumpkin seeds now and have jack-o-lanterns this Halloween.

Todd Goulding can be reached at GouldingDesignGroup@gmail.com 345-0719.

View full sizeRick HoddinottUsing a rototiller to dig up earth and power-washing stones was all part of the job when Rick Hoddinott installed a water garden at his Akron home. Hoddinott’s home is part of Hoffman’s Garden Center’s Parade of Ponds, a self-guided tour taking place over two weekends in July.

AKRON, Ohio — When you’re hunting for water gardens in Summit County, it helps to have a native guide such as my friend Ron Syroid.

I met Syroid back in the 1980s when I was editor of Friday magazine and he was impresario of the Akron Civic Theatre. He knows nearly everyone and everything happening in Akron. The best thing about him is that, being retired, he always has time to talk. He usually answers his cellphone with a hearty, “Hello, it’s Ak-RON!” Get it? And although I tell him not to talk and drive, he never obeys me.

When I asked him to drive me to a couple of stops on Hoffman’s Parade of Ponds — the idea of wrestling with the GPS in my not-so-smartphone brought on shudders — he didn’t blink. By the appointed day, he had our route all mapped out.

Hoffman’s Parade of Ponds is like a home tour, but with the emphasis on ponds and water gardens. Tour-goers buy a booklet listing the participating homes and drive to see them on a self-guided tour. The event, sponsored by Hoffman’s Garden Center in Green, raises money for Akron Children’s Hospital’s burn unit.

Hoffman customers sign up to be on the tour, which takes place over two weekends in July. I finagled a list of participating homes early so that I could tell you, Dear Reader, about this event in time for you to add it to your calendar.

Syroid met me at The Bomb Shelter, a way-cool Akron resale and antique shop that I’ll write about in a future column. We set off in his Honda crammed with baseball hats, clothes, old books and boxes of junk; it’s all flotsam from his volunteer efforts for various nonprofits.

“I work out of my car,” Syroid mumbled when I thanked him for clearing out the front seat for me.

Our first stop was the Wadsworth home of Sheryl Kovarik and her son Brendan. We walked to the backyard to find a delightful waterfall and “river” emptying into a 27-by-25-foot pond.

PREVIEW: Hoffman’s Garden Center’s Parade of Ponds

What: A self-guided tour of about 30 water gardens and ponds in Summit, Stark, Portage and Medina counties. The event benefits Akron Children’s Hospital burn center.

When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays, July 14-15 and July 21-22.

Where: Tour booklets available at Hoff man’s Garden Center, 1021 E. Caston Road, Green. They are also available at Biggins’ Big Dip in Akron, Graf Growers in Akron and Mock Property Services in Mogadore.

Tickets: $8 before July 14; $10 during the event. 330-896-9811.

Dragonflies and frogs darted among the cattails and mint growing along the pond’s edges; catfish and koi lazily patrolled the water. Black-eyed Susans and a hanging swing added to the charming scene.

Sheryl explained that a then-teenage Brendan — already interested in landscape design — built the pond eight years ago. Brendan enlisted his family for help, especially his uncle with an excavating business.

“It’s a lot more work and costs a lot more money than people think,” Brendan said. Filters need to be cleaned regularly and chemicals added to keep the water clear and kill algae, he said. Brendan estimated it cost about $8,000.

The family expects nearly 80 people to see their pond during the Parade of Ponds. They have participated in the event for about five years.

Water gardeners have to think about what will happen to fish and plants during winter. Brendan’s pond is deep enough for the fish to survive. Calla lilies and hibiscus are in pots for easy transfer to a kiddie pool in the family’s basement, where they spend the cold months.

“It’s a lot of work, but enjoyable,” Sheryl said. “I would do it again. It’s always nice to come out and listen to the waterfall.”

I could have spent the afternoon on the Kovariks’ swing, but we had to move on. Next on the list was the home of Rick Hoddinott. The working-class Akron neighborhood wasn’t a place you’d expect to find a backyard pond, Ron and I agreed. But when we neared a riot of rosebushes so tall they obscured the house, we knew we had found the right place.

Hoddinott, an effusive man with a passion for growing things, agreed with our assessment of his neighborhood. “People don’t expect this in the ‘hood,” he laughed. This is his parents’ house, he explained; he bought it after they moved, then purchased an adjoining lot for more room to garden.

Before we got to the water garden, he gave us a tour of his beautifully landscaped yard, where tree hydrangea, daylilies, dwarf conifers, bamboo and flower crabapple crowded winding paths of crushed coral, which is pinker and prettier than ordinary gravel. Potted palm, fig and lemon trees held court on the back porch.

We emerged at Hoddinott’s 4,000-gallon pond, accented by water-spurting bronze turtles, fed by three waterfalls and thick with Egyptian lotus, a type of waterlily. Massive carp, one completely white, lazily flicked their tails. Pickle rush, proudly putting out blue cones, and water celery pressed close to the water.

“This is my de-stresser,” Hoddinott said. I certainly felt relaxed enough to flop onto a nearby lawn chair and listen to the water’s music.

Hoddinott installed the water garden about six years ago in a corner of his property that was prone to flooding. The original pond took about a week to install; he added extra waterfalls later. His fish and water plants stay outdoors year-round with help from two heaters and a bubbler that keeps the water from freezing, he said.

I wondered if he had any advice for homeowners thinking about installing a water garden. Plan the placement of electric plugs for pumps and lights ahead of time, he said; you might need to run cables underground.

Any other tips? “Make it bigger than what you plan,” Hoddinott said.

He said he bought his water garden supplies at Hoffman’s and Earth and Wood in the Akron area, so Syroid and I checked them out. I almost bought a cute patio-size water-garden container complete with plants, but Ron said no because it would drip.

Later, I spoke with Bill Hoffman, owner of Hoffman’s Garden Center, about why he started the Parade of Ponds event.

“People have an interest in seeing other people’s ponds and work,” Hoffman said.

I had assumed that all the ponds on the tour would be those installed by Hoffman, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, the company stopped building ponds about 12 years ago to concentrate on selling pond accessories and water plants, Hoffman said.

Many of the ponds were installed by homeowners themselves, with help from the store’s how-to seminars. “They do some phenomenal work,” Hoffman said. The cost of a pond or water garden starts between $500 and $1,500.

If you’re going on the Parade of Ponds because you’re thinking about adding a pond to your landscape, ask about pumps, filtration systems and what the pond owner would do differently, Hoffman said.

A hot trend in landscaping is the pond-less water feature, Hoffman said. This feature has a waterfall that seems to disappear into the ground. Actually, the water runs into a hidden container and is pumped back to the waterfall. They’re safe for families with small children, but allow homeowners to enjoy the sight and sound of water. An example can be seen at Biggins’ Big Dip in Akron, which is a stop on the tour.

The top complaint Hoffman says he hears about water gardens is from people who didn’t build their water feature big enough. That echoed what Rick Hoddinott said, so I’d better pay attention.

Forget about that little water-garden container I was eyeing. Anyone know where I can rent a backhoe?

By Networx’s Sayward Rebhal:

Did you know that many of the traditional organic fertilizers, for hobby home gardeners, for professional landscapers and for large-scale commercial farmers, are derived from animals and their by-products? Blood meal, bone meal, manure, fish emulsion, the list goes on and on. Animal parts can pop up in almost every phase of a standard growing season. So much so, that using them can almost seem unavoidable.

But these days, a lot of people are choosing to grow their gardens without the addition of animal products, and for many different reasons: they may be vegan or have an ethical objection, they may have religious limitations, or they may have allergies, just to name a few. In water-strapped communities that are over-tapped by local plumbing demands, like San Diego, non-animal fertilizing practices like mulching can help to conserve water. So for those folks, here’s animal-friendly list. A handy dandy cheat sheet, if you will. Your options are as follows.

Do you have any other animal-free fertilizing tips or tricks? Let us all know down in the comments!

List and captions courtesy of Networx

Loading Slideshow

• 1. Compost

  a href=”http://www.networx.com/article/80-items-you-can-compost” target=”_hplink”Compost is the perfect plant food/a. It’s incredibly rich in myriad minerals, and it also provides important beneficial bacteria and other essential micro fauna. These organisms help to colonize the soil, keeping it “clean” and within a desirable pH range.

  You can make your own compost at home, using yard waste and kitchen scraps, or you can buy premade compost. Many brands offer animal-free options. Just look for boxes that are marked “vegan”.

• 2. Liquid Herbal Infusions

  Many of the most common plants, even some that are considered pests, can be full of important minerals such as nitrogen, iron, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. These “a href=”http://www.networx.com/article/7-edible-weeds” target=”_hplink”wonder weeds/a” include nettle, dandelion, oat straw, horse tail, and comfrey, to name a few.

  It’s easy to make a strong infusion from any of these, by chopping them up and allowing them to steep in a bucket of water in the sun. Once the brew is good and strong, it can be used to supplement your vegetables or fruit trees.

• 3. Seaweed

  Sea vegetables are an excellent source of trace minerals, like sodium, copper, zinc, and more. Many gardeners overlook the importance of these lesser minerals, because they’re so focused on the coveted trio, N-P-K. However, over time soil can become depleted of trace minerals, and plants can really begin to suffer.

  Seaweed is sold as liquid or meal (often labeled as kelp). There are many brands available, so check out your local nursery.

• 4. Mulch With Straw

  Mulching is a technique whereby the garden bed is covered with some sort of barrier – in this case straw – either over the winter or in order to prepare a new plot for planting. The benefit of mulching with straw is that the organic matter slowly breaks down and “feeds” the soil. Mulching also encourages worms to live underneath, and worms are the perfect ingredient for healthy, happy dirt.

• 5. Nitrogen-Fixing Crops

  Also called “green manure”, this is another technique that uses actual plants to create an organic fertilizer. The nitrogen-gathering plants are allowed to grow for just a short while, and then they’re tilled into the ground. The cover crops provide a protection from weeds, while turning them under returns the nitrogen to the soil. The most common crops used for green manure are wheat, oats, rye, vetch, clover, peas, and broad beans.

• Also On The Huffington Post…

  Get great results in your garden by making your own fertilizer and compost at home.

Carl Jarvis constantly battles the brush taking over his 10-acre parcel near Quilcene. On a recent sunny day, he was cutting a 600-foot-long trail to his water tank and sawing back vegetation on a steep hill.

The day’s labor wasn’t unusual for a rural property owner, except for one factor: Jarvis is completely blind.

“I just go along the hillside on my hands and knees cutting off the brush and raking out the roots,” Jarvis says.

Jarvis, 77, lost his eyesight from retinal detachment when he was 30. While he acknowledges he can’t do everything a sighted person can, he hasn’t let his disability stop him from enjoying the acreage he shares with wife Cathy.

“I believe I can do anything I need to do,” Jarvis says. He grows tomatoes in pots on his deck. “Anything else, the deer will get it.”

Jarvis is one of many Western Washington citizens who have continued gardening while living with disabilities. And the adaptations he and others have made can be applied to any gardener whose hands are tired and back is sore after a day of digging in the dirt.

PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

Bryan Ketola was a hard-working 22-year-old in 1992 when he went bar hopping in Thurston County early on Halloween morning. On Rich Road, he lost control of his car, crashing it. The impact threw him into a ditch. It was 4 a.m.

“The officers found me at 5 a.m. I was passing in and out of consciousness,” Ketola remembers, 20 years later. He’s sitting in a wheelchair in Olympia’s Yauger Community Garden. The accident left Ketola a quadriplegic with limited use of his arms and hands.

In 2010, Ketola was running a small nursery business at Olympia Farmers Market. His personal life was spiraling downward. He was drinking too much. He didn’t care whether he lived or died.

“I just wanted to stay home. I didn’t want anyone to see me. I was like a mole,” Ketola says.

One day, he came across a notice about the Washington State University Extension Master Gardeners Program. Somehow, he knew it was meant for him and enrolled in the class.

“It broke the shell. Since then, I’ve done a 180,” Ketola says. He now grows vegetables for Thurston County Food Bank and coaches soccer for the YMCA.

Ketola now passes his gardening knowledge on to his soccer kids and their families. The kids learn gardening at Yauger garden and then go home to create their own gardens.

“It’s very rewarding to have the produce in front of you,” he says.

Not only did the Master Gardeners Program change Ketola’s life, he was able to teach his classmates about accessibility.

“They began to notice those things they take for granted could be a challenge to others.”

What can be a simple task for the able-bodied gardener might become Herculean or even impossible for the disabled.

Ketola has made modifications to his tools and other garden fixtures. He uses a child’s rake to extend his reach and adds foam pipe insulation and Velcro to other tools to improve his grip.

Manufacturers finally are starting to catch on to the fact there’s money to be made with specialized tools for gardeners dealing with arthritis and other disabilities. Many tools can be made at home such as using PVC pipes to both dig holes and deliver seeds beyond reach.

Planning is key to setting up an accessible garden, Ketola says. He’s a big fan of raised beds. At the community garden, he uses a cattle watering trough that rises more than two feet above the ground. Ketola says a soil height of 24 to 28 inches is ideal for someone in a wheelchair or just someone sitting in a chair.

“Gardening is better sitting down because you’re not leaning over. It saves your back,” Ketola says.

Raised beds should be built wide enough to accommodate a person’s reach without putting them in danger of falling. Ketola also recommends putting them on legs or stands to let gardeners get closer. They also can be modified with seats, padding and rails.

Though raised beds are mostly used for vegetables, they’re certainly not their exclusive domain. They also can be used to grow annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees

As Ketola wheels himself through the garden, his chair bogs down in gravel and he asks for a push. The incident illustrates two of Ketola’s recurring messages: the importance of accessible surfaces and not being embarrassed to ask for assistance.

Ketola does as much as he can in the garden but has no qualms about asking family members for help or making a call to the city to get hard surfaces installed or water faucet handles swapped out.

“It’s very therapeutic to get your hands dirty. It relieves the mind of all that stress,” Ketola says. “If you have a disability, don’t give up. It’s all about your attitude.”

VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Carl Jarvis and his wife run a government-funded program in Clallam and Jefferson Counties that helps visually impaired people older than 55 to maintain independence and enjoy hobbies they had while their vision was good – including gardening.

Many of their clients are facing age-related eye issues that have robbed them of their vision. The average age of clients enrolled in the Independent Living Older Blind Program is 83, Jarvis says. He helps the newly blind, “get past the anger, frustration and fear” that often follows the loss of sight.

“The idea is that you can go out and pick up that trowel and get back to it,” Jarvis says.

When the Jarvises lived in Renton, they grew roses. Jarvis admits the thorns were a constant problem.

“When you are totally blind you really have to get hands-on with things. I’ve never met a rose that didn’t have to take a swing at me.”

When it comes to flowers and ornamentals, Jarvis picks subjects for elements that can’t be seen.

“I go for texture, I go for smell and I go for the feel,” he says.

A gardener before his blindness, it took Jarvis time to adapt. “I weeded without realizing I was weeding the potato patch. I did such a thorough job, we needed to plant them again.” Now, Jarvis said, “I usually get a person with vision to confirm things.”

Jarvis offers these tips for visually impaired gardeners:

Use twine and pegs to mark out flower beds and vegetable rows. The strings also can delineate the rows for weeding.

Containers create easier control and portability.

Use commercial vegetable seeds tapes or make your own with masking tape.

At harvest time, size and feel can help to judge ripeness. Washington State Department of Services for the Blind

info@dsb.wa.gov, 800-552-7103

Olympia/Lacey Office: 4565 7th Ave. S.E., Lacey

360-725-3830

Tacoma Office: 949 Market Street, Suite 508, Tacoma

253-597-4417

Independent Living Older Blind program: 206-685-4181

craig.sailor@thenewstribune.com 253-597-8541

As diligent as you might be about heeding all the gardening tips you’ve heard over the years, are there some where you simply question their value? You wonder if maybe grandma’s advice really was the best? Or maybe has become outdated?

The National Garden Bureau did. So, the group turned to its members and asked for their professional expertise on a few commonly cited garden tips to find out if they were still applicable in today’s gardening world.

Here is the latest update.

Myth: To get sweeter tomatoes, add sugar to the planting hole.

Busted!

Sorry grandma, this is not true. Tomato plants can’t absorb sugar in the soil, they produce it through photosynthesis. The sugar content of a variety is predetermined in the plant’s genetics.

Myth: Perennials won’t bloom the first year, especially bare root.

Half-busted!

With modern breeding and growing techniques, this is no longer true. In Florida, we can buy perennials such as pentas, angelonias or periwinkles already in bloom, and they just continue. However, if you buy a potted perennial that requires over wintering, then you will have to wait through the first winter to get the desired blooms. It’s best to inquire from the seller to find out what to expect that first season after planting. I have some shasta daisies with wonderful spreading foliage, but they haven’t bloomed yet. I am hoping I don’t have to wait as long as winter.

Myth: Pinch off all blooms of annual bedding plants before planting.

Busted!

In many cases, pinching is no longer an absolute must because today’s commonly available bedding plants are bred to be more compact with continuous blooms. So, you don’t need the pinch to manage growth or promote another flush of blooms.

Myth: Add chalk or egg shells to the planting hole.

True.

This is a good tip, as both of these items will help prevent blossom end rot in tomatoes, because they provide calcium to the fruit. Because egg shells take a while to decompose, crush or grind the shells to enable them to dissolve faster.

Myth: Putting egg shell flakes around the base of plants will prevent slug damage.

True.

Yes, grandma was right: Slugs do not like to crawl over the jagged surface of sharp eggshells, so putting down a barrier of crushed (not ground too finely) egg shells is a great deterrent.

Founded in 1920, the National Garden Bureau is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to disseminate basic instructions for home gardeners. I used to work for them; another job I loved.

* * * * *

Today’s pick: Coleus has always been a wonderful annual for all of the warm months in Florida and has been considered a shade plant, but there are some new varieties that will take full sun if they have enough water. All of them root easily and stay nice until winter cold. If cuttings are taken before that, they will last all winter indoors and can be started anew when the cold is past. Most growers cut off the flowers to put more energy into the foliage, but sometimes the flowers are decorative as well.

* * * * *

Now’s the time to bring up something else new. Planting tomatoes in a trench or up to the first true leaves promotes a sturdier plant. Planting deeply does help elongate the rooting area because any point on the stem that comes into contact with the soil will root. The exception is when planting grafted tomatoes, because if the top work scion takes root it will negate the benefits of the grafted rootstock; so never plant a grafted tomato too deeply.

OK. I didn’t even know there were grafted tomatoes until this sent me to research. So far, they are used mostly in commercial greenhouses, but they may soon be on the market for home growers and are said to have improved vigor, production and disease resistance.

Be ready. There is always something new to learn about gardening.

PHUKET: Few other yellow flowers can compete with the golden opulence of a sunflower, chalice vine or allamanda in full bloom. But that does not lessen the value of less spectacular garden inhabitants.

Take the galphimia or “shower of gold”, which is sometimes referred to as thryallis in books on gardening.

To give it a human epithet, this small, compact shrub is what horticulturalists like to describe as “busy”: it grows quickly and, given the right conditions, flowers abundantly. The yellow star-shaped blooms, which have small, spaced petals, are produced in dense panicles which open at the same time, giving the shrub an almost luminous appearance.

The small glossy evergreen leaves are borne on masses of slender stems, which are reddish when young. There is another form – glauca – which has foliage that is bronzy above and grayish-green below.

This import from Mexico is a tolerant plant, able to withstand short periods of drought. It can, moreover, be pruned with impunity. Given plenty of sun and adequate water, it should flower profusely. For those readers with terraces or patios, the shrub will do quite well in a large container.

More often, and in conventional garden settings, the shower of gold is found at the back of a perennial bed, or used, after the manner of ixoras, to make a vibrant and compact low hedge. It is, moreover, especially serviceable as a foundation shrub, since it can be planted immediately below a ground-floor window, and trimmed as soon as it reaches the sill. Not only a colorful bush, but a dense deterrent to anyone trying to break in to your house.

Also it can be valuable when planted on newly created slopes, where it will help to prevent soil erosion. Property developers please take note.

The golden shrimp plant (pachystachys lutea) is so called because it displays bright yellow, overlapping bracts that resemble the scales on a fish or crustacean. From these upright spikes which give rise to its two more colloquial names of “lollipop plant” and “golden candle”, which look a bit like the cones of a costus, emerge short-lived, white, and fairly insignificant tubular flowers. The golden spires are the thing; they are the reason why the plant is cultivated.

Unlike the galphimia, which is woody and may reach two meters in height, pachystachys is a soft-stemmed perennial, and rarely grows more than four feet tall. But it is a consistent bloomer, and viable as a potted plant, which will certainly turn heads on any patio. If you do decide to grow one in a container, note that it prefers slightly acidic soil – in common with most members of the acanthus family.

In the garden, it is mostly grown in clumps, to derive maximum benefit from the unusual bracts, which sit atop lots of large ovate evergreen leaves with prominent veining.

Although the golden shrimp plant hails from tropical America, it does not like full sun; so put it where it can enjoy some shade during the day. There is also a red variety – appropriately called coccinea – but I have not seen it in Thailand. Naturalized in parts of the West Indies, it would surely thrive here, as most imports, floral or human, usually manage to do.

I am frequently asked where plants can be purchased. Sadly, neither the galphimia nor the golden shrimp plant is easily located in plant nurseries on the island. A pity, because both are worth a place in your place.

If you are hell-bent on tracking them down, the Thai names are, respectively, phuang-thawng-ton and luang khiri-puun. Not easy to remember, but they can both be propagated from cuttings.

Tip of the week – Small-scale self sufficiency

Judging by the number of shop-houses and condos sprouting up around Phuket, an increasing number of residents are surrounded by jungles made of concrete instead of trees.

That trend is certainly borne out by the number of emails I get from apartment dwellers. In any case, the garden trend is towards flowers rather than vegetables. The presence of “farangs” doesn’t help. Most of us never had our own kitchen gardens back home. One solution is to grow veggies – literally – in your own back (or front) yard. That means making the most of whatever space and light you have. If your terrace/patio gets less than four or five hours of sun a day, you can shelve any notions of small-scale self-sufficiency If space is limited, opt for container plants that require relatively little room in which to grow.

Phuket Gardening is Patrick Campbell’s regular column on all things flora.

If you have a question or a garden that you would like featured, you can email the author here.

Keep checking our online Phuket Lifestyle pages or join our Facebook fan page for regular gardening features and tips.

Many lawns in Ross Township and West View are turning brown following a string of 90+ degree days and very little rain. And many homeowners may be tempted to break out the sprinkler, but they could end up doing more harm than good, according to AN Lawn Service President Phil Rizzitano.

“If you start watering your lawn in weather like this, you can’t stop. It’s all or nothing,” he said. “Watering for a short period of time, infrequently will actually shock the grass, making the situation even worse.”

Rizzitano said if you don’t have a sprinkler system, or aren’t committed to watering your entire lawn for at least a half an hour a day, every day, it’s better to just leave the grass alone.

“It’s mother nature doing her thing, the grass looks like it won’t come back, but it will, once we get some steady rain and cooler temperatures,” he said. 

The same can not be said for annuals and vegetable gardens.

“They need constant waterings, or they won’t survive,” said Rizzitano. “But more mature shrubs and perennials will hang in there without a lot of water, as long as you don’t stress them by pruning them in the heat.”

Rizzitano also suggests raising your mower blades and not cutting the grass below 3-4 inches to help offset the effects of the heat. 

When you water is equally important. Liz Frattare is the owner of Rooted in Thyme Landscaping and Nursery in Upper St. Clair.

“The best time to water a plant is before 10 o’clock in the morning. The worst time to water a plant is 2, 3 o’clock. You lose a lot of it to evaporation,” she said.

Actually, the worst time is as dusk approaches.

 “You never put your plants to bed wet. Don’t do it at 7 or 8 at night,” she says, or you probably will start to notice Mr. Mildew moving in.

Keeping up with news in the North Hills is easy—simply sign up for our daily email newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Gardening provides many benefits. Besides fresh vegetables, beautiful flowers, and manicured lawns, it is a creative outlet and a great way to get exercise and fresh air. But just like any other type of physical activity, there are risks of aches, pains, and injury. Here are tips from Topical BioMedics to help gardeners enjoy working in the great outdoors with less pain.

Rhinebeck, NY (PRWEB) July 02, 2012

Summer is the season where people enjoy manicuring their lawns and tending their gardens in anticipation of enjoying fresh, homegrown produce and glorious flowers.

Gardening offers many benefits such as providing stress relief, an outlet for creativity and is an excellent activity to just get us moving. But just like any other form of physical activity, there are risks of injury.

As amateur and professional gardeners dig, bend over, rake, plant, reach, prune, hoe, lift, twist, move, carry debris and create gardening masterpieces, it’s important they protect themselves from potential hazards. If done improperly, gardening and yard work can lead to muscle and joint pain, repetitive strain injuries, tendonitis and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, as well as other accidental injuries.

“Planting, raking, weeding, digging, pruning, stooping, reaching, carrying heavy debris, and operating machinery puts stress on the hands and wrists,” says Lou Paradise, president and chief of research at Topical BioMedics, Inc., the makers of natural Topricin® Pain Relief and Healing Creams. “Gardeners spend hours performing these activities and without proper form, it can lead to a variety of problems such as sprains, twisted ankles, hand and wrist pain, lower back and shoulder pain, ankle, feet and knee pain. Don’t break your back bending over your begonias—protect yourself from potential hazards.”

To help stay injury free throughout this gardening season, Topricin offers the following tips.

To avoid/reduce injuries:

–Be sure to warm up/stretch as you would before any physical activity.

–Wear gardening gloves (to lower the risk of skin irritations/cuts and reduce blister formation) and use kneepads or use a foam cushion to make it more comfortable and less traumatic for knees.

–Dress to protect yourself from lawn/garden pests. Wear long-sleeved shirts and long, light-colored pants tucked into socks or boots and check yourself and family members for ticks.

–Wear goggles when doing things like weed-whacking and ear protection when using loud equipment.

–Protect yourself from the sun by covering up with long sleeves and pants made in breathable cotton, wear a hat and sunglasses, and if you use a sunscreen make sure it is as safe and natural as possible (for recommendations, visit the Environmental Working Group at http://www.ewg.org).

–Stay hydrated. Remember that you’re outside in the heat, working up a sweat and perspiring.

–Keep tools of the trade in tip-top shape by making sure your power equipment is working properly and your tools are sharpened and properly stored.

–Do not mow grass when it’s wet. Before mowing, walk around the yard, checking for sticks, stones, toys, and other foreign objects that could shoot out from under the mower.    

To prevent and treat injuries:

Aches and pains don’t have to interfere with summer gardening when you practice prevention and follow activities/injuries with appropriate treatment protocol.

Topricin Pain Relief and Healing Cream is a favorite treatment for gardeners around the country. Fueled by nature not chemicals, Topricin is a blend of eleven natural biomedicines that naturally help the joints detoxify by stimulating the body’s desire to drain toxins and excess fluids from the muscle tissue, which restores blood flow back to normal and helps heal the damage that is causing the pain.

–As a preventative, Topricin can be applied prior to outdoor activities. For example, if you are planting bulbs, apply Topricin lower back, hands and wrists, which are points of stress. Topricin can also be applied to exposed areas of skin, acting as a barrier to the urushiol oil in poison ivy.

–Topricin helps relieve symptoms of pain from other gardening aliments such as blisters, tick bites, Lyme disease, poison ivy, and minor sunburn and dehydration.

HOT AND COLD THERAPY:

Hot and cold therapy, along with Topricin, can shorten the duration of the recovery so the body heals faster and you feel better sooner.

–ICE is the first course of action, for the first 24 – 48 hours to help with inflammation. Ice therapy has an effect when the ice is REMOVED. Ice stops the blood flow, when removed it releases fluids and toxins, stimulates lymphatic and toxin draining and more blood flow. Basic procedures for ice therapy: 10 minutes on; 5 off; 10 on, 5 off.

–MOIST HEAT and ICE/HEAT:

–HEAT: 48 – 72 hours after injury try using heat on the injured area. You’ll know it’s OK to continue if you don’t feel worse afterwards. Heat draws more blood to the area and removes toxins.

–ALTERNATING HOT AND COLD: Cold and heat can be very powerful when used together at this point. Protocol – takes about 45 minutes:

–Start with HEAT for 10 minutes; followed by 5 minute break. Then COLD for 10 minutes, followed by 5-minute break, then HEAT again for 10 minutes. Follow with application of Topricin.

Topricin Application Instructions:

–Generously apply Topricin as needed three inches on and around to affected area/injury. Rub in well until absorbed. For best results, apply evenings, morning/after bathing and 3 – 4 or more times during the day as needed.

NOTE: For severe pain and swelling, seek medical attention (Topricin may be applied as a first line first aid treatment while enroute to a medical facility).

About Topical BioMedics, Inc.

Topical BioMedics is the research and development leader in patented topical natural biomedicines for pain relief. The company’s flagship product, Topricin® Pain Relief and Healing Cream, was introduced in 1994 and is now a leading natural therapeutic brand. A combination biomedicine formula, Topricin has been awarded a patent for the treatment of pain associated with fibromyalgia and neuropathy.

Topricin products are formulated with approved medicines as found in the HPUS (Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States) and are in compliance with federal rules for homeopathic over-the-counter medicines. Safe for diabetics and pregnant and nursing women, the products contain: no parabens, petroleum or harsh chemicals, are odorless, greaseless and non-irritating, and produce no known side effects.

For more information or to sign up for the free newsletter Natural Healing, Natural Wellness visit http://www.topricin.com

SOURCES:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Home Safety Council

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/7/prweb9664716.htm

HARVEY SCHACHTER

The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Jun. 29 2012, 4:33 PM EDT

Last updated Friday, Jun. 29 2012, 5:04 PM EDT

This week’s garden tip was submitted by Andy Cuautle, sales associate and plant analyzer at Pesche’s Flower Shop and Garden Center.

Cuautle said he regularly answers customers’ questions about watering, especially when temperatures are as high as they have been recently. He shared these watering tips with Patch.

Stay connected: Receive an email from Des Plaines Patch with headlines in the morning.

Many plants including annuals, perennials and hanging baskets should be watered once a day if it is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and twice a day if the temperature is 85 degrees or more.

Avoid watering foliage; water the ground. Water that sits on leaves may act like a magnifying glass, and burn the leaves. Also, water has chlorine in it, and it can leave a residue on the leaves.

If you water your grass once a day, do it early in the morning, at 5 a.m. If you water it twice a day, do it once in the morning and once in the evening.

Related: Check out all the garden tips by Pesche, the last one was about preventing leaves from yellowing.

Earlier: Grilling safety tips.

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