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Happy Earth Day!

 The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity…That’s all there is. That’s the whole economy. - Gaylord Nelson (Founder of Earth Day)

 
April 22nd has been set aside to celebrate one thing that we might take for granted, the Earth. Billions of us call this beautiful blue marble home. We are dependent on its resources - the very air we breathe to remain alive, the water that we drink, the food that grows from its soil. On this particular day, we take a step back from our everyday lives and acknowledge the state of our beautiful planet.
 
Whether you believe in global warming or not - or you feel an urgent calling to recycle in your own home - we should all, as humans, take into account what we have left in our wake. That once-unblemished lake you swam in as a child now sits with its banks strewn in garbage. The wooded area outside of town you played in is now full of the hustle and bustle of a mall. Little by little, the Earth we once had is permanently gone.
 
On April 22nd we should all take some time to give a little something back to our planet. Think about this: For years, scientists have searched the universe for another planet like ours. They come up empty each time. There is no other planet like ours. We should act accordingly.
 
 
The Earth is made up of over 9 billion people.
What is the one thing we all have in common?
Earth.
 
 
Happy Earth Day, everyone!
From Mister Landscaper
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4/22/2012 9:22 AM
There are so many things we can do to make a difference that I think it's often overwhelming.  I prefer to start small, incorporate one or two small things into my daily routine and build from there.  Image if everyone made one small change...
4/22/2012 11:07 AM
My wife and I have consider ourselfs green before green was cool. We have gotten our life style down to one small plastic (think walmart bag) of garbage a week we recycle every thing. We do not have a garbage service as we take every thing to the recycle center ourselfs. One small tip 2 liter bottels (We get them from niegbors we refuse to buy them) and fill with water and freeze and use in our coolers over and over.;)
4/22/2012 12:07 PM
My family used to be a true believer in chemical fertilizers like MiracleGro. But no matter what, nothing ever grew to the claims of large, amazing plants and vegetables. So a few years ago, I started using bone meal, blood meal, sulpomag, manures, and more natural organic products. Even the first year that I used them, the garden exploded with green growth, excellent harvests, and fewer diseases. My squash that usually last from May through June were still producing in late July last year because they hadnt succombed to disease. I was also never able to grow pumpkins until I switched to organics. This years new addition is a mister landscaper drip system so I can better manage irrigation. Cant wait to see how everything turns out this year!

Happy Earth Day!
4/22/2012 6:06 PM
Happy Earth Day!  We got an early start by completing our deck irrigation system yesterday.  I ran additional dripper stakes to the new flower pots my wife added to her collection.

Our deck does not have stairs and the only outdoor faucet is at ground level, so watering has always been a pain.  Once my wife saw that this "gadget" I was adding to the deck for my veggies really worked, it sunk in (pun intended) that it meant no more running back and forth to the kitchen with a watering can several times every morning.  That meant she could now double the number of flower pots on the deck without any extra effort beyond the initial setup.

So, 25 dripper stakes later, we were able to spend Earth Day morning enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck instead of making watering can runs.  Looking forward to many more mornings like this.
4/22/2012 6:40 PM
@RichardC

That sounds awesome! I've been looking at the patio sets for a birthday or Mother's Day gift for my mom. The deck is about 5 feet off the ground, so my mom usually has to go down the seven steps and around the side to reach the spigot with a watering can, and make several trips back and forth.

So far, do you see any potential drawbacks to the patio watering setup? Anything like certain things that would make the visibility of the pipes less noticeable? What about changing the configuration of the drip lines if things move around, or like in the summer my mom takes her hanging baskets down during thunderstorms so they don't fall and get destroyed -- how much extra work is it to relocate drippers or remove hanging baskets that are watered by the drippers?
4/22/2012 7:47 PM
I have been gardening for years, continually seeking to use natural or organic means to encourage growth and minimize pests.  conserving water, was a challenge for me, with irregular shaped beds on a sunbaked lot; it seemed water was going everywhere but where it was needed.  Mr. Landscaper irrigation system has changed that. My beds are watered efficiently and regularly, with ease.  Happy Earth Day, every day!
4/22/2012 8:45 PM
Today for earth day my daughter and I picked up trash around our neighborhood and we used mr.landscaper products to use less water! Thank god for mr.landscaper!
4/22/2012 8:46 PM
Happy earth day !
4/22/2012 8:52 PM
Just by using mr.landscaper products you are helping earth!
4/22/2012 8:54 PM
My family and I reuse most things to heil earth
4/22/2012 8:56 PM
My daughters school is starting to use less paper by writing things out instead of making over 100 copies.   Happy earth day everyone!
4/22/2012 8:57 PM
Help the earth today!  Make a difference to the earth.
4/22/2012 8:57 PM
Reuse water bottles!
4/22/2012 8:57 PM
Recycle!
4/22/2012 8:58 PM
Encourage more people to make a small difference to the world by even picking up liter that is around the neighborhood!
4/22/2012 8:59 PM
Stop global warming!
4/22/2012 11:14 PM
@computeraddict04 Sounds like your mom is an ideal candidate for this kind of setup.  Make sure all of her containers have a drainage hole so that an overwatering (such as an automated watering after a heavy rain) doesn't flood the plant.

To help hide the tubing, I used the tan 1/4" hose and ran it around the perimeter of underside of the deck, held in place with the 1/4" hose clamps.  Wherever the line ran close to a pot, I cut the line and inserted a barbed tee connector.  Then I ran a line from the connector up to the pot, running along the outside of the desking so that most of the tubine is not visible by someone on the deck.  If the spaces between the boards are wide enough, you could also push the tubing up from underneath right next to the pot.

I end the run to each pot with an adjustable dripper stake.  I used these instead of the fixed-output drippers because it lets me adjust to fit the needs of each plant as it changes throughout the summer.  So when my tomatoes get big and need more water, I can open those up more without worrying about overwatering smaller plants.  And when a plant has run its course, I can just close the dripper all the way so that it functions as a shutoff valve too.

I left a little slack with each run so that we could move the pots around some if needed.  If we decide to permanently remmove a pot or relocate it to another part of the deck, we can remove the tee connector and replace it with a straight coupler to reconnect the tubing where it was cut.  There's a coupler included with dripper stake that you don't need when using 1/4" tubing, so I've saved them for this purpose.

At first, I was a little worried that I might not have enough water pressure for such a long run of hose and so many tee connectors.  The main loop is 8' above the spigot and some of the drippers are another 5' above that.  Well, I'm using 225' of 1/4" tubing (no 1/2"), 25 tee connectors, and 25 drippers without any problem.  I was even able to use the recommended 25 psi pressure reducer.
4/22/2012 11:23 PM
Oh, I also have a separate run of 1/2" tubing that terminates in 1/4" drip tubing to water my raised bed garden.  I used a Y-connector and separate timers to isolate this from the deck system.  I also have the timers set so that the times don't overlap each other so each can have all of the water pressure to itself.  I hope to eventually add a third run off of this spigot to water the plants along the side of the house.  As long as I keep the timers staggered, water pressure shouldn't be a problem.
4/22/2012 11:28 PM
One last tip for the night: When adding a new dripper to an existing system, make sure the timer isn't set to go off while you're inserting the connector.  Found that out the hard way....
4/23/2012 1:33 AM
@RichardC

Great information! Thanks! I can't use timers yet because the outdoor spigot leaks quite a bit -- I need to fix that before I add-in a timer. There's a separate Mister Landscaper setup for my vegetable garden out there, but I keep that confined to the garden about 100 feet from the house and run a hose to the Mister Landscaper connection fittings out there.

I'll have to do a bit more investigating -- the deck is 15x20feet with planters on the rails, hanging baskets, and random containers around the edges and down the steps. I need to check spacing between planks, rails, and all that.

Thanks again for the good information and tips!
4/23/2012 10:28 AM
Happy Earth Day!

@RichardC
Yeah, I disconnected a turned off mister from the main line a few weeks ago and forgot that the water on... got a shot of 70psi in the face =)
4/23/2012 1:10 PM
well I know you are suppose to mulch your grass clippings back into the lawn, however I do bag mine and use them as mulch in my hillside which is just beyond my property line as a freebie to help the conservation effort of my county in their tree planting efforts in reforestation.  I have landscaped aobut 10 feet back off my property line to assist them..and use the mulch there around tree plantings and ground covers I have added to the slope
4/25/2012 9:40 AM
Hope everyone had a good EarthWeekend! It's been tough trying to get the gardens going this year. Like so many others, we've been dealing with yo-yo temperature extremes - freezes followed by 80's. So we've been doing a lot of pruning, cleaning, composting and mulching. Very little gets wasted in the yard and gardens.
4/26/2012 6:19 AM
I try to do my part to help out..If everyone did a little..it would help out a lot!
4/26/2012 2:15 PM
What kind of time/effort commitment is it to compost?  I've been looking at buying a unit or building something...
4/27/2012 11:49 PM
@jason

Starting off composting seems to take a while (a few months) to get the first good batch of usable compost, but if you stick with it you have a continuous supply. Seems like I have heard something about a rapid compost technique somewhere that involved putting plastic over top of the materials to be composted, and within 2-3 weeks it is usable -- here's a publication with more information about that: http://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/compost_rapidcompost.pdf

Also, check your local town or city for free (or low cost) leaf compost from the public works department. The leaf compost or mulch is good to use around plants as a mulch, then as the leaves decay you can work it into the soil to improve the soil nutrients.
4/29/2012 10:32 AM
I received information at work during earth week regarding using coffee grounds in the garden.  Am going to give this a try around an azalea that is struggling to grow.
5/5/2012 5:27 PM
@rock607, that is a great idea! As a angler I think I will use that idea for my coolers too! Thanks for the tip.
5/5/2012 5:31 PM
I have to say that everyones input was amazing! There was a LOT of awesome tips and great uses of Mister L products.
5/5/2012 5:40 PM
@ computeraddict, using bone meal, blood meal, sulpomag, manures excellent choices! You will have to tell us how them pumpkins turn out later this year. Send us some pics on our Facebook page.
5/5/2012 5:43 PM
@ Teacup, what an amazing ethusiasm you have for Earth Day. Even if we can contribute just a little or lot, it makes a difference. Thank you for your comments!
5/5/2012 5:47 PM
@ bellam, i used some coffee grounds on my papaya tree. someone told me that with coffee grounds you have to be careful about the ammount of acid in the coffee. Have you ever tried boiled egg shells?? Boil yourself a few eggs, peel them and mash up the shells and put them in the soil. Also, save the water you boiled the eggs in too and use it to fertilize too. Works great! Whats more organic than that?
5/5/2012 5:52 PM
On behalf of the Mister L team let me thank all of you for your comments. Watching the way you replied to one another to help each other out was great! That is exactly the sense of community we want to build here on our blog page. Let me encourage each of you to keep it up! The most sincere thanks.