As spring quickly approaches and your gardens starts to slowly show signs of new life, you can prepare your yard or garden area for a grand entrance into spring.

Make a Plan

In order to keep your garden space looking beautiful without looking cluttered or disorganized, it is good to make a plan before you get started. The common temptation is to go out and buy a large variety of plants for your garden and plant them anywhere you have place. Yet this can detract from the space of your yard and reflect a chaotic feel. Choose which areas you will add your new plants to. Sometimes less is more. Too many plants in one area can take away from the unique beauty of each individual one. Consider important factors like height, size, color and so on before making your final decisions.

Maintenance and Other Personal Circumstance Considerations
Although some plants can be high maintenance, others require little or hardly any care throughout the spring. If you are a busy professional without much time to spare, it may not be a wise investment to purchase a variety of plants that require your constant attention. A plant that grows rapidly and needs to be trimmed constantly might not also be worth the effort, and might cause your garden to look unruly if not attended to at regular intervals. In addition, if you have purchased a new pet that will cause damage to your expensive orchids, you might want to wait to save yourself much frustration and save your valued plants for next spring.

Research, Research, Research
You should also consider the climate of your area before adding any new plants to your yard or garden. A further consideration is where you will place your plant in your yard or garden. For example, a plant that needs lots of sunlight will not thrive in your backyard under the big oak tree, and so on.  In addition, be sure to research the particular needs of your plant. For example, some bulbs need to be planted in a particular time before spring. If they are planted too early, they will die in the ground.

Prepare Your Soil
There are many types of soil. Knowing your particular type of soil not only helps you choose the plants that would thrive in your yard, but also helps you make the right preparations to help your plants thrive. You can take a sample of your soil to your professional or do your own research. For example, if your soil is too acidic, you can buy an alkaline product to neutralize excessive acid. You can also purchase a wide range of fertilizers to enrich your soil and plants.

Flag Holidays

• New Year’s Day, January 1
• Inauguration Day, January 20
• Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12
• Washington’s Birthday, third Monday in February
• Easter Sunday (variable)
• Mother’s Day, second Sunday in May
• Armed Forces Day, third Saturday in May
• Memorial Day (half-staff until noon), the last Monday in May
• Flag Day, June 14
• Independence Day, July 4
• Labor Day, first Monday in September
• Constitution Day, September 17
• Columbus Day, second Monday in October
• Navy Day, October 27
• Veterans Day, November 11
• Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November
• Christmas Day, December 25
• and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States the birthdays of States (date of admission) and on State holidays.

Although most ant invasions will occur in the summer months, you may be eerily surprised to find a swarm in your home in late winter.  More than an occasional home owner has had this unpleasant experience.

Trying to discourage ants from invading your home can be frustrating. Proper food storage and waste management will reduce the food that often attracts workers indoors.

Clean all kitchen surfaces, vacuum daily, and rinse recyclable containers before throwing them in the recycle bin.

Ants are social insects and are divided up into three castes: workers, males, and queens.  Get the workers and the food source is greatly stopped.

To find products that kill ants, we have grouped them on this page:  http://www.backyardstyle.com/shop/pest-control-ants.php

One of our favorite ant-killing brands is Grant’s.  Grant’s Kills Ants was one of the first ant bait products used to control invading ants and is still one of the most effective. Using a unique bait stake, the bait is contained in the stake and the product is effective in killing ants while protecting the environment.

Use either of these Ant Killing Products from Grants

Ant Stakes

• Active Ingredient: 1.0% Hydramethylnon
• Ants carry bait back to the colony to kill the Queen and destroy the colony.
• Use Outdoors around the house and for effective control replace every 6 weeks.
• Can also be used Indoors for up to 3 months.
• Helps keep ants from coming back.

Liquid Ant Bait

• Kills the ants you see and the ants you dont.
• For use in or around homes.
• Easy to remove plug, no drips, spills or mess.

That’s the concept behind Scarecrow, an animal-invasion deterrent commonly known as a “deer sprinkler.”

The Scarecrow deterrent device consists of a rotating sprinkler head on top of an infrared motion sensor. When it is on, it will spray any animal – dog, raccoon, T-Rex, rabbit, cat or mother-in-law – that gets within 35 feet.  (Just kidding about the T-Rex and Mother-in-law)

Cost and assembly are minimal compared with digging postholes and running fence.  This is the time of year that people stock up on the Scarecrow sprinklers because the price starts to rise as we approach February and March when some parts of the country start to defrost.

Using the ScareCrow is easy.

Attach a standard garden hose to the scarecrow sprinkler base, set the ScareCrow in the ground in the area you want to protect, and then turn on the water. Once you switch the unit on, it is ready to go.

It has a:

• Spray distance adjuster
• Ultra low energy trigger mechanism
• Sprinkler arc adjustment
• High quality motion sensor
• On / Off and sensitivity adjuster
• Optional eye and beak decals
• Runs on a 9V battery
• Has a study plastic stop for easy installation
• 17 inch stake
• Scarecrows may be hooked up in series to protect a large area

I am sure that there will be many of the common organization products like under-the sink organizers, garage organizers etc.

Our goal is to present you with a few of the not-so-obvious items that can help organize your life ever-so-slightly.

Pictured to the right is the Wheeled Trashcan, which makes your job of taking the trash out each week a bit easier. It holds two standard size trash cans and rolls very easy.  Comes unassembled, but very easy to put together.

Organize your pet food, bird seed, cat litter or any other similar items with the Vittle Vault Food Storage containers. The Vittles Vault is manufactured from FDA approved high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which is used throughout the “human” food industry. They come in 5 different styles

Organize your firewood with a handy, heavy-duty firewood cart.  Racks are made from thick tubing or solid steel and are powder coated to withstand the elements. For indoor or outdoor use.

www.backyardstyle.com

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Expires: December 17, 2011

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.

CYBER MONDAY AND BLACK FRIDAY EXTRAS!

Save $5.00 on orders > $49 – use coupon: cyber

Save $4.00 on orders > $39 – use coupon: black

(Valid until Dec. 7, 2011)

The Pumpkin Pie Squirrel Treat is for use with squirrels and all Backyard Wildlife.

Make it a yearly tradition to share a little bit of pumpkin pie with your backyard friends!

They are a year-round treat with a super premium blend of Chuckanut Pumpkin seed and year-round Suet.

It fits in the Chuckanut ricochet feeder or any large suet feeder.

Chuckanut Pumpkin seed and year-round Suet contains Rendered Beef Suet, Corn, Wheat Middling, and Pumpkin Seeds.

To help with this important fall project,  Scotts WinteGuard is on sale this month.

How to Use
Apply to a wet or dry lawn on a calm day.  No need to water in, however, during dry periods, watering will hasten greening.  For best results, apply using a Scotts® spreader.

When to Apply
Any time in the fall. Fall is the best time to feed.How often to apply. For your best lawn, apply once in early Fall and again 6-8 weeks later in late Fall.

Where to Use
Safe to use on any grass type.

Coverage Area
5,000 sq. ft. and 15,000 sq. ft.

Benefits
Builds stronger, deeper roots for winter.  See a thicker, greener lawn next spring.

Fertilizer Analysis
24-2-12

Moles are notorious for digging through lawns and devouring beneficial worms.

Stop the mole dam

age now with Liquid Fence Mole Repellent Spray and innovative Mole Repellent Worms.

Whether your problem is big or small, Liquid Fence Mole Repellent will send those insectivores running.

The eco-friendly formula coats the moles food source, making it undesirable for the hungry pests and causing them to look elsewhere for food.

So if moles are your problem, get the solution that really works!