Photo: wildaboutbritain.co.uk

Every creature has its place in nature—I firmly believe that. But if that creature is a rodent, I want its place to be nowhere near my home.

We live in an area surrounded by farmland, so mice, voles, gophers and other critters come with the territory. Recently, I’ve been researching ways to curb the rodent population in our immediate environs, and one solution keeps on popping up in my search: barn owls.

Barn owls have an insatiable appetite for rodents. A pair of barn owls and their brood can eat as many as 3,000 rodents in a single nesting season. That’s a LOT of mice! Farmers, especially those who practice organic farming, have been using barn owls as part of an integrated pest management system for years.

Barn owls are cavity dwellers and are happy to nest in almost any snug and quiet spot, be it the crook of a tree, the rafter of a barn, or a manmade box on a pole. So long as the food supply is ample, barn owls are not too territorial and may even nest in colonies.

Photo: barnowlbox.com

You can buy a barn owl nesting box or build one of your own. Here are some things to remember if are interested in attracting barn owls to your property:

• To be attractive to the birds, owl boxes should be placed at least ten feet off the ground. But don’t place the boxes so high that they become difficult to maintain.

• Be careful not to startle parent owls during the incubation period. If a mother owl is frightened away from her nest before the eggs hatch, she may not return. Once the baby owls hatch, however, parent owls will return to feed their young, regardless.

• Barn owls are wild animals and a protected species. Although providing nesting sites for them is perfectly legal, you must be licensed if you want to handle or keep them. Contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for information and restrictions.

• Debris in owl nest boxes can be infected with hantavirus, a potentially deadly rodent-borne disease. Take precautions such as using rubber gloves and dust masks when performing maintenance or cleanup.

Barn owls that come to roost on your property bring benefits other than rodent control. For one thing, barn owls are fascinating creatures to watch. Of course, they are nocturnal, so observing their habits requires some late evenings and night-vision goggles.

As an alternative, you can buy a nesting box with a closed-circuit camera. Then you can just turn on the webcam, sit back, and enjoy the show!

Attract Owls for Rodent Control Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

1. MAKE PLANTERS

Photo: designmisc.blogspot.com

Transform yesterday’s can of diced tomatoes into a colorful planter or vase—all you need to get the job done is spray paint. Use your creation to brighten a windowsill or to delight a friend, neighbor, or hostess with a gift from your garden. Really want to perk things up? Add stripes, polka dots, or stars!

2. CREATE LANTERNS

Photo: thegrnblog.wordpress.com

Add some evening ambiance to your outdoor living area. These lanterns come together in no time: Just use a hammer and nail to punch holes in the cans, then paint their outsides in a pleasing pastel. (Or skip the paint; it’s your choice.) Once you’ve added wire handles and tea lights, get ready to light up the night.

3. ORGANIZE CRAFTS SUPPLIES 

Photo: bhg.com

You can easily convert tin cans into charming storage containers by wrapping the cylinders with pretty paper. Punch a hole in the back of each decorated can, making it so they can all be hung via S-hooks onto pegboard. It’s a stylish and practical way to organize nuts and bolts, paintbrushes and colored pencils.

4. CONSTRUCT A BIRD FEEDER

Photo: plumadorable.com

Your kids would have a great time making this simple bird feeder. All you need is a dowel, a glue gun, some colorful paint, and a ribbon or string for hanging—oh, and birdseed! Hang the feeder in your favorite tree and sit back to watch the show.

5. BUILD A WINE RACK

Photo: recyclart.org

Tin cans and glue: It doesn’t get much more basic. Combine those two ingredients with spray paint, and you’ve suddenly got a DIY wine rack, plus another reason to buy wine!

For more on repurposing, consider:

5 Things to Do with… Old Tires
13 Easy Ways to Repurpose Antique Armoires
5 Upcycled Pot Racks & Cookware Storage Ideas

5 Things to Do with… Tin Cans Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Pennsylvania Backyard Fruit Growers Annual Tasting. Photo: veggiegardeningtips.com

Shopping at the grocery store, one can usually find only eight or ten varieties of apples. That selection represents an infinitesimal fraction of the estimated 15,000 varieties that have been grown in North America.

You’ve probably never heard of a Northern Spy, Sheepnose, or Virginia Beauty apple. At one time, these and many more types of apples were cultivated and enjoyed in their respective regions. But they gradually lost ground to more productive, visually appealing varieties that better withstood transport and storage.

Today, these so-called “heirloom” apples are staging a comeback, and our taste buds are reaping the benefits. Many heirlooms have rich, sweet, and complex flavors unmatched by varieties more commonly found.

Related: 8 Disease-Resistant Apple Tree Varieties

The Virginia Beauty is an heirloom apple in which I have a special interest. It was grown (among other places) on the banks of Virginia’s New River, where my great-grandmother lived on a property with an orchard.

My cousin actually grafted several new Virginia Beauty trees from that orchard, and she was kind enough to give one to me recently. I was equally thrilled and terrified by her gift. How exciting: a living piece of my family history! But oh, no, I’ve never grown an apple tree before!

My Family Heirloom Virginia Beauty Apple Tree

So I’ve been doing my research. Like all fruit trees, heirloom apple trees require soil enrichment, pest control, disease management, regular thinning and annual pruning—all subjects about which you can read volumes.

Most important in growing heirloom apples are researching and planning. Get your homework done before you make any purchases. For now, consider these factors:

1. Taste. The variety in taste and texture of heirloom apples is overwhelming. Some are delicious to eat out of hand; others are perfect for baking and cider. Many orchards offer tastings during the harvest season: Visit and you may encounter flavors you never imagined in an apple. Who knows? You could even be inspired to grow something you’ve never even heard or read about.

2. Climate. Fruit trees require a certain number of annual chill hours—hours when the temperature is between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Each variety has a different requirement. Find out your geographic area’s chill hour averages, so you can choose the most suitable varieties for your yard.

3. Bloom Time and Pollination. Most apple varieties produce their best crops when there’s a different variety planted close by for pollination. To facilitate pollination, plant varieties that will either bloom at the same time or whose blooming will at least overlap.

4. Harvest. Every variety has a ripeness date. If you plan carefully, you can pick ripe fruit from trees all summer and fall.

About a month ago, I planted my little Virginia Beauty in a bed outside our bedroom window, and it is already flourishing. With luck (and the proper care), we’ll be harvesting apples in as few as three years—the same apples my mother picked off the trees and ate at her grandmother’s house.

It will be hard to wait. But I feel sure it’ll be worth it.

For more on gardening, consider:

How To: Plant an Apple Tree
10 New Perennials to Perk Up Your Garden
Flowering Climbers: 8 Cures for the Common Garden

Heirloom Apples: Growing a Slice of History Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Kidde Nighthawk DC Carbon Monoxide Alarm

Carbon monoxide (CO) is the number one cause of poisoning deaths in the U.S. A colorless and odorless gas, CO is a byproduct of combustion. That’s why you should never use a charcoal grill in the shed, or leave the car running in the garage. That’s also why it’s so important to properly vent fuel-burning major appliances like furnaces, water heaters, clothes dryers, ovens and ranges. If you’re in the market for a carbon monoxide detector, the two most important feature options to weigh in your decision are power source and display.

Power Source
Carbon monoxide detectors come in three varieties: hard-wired, plug-in, or battery-operated. Hard-wired models have the advantage of being linked to each other, but if the electricity goes out, so does the detection system. (Any hard-wired unit should include a battery backup.) Battery-operated units are much simpler to install and will not fail in a power outage. Plug-ins with battery backups are readily available, but given that gases rise, the standard placement of electrical outlets (near the floor) makes them imperfect receptacles for CO detectors. In any case where batteries are involved, remember t0 replace them every six months.

Related: 10 Houseplants to Improve Indoor Air Quality

Digital CO Display
The display on a digital carbon dioxide detector shows the concentration of CO in parts per million. Some models even feature a continuous stock ticker-like readout of the current level. A display that includes a timeline history of your home’s CO concentration can be helpful in assessing or identifying dangers.

Before buying and installing a carbon monoxide detector, consider the following:

• Check your county/town regulations regarding types of alarms and placement. Codes differ from place to place.

• Check the package to make sure the product meets UL Standard 2034.

• Check the date of manufacture; CO detectors lose their sensitivity over time. (Expect to replace yours every five years or so.)

• Consumer Reports suggests testing your alarm weekly and vacuuming it monthly.

• In general, detectors should be placed on the ceiling or high on the wall. Do not place them within 15 feet of cooking or heating appliances. Likewise, avoid placement near ceiling fans, vents, or air conditioners. Install detectors on each level of your home, including the basement. Ideally, there should be one within ten feet of each bedroom door.

Carbon monoxide detectors start at about $35. For a professionally installed hard-wired model, you might pay as much as $250. No matter what type you buy, any CO detector is better than none at all. Installing one could save a life.

For more on healthy homes, consider:

Quick Tip: Use Low-VOC Paints
Bob Vila Radio: Indoor Air Quality
How To: Dispose of Hazardous Household Waste

Protect Yourself and Your Family with a CO Detector Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

A sod cutting machine, rentable by the day, makes quick work of transplanting. Photo: Flickr / jcelene

It’s been about 18 months since we moved into our house, but only recently have we begun to landscape beyond the basic builder’s package. A designer helped us formulate a plan that we intend to roll out in stages over the next several years. This spring, we initiated phase one: creating more strategically placed planting beds. That meant removing sod—a LOT of sod.

Sod is expensive to install and, surprisingly, expensive to remove. Even if you rent a sod cutting machine, the work is still labor-intensive and time-consuming. Not to mention that once you have the sod lifted, it must be hauled away and dumped somewhere—at a price, of course.

Related: Artificial Turf: 7 Reasons to Consider the New “Grass” Alternative

Our landscape designer suggested that we see if anyone nearby might want to re-use our sod. So I put the word out on our neighborhood Facebook page. Within 30 minutes, I had a taker: neighbors Pam and Ray, who had less than satisfactory success seeding their lawn upon moving into a home just blocks away.

I was beyond delighted. For one, the time and money we saved in not having to haul and dump the sod could instead go to cutting more planting beds. More than that, I absolutely hate to waste anything and was thrilled that someone could use the perfectly good grass.

Pam and Ray were ecstatic, too, when they saw an enormous pile of sod rolled up at the edge of our yard. It took several trips in Ray’s pickup truck, but our “old” sod is now enjoying a “new” home.

Our neighbor, Ray, prepped the area by roto-tilling and putting down lime. Photo: Flickr / jcelene

While this was a somewhat unconventional application—laying sod over existing grass—the method used by Pam and Ray ultimately worked for them. Here’s their advice:

1. Rough up the current ground cover. The roots from the sod need to make contact with dirt, so use a rototiller or similar tool to expose the soil beneath.

2. Add some lime. Lime promotes lawn health by providing nutrients and improving soil structure. Because lime is absorbed slowly, add it prior to the sod.

3. Fill in the gaps. After fitting the sod pieces closely together, cutting and trimming as needed, fill in the joints with a mixture of soil and grass seed.

4. Compact and water. Compact the sod using a roller—or by driving over the installation with a pickup truck! Water for 20 minutes in the early morning (before the sun gets too high) and 20 minutes in the evening (after the sun has set).

A month later, the sod we would have sent to some refuse center is living on and looking great.  Both we and our neighbors couldn’t be happier about that.

For more on lawns, consider:

Top 5 Tips for a Greener Lawn
Bob Vila Radio: Lawn Care Hell
Keep Off the Grass: 5 Traditional Lawn Alternatives

A Second Home for Sod: Top Tips for Transplanting Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Photo: localhoneyblog.com

Do you suffer from seasonal allergies? A natural remedy waits in your backyard: locally produced honey.

To date, science has not yet proved a link between eating local honey and allergy symptom relief. But there’s no shortage of anecdotal evidence from allergy sufferers. Their testimonials suggest it may be worth your while to experiment with a local honey regimen of two teaspoons per day.

Related: 20 Ways to Go Green Today

Why does it work? The theory is that bees in your region are collecting nectar from the plants that make you sniffle and sneeze. And so by eating honey produced from this nectar, you are ingesting trace amounts of those allergens, helping your body develop defenses against them.

Things get more complicated when you acknowledge the fact that honeybees are in serious jeopardy. Researchers continue studying their decline, but so far a few causes are suspected: manmade insecticides, naturally occurring parasites, and the proliferation of non-native bee species.

Photo: sciencebuzz.org

So what can you do to help save the honeybees?

Love the Bees. Appreciate the vital role that honeybees play in maintaining the viability of our food supply. Their pollination accounts for as much as one-third of what we eat!

Plant a Tree… and Some Flowers. Welcome honeybees—and beautify your landscape in the process—by planting flowers and trees; bees rely on these for survival.

Avoid Broad-Based Insecticides. While the demise of bee colonies is a complex issue, we know for certain that bees are insects and as such, they can be adversely affected by insecticides. Attempt to manage garden pests without using synthetic pest control products.

Support Your Local Beekeepers. Even if you don’t have hay fever, go out of your way to buy local honey and honey-related products (e.g., beeswax candles). You may also support beekeepers in your area by contracting their services; these include crop pollination and bee removal.

For more on sustainability, consider:

Bob Vila Radio: Go Local
Bob Vila’s 50 Shades of Green
Nature Inspires Sustainable Solutions for the Home

Save the Bees, Save Yourself: The Anti-Allergy Virtues of Local Honey Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Photo: mckaylighting.com

Warmer weather encourages us to spend more time on the deck, porch, or patio. Of course, lighting can extend outdoor living well into the evening, but before you light up the night, consider the advocations of The International Dark Sky Association, a campaign to reduce light pollution.

Related: 10 “Illuminating” Ideas for Lighting Up Your Backyard

As early as the 1980s, astronomers had noticed that city lights were making stars less and less visible in the night sky. Apart from that star-gazing conundrum, there is also mounting evidence to suggest increased light pollution even disrupts ecosystems and human circadian rhythms.

Dark Sky proponents encourage the use of full-cutoff outdoor lighting fixtures, which, by casting light downward, enable you to see more with less light. Options that leak little to no light are increasingly prevalent on the market. Industry leader Kichler, for example, offers a line of fixtures that focuses light exactly where you need it—nowhere else.

Radiax Fixture from Kichler

Though not required by law, using dark sky-compliant fixtures is definitely in the spirit of “Friendly Neighbor” ordinances and the recently approved Model Lighting Ordinance. Both help guide communities toward responsible outdoor lighting.

Here are some ways you can reduce light pollution with your outdoor lighting choices:

1. Use Your Light Switch. Though many people leave on the porch light for an added sense of security, you can prevent light pollution—and save money, too—by simply turning the lights off when not in use.

2. Timers. Install timers to turn your fixtures off automatically at a set time. Again, doing so means as much for energy savings as it does for preserving a light pollution-free environment.

3. Use Motion Sensors. Even more convenient than switches or timers are motion sensors. Imagine lights flicking on as you walk down your garden path, only to go off again once you’ve exited the area—handy when your hands are full!

4. Use Low-Glare Fixtures. The International Dark Sky Association gives its stamp of approval to fixtures that meet its low-glare and efficiency criteria. There are also companies like Starry Night Lights, which specialize in low-pollution lighting.

5. Replace your Bulbs. LED and CFL lighting are more energy efficient in general, and when paired with dark sky-compliant design, they can reduce the total number of lumens emitted into the night sky. Since LEDs provide more directed light, they require fewer lumens than other bulb types that might require reflectors or lenses to do the same.

Using more directed light in the places you really need it will allow you to use less light overall. Less light overall means you might see a few more shooting stars while you’re out enjoying that patio of yours this summer. Don’t forget to make a wish!

For more on lighting, consider:

Bob Vila Radio: Solar Garden Lights
Seeing the Light: New (and Improved) Skylights
Outdoor Wall Sconces: Lighting the Way with Style

Be Dark Sky-Compliant When Lighting Up the Night Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Photo: blumengardens.com

Butterflies are mesmerizing creatures with more to offer than beauty alone. Because they are nectar eaters, they are great pollinators, and their larvae provide food for birds and other wildlife.

Related: 10 New Perennials to Perk Up Your Garden

Due to loss of habitat, butterfly populations have been declining, but you can promote their welfare by selecting appropriate plants for your garden beds and borders. And as you attract butterflies, you’ll attract other insects like bees, which flourish in a flowering environment and are beneficial to the health of your backyard landscape.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

Pick the Right Plants
Butterflies are attracted to brightly colored flowers, the nectar of which they feed on. Different species of butterflies like to eat different things, so find out which native plants are favored by the butterflies in your geographic area. Among the greatest hits are butterfly bush, milkweed, purple coneflowers and asters.

You will also need to include “host” plants. These serve not only as sites for the butterflies to lay eggs, but also as food for the caterpillars, which often eat different plants than their adult counterparts. Clover, cassia, and violets are among the preferred host plants, but there are many others, so do your research.

Photo: miamikitchengardens.com

Provide Shelter and Sun
Unable to regulate their own body temperatures, butterflies need a sunny place to get warm as well as a shelter in which to find shade. Situate your garden so that it receives at least six hours of sunlight each day. Butterflies tend to lay their eggs in protected areas, away from harsh, excessively cooling winds. And they will need to rest their wings, so incorporate a few flat rocks into your landscape design.

Water, Please
Butterflies need water, not only for hydration, but also for nutrients. Have you ever seen butterflies congregating around a puddle after a rainstorm? In such a way, butterflies consume salts and minerals that are important for their survival and  reproduction. To be truly butterfly-friendly, put out a small container of water with sand in the bottom; add in a rock for resting.

Spare the Insecticides
Any broad-spectrum insecticides you use will kill butterfly larvae. If you wish to keep a population of butterflies in your garden but must use insecticides, spot treat insect-affected plants instead of spraying the entire yard. Bear in mind that using soaps and oils to discourage pests will kill caterpillars, so relocate larvae before using those types of treatment.

Planting a butterfly garden will not only benefit the butterfly population and other wildlife, but also bring delight and pleasure to you as a gardener—and to anyone who visits and encounters these fascinating creatures.

For more on gardening, consider:

Wing It: 11 Approaches to a DIY Birdbath
So, Who Are Master Gardeners and What Can They Do for You?
Add a Little Spice to Your Life with a Culinary Herb Garden

How To: Make a Butterfly Garden Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Photo: cedarlandforestresources.com

The Arbor Day Foundation was founded in 1972 with a mission toward conservation and education. It’s the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees—they planted over 8.7 million trees last year alone!

When you join the Arbor Day Foundation, for a $10 fee, they will either plant ten trees in the nation’s forests or send you ten trees to plant yourself—along with a few other membership perks.

While the election of trees is based on what grows well in your geographical region, you can choose from a package of 10 Flowering Trees, a 10 Trees Mix, 10 Wild Bird Garden Trees, 10 Eastern Red Cedars, 10 Oak Trees, 10 Redbuds, 10 White Pines or 10 Autumn Classics.

Related: 5 Ways to Jump-Start Your Garden for Spring

Your ten trees will be small—very small. The diameter of a pencil and a foot tall, if you’re lucky. They’ll need to be protected for a couple of years, but before you know it, these new trees will be contributing to the beauty of your landscape in major ways.

I chose the 10 Trees Mix, which includes Sugar Maple, White Pine, Colorado Blue Spruce, River Birch, Silver Maple, Red Oak, Pin Oak, Red Maple, White Flowering Dogwood and a Redbud. I can’t wait to get my seedlings in the mail! My family will have fun planting them in large containers, which I’ll do so we can move them to shelter when the winds pick up in our area. Once they are a little bigger and stronger, we’ll move them to their permanent home in the yard.

Photo: arborday.org

Planting a seedling is a little different than planting a larger, more substantial tree. Here are some helpful tips:

1. Transplant. Plant your seedlings as soon as they’re received in order to give them the best chance for survival.

2. Moist Roots. Seedlings have fine roots that can dry out quickly. Carry them in a bucket with moist material packed around the roots to keep them damp.

3. Location. Choose an area that is free from grass, weeds, or other trees and plants. Seedlings can’t tolerate much competition, so keep them well off on their own.

4. Planting. Plant your tree at the same depth as it is packed in soil. No higher, no lower. Make sure your hole is deep enough for the roots of the seedling to extend down fully, straight. Curled or bunched-up roots won’t be able to take up water properly. Allow soil to fill in around the roots, tamping it down frequently to remove air pockets, which can dry out the roots.

You probably don’t need to water your new trees more than every seven or ten days. Give them a good soak, then let them dry out between waterings. This encourages the roots to grow down in search of water, which will make the tree more stable in the long run.

You can also mulch around your tree to help keep moisture in the soil, and if you want to protect your trees from foraging animals (or the lawnmower), you might want to add some light fencing or a landscape border.

Planting a seedling can give you great satisfaction. You’ll be rewarded in watching it grow, and it’s a gift you can give the Earth that will last for generations.

For more on trees and bushes, consider:

Mail-Order Seeds: Variety, Viability, Value
Planting a Tree on the Patio (VIDEO)
Bob Vila Radio: Shrub Success

How To: Plant a Tree (or 10!) for National Arbor Day Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Photo: gardeningescapes.com

If you live on a property with a lawn or garden, you should be aware of Master Gardeners.

In 1972, the first Master Gardener program started in Washington State, after the growing suburban population had inundated the Washington State University Cooperative Extension with requests for horticultural information. A group of volunteers was trained to help; the idea took hold; and there are now Master Gardener programs in all 50 states.

Slideshow: 10 New Perennials to Perk Up Your Garden

Master Gardeners go through intensive training in a diverse range of horticultural subjects, including sustainable gardening, soil health, plant pathology and wildlife and pest management.

In return for their training, Master Gardeners commit a substantial number of volunteer hours, serving the local community in a number of ways: answering questions via phone or email, teaching at workshops, leading gardening tours, conducting research and more.

Do you need to figure out when a particular apple tree variety blooms in your area? A Master Gardener can help with that. Are you confounded by a mysterious plant malady you can’t seem to diagnose? Yup. Call a Master Gardener!

Photo: extension.umn.edu

So, what are the top three reasons you should seek out Master Gardeners for advice?

Local Knowledge
Your area’s Master Gardeners have undergone training that is specific to your location. They will have knowledge about the soil types as well as the plant and tree varieties native to your area. In contrast, most gardening books and resources are written from a broad perspective. Master Gardeners know the territory—they will be able to impart wisdom based on their own experience, plus the experiences of a large number of other gardeners in your county.

Quality of Information
Provided by local extension experts, university professors, and industry figures, the training Master Gardeners receive is rigorous and continuous. In offering you assistance, they can draw not only on their own training, but also on a network of other Master Gardeners who have confronted and researched many of the horticultural challenges encountered in your locality.

Photo: gardensaltlakemerritt.org

It’s FREE
Master Gardeners volunteer their time to help their communities; there’s no charge for their expertise. You can find out about the Master Gardener program in your area by contacting your local extension office.

Avail yourself of their expertise. You have nothing to lose—and a beautiful, thriving garden to gain.

For more on gardening, consider:

Zen and the Art of Weed Whacking
5 Ways to Jump-Start Your Garden for Spring
Composting 101: What You Should and Shouldn’t Compost

So, Who Are Master Gardeners and What Can They Do for You? Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com