In my last post I talked about gutters on one of my client’s homes being clogged constantly by the needles that are falling from a fir tree that is right next to her home.

Trees are beautiful and offer a lot of value to a home but they can cause damage to a home in many ways, too, including dropping their debris on the roof constantly, their roots can damage foundations, basements, side walks, driveways, water and sewer lines.

And, worst of all, they can crush a home by falling on it in a high wind.

If you can spot a crack or other damage in a tree before it falls then it is often time to take it out before it causes damage to your home or property.

Now, when the tree is only 10 - 15 feet tall it is fairly easy and straightforward as to how to cut it down and turn it into firewood.

But, when the tree is a 100 - 150 feet tall fir or cedar how can you cut it down and not have it end up crushing your home?

Well, watch this video below and you’ll see how some professional foresters remove three hazard trees which were ready to fall.  The trees were very close to buildings in a kids camp.  It is absolutely amazing to see how precise and careful they are.

Warning: Don’t try this at home on your own!  Call in the professionals.

Micro Mesh Gutter Guard

A gutter guard that really works! Micro-mesh gutter guard is installed on a home surrounded by leaves and pine trees. Check out its performance and how it compares to other common gutter guards that claim they keep gutters clog free. Shows why this micro-mesh gutter guard offers the only 100% money back warranty in the industry!

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Yesterday was the first time this summer that I had to get up on a clients roof and try to clean out the gutters.  The early rains and winds had been a worry to her and she was right to be worried.  With a huge fir tree right beside the house, needles constantly drift down onto the roof and the rains wash them all towards the down spouts.  In no time at all these gutters can and do clog up.

I’m sure I could be up on that roof almost everyday trying to clear out the gutters and they would still clog up shortly after I got back down on the ground.  There seems to be no end to it.  The tree is a beautiful shade giving feature in the backyard but it is an enemy of the roof and gutter system.

I love trees.  Unfortunately, they can cause lots work for homeowners or expenses for homeowners to keep their home in good condition.  I get lots of calls in the fall to clean out gutters.  Some are packed full of leaves, evergreen needles, dirt, granules from the shingles, twigs and even bones and shells that were dropped in there by birds.  It is amazing what can be found in them.

Gutter cleaning is something that you have to have done at least once a year and more likely 2 - 4 times a year depending on what you have around your home ie. trees.

It is not a fun job but those gutters have to be kept clear to keep the water flowing through them and then down the downspouts to the perimeter drains and away from your home.  It’s gotta be done one way or another.

Over the course of the past few years I have come across different types of screens or covers that some homeowners have put in the gutters or had installed over them to keep them clear.

Well, they only seem to sort of work some of the times.  The screens are large enough to let a small twig the size of a pen get through them along with all the pollution that comes down in the rain and the granules from the shingles.  The metal cover types usually have holes that are large enough to let evergreen needles to pass through them and they get clogged easily.

Whether there have been covers or screens on, you still need to get those gutters cleaned out because stuff still gets through them and clogs the downspouts.  And now it takes  2 - 3 times long to clean out the gutters because you have to fight with those covers by taking them out or off and putting back in place.  Oh what fun it is!  Yeah, right.

So, up until now there hasn’t been anything that has jumped out at me as being worth the money to go through the hassle of having covers installed only to have them partially work.  If you’re gonna put covers on then they should keep everything out except the water from the rain.

In the video below you’ll see a gutter cover which looks like it was well designed and a lot of thought went into it.  It really seems to work. It looks like they figured out a way to keep all the debris out and just let the rain water in.  Amazing!

If you’re tired of cleaning your gutters or having someone else clean them for you, then this might me a solution that you might want to seriously take a look at.

As for me, I’m off to clean out some clogged gutters.  These torrential rains that we’ve been getting this week are overflowing one of my clients gutters and causing quite a mess on the outside of his home.

Thrips, also known as thunderflies, thunderbugs, storm flies, and corn lice, feed on a large variety of sources both plant and animal by puncturing them and sucking up the contents.  They are pests no matter what you call them.

In this video you’ll see what they can do to gladiolas that will make any gardener want to cry after putting so much work in to getting these gorgeous flowers to start growing in the first place.

You’ll have to listen carefully to hear what this gardener suggests for getting rid of these thrips.

Great Gardens: Keeping bugs off your Gladiolas

Gladiolas are in full bloom at this garden, but how do you keep the bugs away? KXLY 4’s Phyllis Stephens gets to the bottom of this problem.

Many of us are starting to harvest tomatoes from our gardens and greenhouses now.  What a fabulous time of year this is.

Being able to grow these beautiful vegetables (okay, I know they are actually in the fruit family but, let’s not split hairs over this) in your own backyard is one of the true delights of summer.  No matter if you have a garden the size of the “back 40″ or just a few pots on your balcony, you can grow some variety of these beautiful delicacies.

There seems to be a competition between neighbors every year as to who can grow the biggest stuff in their garden and tomatoes are no different.

There are a lot of different varieties to choose from for different purposes ie. show, taste, canning, sauces, etc..  You can grow the little grape tomatoes for eating as a snack, the cherry tomatoes for snacking, too, or throwing in the salad, the roma for making sauces or the one you’ll see in the video below for show along with many others.

Whatever space you have available to grow in there is sure to be a tomato plant that would love to take root and ripen-up in.

Garden Girl TV: My (almost) Record Tomato

Here is a video of Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl’s, almost record organic tomato from her garden.

Have you ever wondered how to get beautiful stripes on your lawn like the pros do on many of the properties that they look after? Well, with the right attachment on the back of their lawn mower they can make a perfectly striped lawn every time. Now, it goes without saying that they have a lot of practice to keep the lines straight but you can also get the striped effect, too, with the right equipment.

Check out this video to see their secret weapon…

Big League Lawns ~ CheckMate Lawn & Turf Striping Kits

Lawn and Turf Striping Kits for field, turf & lawn grasses.