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Garden

Salt from sidewalks, roads can damage landscapes

by Bill Hlubik/For The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 31, 2008, 2:02 PM

RICHARD WEIDMAN A woman spreads salt on a sidewalk near a parking area. Salt can move from these areas into nearby lawns and landscape beds, and potentially be dangerous to sensitive plants.

More than 15 million tons of salt are used each year to keep roads clear of ice and improve travel conditions in the United States. Along major highways in the Northeast, you may notice certain trees damaged on the side facing the road. Some of this damage can be attributed to salt spray and salt damage from root uptake into sensitive trees and shrubs.

In the same way, sensitive trees, shrubs and other plants in your landscape can be damaged with high concentrations of de-icing salts accumulating in soils or from salt spray to foliage. Excessive fertilizers also can cause similar damage to select plants. Fertilizers are combinations of various nutrients, often in the form of a salt compound.

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Keep feet planted in '09

by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 31, 2008, 1:31 PM

What wouldn't we give to gaze into a crystal ball and see where we'll be a year from now?

All the talking heads predict that 2009 will be a tough year as the economy staggers around and the employment and housing situations slump into a coma. It sounds like one big hangover after a party of reckless excess. Some of us who never bought into the binge are still left with the headaches -- unfair, but that's the reality.

I'm tempted to say "Wake me when it's over," but I don't guess we get to play Sleeping Beauty or Rip Van Winkle. Despair is no permanent solution, either. I don't think we can head into the new year without a small scrap of hope that it will end better than it began. Spring will come, no matter how hard the winter.

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Home and garden, briefly

by Home and Garden Staff/The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 24, 2008, 2:25 PM

Ice jam
Icicles dangling from the eaves are a pretty sight. They also can be a sign of trouble overhead.

They might indicate that an ice dam has formed along your eaves. This happens most often when snow piles up on the roof and the weather stays very cold.

Warm air escaping from living spaces below melts rooftop snow, but the runoff re-freezes when it reaches the colder edges. A thick band of ice forms along the eaves, melting when temperatures rise and freezing into icicles when temperatures drop.

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Protect holiday plants from cold

by Bill Hlubik/For The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 24, 2008, 2:10 PM

Bill Hlubik/The Star-Ledger

Several readers have asked about protecting holiday plants when transporting them to friends and family during cold temperatures.

Many plants are sold with a thin plastic wrap or sleeve that provides some protection from cold winds. Protective sleeves are necessary for many sensitive plants such as poinsettias and Christmas cactus, but provide limited protection. If you've purchased or are transporting holiday plants, do not let sensitive plants sit in vehicles without heat. This time of the year, temperatures fall rapidly and can lead to leaf and flower loss with your treasured gifts.

Avoid placing plants in the trunk where temperatures can fall rapidly. Put these plants in a warm, protected part of your vehicle and move them indoors as quickly as possible. If you have several stops to make during the day, bring gift plants into the house for protection. At home, don't expect to store plants in locations like an unheated garage on bitter cold days.

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The holly & the ivy

by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 24, 2008, 1:27 PM

"The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir ..."
-- Traditional carol

Tradition is at the heart of the way we celebrate Christmas, taking us back to the fondly remembered days of childhood and the distant past of long ago and far away.

On the personal level, there are memories of Grandma's special cookies and the cherished Old Country customs she's handed on to her children's children. On the spiritual plane, we revisit the birth of an innocent babe in a small Middle Eastern village 2,000 years ago. And on the mythic canvas, there's dear old Santa in his North Pole workshop and hoary pagan rituals of forgotten origin that live on in our modern world.

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