The Benefits of Carpet Underlay September 23, 2009

If you want the absolute best carpet underlay, choose flat rubber. While this underlay is more difficult to find and may be more expensive, it offers the longest life for carpet underlays. Many times this pad will outlive the original carpet.

With a in floor heating system, you have to have a different underlay. Look for one that is specifically designed for floor heating systems. Traditional underlay forms an insulating layer for your home that would trap the heat below the pad. This will interfere with the heating of the room and can create a dangerous situation with heat buildup. Look for a tog value of less than one for your carpet underlay.

Can Moths be Stopped in Their Traps? September 2, 2009

Do traps for codling moths work, two readers are asking after having their apple crop spoiled this year.

Judy from Omokoroa and Ben from Mt Maunganui are questioning the traps’ worth given the extent of fruit damage they have seen in their gardens this summer.

The short answer is they help but if plenty of adult moths are flying around in spring you won’t get 100 percent worm-free apples – or anywhere near that. The only way to have codling worm-free fruit is through diligent monitoring of moth numbers, combined with regular spraying when your apples are under threat. That is what most commercial orchardists do.

Few home gardeners want to. By the time you add up the spray cost, your time and the overall hassle, including exposure to pesticides, you might as well buy blemish-free apples and save yourself the bother.

However, if you want worm and spray-free home-grown apples, codling-moth traps help by taking some of the male moths (who fertilise the females’ eggs) out of circulation. It is done by attracting them to the sticky traps with a pheromone.

Ideally, all males would be trapped before they had time for any sexual sorties but it doesn’t work that way. Various factors come into play – such as trap numbers, where they are hung in relation to apple trees, whether strong winds reduce their effectiveness, and the number of adult moths that hatch in a season.

Determined gardeners get the best results when they supplement the traps with other anti-codling procedures. These include picking up all windfalls, keeping the ground tidy under trees, and removing flaking bark from older trunks and branches where over-wintering larvae can hide. It also helps to put bands of corrugated cardboard around big branches and tree trunks in summer and autumn.

They “catch” some worms looking for a cosy place to pupate, and need replacing regularly (burn infected ones).

Some gardeners say planting the feverfew herb and other plants at the base of trees helps, too.

The traps are probably the most expensive of all these options but among the least time-consuming. They are worthwhile but be realistic about their limitations. For the best overall results, combine them with other combat techniques.

Lawn Care September 1, 2009

If your lawn is looking patchy, dry or taken over by weeds then it is time to start doing something about it.

Autumn is the perfect time to sow new lawns or renovate existing ones and with the summers getting hotter and dryer, and the increasing cost of water use on the lawns, people in areas like the coastal Bay of Plenty, should think about planting summer grasses.

Myles Durrant of LADS says planting winter grasses in autumn will become less viable as many of these grasses tend to either die off or require copious amount of water to keep them alive in summer.

“Our AgriDark summer grass, for example, needs only about a third of the water that normal grass needs and it thrives in the heat of summer.”

“It is even being used on some of the fairways at Omanu Golf course. Terrific looking lawns are not a one hit wonder, they need constant care. You often see a new lawn sown which looks great for a few months then deteriorates because there is no ongoing care of the lawn.”

LADS provide a premium lawn care programme including sowing new seed, aeration, weed control and fertilising from$20 per week.

Myles says that even lawn mowing can have a big impact on the lawn.

“Lawns in new Zealand are generally mown too low which is an open invitation for weeds to come in.”

Unlike most summer grasses, AgriDark has fine blades and is not as bouncy as other couch grasses. Sewn with a companion grass provides a beautiful lasting lush lawn all year round.