Soil

Five Tips for Sustainable Landscaping It’s not hard to get a little overwhelmed when it comes to being environmentally conscious. With so much competing information, rules and trends, it’s difficult to know where to start to create an environmentally sound space. Whether you’ve got an inner-city rooftop or expansive country gardens, there are some super easy tricks to put your mind at ease and create beautiful and sustainable landscaping solutions. PLANT SELECTION Plant Seasonal If you’re a…

The winter months are very hard on roofs. Wind, snow and ice exert pressure on the shingles, which can damage them and make the roof leak. In extreme cases, heavy snow can collapse a roof or bring down a tree branch and severely damage a roof. Here are some things you can do to protect your roof this winter and reduce the need for major repairs in the spring. Fix Any Weak Areas Loose, curling or missing shingles should be repaired before winter sets in. High winds can loosen them further…

Ovaskainen, 2000), establishment (Bowman, Cappuccino & Fahrig, 2002), habitat selection (Fletcher & Hutto, 2008), animal predation of pollinators (Batary & Baldi, 2004), resource quality (Burke & Nol, 1998), and interspecific competition. Edge effects in plant and animal communities are common but may be positive (Chen et al., 1992) or negative (Bruna 2002) and affect distributions, abundance (Bolger et al., 2000), growth (McDonald and Urban, 2004), and reproduction (Burgess et al., 2006). Edge…

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient to all forms of life and is required for building DNA, RNA and amino acids (Paytan, 2011). Phosphorus is often a limiting nutrient in ecosystems, along with nitrogen, and therefore its abundance determines the amount of primary production that can occur within a system (Schindler, 1971). The two main types of phosphorus are inorganic phosphate minerals, such as calcium phosphate rock that is mined for fertilizer, and organic compounds containing phosphorus…

Monascus Pigment: A Versatile Fungal Pigment Introduction Pigments is defined as a organic compounds that give a characteristic color to plant or animal tissues and is involved in critical processes. Chlorophyll in plant (photosynthesis) and hemoglobin present in Red blood cells (oxygen transportation) are examples of pigment. Variety of color pigments produced by organisms is also known as biological pigment or bichromes. Pigments from plants and animals have been obtaining since long…

As low-water landscaping gains ground in desert areas like SoCal, many people worry that it’s a choice between being responsible and having an appealing lawn. It doesn’t need to be that way. Xeriscape and hardscape design Santa Clarita can use materials like decomposed granite, tumbled glass, wood and metal to create visual appeal. Color One of the biggest draws of a grass lawn is the vibrant, green color. Giving up on grass doesn’t mean relegating your lawn to shades of tan. Decomposed…

A well-planned garden by Mike Carruthers of Carruthers Landscaping www.carrutherslandscaping.ca will add to your property’s value – and curb appeal. But not just a couple of hastily cut out flower beds with a few annuals thrown into it. These days, a home’s yard(s) may become an extension of the lifestyle of the homeowners. With discussion and proper planning, your garden can be transformed into practical living/lifestyle space for you and your family. An oasis need not be only well-manicured…

Integrated water management Integrated water management (IWM) of storm water has the potential to address many of the issues affecting the health of waterways and water supply challenges facing the modern urban city. Also known as low impact development (LID) in the United States, or Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) in Australia, IWM has the potential to improve runoff quality, reduce the risk and impact of flooding and deliver an additional water resource to augment potable supply. The…

Bud bank dynamics (Benson, Hartnett et al. 2004) study suggest that the densities and dynamics of tallgrass prairie plant populations, as well as their response to disturbance (e.g., fire and grazing) and climatic variability, may be mediated principally through effects on the demography of belowground bud populations. Patterns of seed reproduction and seed bank populations have little influence on short-term aboveground population dynamics of tallgrass prairie perennials. Our results indicate…

Not only in Florida, but all over the country sinkholes are plunging problems into society. Openings in the ground sprawl out unexpectedly, and accompanying one is an arsenal of complications. A sinkhole is more than just a pot hole, and it can cause issues concerning property damage, environmental disruption, and- tragically- death in some cases. Without further awareness of sinkholes, the threats they pose are even higher. Sinkholes are both naturally occurring and man-made. Richard M. Foose,…