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Beyond the obvious advantage of its decorative use to make plantings look clean and attractive, there are real environmental benefits that can also help gardens reduce maintenance and protect every homeowner's investment in time and plant materials. 1. Weed Control Most homeowners understand mulch helps reduce weeds, but best results depend on understanding why. Weeds need sunlight to germinate in the soil. The proper use of a mulch that will serve as a barrier to sunlight can help decrease the germination of weed seeds. Use a shredded hardwood or softwood material at a depth of at least 2-3 inches for best effect. HINT: If you prefer the more rugged look of larger particles like mini nuggets or nuggets, use a 1-inch layer of shredded material first and then place a 2-inch layer of larger materials on top to get the advantages of both materials. 2. Erosion Control Mulch is often used by highway departments to stabilize roadside embankments from erosion. The same principle applies to home gardens and should follow the same guidelines. Slopes create collection points and water flows that can carry soil downhill. The same is true of large-particle wood mulches. Since wood products often float, large particle mulch may flow downhill in a significant rainfall. Shredded hardwood mulches should be used to stabilize slopes. These materials are more dense and tend to mat together. In lighter rainfall, most shredded mulches will trap and absorb moisture thereby preventing its collection and runoff. In heavier rainfall, the intertwined particles of a hardwood mulch hold the material together. HINT: Unfortunately, a torrential downpour on a steep incline may create more force than even the best mulch can resist; so, the steepness of the slope and the frequency of torrential rains must be considered when selecting your mulch options. An inorganic mulch like rock or stones may be your best option, especially for areas too steep to maintain plants. 3. Moisture control On the opposite extreme from torrential rains is drought, and once again, mulch can provide needed protection for landscape plants. As a wood product with a large surface area compared to its size, mulches can absorb a significant amount of water. That retained moisture, which is released over time, can reduce the need to water plants during a drought. Even more important is the ability of mulch to allow water to penetrate to the ground while forming a barrier to reduce evaporative losses under the sun. HINT: Retaining existing moisture is just as important to reducing water use as is the retention of new moisture. Maintain a 2-3 inch layer of loose fill mulch to allow moisture access from the top and prevent moisture loss from beneath. 4. Temperature Control Excessive heat in the soil can damage plant roots, kill beneficial bacteria and deactivate slow release fertilizers. A 2-3 inch layer of any organic mulch can reduce the soil temperature around plant roots. In colder climates, a good mulch layer can insulate the soil from excessive cold protecting the roots from freezing. Mulch can also be piled around tender plants in a freeze. HINT: Do not leave the mulch on above-ground stems for long in warm weather. The added moisture and heat can encourage insects to attack the stems. During the growing season, keep mulch 1 inch from the base of shrubs and trees. Simple Steps to Seed Starting Success By Melinda Myers Get a jump on the growing season by starting your favorite or hard to find plants indoors from seeds. Starting hard to find plants, like many of the heirloom or newly introduced varieties, from seed may be the only way you will be able to add these to your garden. Plus, you’ll be extending the growing season and bringing the fun of gardening indoors. All you need is a little space, a few supplies and of course seeds to get started. Check the back of your seed packets for planting directions. Most recommend when and how to start seeds indoors as well as any other special care the seedlings will need. Purchase, recycle or make your own containers from newspaper. Sanitize used pots by dipping them in a one part bleach and nine parts water solution and then rinsing them with clean water. Fill the containers with a sterile well-drained potting mix or seed starting mix. Once the containers are filled, plant the seeds according to the seed packet directions. For most seeds, plant them twice their diameter deep and gently water. Continue to water often enough to keep the soil slightly moist. Extend the time between watering and increase your seed starting success by covering the container with plastic. Or purchase a seed starting kit, like the self-watering Growease seed starter kits. Move your containers to a sunny window as soon as the seedlings emerge from the soil. Turn plants often to encourage even growth. Or increase your success by growing seedlings under artificial lights. You can make your own light system or purchase tabletop, shelf units or easy to assemble light systems, like Stack-N-Grow (gardeners.com). Keep the lights four to six inches above the top of the seedlings for best results. As the seedlings grow, be sure to maintain this distance by simply raising the lights or lowering the containers. Move overcrowded seedlings to larger containers once they have two sets of true leaves. The first leaves that appear are rather indistinct and are called seed leaves. The next set of leaves look more like the mature plant’s leaves and are called true leaves. Once the next set of true leaves forms, it is time to transplant overcrowded seedlings. Use a fork or spoon to carefully lift out the seedling. Clusters of seedlings can be dug and carefully teased apart before planting in individual pots. Be careful not to pinch and damage the young tender stems. Place seedlings in their own clean container filled with moist sterile potting mix. Plant the young plants at the same depth they were growing in the original container. Thin seedlings started in individual containers as needed. If you planted several seeds in each small container remove all but the healthiest one. Prune the weaker seedlings to ground level, so the remaining seedling can develop into a strong transplant for the garden. Continue to grow your plants in a sunny window or under artificial lights and water thoroughly and often enough to keep the soil slightly moist. Soon it will be time to move your homegrown transplants into the garden. Gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 gardening books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening and the Midwest Gardener’s Handbook. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment segments. Myers is also a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Myers’ web site, www.melindamyers.com, offers gardening videos and tips. Published: 06/24/14 Loyalton Hotel Debris update ENTEK CONSULTING GROUP, INC. agreement was amended at the Sierra County Board of Supervisors meeting held in Loyalton on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, to update the scope of service and increase compensation an extra $6,700 for final testing of the Loyalton Hotel debris piles. Sierra County Planning Director Tim Beals stated the additional testing was a gamble but expects to have the piles significantly reduced with this final testing. Beals said results came in the day before, and looks like a minimum 60% reduction in the 400 yards. He hoped by the next meeting on July 8th in Downieville to have the official results and an action plan. Beals added, it’s an increase in the cost, but was a good risk to take and saved at least $20-$30,000 by extra testing. He stated the net result is whoever is paying this bill has a significant reduction. Published: 06/20/14 IBHS Offers Guidance on Preventing Lightning-Related Damage to Homes and Businesses TAMPA (June 20, 2014) – It’s summertime and as the temperature increases so do the chances for thunderstorm and lightning activity. Next week is Lightning Safety Awareness Week and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) reminds people to take steps to prevent lightning-related damage to their homes and businesses. “Summer can be a carefree time of year, but it’s also a time when more lightning strikes occur because of the increased number of thunderstorms,” said Julie Rochman, IBHS president and CEO. “A strike to an unprotected structure could be devastating, but there are things you can do to prevent a catastrophic event from happening.” “To truly protect your home or business and its contents, consider investing in a certified lightning protection system to reduce the risk of damage. Contact your local utility company to inquire about programs to provide and install these systems; many companies provide this service. If this is not available in your area, consult a licensed electrician to install the system,” Rochman said. Additional steps home and business owners can take to protect appliances and electronic devices from power surges caused by lightning strikes include: Plug electronic devices (laptops, DVD players, etc.) into a surge protection device, not a power strip. Both allow you to connect multiple electronics to a power source; however, a power strip does not protect against a spike in electrical power. A surge protection device, however, protects devices from such spikes. Connect telephone, cable and/or satellite TV and network lines to a surge protection device. Check the packaging labels to be sure the surge protection device has been tested to UL 1449. Purchase a surge protection device with a Joule rating of over 1,000. The Joule rating typically ranges from 200 up to several thousand.Remember, the higher the number the better. Look for a surge protection device with a clamping voltage rating (voltage at which the protector will conduct the electricity to ground) between 330 v to 400 v. “Lightning is one of those severe weather events that doesn’t command as much attention but causes an estimated $1 billion a year in property damage. We must acknowledge lightning’s power and do what we can to protect our structures and the valuable belongings inside them from the effects of a strike,” Rochman said. Published: 06/20/14 Delaying Social Security Could Increase Lifetime Income for Sierra County Residents By Tim Marema and Roberto Gallardo The Daily Yonder Sierra County residents who are nearing retirement age can increase their lifetime income if they can wait a bit to start drawing Social Security benefits. In Sierra County 651 residents – or 21.1 percent of the population – are aged 55 to 64. Those are the years when folks start thinking seriously about retirement. Workers can start taking Social Security at age 62. But for those who can wait, the benefits go up. “If you need Social Security early, take it – you’ve earned it,” said Virginia Reno with the National Academy of Social Insurance, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. “But waiting even a year or two can make a big difference in the long run. The extra benefits are there for life.” Payments increase by 5 to 7 percent for each year of delay between ages 62 and 66, and by 8 percent for each year of delay between ages 66 and 70. The increases stop at age 70. For someone who can wait until age 70 to take Social Security, the reward is a lifetime monthly benefit that is 76 percent higher than if taken at age 62. For example, a worker who qualifies for a Social Security benefit of $750 at age 62 would receive $1,000 by waiting until full retirement age (66 for people born in 1943 to 1954). By waiting until age 70, the retiree would receive $1,320 a month. The higher benefit would also be the basis for future inflation adjustments. Around California, only about one in three residents who are currently receiving Social Security retirement benefits waited until full retirement age to start their payments, according to the Social Security Administration. In Sierra County, 625 residents received retirement benefits from the federal system, according to 2012 figures. The average recipient of Social Security retirement benefits in Sierra County received $1,181 a month in December of that year. On an annual basis, that brought $8,856,000 in income to the area – 7.3 percent of all personal income in the county, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Getting the most out of Social Security benefits becomes more important the longer retirees live, said Leticia Miranda, a policy adviser with the National Council of La Raza, a nonprofit that focuses on Hispanic issues, including retirement. “You may be here longer than you think,” Miranda said. About half of seniors aged 65 to 69 get most of their income from Social Security. Many have other assets or work part time. But for three out of four seniors in their 80s, Social Security is the main source of income. Nationally, a woman who is 65 years old today can expect to live until she is 86. For men, it’s 84 years. Another consideration is how the timing of benefits will affect a spouse’s income, Reno said. “If you are the higher earner in a couple, delaying benefits not only means a higher benefit for you for the rest of your life,” she said. “It also means a higher benefit for your spouse if she or he outlives you in old age.” In more than half of couples who are 65 today, one spouse will live beyond 90, she said. But residents of nonmetropolitan areas like Sierra County may have a harder time delaying their retirement. “In rural areas there is often a challenge as folks move toward retirement,” said Deanna Sharpe, a personal finance professor at the University of Missouri. “They are more likely to face unemployment. Jobs are not as available. And when they are, they tend to pay less.” Economic downturns can also affect when people decide to start receiving Social Security, Sharpe said. “One of the coping mechanisms during the recent recession was to pick up Social Security at age 62, even if they might not have planned to do that before the recession,” she said. Retirees need to make informed decisions, Sharpe said, but too often that doesn’t happen. “We find in surveys of financial literacy that quite a large portion of folks don’t understand the basics,” she said. “That’s a concern.” But retirees can easily find free or low-cost advice. Sharpe said many USDA Extension Service offices can provide information on retirement planning. She also recommended nonprofit organizations such as the National Endowment for Financial Counseling and Financial Education (www.nefe.org). The Social Security Administration website (ssa.gov) has a calculator that allows workers to estimate their retirement earnings based on their own work records and estimated retirement age. And the National Academy of Social Insurance has materials online about the impact of delaying Social Security benefits (www.nasi.org/WhenToTakeSocialSecurity). With national discussions about Social Security frequently in the news, some workers may worry whether the system will be there when they need it. Sharpe said people should stay abreast of the issues. “That’s part of making an informed decision,” she said. But Reno said that should not influence a personal decision about when to draw benefits. “Social Security will be there if you wait,” she said. The system is fully financed for about the next two decades and is three-quarters financed thereafter, she said. “Despite what you may hear, lawmakers have some good options to fix the system for the long haul,” she said. Tim Marema is editor of the Daily Yonder (www.dailyyonder.com), a national website that covers news about small cities and rural America. Roberto Gallardo is an associate professor at the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Support for the research and production of this article was provided by the National Academy of Social Insurance. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the Daily Yonder, which is published by the Center for Rural Strategies, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Whitesburg, Ky. Published: 06/09/14 |