Have Yourself a Successful Composting Experience :

Composting can be a lot of fun anyone, from avid gardeners to novices alike. But one of the misconstrued beliefs that arise when people think of composting is that it's the result of smelly garbage that hasn't been perly disposed of, which in turn is a recipe pests and all sorts of other trouble. This myth is exactly that, a myth! Contrary to popular belief, composting is an organic cess that creates nutrient rich soil, popularly known as black gold, from leftover food scraps and yard waste. If done perly, y compost should not emit a foul odor, but rather a fresh, earthy smell.

To ensure that you will have a successful compost heap and experience, here are a few things to keep in mind bee you begin:

Assuming you live in a city or municipality that does not allow open compost heaps, go ahead and invest in a compost bin or compost tumbler. Having one place to add all y organic matter in to will make the composting cess much easier, and in most cases will keep the cess on a regularly consistent decomposing speed.

The next step is to start collecting organic matter to place into y compost bin. Food scraps such as cut up pieces of fruit rinds, cabbage leaves, vegetable stalks and coffee grounds make great composting. Coffee grounds are especially excellent the composting cess because they act as activators, which create heat y compost pile. Just remember to never add meat and dairy ducts, bones, fats and oils to y compost; these ducts won't decompose perly, smell foul after a couple hs, and attract pests. Yard waste such as non-diseased weeds and plants, grass clippings and leaves are essential y compost since they're rich in nitrogen.

To nip the blem of pests, rodents and other wildlife rummaging around in y compost right in the butt, here are a few tips to keep in mind. Generally, animals are attracted by the smell of meat, dairy ducts and fatty foods; adding these items is like giving an open invitation wildlife to invade y compost. In addition, you should always be sure to have a tight fitting lid on y bin or tumbler so that none of y compost is exposed.

If done correctly, y finished duct should smell earthy and not putrid. Once you have enough organic matter, it's time to add this rich, black gold into y garden's soil to long a fruitful life y garden. Remember, it's all a trial and error cess, so be sure to have fun!

How to Start Your First Organic Garden (Part 6):

To make sure your lawn fertilizer is environmentally friendly, check to see that it achieves the standards of the EPA and OSB (National Organic Standards Board) guidelines environmentally friendly garden care products.

About Organic Lawn fertilizers
If you're look pet friendly lawn fertilizers, most organic lawn fertilizers that are certified by the EPA pose no risk to your pets. You can also talk to your veterinarian or local extension agent other recommendations.

Most organic lawn fertilizers are designed to build up the soil itself, whes artificial fertilizers may not do much to help cte healthier soil. Also, look organic lawn fertilizers that help stimulate the presence of beneficial soil organisms. These critters that live in the soil can actually help bk down some elements of the lawn fertilizer and incse their efficiency. If you have healthy soil with lots of organic material mixed and a high number of soil organisms, your grass will naturally be able to fight diseases, pathogenic nematodes, and the pests that may attack your lawn.

Most organic lawn fertilizers are also designed to be more efficiently absorbed than synthetic fertilizers. This is especially true of lid organic lawn fertilizers. This means that excess nutrients are less likely to find their way into local water supplies and contaminate the water.

Environmentally friendly lawn fertilizers generally come in two ms, dry organic fertilizers and lid organic fertilizers. Dry organic lawn fertilizers will typically stay on the lawn longer and theree rere fewer ttments. However, you will need some sort of spder to distribute them over your lawn. Theree, they are harder to use on irregularly shaped lawns. Dry organic lawn fertilizers may contain such natural redients as blood meal, alfalfa, corn gluten meal, and feather meal.

Lid organic lawn fertilizers are absorbed almost instantly by your grass. This makes them useful a ck green of your grass. Products like HastaGro lid organic fertilizer are intended as foliar ttments. This means that nutrients are absorbed ckly and effectively through the leaves. An added advantage of lid fertilizers is that they slowly release nitrogen, mean they're very unlikely to burn your lawn.

Us Dry Organic Lawn Fertilizers
Dry organic fertilizers are useful cover large as. To use them, you will need some kind of spder. Otherwise, you risk not hav your dry fertilizer distributed out evenly over the lawn. Keep in mind that dry fertilizers are difficult to use on irregularly shaped lawns.

Spders are available in either drop or broadcast spders. Drop spders drop the fertilizer directly below the spder. They are economical and good smaller spaces. Broadcast spders actually shoot the fertilizer beyond the spder over a large a. If you have a large lawn, you'll probably want to use a broadcast spder.

Us Lid Organic Lawn Fertilizers
Lid lawn fertilizers are generally very easy to use. You simply attach the lid fertilizer to a common garden hose. The easy application of a lid organic lawn fertilizer makes them ideal fertiliz irregular spaces. Remember to d the application instruction your lid lawn fertilizer very carefully bee you use it.

In addition to organic lawn fertilizers, you can use several different natural lawn care technes to take care of your lawn. For example:

Test your soil frequently to determine what it needs.
Keep your clipps on your lawn. This is known as "grass-cycl" and will help keep nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium in the soil. A reel mower is ideal keep grass clipps where they should be, on your lawn. If you keep your grass clipps on your lawn, you can reduce the use of lid organic fertilizers to about four times a grow season.

Avoid fertiliz if you're expect rain. The fertilizer may simply wash off and will not do your lawn any good.

How to Start Your First Organic Garden (Part 9):

By taking a few easy ps, you can end up with the greenest, healthiest n on your block. Here's what to do!

"Grass-cycle" your grass ppings.
Grass-cyng involves letting your n reuse the grass ppings created by ing. The great thing about grass-cyng is that it's easy! You simply leave your grass ppings on the n inad of throwing them away. Why would you want to do this? Because it's been proven that grass ppings will quickly depose and return needed nutrients to the l. The grass ppings also act as a natural mulch, helping your grass to retain water.

Grass-cyng is a way not only to improve your n, it will also help you save time taking care of it! Other benefits of grass cyng include: improved l texture, reduced need for fertilizers, saved time when you , and reduced wa that goes to the dfill.

While you can convert most ners for grass-cyng, your best bet in to invest in a reel er. Reel ers are quiet, effective, easy to use, and most reel ers leave the grass where it should be, on your n!

If you just can't stand the sight of grass ppings on your y, another option is to post them. Invest in a simple post bin and use the post in your n and gen.

Cut your grass rectly and to the remended cutting height.
Knowing what height to cut your grass is an important way to get your grass to grow healthy and strong. Setting your ner to the highest or lst setting is not necessarily the best thing for your grass. In fact, different grass species have different needs in terms of grass cutting height. You can look up remended cutting heights here.

Additionally, you should keep the blades on your ner nice and sharp so that it cuts your grass effectively. Also, consider buying a reel er, which actually cuts the grass like scissors rather than tearing it like traditional rotary ners. This makes for healthier grass in general.

post your kitchen and gen wa for greener grass.
As mentioned above, posting your grass ppings is a great way reduce wa and help your gen and n grow. Additionally, you can post other wa from the gen and even from your kitchen.

Adding post to your l is one of the best ways to green up your grass and all your gen pts. post has a number of other benefits, including:

# post improves water drainage in clay and sandy ls.
# post creates a slow release of pt nutrients and stimulates root growth.
# post helps reduce problems with l-borne pt diseases and gen pests.
# post prevents erosion of precious topl.
# post recycles y and kitchen was inad of sending it to the dfill.
# post baces the pH levels of most ls.
# post attracts beneficial insects, worms, and other organisms

Use n gluten meal as a natural herbicide and n fertilizer.
Corn gluten meal is used most frequently as a natural preemergent herbicide for turf grass and organic crops. Hver, it has the added benefit of fertilizing your l. Corn Gluten Meal is a totally natural byproduct of the wet-milling process for n (Zea mays L.). It will help control annual weeds in your n and will keep your grass fertilized.

Use My Root Builder to improve your l.
Myrhizal fungi are beneficial l organisms that provide a sort of secondary root sym for your gen pts and grass. They attach themselves to the roots and help pts and grass make better use of water and organic nutrients in the l.

With a Myrhizal fungi root builder, you can get myrhizal fungi to work more efficiently. GreenSense My Root Builder is an excellent product that contains Endomyrhiza, Ectomyrhiza, Scleroderma, Kelp, Zeolite, and liquid Humate. It will work great on all the pts you grow, not just your turf grass.

Best Lawn Care Equipment For Really Easy Lawn Care:

If you want the best looking lawn, or even just one that is good enough to look out on as you enjoy a beautiful day, you will need to put some eff in. To minimize that, mechanization could be your answer!

Te are some great t-saving tools around these days, that will take the chore out of your lawn as well as getting you sitting out on it enjoying it just as soon as possible! Even if you spend laborious hours on it, it's still possible that it won't end up perfect, but it will look way better.

Many people begrudge the eff and t it takes. Maybe it's these very same people who also feel aggrieved that lawn e equent can be a bit heavy on the pocket. Like things in life, it can be hard to get a balance between what is a reasonable expenditure and whet it is wh it in the first place - 'What's in it for me?', in this investment I make!

By buying reasonable lawn e equent, you will have every oppunity to have a beautiful lawn, if that's what you are seeking.

So, e are some of the most impant implements that will help you get the lawn you rey want.

Your Lawnmower - The Most Valuable T-Saving Power-Tool

To spend your rest t cutting a lawn laboriously, is pretty much agreed by gardeners across spectrums as a bit of a waste of t and eff. Te must be better things to do than cut a lawn wout proper lawn e equent. Only the greatest purists who nurture and worship their lawn will resist buying a pretty good lawnmower as their most vital bit of lawn e equent

Te are two ways to do this, the hard way and the easy way. The hard way is a bog-standard mower that you push along wout any motorization at , but if you want to properly e for your lawn, you'll need a decent mower that you can use wout too much eff.

Of the lawn e equent that's out te, the mower is the one that you'll get most use of and, if you choose correctly, it will be the one that makes the most impact on your lawn and saves you the most t.

If you are in doubt about which type of mower you might buy, just take a look at the lawn and areas involved. For a large, very flat lawn, you will need a powered mower, probably a sit-on one. For a sm lawn, get yourself one that will cut just right for that lawn. Unless it's to massage your ego, you don't need a sit-on mower for a lawn the size of a postage stamp!

W lawn mowers, te are plenty of different types to be found. For a reasonable choice that isn't too expensive, go for a pushmower, wout the push. That is the self-propelled mower that is power-assisted - just helping you out when you need it and giving you the flexibility of complete control..

Edge Trimmers - Go On Then, Finish The Job

When you've done your mowing, the job isn't complete until you've gone round the edge too. In fact a well mown lawn will still look scruffy if your edges don't get done.

A good trimmer will be one item of lawn e equent that will 'ice the cake' and if used wisely, will enhance even the best mown garden, creating a look of quality that is hard to surpass.

This is one piece of garden equent we mechanization can be harder to handle that doing it by hand, but w a twist. A good edge trimmer will be used manuy, but will not only be very effective, it will also save you t and your back!

Yes, you can get those electrical or petrol/gas powered 'strimmer' type edge trimmers when you're out buying your lawn e equent, but for me, te is no better piece of kit than the odd looking shear type that you use w a sideways shuffle along your border. The trouble w strimmers is that they run so fast that it can be hard to control them.

Go for a good manual!

'Like a Gentle Rain From Heaven'

Last up in the key lawn e equent that you will need to consider seriously when you are aiming for a great looking lawn, is a way to get it wet!

Having an effective sprinkler system in place will make a huge difference when you are looking at hot, thirsty summers. Could you imagine watering your whole lawn w a watering can?

No, I thought not.

Sprinklers come in a number of different arrangements. Some, which might be best of you want as little involvement as possible, will be built into your lawn and come on w a tr system, popping-up wout warning - so watch out!

For a sm lawn, at the ot end of the spectrum, are simple movable sprinklers that you attach your hose to and move around. Takes your t and eff, but for a sm lawn that might be a completely acceptable solution.

Whatever you decide on, make sure that before you buy, you understand what it is you want and then double-check that it will meet your expectations. Coverage, water volume, cost and t-saving are wh covering before your trip to the garden center.

If you get yourself these three pieces of lawn e equent to deal w these key lawn maintenance issues, you will rey have sed out most of the problems you might find.

Use these as well as you can and, before you know it, you will be sitting out te, cool drink in hand, admiring a beautiful lawn, produced, by you, w minimal eff!

A Bit of TLC for your Compost :

As an avid gardener who takes advantage of the many benefits t composting has to offer, I can tell you t right from the start I had no idea what I was doing what I had gotten myself into! I had a rough start to begin with I'll admit, it's not like I was born with composting knowledge. I mean, I read up on a few articles blogs t you're not supposed to use any meat, bones, dairy products animal fats in any of y compost bins or piles. Yeah, t's common sense, but I wasn't aware t there were other tender, loving, caring efforts t you still needed to implement into y compost heap.

For instance, you have to make sure t y compost heap is consistently aerated. Okay, so I didn't quite grasp t at the first time I tried this. Learn from my mistake here, folks, it's actuy a lot easier n it sounds. There are plenty of compost tumblers out there on the market t make aerating y compost rey quite easy fun. A lot of models actuy include a rotating bin or a hle t ows you to wind up y bin, which circulates heat oxygen within the compost matter. Without proper air circulation, the organic matter in y compost won't be able to break down quickly properly, chances are will make things smell a bit rotten. Believe me, you don't want to know what t smells like! Websites like Composters.com will definitely offer you a selection of compost tumblers compost bins.

Bad odor is usuy something t not everyone is too fond of it's even worse if it's coming from y compost bin. But with some proper TLC, you can either avoid the problem or fix it altogether. One way to do this is to figure out what there's too much or too little of. If it smells kind of like cat urine or ammonia-like, you may have way too much yard wastes in y compost. If it smells like wet dog, or maybe wet organic matter, then you need to start adding some dried leaves maybe some hay turn y compost; this will absorb t excess moisture while adding heat to y pile.

With proper maintenance tender, loving care, you'll eventuy be able to achieve the ideal compost pile for y gardening needs. It's a bit of a chenge in the beginning, but soon enough you'll be able to figure out for yself just what you need how much of it is necessary for y compost pile.

Investigate the World of Natural Composting:

In regards to organic gardening, compong satisfies one of the best ways to help Mother Nat create an all-natural mulch and nutrient-rich soil. As more and more people are discovering the inexpensive benefits of compong, they are able to abandon the harmful chemicals contained in commercial fertilizers. Compost is the natural breakdown of organic matels, which helps imve the struct, text and water-holding capacity of exing soil.

The compong cess is known to uplift the composin of lawns and gardens, as it motes healthy root development in plants and enhances soil fertility. Backyard compong involves the gress and mon of naturally occurring bacte that transforms leaves, lawn clippings, kitchen scraps, and other organic wastes into rich, usable soil. In the end, compong recycles organic matels back into the earth, which is beneficial for yard and garden use. It also helps reduce unnecessary environmental waste by conserving space in local landfills.

An Example on How to Compost

Individuals find many different reasons why and ways on how to start compong. Some are motivated by the spect of reducing their yard and garden waste, which often becomes a minent ingredient within the compong cess. Addinally, most ceds are pretty easy to follow. An example of how to start compong includes collecting enough matel to establish a pile measuring one-cubic yard. The ideal combinan of matels should equal a 30:1 carbon to-nitrogen ra. The starting layer should consist of 4 to 6 inches of high-carbon items, such as paper, wood chips, leaves, or straw.

Next, a layer consing of 4 to 6 inches of high-nitrogen matels is added. An example of this is animal man, but vegetative kitchen wastes are also welcome. Grass clippings addinally fall into this category. When using food waste, an added thin layer of soil, leaves, or sawdust will absorb any odors. The next step is to mix the carbon- and nitrogen-containing layers, which helps distribute a good and even blend.

A "squeeze" test will help determine the moist content of the compost. Water is added until squeezing a handful of compost duces one to two drops of water. It is important to remember that adding too much water causes nutrients to escape. The layers of a compost pile are then alternated and mixed until the heap is about 3 to 4 feet tall. In about a week, the pile should reach temperats close to 110 degrees and needs to be turned with a shovel and watered when dry.

Acceptable Compong Matels

Some people are curious as to what sorts of matels are acceptable for compong. Since the average household duces more than 200 pounds of kitchen waste per year, these items make perfect addins to compong. Melon rinds, tea bags, apple cores, and banana peels are highly recommended. High-fat foods, dairy, and meat waste are discouraged because they smell awful in the sun and attract unwanted pests.

Grass clippings are a must, as they quickly break down and contain just as much nitrogen as man. Garden waste, such as wilted flowers and decaying plants are suggested, while paying careful attenn to avoiding the use of weeds and their seeds. Wood ashes (wood burning stove or fireplace) are acceptable, but coal ashes are not because they often contain high levels of sulfur and iron. Addinal compong ingredients include pine needles, spoiled hay or straw, the man of vegetan animals, and seaweed.

How To Grow and Care For Your Bonsai Tree :

Grng and maintaining a healthy looking sai t can sometimes prove to be a tough task
for those who are unaware of the necessary attention,patience and dedication needed in order to successfully grow and nurter a sai t.This is where I would like to talk about and review a very helpful sai t guide I recently bought, which is called "Bonsai Care Secrets".This guide shows
people how to grow as well as take effective care of their sai ts.

This easy to follow,step by step guide which is also loaded with more than 50 colour photos, guides you in grng and maintaining a healthy looking sai t.It does not matter If you are a beginner
or an experienced gardener who is already aware of sai t needs, this ebook will
greatly enhance your knowledge for grng successful sai plants. With this ebook you will learn many aspects such as identifying ideal loactions for planting, different grng techniques, disease curing and general training all your sai ts.

The other important topics talked about include "How to identify types of sai for indoor or outdoor grng"," Th simple ways to grow sai from cuttings or seeds" And various other tips and tricks to pruning and shaping a sai t.This will help you achieve great success in grng your first Bonsai t! This package also includes th us gifts which are "Grng Bonsai for Beginners","Grng Bonsai from Seed" and "Th Reports on Composting, Pest Management and Mulching". This package is an absolute must for anyone interested in grng or maintaining sai ts.

Environmentally Safe Ways to Remove Weeds:

There is a lot of concern about herbicides and what they are doing to our environment. Large amounts of chemicals leech into our grounder polluting our er supply. Cancers and strange diseases with no apparent cause are being linked to chemicals and pollutants in our environment. So how do we control those pesky we in our perfectly manicured landscapes? I will outline several different ways to eradicate we without polluting our environment.

The first and probably the simplest of , is to roll up r sleeves, get down on r knees, and pull the we out! I know this seems counterintuitive in an age when we are accustomed to instantaneous and easy ways of doing things. When we have to do is spray some highly-toxic chemical on a plant and it seemingly evaporates in less that a day! But back in the day, people used to buy tools like a hoe, or dandelion pullers to actuy exert physical work to remove we. I prefer this method as it actuy feels good to get back to our natural instincts and commune with our surroundings. Sweating in the hot sun and doing physical labor is good for the mind, body, and spirit, and with this technique, we can actuy eliminate we!

A tip for pulling we is to give the weed bed a good ering the night before. With the ground thoroughly soaked, the soil will be softened and will yield the entire weed plant, root and .

The second method is equy effective but it is more difficult to isolate a single weed in a bed of desirable plants. Simply pour hot, boiling er over the weed. The hot er will kill the weed. The next time make a pot of tea and have some er left over, pour it on the we. How about pasta er? Or corn on the cob? Plenty of boiling er left over there! While the corn is cooking or the pasta simmering, take a quick walk outside to see what we need to go. That way can quickly locate them with r hot pot of er.

And lastly, can use a string trimmer or lawn mower and just mow them down. Sure, they will grow back up but just keep whacking them down. They are green and produce lots of oxygen for r environment, and mowed down low, who would ever suspect that have a lawn full of we. My lawn is full of clover and violets. Mowed down low, it looks like a beautiful lawn. However, I am the envy of the neighborhood every Spring when my lawn is covered with white and purple flowers during the month of April.

* * *

Find more of Mr. Novosat's writings on his own blog at http://www.novosat.us/wp

Lawn Care Equipment Make Gardening Jobs Easy:

In the United Sts, preserving a lawn can be an enjoyable hobby to some who are garden enthusiasts, but a chore to many ots who do not e enough time to tend to their lawns. Te are those who become desper at not atting their ideal lawns despite exerting precious eft, time, and my in mting .

They would almost lose hope thinking that gardening and mting a lawn is just not their cup of tea. Experts, h, beli that ing the right set of lawn care int is the secret to achieving the perfect greenery. The 3 most popular lawn care int are the following:

1.The Dependable Lawn Mr. The Lawn mr is a kind of lawn care int available in two (2) basic models - the push type which is generally used in residential lawn areas, and the riding mr which works best vast lawn tracts.

This lawn care int is a must-e all lawn owners. In y neighborhood, you are considered out of place if you do not e in y possession. On the ot hand, you will be scoffed at by y neighbors n if you e but do not put it to good use. An excellent lawn mr is what you need to provide the best mtenance care y lawn.

2. The Handy Trir. A grass trir is anot type of lawn care int with sral models available out in the market depending on y lawn type. Normally te are these nylon cords which are used to lash at the grass to cull out the weeds and prune the grass at the same time.

Trirs aim to n out the lines of the lawn. A small lawn can make use of an electric trir that is supplied with an extension cord of sufficient length to tackle hard-to-reach areas. For wider lawn tracts, a grass trir pred by gas is highly recomded.

3. An Effective Sprinkler System. Since wr is a lawn necessity, a sprinkler system is the type of lawn care int that can y well handle the y wring needs. This is especially recomded in localities we te is no continuous wr supply.

A good sprinkler system is that is ipped with olapping wr sprays to guarantee maximum coage of the entire lawn. Testing maximum coage can easily be d. Bee turning on the sprinkler system, place open conters on sral strgic parts of the lawn.

After a cert period, stop the sprinkler system operation and check if wr can be found in all of the conters. If y answer is yes, then you are assured that you e invested y my's worth in an effective and efficient lawn care int y lawn mtenance.

This, combined with the r-dependable lawn mr and handy trir, make up the basic and most common lawn care int that a garden novice or an expert lawn owner should e.

Sealing For Long Lasting Decks And Fences:

In just 12 months or so, wood that is left outdoors unproted will display signs of deteriorat. The pieces of lumber that make up ds and ces will, sooner or lr, begin to deterior. Rain and sunlight are Nature's two main tools for bearing down on unproted wood and ot mrials.

For insta, wood that is left outside bees weak and gray because the sun's rays work to rupture the wood's internal fibers. Rain, on the ot hand, causes wood to swell, making it spongy. This swell-shrink cycle bees a daily occurre, as dew es in the mornings and the harsh rays of the suns bear down on the wood in the afternoons. This cycle expedites the wood's deteriat. Ds and ces that are on their way to deteriorating will have surfaces that are grayed, deformed and split.

The Need to Treat Wood

Wood, even if it has been prere-tred, must still be cleaned and sealed to prolong its life. Ds and ces made of prere-tred wood still require regular cleaning and sealing to ensure that they stay in good condit. While ds and ces made of prerized wood, cedar, cypress and ot exotic woods are safe from ins infestat, but they are not invulnera to weat's corrosive effs. Wood that does not have protive coating can pose a danger in just seven years.

When is Wood Ready for Sealing?

When is the right time to seal wood? Some say that wood should be sealed after a year so that the wood is pletely dry. Howe, a year is too long a time to wait to seel wood. During this time, the wood would have incurred too much damage, most of which cannot be resed. Wood can be pletely dry and ready for sealing in two or three months. It has been found that wood that has been sealed win three months is much more dira and look better than wood that has been sealed after one year.

You can easily tell if the wood is ready for sealing. Professals use an elric moisture meter to determine if the wood can be sealed. Howe, a simpler method is to sprinkle drops of wr on the surface of the wood. If the wr is quickly absorbed, it means that the wood is dry enough that it is ready for sealing.

Preparing the Wood for Sealing

To prepare the wood for sealing, thoroughly clean the wood. Get rid of mold, mildew, dirt and algae that may be present on the wood. Wood that is properly cleaned has open pores and balad pH, allowing the sealer to ade to the wood fiber.

Choosing the Cleaning Agent

What kind of cleaning agent should be used on ds and ces to prepare it for sealing? Cleaning pounds include acidic cleaners, alkaline cleaners and pH neutral cleaners. If you are undertaking the ce or d cleaning yourself, pH-netural powdered cleaners are safe to use. Howe, most home improvement stores remend the use of acid-based cleaning pounds si, pared to alkaline-based cleaning pounds, they are much safer to use by the aage homeowner. Te is one caveat to acid-based cleaning pounds: they are not really that effive at cleaning wood. The alkaline-based cleaning pounds, which are used by professals, are more effive. Professals use a two-step cleaning process. First, they clean wood w alkaline cleaners and then follow it up w an acidic brightener. W this cleaning method, the wood's natural colors emerge, bringing out the wooden d or ce's beauty even before sealing.

Prere Washing Wood

Prere hing is one way to clean wood w or wout cleaners mixed w the wr. Howe, because wr impacts the wood at a high velocity, the wood's surface can bee damaged. In order for this cleaning method to be successful and not damage the wood, the right amount of prere must be applied and the right cleaning solut must be used. If you are prere hing the wood, be careful not to apply too much prere. It may be a good idea to use a mercial prere hing apny. In addit keep in mind that prere s that are for rent are typically designed to have a prere of 1750 to 3500 psi, which is all right if you are prere hing a concrete ce or d, or if you are trying to peel off old paint. These prere s, though, are too much for wood. The ideal for prere hing wood is between 500 and 500 psi. In addit, ne prere h wood w hot wr. Doing so will sharply raise the wood grain.

Striping

Striping are indentat marks left on the wood when prere hing the wood is improperly done -- such as starting and stopping the cleaning stroke as the wand of the prere hing is aimed y close to the surface of the wood. Striping causes the wood ce or d to look uneven an appear as if it poorly constructred.

Stripping

If the wood ce or d needs to be re-sealed, the old coat of sealer should be stripped. This is because most sealers have ingredients that should be removed before any re-sealing is done. To strip the wood of the old sealer, harsh chemical strippers are used. This type of job is better given to a professal.

Seling the Sealer

O you have your wood d or ce cleaned up and prepared for sealing, the next step is to choose the sealer to use. In this regard, you need to think about how much you are prepared to spend for a wood sealer. Sealers are eit wax-based, oil based or acrylic. Lx-based sealers have been introduced recently. The price of sealers vary. Consider your budget when choosing a sealer. Howe, don't be willing to pay for the cheapest sealer. The saying, "You get what you pay for" holds true in this case.

Wax-Based Sealers

Sealers that are waxed-based are typically availa at do-it-yourself shops. You will likely see them being adtised on TV. Wax-based sealers are cheap to produce, which is why manufacturers are a to spend money on adtising. Wax-based sealers cost between $12 and $15 per gallon. Be aware that wax-based sealers will seal your wood ce or d for just a short time -- about eight months. After that time, wood that has been sealed w wax-based sealers often blacken. Unless you are really short on cash, don't use wax-based sealers as they are not a to provide prot to wood ds and ces.

Oil-Based Sealers

Oil-based sealers are derived from eit crude oil or vegeta oils such as tung or linseed oil. Crude oil sealer is a to penetr wood better, so the result is wood that looks natural and soft. On the ot hand, vegeta oils give wood some sheen, making it look like the wood has been varnished. Vegeta oil sealers have natural sugars and starches, which can encourage mildew and mold growth. In addit, vegeta oil sealers can be difficult to remove. If you plan on re-sealing wood that has been previously sealed w a vegeta oil sealer, you will need to strip the previous sealer first.

Crude-based oil sealers don't need tobe stripped if the wood is being prepared for re-sealing. A new layer of the same crude-based oil sealer can simply be applied o the old layer of sealer. Crude-based sealers, unlike vegeta oil sealers, are easy to strip. More importantly, they are cheap, but effive.

Oil-based sealers that are sold in most do-it-yourself stores contain a little vegeta oil. These sealers last from 12 to 18 months. You can buy a gallon of oil-based sealers for $15 to $30.