Stop plants frying in the sun

Recently we moved to a much warmer climate than the area where I grew up. While the thought of being able to grow fruit such as Mango and trees such as palms,the challenges of getting plants to grow in a hot climate have taken the toll on some of my plants.

While at the local garden centre, I was discussing the best way to grow plants in a garden bed along my fence. After telling her that I had a large backyard with a galvanized tin fence, she recommended that I buy a length of shade cloth or brush fencing to place along the portion of fence that is directly behind my plants to insulate them from the reflective heat in the mornings and the radiant heat in the afternoons.

Generally it only needs to be for the first summer, but depending on the plant it may need to be for a bit longer.

I’ve installed some shade cloth at my house, but my partner would like to see us use a brush fencing to cover the tin over the other fence.

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We’ve all got one (or twenty) of those pesky little adapters for charging phones, iPods, cameras, or for running things like laptops, DSL modems, external hard drives etc. If your house is anything like mine then there are cords running everywhere near the computer desk.

Here is a link to a top little project that could be completed in an afternoon. Introducing the Breadbox Charging Station!

This project will also help reduce excessive power wastage due to having all of the chargers plugged and powered up all the time. One switch and you can turn them all off!

A couple of months ago while browsing the web, the discovery of instructables.com was made. This site is Do It Yourself heaven!

With instructions from building weaponry to solar power, cooking to bottle rockets, there is a limitless supply of instructions to keep you busy while you are not at work.

A couple of my favorites are:
Ten Green Modular Shelving
Tetris DVD/Book shelf
Grey Water Recycler
Beer Holder for the shower (Who would think such an invention would exist!)

You can also publish you own instructable if you think that the world needs to know about it!

http://www.instructables.com

We all know that water is becoming a precious resource and that our gardens take up a significant amount of water.

When it rains I like to put all of my potted plants out in the rain to get some free water. Introducing the reLEAF Rain Collector!

The boys at Fulguro have come out with the goods and have created a folded thermo lacquered aluminium plant leaf which directs rainwater into the pot that would otherwise fall on the ground.

Check them out! I bet you could come up with your own version.

Living in the tropics we have all sorts of creepy crawlies around our house, ranging from cockroaches to mice. I was getting fed up with trying to catch the mice in traps, they would eat the bait and run off before the trap went off. My cats are as good as useless, on the off chance they catch a mouse they will play with it and let it go again…

After browsing at the shops I found the PestXit Duo on sale.

The packet says:
“Repels pests and rodents using the latest ultrasonic technology in a small, compact unit. Ideal for homes, offices, warehouses and restaurants, it effectively covers up to approximately 140 square metres and is easy to install- simply plug into a power-point.”

It has two frequencies, one for cockroaches and one for mice. Switching it to Mouse Mode (the biggest problem) and letting it run for a month or so, the presence of mice have declined significantly. Cockroaches come and go, but the cat is a bit better at catching them.

My dogs (two German Shepherds and a Daschund) have no problem with either of the sound frequencies.

This is not an endorsed review, it is just to let you know that there are non-chemical control methods for pests in the home.