Gardenscapes

Gardenscapes

http://www.games.com/game/gardenscapes/Play online. Fun game, good learning tool for kids, as this game consist of managing your estate and money. As you inherit a beautiful mansion, but once a beautiful garden on the estate, needs repair now and to get money to do so, you will need to sell items in the mansion to customers. There's time management involved, because the longer it takes you to sell, the less money you will receive. This money goes on toward purchasing accessories for your garden you create. This is important because you can enter the "Best Garden" contest. When you have finished creating your garden, you can save it as a screen saver.

Arbor

  You can buy lattice panels already pressure treated or you can apply a water- repellent preservative. Make angled cuts at the peak of the rafters, the scrolled ends are cut with a jigsaw. Sanding can be done much quicker with a drum sander chucked in a drill. You can buy a wooden swing and attach it to the arbor with eye bolts. For a good foundation for your post, put in gravel first into the holes you dug. This helps to improve drainage, prevents standing water that will cause wood rot, then apply concrete mix. Cut the joists after measuring from post to post. Pre drill holes, drive spikes almost all the way through the joists while they are still on the ground. Frame  pieces are held by deck screws. Attach the side lattice by using edging strips and nailing strips.



Add caption





http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=Adult+Swing This site has plenty of swings to choose from.

Gazebo, Making Your Own

Draw a 14 ft diameter circle as a guide for the corners, creating a guide within the circle to determine where to put the walls. Mark off the locations of the gazebo corners at 64 1/4 intevals around circle. Set up wall sections, fastening them to the deck and to each other. Framing the roof, cutting 7 rafters. Checking length and angles. The distance from the birds mouth to the rafter end must be exactly 98 3/4 inches. Form a V on the ground by fastening two rafters and the hub. Screw through the top point of each rafter into the hub, then put a second screw through the bottom of the hub into each rafter. With an assistant, raise the inverted V onto the walls. Center the rafters directly over the gazebo corners. Sheathing the roof. Starting at the bottom edge of the roof , install tongue-and groove roof sheathing. Cut a 19 degree angle with first board on the end and nail it on so the angled end extends halfway across one rafter and the other end runs a couple of inches beyond the other rafter. Drive two 6 d galvanized casing nails through the roof sheathing at each end at the T - bracing. Shingling, install 15 pound roofing felt ( tar paper ) beginning from bottom and work upwards. Each end  of felt strip overlaps the rafter joints, a minimum 6 - inch overlap from one course to next as you work toward the peak. Make sure your galvanized nails are not too long are they will go all the way through the roof sheathing. At the ridges, cut the edges of the shingles at an angle of 19 degrees. Cut the ridge caps from cedar 4 * 4s using a table saw and two intersecting cuts. Taper one end of each ridge cap by cutting a 19 - degree angle that extends about 5 3/4 inches down each side. Lay a cone of felt at the peak, over the shingles and under the ridge caps. Use galvanized deck screws to fasten the caps.

Pool Maintenance

 ph- A measure of acidity or basicity in your water, from a scale of 0-14, 7 is neutral. ppm- Measurements of any chemicals concentration, parts per million. acid- chemical that lowers ph level. algae- Microscopic organisms that enter your pool from swimmers and dust. This causes cloudy water. chlorine- Sanitizing agent that kills algae and bacteria in your pool. shock- Oxidizer to destroy chloramines and other undesirable components such as suntan oils, prespiration and urine. Cloudy water is a good way to tell that pool levels have changed. Treatments for your pool can be in the following steps, 1. Balance, 2. Chlorinate, 3. Shock, 4. Algaecide Several test kits are available at http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=pool+test+kit Poolmaster Basic Four Delux - With case, tests for chlorine, bromina, ph and acid. Test strips test for chlorine, bromine, alkalinity and hardness. Also if your pool is cloudy, aqua chem
has an envirnmentally safe clarifier that clears cloudy water.

 Total alkalinity refers to all of the alkali soluble salts in the water ( in ppm- parts per million parts of water by weight. )  You can bring the ph down if your pool's alkalinity is over 100 ppm and the ph is over 7.8 by adding more acid, doing so by putting in a little at a time to bring the ph down to 7.4. Use rubber gloves when applying algaecide, the amount depends on the amount of gallons your pool holds. You can buy one that treats several types of algae or one specific for a certain algae such as copper- based that treat yellow algae. When applying, make sure the pool is running to circulate the algaecide. After 24 hours vacuum the pool to remove dead algae debris.

Choosing Mulch

  There are two types of mulch, inorganic and organic mulch. Rubber mulch and stome mulch are inorganic. These help prevent weeds, keeps the soil warmer during summer and cooler during winter. The pictures above are rubber mulch, the one below is wood mulch. Wood mulch is organic, when it breaks down it adds nutrients to the soil. Earthworms move this to the roots of your plants. Organic mulches keep soil cooler during summer and warmer during winter, also reducing the changes of temperature between nighttime and daytime.