What is Green Living....And Controlling Birds & Critters. Print

More on Carol Graces Mission Trip to Guatemala this summer.

• Travel Accommodations
• Unusual sights......
• Her Guatemalan Radio Experience....
• What she craved while she was out of the country.

• Central America versus the United States;  GDP....Cost of Living Differences.

• Romey's "This Day in History"

• Don't forget about the Arizona Crawfish Festival is almost here!

What does it mean to "Go Green?"   Rosie talks about some of your options and simple steps that will save you money.

• Caulking
• Sealing Electrical Junction Boxes to the outer walls.
• Small steps that will give you a high return on your investment.
• What "Green Washed" means.
• Overall Energy Savings versus "AC Energy Savings.

Remember Rosie On The House Remodeling for smaller remodeling projects in the Northern Phoenix and Scottsdale area. 

*A few events for the weekend.

Jeff from Harper's Nurseries & Landscaping Company is here to talk about everything in your landscape.

Tip of The Week:  With our theme of "Going Green" today, remember shade trees save big money in the summer & if you plant deciduous trees, you'll have shade in the summer and sunlight on the house during the cooler months.
*Chinese Elm & The Chinese Pistache are Jeff's favorites.

Callers:

• Kane - His bougainvillea had caterpillars all over them and new the leaves & flowers all fell off.  Will it come back or did he kill it?

Recommendation - The plant should be fine. Bougainvillea are tough and hard to kill. He should use thuricide product to kill it and just wait for it to regrow.

• Howard - His mesquite tree has lost all its leaves and is bare and brittle. Is it in a dormant stage or something else?

Recommendation - Mesquite trees go dormant in the winter, not summer. It shouldn't be over-watered, but they don't like to have just the surface wet every day. It needs a deep water. Remember to measure the actual water being used on the tree.

Jeff & Romey discuss planting during the summer heat. Yes, you can! It just takes some extra care.

Callers:

• Joel - He is having a problem with his irrigation system. It says it's set correctly, but it's not actually watering his yard. Could the system itself be bad?

Recommendation - It sounds like it's the electronic valve that is faulty. If the time is correct and everything else is okay, that should be it. That's where Jeff would start.

• Burt - He wants to severely trim back his oleander bushes....several feet. Can they handle that much pruning, even with though they are very tough.

Recommendation - Yes! They are that tough and can handle it. There might be some bare branches towards the bottom when you 1st cut them back, so just beware that it won't be that pretty for a while.

Callers:

• Tammy - She bought multi trunk pygmy palms to surround her pool. They are not looking good. What should she do?

Recommendation - It sounds like it could be the sun exposure, but switch to a deep watering every 3 or 4 days, give them some shade and wait a few weeks to see if they start looking better.

• Stephanie - She has a Texas Ash tree in a raised flower bed. It's been in the ground for 3 years now and has barely any growth at all.

Recommendation - Jeff says that the first couple years is spent recovering from the transplant and the 3rd year it should really start growing.  Ashe trees do usually grow faster, though, and she can transplant if she wants.

• Wayne - He removed a sissou tree a few years ago and it wants to take a few more out. They're a mess and he wants to know if there's a way to treat the tree before removing it, so he can prevent the roots from shooting up everywhere.

Recommendation - This is a very common problem. Jeff just took a trunk out 3 feet down, used stump killer and even then had shoots pop up later. (50 feet away!)  It's just a lot of work and needs to be treated in the specific areas that they are popping up. 

• Jeff - He has some sage bushes where the branches are getting too thick. When can he cut that way back to make it more manageable?

Recommendation - He can cut it way back like an oleander bush, but it can be cut back too.  It should regrow quickly and be just fine.

• Steve - He's growing chiles right now and not looking good. They're small and deformed. Is it due to the heat or is he doing something wrong?

Recommendation - It's just the heat. Nothing is growing well right now. The good news...they've made it through a lot of heat already and should be ready to explode in the fall. Use epsom salt for the peppers to treat the yellowing plant.

*We cover good "hot weather" plants.

Callers:

• Rod - He planted Japanese privets to use as a hedge on New Year's Eve. They were doing fantastic until they fertilized and covered them with mulch. Any idea what's happening?

Recommendation - It sounds like it was fertilized when they were really dry. That will burn the plants up.  Always water deeply before you fertilize and soak up into the plants in a healthy way.

• Bob from Grandma's Farms! - He wants to plant a hedge around the front yard that produces something edible. Can he use citrus to do this and what do we recommend?

Recommendation - It's true! Go with a sour orange bush. (Citrus are bushes. We make them trees)

*Bob also mentioned plants that thrive in the summer heat!  The Armenian Cucumber and Ocra.

Stop by Harper's Nurseries & Landscaping Company for plants and advice!

We're here with Jeffrey Fleetham, the Registrar of Contractors Director for an updated on what's happening in their office and how they're keeping homeowner's safe.

• Licensing Requirements.
• Complaints & how they are handled. 
• What is "Bonding?"
• Insurance Requirements. 
• The Recovery Fund.
• How to Research a Contractors License.
• The problems caused by unlicensed contractors.

How the R.O.C. investigates Arizona contractors for licenses and infractions.

• These guys are arrested and recently a sting operation nets several a year.
• Craigslist services are a bad idea!!!
• Sting operations find criminals every time they find unlicensed workers. 
• Research, Research, Research!!!

• We talk about waiting for the right contractor. Good contractors might be booked up for a few weeks, but waiting could save you all kinds of problems in the future. Choose contractors like Arrowhead Deck Resurfacing!

• JAWS, the Just Add Water System was just named one of the top 20 "Green Products"by Hardware Retailing Magazine. 

Caller:

• Karen - Her daughter just bought a home and found that the water pipes run through the attic and even after a plumber wrapped the pipes in insulation, it still doesn't work. What can they do that won't cost a bunch of money?

Recommendation - Rosie's heard about running water through a water heater that's never turned on. That way the water is room temperature before it hits the tap. Unfortunately, theres not a whole lot to do, but she can call Stampede Plumbing or Babcock Plumbing for more tips.

We're joined by pest control experts Mike & "Big Bird Bob" from 5 Star Termite & Pest Control.

• Controlling pigeons.
• Increase wear & tear on roofs will cut down the lifetime of your roof in half!
• Pack rats.....gross!
• How these pests effect snowbirds. 
• Ways to discourage rats on your property.  (Lights, proper sealing access points.)
• Common Access Points for your critters.
• Diseases that come along with pests.

*We haven't always used "Humane" ways of getting rid of pigeons. We talk about the current methods 5 Star uses to relocate the birds.  

Caller:

• Jerry - He has a wood pecker that knocks on his chimney every morning at 6 AM. What can he do?

Recommendation - First they would put spikes up, but he can use an electric shocking system to keep them from landing in the first place. Wiping Tabasco sauce on the spot he's hitting will end up on his beak and he won't do it for very long!

The experts offer their alternative to Tabasco sauce....Use Icy Hot and cayenne pepper and pigeons will find another place to land.

Callers:

• Jan - She is having trouble with pigeons and the mess they're making all over the front of her homes entrance. She's tried everything she can afford....do we have any tips for her? "I feel like a prisoner in my own house!"

Recommendation - If the birds were born there, "it's their home."  She has to trap them and move them off the property. There is not really not another option.

• Diana - She has a "flying bug" all around her home. She thinks its coming from her garbage disposal?

Recommendation - Bugs can definitely live in disposals if they're not cleaned properly. (Almost zero out of 100 get this done)  She can run bleach down the system. To remove the existing bugs. Put a glass half filled with apple cider vinegar, cover it with saran wrap and punch some holes in it. At night, put the glass near a light and the gnats will be attracted to the area and get trapped in the cup for the next morning.

• Audrey - She has pack rats making a nest underneath the hood of her car hood. They're eating the cheese cloth she used to get rid of them. What now?

Recommendation - She needs to cut down on the overall population on her property. They're in her car because they are being pushed out of other areas. For vehicles that sit for periods need to run and driven every few days for a while. Landscaping lighting will deter rodents from living there. They like dark areas of the home. She could even add a light under the hood for a while to make their "home" uncomfortable.