Tips for Winter Yard Maintenance

06 Feb 2019

Tips for Winter Yard Maintenance

February is the perfect time for planning and rejuvenating. We can't wait for the first signs of spring! Here at Calgo, we're planning to reopen full time in March, with exciting plans for our nursery.

This spring Kerry Estomin will be joining Drew Tiner, David Szeller, and Calgo owner and principal landscape designer Mark Estomin, as an integral part of the the Calgo team, and will be on hand full time in the nursery to answer all of your garden related questions. Whether you're a master gardener or planning your first dream garden, Kerry will offer the advice and knowledge necessary to help you design your own personal oasis.

The Calgo team is now busily planning and preparing for spring. By taking advantage of those rare, warm and sunny days we are periodically graced with this time of year, it's possible to get get some of your winter yard maintenance done and be one step ahead when spring makes its appearance.

Now is the time to...

Plan your garden:

Choose the right plants for your location.
Be creative with color schemes.
Have a realistic expectation of the amount of time you are prepared to give.
The planning stages are the fun part and help brighten up dreary, chilly February days.

Maintain garden tools:

Sharpen blades, make repairs or replace hand tools as necessary.
Tune up the lawnmower.

You'll be able to jump right into yard maintenance once it's warm enough. .

Clean up the yard:

Check for ice and snow damage.
Clear away broken limbs and debris.
Check your trees and shrubs to see when they should be pruned.

Check flower beds:

Pull any weeds if the ground isn't frozen and replace mulch. You will be ready to pop in annuals and perennials once the time is right.
Turn your compost over and mix thoroughly. Add fallen leaves. Come spring,you'll have fresh and nutrient rich soil to add to your plantings.
Continue filling bird feeders. The birds will love it and you'll love watching them.

23 Jan 2019

0 Comments DIY, General

How To Easily Organize Your Photos

If you’re like most people, you have a lot of photos – a lot of photos that are all over the place. To most it’s a little overwhelming to organize your photos but once you have a system in place, the task becomes a habit that you can actually enjoy. The new year is the perfect time to finally put those photos in their place.

The best way to organize your photos is to just start (don’t fret about the past years yet – they will all fall into place). Gather the photos from your phone (use a usb cable to transfer onto your computer), your camera, your emails and any other device you use for picture taking. The goal is to get them all into one place for easy access and to archive.

Everyone has different ways of organizing but the best way is the way that works for you. For most people it works to organize by date, for others its events or subjects. Create one main folder on your computer titled Photos 2019. Then within that folder create your sub folders by month. Depending on your social activities for the month, you may need sub folders within the month. Some months may just be a random collection of memories. Copy your photos into the folders. Don’t rely on your SD card to preserve your memories – cards can fail.

Make one folder titled Prints. As you go through your photos, delete the truly bad ones and copy into the appropriate folders. Then from the sub folders, copy the ones that you want to print. If they’re copied into the print folder then you can delete them from that folder as you print and they’ll already be organized into your categories. After your current photos are organized, you can work backwards. The system will be in place making it easy for you to enjoy reliving the memories as you neatly put them in place.