In Part 23 we wrote about the addition of the Fireglow Japanese Maple on the East part of our remodeled front garden.

Sadly, it did not survive the first winter.

Yes, we were told that they were hit or miss in our planting zone. However, since it was recommended by the professional landscaper who created our garden plan we thought it would be OK.

It was not.

Good thing that we purchased it from a garden center which had a 1 year guarantee!

What to replace it with was now the question.

Cath went with me the other day and it was like we were purchasing hardwood flooring all over again. By that I mean that when we went shopping two years ago for hardwood flooring for our family, kitchen and dining rooms we immediately gravitated to the Jatoba Expresso. Two hours later after looking through various samples and types with the salesperson we ended up with the Jatoba Expresso.

In this case, when we were walking through the garden center, Cath immediately gravitated to the Flowering Crabapple (or Crab Apple) tree. Sure enough, after the salesperson assisted us that is what we went with.

Of course, I used our trusty Jardin garden cart, and not a wheel barrel, to help me with the planting. I told you that I would never go back to using a wheel barrel again.

Now, the Flowering Crabapple tree is to reach a height of between 5 and 6 feet with red buds turning into white flowers blooming in May. Per our garden center it is appropriate and does well in Zone 4. As well, this variety we were assured by the garden center will not produce crab apples. I hope not as this is to be a low / no maintenance garden; I don’t consider having to pick up crab apples after they have fallen from the tree as no maintenance.

To plant it I folowed the same procedure as described before; namely, after clearing the hole in the garden where the Fireglow Japanese Maple use to be, I placed some of the tree starter fertilizer followed by a sprinkling of soil and water before placing the new tree in the garden.

This of course was followed up byplacing dirt around all the sides and stepping on the dirt to hep pack it down and eliminate air pockets as well as add to the stability of the young tree.

Then, to finish I placed back the natural cedar mulch and gave the area a good soaking. I think it looks quite nice, espcially the white flowers (which yes will leave in a few weeks) against the background of the fall evergreens on our neighbour’s front garden. 

Tomorrow, some much lower additions to the West side of our remodeled front garden that, yes, require little to no maintenance yet will help to break up all of the cedar mulch.

Eco Factor: Pedal-powered zero-emission car.

In a bid to reduce the amount of pollution produced by cars, manufacturers have developed several vehicles which run on everything from electricity to air. However, all these cars are mostly too expensive and the electricity they consume mostly comes from conventional sources which aren’t as green as electricity itself. Car designer Eliseu Santos has tried to solve the riddle with a pedal-powered trike called the Human Energy Moving Urban Vehicle, or simply URB21.

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Eco Cars: URB21 car is like a pedal-powered boat for the open streets

Air quality index information is widely available for cities on a daily basis, but so far there’s been no collective breakdown of that information in real time or for specific neighborhoods. Traffic jams and wind conditions can make air quality vary considerably from one side of town to another. To give people more accurate information, Sensaris has designed a wearable air quality sensor called the City Senspod that will enable you to know the air quality for the very spot you’re standing in at that very second.

Their GPS-equipped sensor gives you real-time air quality information including CO2 and ozone levels for wherever you are and then uses Bluetooth technology to transmit that information to a publicly available database where it’s mapped along with data from other sensors for the world to see.

The device will be distributed in Paris for a trial run, but Sensaris hopes to bring the sensor to other cities and towns soon. It will be interesting to see if people are willing to wear such a thing on their arm or if it ends up latched onto backpacks and purses instead.

via Engadget

Duncan Lockerby, a professor at the University of Warwick, is experimenting with a new way to direct airflow off of a plane’s wings to reduce mid-flight drag. Conceptual tests have shown that a reduction in that drag can significantly reduce fuel consumption and subsequently greenhouse gas emissions.

The design concept consists of tiny air-powered jets along each of a plane’s wings, or possibly even the length of the entire plane, that redirect airflow in a perpendicular direction from the plane’s direction of motion. Lockerby has received $1.6 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Council and Airbus to further develop his design and conduct wind tunnel tests.

Lockerby discovered the reduction in drag by waggling a piece of wing from side to side in a wind tunnel. He explains that when a plane is in cruise control mode, it’s only really burning fuel to overcome drag, therefore reducing the drag by 20 percent would reduce fuel use by the same percentage. Lockerby believes his design could reduce drag by as much as 40 percent.

His tests will explore ways of pushing the airflow sideways through both active means and passive ones, where no power is required. New wings should be ready for trials by 2012.

via Cleantech

Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling was a big disappointment, but there’s no time to mourn: we must turn this anger into momentum.

Two down-to-earth experts answer your questions about raising children toxin-free.

Enforcing the laws that we already have on the books to break up Big Agribusiness would be a great start to building a better food system.

Eco Factor: Outdoor umbrella generates power for recharging portable devices.

Konarka Technologies, an innovator in development and commercialization of Power Plastic (a material that converts light to energy), is working to make sure that power for your portable devices is available anywhere. The firm entered into a technology partnership with SKYShades one year ago and lately, SKYShades received its first shipment of Konarka Power Plastic thin film. SKYShades is one of the global leaders in supplying shade and tension membrane structures. This lightweight thin film, which converts light to energy, will be used by SKYShades to create the Powerbrella, an innovative way to charge your laptop, cellphone or other portable devices outdoors.

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Eco Gadgets: Powerbrella charges portable devices with solar electricity

Bisphenol A is known interfere with reproductive development in animals; babies are at a greater risk.

Better get ready to do what ever you can in May to prevent those high air conditioning bills from the summer sunshine in June, July, August and September.

Last year we wrote extensively about our use of EZ Snap exterior window shades on the south windows of our home to reduce much of the sun’s UV rays from entering our family room and kitchen  which would otherwise cause excess heat build-up and thus forcing our air conditioner to run longer and cost us money through higher electric utility bills.

As we enter the last week of our EZ Snap gift certificate contest, it seemed timely to mention how it is not only myself who is a big believer in this product but also Cath, my wife.

When we first purchased and renovated our home two years ago she was in charge of deciding on the interior window coverings. Here is what she selected for the French Doors in our kitchen eating area: 

However, as you can see from the above picture, while the interior blinds she selected for the French Doors are very attractive, yet they obstruct the view of the forest in the ravine which is behind our back yard, even when pulled back as far as possible.

Fast forward 6 months later when we purchased and installed ourselves the EZ Snap exterior window shades on the outside of the south facing windows of our home, including those in these French Doors. They did such a good job that we removed the curtains from the French Doors to open up the view to the forest beyond the back yard, but left the hardware in case we (she) changed our (her) minds and wanted to re-hang these interior curtains. In the picture below you can see  the hardware still in place on top of the double door frame. 

Fast forward another 12 months or so when I returned home from a business trip to find that Cath had unscrewed the interior curtain hardware herself. She had decided that after a full year with the exterior solar shades they had sufficiently proven themselves to  still allow us to see outside yet prevent most of the sun’s UV rays from entering our home. Notice in the picture below of that with the interior window blind hardware removed there are three unpainted areas on the wall above the French Door window frames. 

So, I proceeded to first apply drywall patch to the holes caused by the interior blind hardware …

… then sand and prime ….

…. and finally paint these three unpainted areas caused by the removal of interior blinds which had become redundant due to our EZ Snap exterior window shades. 

Those of you who know me know that I loath painting; its just not my thing. So, for us to do this it must mean that we now have a set of really nice interior blinds for which we have no use. Too bad we didn’t know about EZ Snap exterior window shades and how good a job they do of reducing the sun’s UV rays from entering our south windows while at the same time allow us to see more of the outside; if we had known, we never would have wasted the money on the interior blinds for the French Doors.

Now
you
do.

Enter our EZ Snap gift certificate contest every day which remains in May 2009 for your chance to win up to a $200 EZ Snap gift certificate. And, if you don’t win, I strongly recommend you consider this product on your east, south and west facing windows all year round to reduce your air conditioning bills while allowing you to still see outside.