Young House Love


Book Description

This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.




Irrigation and Drainage Engineering


Book Description

This textbook focuses specifically on the combined topics of irrigation and drainage engineering. It emphasizes both basic concepts and practical applications of the latest technologies available. The design of irrigation, pumping, and drainage systems using Excel and Visual Basic for Applications programs are explained for both graduate and undergraduate students and practicing engineers. The book emphasizes environmental protection, economics, and engineering design processes. It includes detailed chapters on irrigation economics, soils, reference evapotranspiration, crop evapotranspiration, pipe flow, pumps, open-channel flow, groundwater, center pivots, turf and landscape, drip, orchards, wheel lines, hand lines, surfaces, greenhouse hydroponics, soil water movement, drainage systems design, drainage and wetlands contaminant fate and transport. It contains summaries, homework problems, and color photos. The book draws from the fields of fluid mechanics, soil physics, hydrology, soil chemistry, economics, and plant sciences to present a broad interdisciplinary view of the fundamental concepts in irrigation and drainage systems design.







Organic Gardening for Everyone


Book Description

If you want to grow healthy vegetables at home, but have hesitated because it seems too hard and time consuming, Organic Gardening for Everyone is your perfect hands-on guide—an “if I can do it, you can do it” case study that addresses your concerns and gets you started. Loaded with practical advice and step-by-step guidance, Organic Gardening for Everyone takes a very personal and friendly approach to a subject that can be intimidating. It is a first-class primer on organic vegetable gardening, and an inspirational story about how anyone can balance the rigors of gardening with the demands of a modern, family-oriented lifestyle. In 2012, a California mom decided to start an organic vegetable garden. But she went about it in an unusual way: she crowdsourced it by launching a YouTube channel under the name "CaliKim" and asking for help. And then she started planting. As questions came up, she turned to her viewers and subscribers and they replied with answers and advice. As she learned, her garden grew successfully—even in the hot, harsh California climate. Her expertise also grew, and now she answers many more questions than she asks and has become a very accomplished home gardener. And CaliKim has a great story to tell: growing healthy organic vegetables for your family is not difficult, even for today’s time-challenged lifestyles. She provides complete step-by-step information on growing the most popular edibles organically, and also gives sound advice on how to take on the challenges of balancing a hectic lifestyle with successful growing—and how to involve the whole family in the process. You'll be rewarded for your effort every time you place a plate of natural, organic vegetables on the family dinner table knowing exactly what they are, what is in them, and where they came from.




Weedless Gardening


Book Description

Presents an innovative, organic approach to weed-free vegetable and flower gardening that is designed to protect the soil, enhance plant health, reduce the need for watering, and cuts down on labor. Original.




The California Native Landscape


Book Description

Water shortages and water rationing are commonplace throughout California, rendering expanses of lawn and thirsty, nonnative plants unsustainable. The California Native Landscape addresses both concerns by showing homeowners how to succeed with natives and showing them how lush, colorful, and thriving their landscape can be. The authors stress the importance of smart garden design and combining the right plants to promote the natural symbiosis that occurs within plant communities. Native plants also play an important role in creating fire-resistant landscapes, and this new book has cutting-edge information on this crucial topic, refuting the myth that natives are more fire-prone than nonnatives. With its unique combination of proven techniques, environmental wisdom, and inspiring design advice, this is an essential resource for all California gardeners who want to create a beautiful, ecologically appropriate, and resource-conserving home landscape.




Ortho's All about Sprinklers and Drip Systems


Book Description

Tells how to design a customized watering system, offers advice on selecting and installing parts, and explains how to create an irrigation schedule.







Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates


Book Description

Drip irrigation is the best way to help any plant flourish and survive tough times, especially short or long droughts. Pick the wrong "stuff " and you easily can feel overwhelmed. Robert Kourik's Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates clearly explains how to use less water yet increase the yields of vegetables and promote the growth and flowering of all plants--trees, shrubs, and container plants--in any climate, even where it rains irregularly. In the tradition of the original groundbreaking book, this fully revised edition incorporates new information essential for gardeners, including how to manage limited water supplies with precision and efficiency, without the clutter of hundreds of widgets and gizmos, and the knowledge is shared in Kourik's inimitable, friendly, down-to-earth, and easy-to-understand style. Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates,reveals how to: Utilize drip irrigation for everything you grow--trees, shrubs, hanging plants, container plants, and vegetable and flower gardens --and save up to 50 percent of your water compared to sprinklers. Use a streamlined configuration of hardware and tubing. Choose the best, sturdiest hardware that will last for decades in your home landscape and vegetable garden. Pick tubing that has no emitters punched on the outside--these have a tendency to break off--and use this tubing buried beneath the surface to irrigate without losing any water to wind or evaporation. Roll out a drip system in a very short period of time, avoiding tedious hours punching in emitters or adding smaller tubing to reach each plant. Capture and reuse gray water and cistern water for irrigation. Construct a system in which the main parts are effectively hidden or can be simply attached to an existing garden faucet. Individual projects are carefully detailed and include: how anyone can construct a system by attaching it to an existing garden faucet or the main water supply, constructing larger assemblies for big gardens, irrigating all sizes of potted plants, easy ways to irrigate a vegetable garden, and how to lay out tubing for the best health of trees and shrubs.




Water Use Efficiency for Irrigated Turf and Landscape


Book Description

Achieving high water use efficiency in maintaining turf, trees and landscape areas is a core responsibility of open space managers. Water Use Efficiency for Irrigated Turf and Landscape provides a logical and scientifically sound approach to irrigation in urban areas in Australia. It is based on green space delivering defined outcomes using the principles of water sensitive urban design and irrigation efficiency. The book covers all stages of the water pathway - from the source to delivery into the plant root zone. Major topics include system planning, estimating water demand, water quality, irrigation systems, soil management and irrigation performance evaluation. Clearly presented explanations are included, as well as line drawings and worked examples, and a plant water use database covering more than 250 plant species. A Water Management Planning template is included to guide water managers and operators through a process that will deliver a sound plan to achieve sustainable turf, urban trees and landscapes. Best Management Practice Irrigation principles are outlined and their implementation in open space turf and landscape situations is explained. The benefits and limitations of the various methods of delivering water to plants are covered, together with case studies and guidelines for specific horticultural situations. Methodologies to evaluate irrigated sites are included along with recommended benchmark values. The book presents the latest irrigation technology, including developments in water application, control technology and environmental sensors such as weather stations, soil moisture sensors and rain sensors.