Pruning Tools – Purchasing the Proper Tools for the Job
With the arrival of spring, many home owners are beginning to take a look at the foliage which provides such a beautiful complement to their lawns and gardens with a little bit of trimming in mind. Proper pruning means that not only will your trees, shrubs, and bushes look nicer, but they will be able to grow in a more efficient matter and produce optimally as well.
Many novice gardeners think that just one or two tools will be sufficient to carry out all the pruning challenge that their yards pose. This is far from the case, however. Every plant in your yard is unique, and what is more, each type of plant will require a different set of pruning tools. We will take a brief look at which types of tools might be best for you, based on your pruning task.
Trees
One of the first pieces of foliage that you will want to prune in your yard once the weather starts to warm up a little are your trees. Whether you have producing fruit trees or just ornamental trees, they will probably need pruning every spring (many gardeners will argue that trees should be pruned at the end of summer as well).
Trees offer the biggest challenge insofar as various pieces of equipment are concerned. For trees that are still in infancy, pruning snips such as those used for your garden shrubs will probably be sufficient. When it comes to mature trees, on the other hand, your tools will have to pack a lot more punch. Long handles on snips, as well as thicker, bigger blades, provide the leverage and the reach you need for older trees. Depending on how recently the tree has been pruned, you may find you need a saw (chain or hand held) for really thick branches. And, of course, you’ll need a ladder!
Shrubs
Next, take a look at your shrubs. The equipment for this task is fairly simple – in most cases, a small pair of pruning snips will do. A simple squeeze and the excess branches are off! You might spend a lot of time kneeling when pruning your shrubs, so think about a kneeling pad or other comfort-providing devices.
Hedges
Hedges provide the most challenge when it comes to yard foliage. There are lots of branches, and you have to maintain the overall appearance of the hedge. This usually means a lot of small cuts all over the hedge. Your tool should have a lot of small “teeth”; many gardeners recommend gas powered trimmers in order to save wear on your arms (gas powered is ideal; electric cords tend to get in the way).
Pros and Cons of DIY Home Improvement: An Assessment
Interestingly enough, the idea of improving one’s home is attractive to the “experts” of DIY as it is to individuals who’ve had no prior experience in do it yourself projects. Though it is everyone’s right to alter features of a home that they invested themselves, there still remains the fact that if the DIY home improvement is not carried to its logical conclusion, then loss, and not gains would be the consequence.
The pros
? In many instances, building chairs, small tables and cabinets from scratch will save you a lot of money, provided that you have the patience to design and execute specific DIY projects for these articles.
? Plumbing? No problem. Many devices that handle hot and cold water connections, for instance, can be installed manually. What are manuals for? However, there is the risk that you might not get it right the first time. But this shouldn’t stop you from trying your hand at installing that brand new shower heater.
? Repainting the house is achievable. All you need is the basic know-how of painting and the right equipment. In this case, you will save money, but you will have to set aside a weekend or two to finish repainting the whole house.
? A sense of achievement of course would be the greatest reward for any DIY project. If you execute a DIY project beautifully, and your work lasts for years, you’ll definitely feel good about the whole attempt at being a professional craftsman yourself.
The cons
? If a DIY project is in its infancy, and you’ve just begun to get a hang of finding the materials and designs yourself, there may be times that what resources you spent in finishing a DIY project would be more costly than a finished product that can be bought in a shopping mall or a furniture store.
? Failure is not an option, but a possibility. There may be times that you lose vital components of any DIY project like time, patience, and sometimes even cash. Be prepared to accept that some projects might not be that great after you’ve executed what you’ve planned. It’s all part of “doing it yourself”.
? DIY electrical projects can be executed flawlessly. But there is a risk factor especially if it’s your first time to deal with the electrical system in your house. Replacing wires that run through walls, up the ceiling and into rooms is tricky business- so refer to the original plans of the house before proceeding to knock out the original installations. Electrical installations are often secured, so make sure that if you’re laying out meters of new electrical wire, you know how to safely attach the wires permanently against the walls, or within the walls.
? Time constraints are often the biggest killers for DIY projects. Many beginners are often discouraged by how difficult it is to complete a medium size DIY project. Sometimes, multiple projects are started, but none are finished. This sometimes causes problems, because unfinished projects may clutter the house and render some spaces in the home unusable.