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What’s Your Headache?

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What's your Headache - Excedrin contest

What gets you in a tizzy? Is it the morning rush or preparing for a meeting at work?

Excedrin is holding a contest on Facebook and then want to know what your Biggest Headache is … so click on the picture above and visit their Facebook page and enter their contest!

Have fun doing it too.






Helpful tips to avoid injuring yourself in the garden

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Now that it’s July, you’ve probably finished most of your major gardening work for the summer, unless of course you are in the process of doing some landscaping. However, it’s always a good idea to use proper body mechanics while in the garden to avoid injury to your back or other joints.

Autumn will arrive soon enough and some of us will have more planting to do and other garden maintenance to prepare for winter so here’s some tips for you to help you avoid injuring yourself when you’re just trying to get a little gardening done.

Protect your joints

If you will be kneeling while working in the garden use knee pads, a knee cushion or a kneeler seat to protect your knee joints. Also remember to use tools with padded handles or easy spring loaded grips in order to minimize stiffness in your hands.

Take care when lifting!

We just finished mulching our garden – yes we were a little behind as usual! bags of garden mulch, soil and other garden supplies are heavy and can be difficult to carry. Use a wheelbarrow to move items from your car and place them close to the area where you will be using them. Another great idea is to open the bag, dumping the contents in the wheelbarrow or close to where you’ll be using it and then use a shovel to move small portions of the material to the garden.

Plan your tasks and conserve your energy

Just like in nursing and many other jobs it’s best to prepare everything that you’ll need before you start a task. Gather up all the gardening equiptment that you’ll need in a basket or container and carry it to the yard. This will save you trips and perhaps some time searching for tools once your already working in the garden.

I tend to bend or squat while working in the garden and I almost always end up with a sore back. Sit or kneel in one area and complete your gardening task – weeding, planting, pruning before moving to another area of the garden. This will also help conserve your energy and kneeling or using a kneeler seat will help your back too.

Moving heavy plants and other heavy objects

When it comes to landscaping your yard with new trees, shrubs or plants – perhaps large plants or ones in containers always try to move them with a wheelbarrow.

Tip the wheelbarrow forward as close to the plant as possible. Then gently rotate the pot or ball of plant onto the wheelbarrow. Slowly bring the wheelbarrow into standing position (keep your knees bend while you do this to easy your back). Carefully move the plant to it’s destination and reverse the process to get the plant off the wheelbarrow.

If you were thinking ahead and already dug a hole for the plant you might be able to move it right off the wheelbarrow and into it’s new hole!

If you have to lift a heavy item squat down, get a good grip and use your legs to lift. Don’t use your back or you’ll risk injuring your back. If there is someone else around to help you move heavy plants don’t hesitate to ask for help.

Work on one project at a time

I’m guilty of starting several projects at once and then feeling compelled to finish all of them before I stop gardening for the day. Don’t be like me – start one project at a time and finish it before moving on to another project whether it’s planting your annuals or planting seeds or seedlings or digging holes for your new roses. One job at a time.

Take a moment to decide which task needs to be given priority. Perhaps one task will take a lot longer than an other or your plants are desperately in need of care. Decide which job needs to be done first and start it. This can keep you from overdoing it and you might feel more satisfied with yourself when you complete the task rather than having several unfinished jobs on the go.

Listen to your body!

Yet another rule that I’m guilty of not following. I push myself in the garden even when I’m not feeling well or when my back is in full on spasms. I just will not go inside until I’m finished whatever I started. (I am getting a little better at listening this year as I try to plan smaller tasks).

Your body will tell you when it’s had enough. Listen to it. Muscles aching? Feeling tired? Sit back and take a break or stop your work for the day.

If you drink water while working in the garden you’ll remain well hydrated and well hydrated muscles will cramp less.

Don’t forget to stretch once you are done working in the garden. Stretching will help reduce muscle soreness and keep your more flexible. Once inside take a shower or a long soak in the bath tub to ease those muscles. Your body will thank you for it!

Spring tasks to get your garden growing

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It’s been a long winter

Many of us in the North experienced one of the snowiest winters that we’ve had in years. Cool temperatures are continuing even though it’s already officially spring. I’d say that this year we’re probably going to be two or three weeks behind on our normal Spring gardening tasks.

Normally the snow is gone, or just about gone, by this time in March. In fact I usually have crocus’ and snowdrops blooming by now. However, if you experienced the same winter I did your garden is likely still buried under snow!

Still … it’s time to think about Spring gardening tasks.

I’m sure some of you have already started cleaning up your garden and preparing for the season ahead. Those of us that are still unable to get out into the garden, well … we can at least make sure that our gardening tools are in order, oil and sharpen our pruners and purchase any supplies that we need so that we’ll be able to catch up once the snow finally melts!

Spring Tasks

  • As I stated above, this is a great time of year to maintain your gardening tools by cleaning, sharpening and oil pruners, having your lawnmower blades sharpened, buying new gardening gloves and any other items that you might need throughout the coming months.

  • Once the grass is no longer wet and the soil in your garden beds dries out begin your outdoor tasks by raking the lawn to get rid of leaves, twigs and other debris that has accumulated in your yard thanks to winter winds.

  • Rake the dead growth from your lawn.

  • If you have damaged or bare patches on your lawn purchase some grass seed and re-seed those areas. Be sure to scratch the soil with a rake first and then apply grass seed to the area. Lightly cover the seed with a thin layer of soil and be sure to keep the area well watered until the seeds germinate and new grass begins to appear.

  • If you protected your shrubs, trees or any garden plants over winter it’s time to remove the winter protect. As the air warms it’s very important that your shrubs and trees have good air circulation around them. Leaving burlap or other forms of winter protect on too long can lead to bark rot.

  • This is also a great time of year to plant new trees, shrub, roses and other hardy dormant plants. Also if you have any trees or shrubs that you’d like to transplant elsewhere in your yard do it before they begin to leaf out.

  • Many trees and shrubs benefit from a spray of dormant oil as this helps to control scale insects and other overwintering pests. Euonymus, magnolias, crabapples and other fruit trees should be sprayed when their buds are in swell.

  • Take a good look at your garden beds and if you notice that any of your plants have come up out of the earth to the freeze and thaw cycles at this time of year. Replant any heave-ho victims as soon as possible. Most will recover nicely if you find them and replant while it’s still cool.

  • Wait until temperatures are reliably warm before you begin to remove mulch and cut back plants such as roses, evergreen plants and shrubs. You can cut off obviously dead branches but don’t cut into live branches until there’s no chance of frost or a return of cold weather. If you aren’t sure what to cut then just wait until it’s a little warmer and your plant is showing obvious signs of growth. Once you do feel it’s time to prune it’s best to prune plants such as roses before they leaf out.

  • Clear your garden of the previous seasons dead plant material such as dead leaves and other debris as they can harbor molds and overwintering pests.

  • Ornamental grasses can be cut back at this time as well.

  • Don’t overwork your garden beds by digging too early. The soil structure is delicate and if you dig in it while it’s still wet you can damage it’s composition. Soil should fall apart when you pick up a handful. If it sticks together in a clump wait until it dries out a bit more.

  • Once the soil has dried out you can begin to dig garden beds, add manure, compost and prepare for the planting of new perennials, annuals and vegetables.

  • Weeds will likely be some of the first green growth you see in your garden. Pluck them out now while they are still young and their roots are shallow. It will mean less work for you later on!

  • Don’t forget to care for your houseplants. The winter months can be hard on house plants as the air is often dry inside the house due to forced air heating. The light levels have also been lower too. Perhaps take a few moments to pick off any dead leaves, top up their soil and lightly fertilize your houseplants so they too will have a great spring start.

Happy Gardening!

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