Fiberglass ladders are heavier and more sturdy than aluminum ladders. They also are poor conductors of electricity, which is good if you’ll be working around overhead power lines.
Home and Garden
In “Vertical Vegetables: Simple Projects That Deliver More Yield in Less Space” (Quarto Publishing Group), the first-time book author Amy Andrychowicz demonstrates how to produce bigger and better fruits and veggies by growing them upward instead of outward in traditional planting beds.
Q: The top ring of sago palmfronds died after I transplanted it but remain on the plant. I left this brown ring of fronds around the crown of the plant and it looks like new growth coming from the center is OK. Should I trim off the dead fronds without disturbing the crown or just let them fall off?
“Match sets of anything are doubtless the work of those who have but little taste. Tis better to have dissimilarity.” — Yoshida Kenko (1284–1350), Japanese author and Buddhist monk
Dear Gail: I moved to Las Vegas in May from Vermont, and fall was my favorite season before the bitter color of our snow-filled winter — which is the reason I moved here. I was surrounded by the fantastic fall colors outside. I know fall is a bit different here, so I’d like to do some simple things to bring the outside I so enjoyed inside. What are your favorite things to do? — Gloria
My class on creating a desert orchard will be held in November for four Saturday afternoon sessions. It begins Nov. 3. You can sign up for it on Eventbrite or contact me and I can arrange it for you.
Super Bowl LII is just around the corner. In addition to adult beverages, bowls of chips and dips, pizzas and a giant television with surround sound, the most important item for enjoying this must-see sports spectacle is a comfortable sofa or lounge chair.
Q: I have had much success with sugar snap peas, but lately I’ve been planting sugar snap peas and getting snow peas instead. Is it because the seed is old?
Q: I have a patio door handle that is all screwed up. The thing hardly even locks anymore. Can I repair the lock or do I have to buy a new one?
Gardeners who haven’t started their summer garden can still get some fruits and vegetables into the ground and harvest their crop by summer’s end. The best suggestion is to plant cantaloupe. A fresh, end-of-summer cantaloupe from your backyard is sweet and flavorful and so much more delicious than the melons from Honduras and Guatemala currently sitting in grocery stores.
“Color speaks all languages.” — Joseph Addison (1672-1719), English dramatist, The Spectator (1711)
Q: I would like to grow my own rhubarb. Could you tell me where I can find the plant or the bulb, and when would be a good season to start?
One of the benefits of living in Southern Nevada is not having to worry about seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression related to changes in seasons. Symptoms are most common in areas that experience fewer sunny days, usually starting in the fall and continuing into winter. Treatment for the “winter blues” may include phototherapy, psychotherapy and medications.
Q: My next-door neighbor cut down large pine trees that shaded my wall of star jasmine two days ago. Is there any point trying to rig a shade cloth to get through the rest of the summer hoping they can “harden off” to full sun or should I basically pronounce them dead and start the grieving process now?
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