Holiday Feng Shui Tips

Do the holidays drive you crazy? Do your family gatherings and holiday parties result in more stress than harmony? The problem may be your space, not be you or your loved ones.

Feng Shui is the ancient art of enhancing positive energy within an environment. As you prepare your home for the holidays this year, take a few moments to consider some of the following tips based on the principles of Feng Shui. By enhancing this energy flow, known as "chi," within your home, your holiday season is can become a time of peace, relaxation and harmony.

Clear the Clutter
Company is coming! What better time to clear your home of things you no longer need or want?! This is one of the most basic feng shui rules. As holiday decorations come out, put other every day items in the holiday decoration box so you don’t add more clutter with decorations. Don’t overwhelm your environment with stuff, which constricts the flow of positive energy.

Balance Your Color Scheme
While you may love the bright reds, greens and golds of the holiday season, these colors augment existing energy and should be balanced with more calming shades, such as cream, blues and pale hues.

Decorate For Harmony
As mentioned above, too many bright colors can create an overly-stimulating environment and increase the risk of tension. Yet not enough holiday items will result in a dull atmosphere.
Small rooms should contain decorations that have a matte finish, rather than lots of reflective surfaces, to help absorb excess energy. The flowing shapes of ribbons and fabrics also help create a soft, gentle atmosphere.

Bring Nature Indoors
Fresh green foliage such as spruce and pine in your home provides pleasant fragrances. The pine tree is a traditional Chinese symbol of longevity. Research has shown that this wonderful tree generates massive amounts of oxygen into the air, so essential to our good health and wellbeing. Blues, greens, reds, golds, and metallics represent all five elements of feng shui: water, wood, fire, earth and metal, and therefore symbolize balance in your life. Use the various materials as well as their colors.

Make Holiday Meals Memorable

Add excitement to holiday mealtimes with a table set hard, shiny items such as silver serving pieces, sparkling crystal and brightly-colored holiday china. Red napkins will also create a festive mood, while green napkins and cream-colored linens will tone down the table.

For more info on this topic, join our class on Alleviating Holiday Stress, From the Inside Out. December 5th and 12th, $25. Contact Michelle Michelle@BlueIrisLandscapes.com

Got Squirrel?

Maybe you think they're cute, maybe you think they're vermin. Either way, how do you deal with them?

Got squirrel?

If the answer is 'yes', what can you do?

The best way is to discourage them. Don't make it easy for them.

• Cut back: Squirrels climb tree limbs, so a good rule of thumb is to cut branches until they’re six feet away from the roof line of your house — too far for most (non daredevil) squirrels to leap.
• Fix that feeder: If the home’s birdfeeder is the attraction, put an end to that by buying one of several varieties of squirrel-proof feeders. Or, give the squirrels something else to eat. Leave a pile of nuts or nail up a corncob away from the feeder.
• Block ’em out: Areas of concern should be covered with metal flashing, or quarter-inch mesh or even half-inch mesh. Extend the patch several inches beyond the hole in all directions to stop the squirrel from chewing around it.
• Collar that tree: Stop squirrels from climbing trees and power poles by wrapping them with a 2-foot-wide collar of metal, six feet off the ground, says the University of California: “Attach metal using encircling wires held together with springs to allow for tree growth.”

Caution: One should always make sure that the squirrels are not present before sealing a hole.

Repellents
There is no 'magic bullet'. Repellents are temporary, but they can still help.

• Hot sauce: There are products on the market that use capsaicin, the “hot” ingredient in pepper, to discourage squirrels from gnawing, for example. But the experts are skeptical about the effectiveness.
• Sticky stuff: Products that contain polybutenes, or sticky materials that can be applied to buildings, railings, downspouts and other areas to prevent squirrels from climbing, may also be effective because animals don’t like to walk on them. But it’s not exactly desirable to have strips all around your house like a sticky moat.

Source: Christopher Solomon

Why rake fall leaves?

It's that time again when the pretty fall foliage will soon begin to tumble to the ground and cover up the turf. Instead of breaking your back raking, consider mowing the leaves back into the turf. So, if you're thinking about giving mowing a try here's what you need to know to be successful.

1. Make sure your mower has a sharp blade, after a long season of mowing, the blades may be dull at this time of year and trying to chop up leaves will be more challenging with a dull blade.

2. Raise the mower as high as it will go and mow at your normal speed, don't "rev" the throttle to the high jackrabbit setting and blaze around the yard. Try to mow the leaves when they are moist from the morning dew, but don't mow them when they're really wet. This will prevent the leaves from blowing all over the place and will help with your allergies.

3. Finally, don't let the leaves pile up too high before you mow. Too high would probably be greater than 3 to 4 inches of leaf depth on the turf. Good luck and give it a try; you may find that mulching leaves helps the turf by returning nutrients and organic matter, besides, it saves your aching back!

Source: Michigan State University Extension