Time to head out to garden, stop weeds in their tracks

During the third week of March, dandelions and daffodils are celebrating spring. Make this the week you get outdoors and pull the tiny weeds that are blooming with their innocent-looking white flowers. Weeds that are flowering now will make seeds that will spread all summer.

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March signals start of spring gardening

The arrival of March signals the beginning of the spring gardening season. Landscapes are starting to put on a reinvigorating display of color. Here�s a checklist of things to do for the month.Hobby Greenhouse Seminar Many gardeners dream of one day having a hobby greenhouse. Indeed, a hobby greenhouse can open up a whole new world of gardening. If you�ve been thinking about building a hobby greenhouse, take the next step by attending our upcoming seminar on �Hobby Greenhouses � A Homeowners Guide� to gain worthwhile, practical information to help you in your decision-making process.Master Gardener Bob McPherson will present the seminar from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Galveston County Extension Office located at 5115 state Highway 3 in Dickinson. McPherson is well experienced in the use and operation of greenhouses and is a hobby greenhouse owner.

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Mount Vernon, 1799

A stack of leather-bound gardening books sat on a simple wooden desk in the middle of a small room. Two broad-brimmed hats, one for winter and one for summer, hung on pegs in the corner.

In the bedroom, a pair of shoes lay at the side of the bed, as if the gardener had just stepped out of them.

With the restoration of a two-story pine structure used by one of George Washington’s gardeners, William Spence, Mount Vernon is again complete nearly 209 years after the first president died.

The gardener’s house, built around the spring of 1776 and glimpsed Wednesday, is the last of 16 original 18th-century structures to be restored on the historic estate on the banks of the Potomac River in Virginia.

Piecing together letters, plantation records and samplings of timber from the house, preservationists were able to reconstruct a building that was part of a major expansion at Mount Vernon before Washington left to command the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.

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Home loan approvals rise

Australia’s home loan approvals rose in January, suggesting higher interest rates and turmoil on financial markets have so far failed to discourage borrowers.

The number of loans granted to people to build or buy homes or apartments climbed 2.3 per cent from December, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today. The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1 per cent gain.

Demand for home loans is being fueled by an economic expansion now in its 17th year and a jobs boom that has driven unemployment to the lowest rate in more than three decades.

Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens raised borrowing costs to the highest in 12 years last week to curb the fastest inflation since 1991.

Today’s increase “is the third consecutive monthly increase and possibly a high-point for the series,” Joshua Williamson, senior strategist at TD Securities Ltd.

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Crowds flock to builders show

Talk of a sluggish economy didn’t seem to affect the turnout at the 25th Annual Franklin County Builders Show on Saturday.

“We think we have more people through this year than there were last year. . . it has been tremendous,” said Tom Hanks, executive director Franklin County Builders Association.

Last year about 11,000 visitors flocked to the three-day show which started on Friday and continues today.

But, this year Hanks estimated between 13,000 and 15,000 will pass through the doors of the former County Market building in the Southgate Shopping Center on Liberty Street in Chambersburg.

With almost 200 vendors inside and outside the building, Hanks said there’s something for everyone and the builder’s show is one of the harbingers of spring.

“When the builder’s show gets here – spring’s here.

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Home calendar

Legal/Tax Considerations of Buying/Selling a Home: Jonathan Goldberg, an attorney and tax expert, will discuss purchase agreements, legal and tax aspects of renting or refinancing your home. 7 p.m. Tue. at Rochester Hills Public Library, 500 Old Towne Rd. Free. 248-656-2900.

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Running hot and cold on water garden ideas

I have trouble telling a bad good idea, from a good bad idea. But I see them both, and everything in between, at flower shows, where top designers put everything (including the kitchen sink) into their creative showcases.

I “do” these big events from coast to coast and beyond — just got back from lecturing at the Philadelphia Flower Show (in its 179th year, with this year more than 250,000 visitors viewing 10 intense acres of garden displays), and this weekend I’m at the New England Flower Show in Boston (137th year).

I try to get to Europe at least once a year to see what’s happening “over the Pond” via flower show displays.

There are flower and plant society displays of course, including miniature garden designs. But I go straight to the showcase gardens to note what is hot in the coolest new plants and latest ideas in garden design.

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Home Improvement Show offers diversity

The 23rd annual Home Improvement Show sponsored by the Builders Association of Elkhart County continues through Sunday in Goshen.For the first time, this event is being held at the Elkhart General Hospital healthcare building on Rieth Boulevard west of U.S. 33, near Lowe’s.The event has been held two weekends, with some changes in exhibits before this weekend. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.The 68 exhibitors offer a show with a lot of diversity in the industry, explained Gary Maust, president of the builders association, and officer of DaLin Construction. Besides having seven or eight builders and remodelers in the show, there are banks, appliance and outdoor furniture suppliers, heating and cooling, sprinkling and landscaping displays. The Elkhart County Health Department also has an informational display informing residents about the threat of lead poisoning.”There is a lot of interest this year in kitchen and baths,” Maust said.

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Home loan subsidy for poor in offing

The government is planning to provide an interest-rate subsidy on home loan for the economically weaker section and low-income group in urban areas.

”A proposal to provide interest subsidy on housing loans for the economically weaker sections and the low-income group in urban areas is under consideration of the government of India,” minister of state for finance Pawan Kumar Bansal said. Details of the scheme are being worked out, he added.

As the interest rate on home loan rose from 7% in 2004 to 12% by March 2007, affordability of weaker sector to buy houses has gone down sharply. Because of the rise in interest rates, the equated monthly instalment (EMI) on a 20-year home loan went up by almost 50%. At the same time, as the real estate prices also rose sharply during the same period, houses become almost out of reach for the low-income group people.

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Garden pots make a fine artist’s canvas

I admired Danielle Ferguson’s work before ever meeting her in person. At garden shows and trade shows, invariably Ferguson’s Fragrant Nursery’s booth stood out from the crowd.

Like a colorful cottage garden on a suburban street landscaped with junipers and bark dust, Ferguson’s designs radiated beauty. Her skillful arrangements of potted plants in full bloom made me want to buy the whole booth and take it home for an instant garden.

Her way with container design is equally exciting. In a big enough pot, Ferguson creates a minigarden in which shrubs, perennials and annuals form a thrilling composition.

My favorite pot at last year’s Far West Show, a trade show for nurseries and landscapers, combined a tall red banana with immense leaves, a “Golden Lanterns” pheasantberry, purple fountain grass and a red-flowering fuchsia.

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