Enjoy your patio. Decorate your patio area so you can enjoy it in the warm summer months.

Check your ceiling fans. Make sure your ceiling fans are in good shape so you can use them when the heat is fierce!

Help your environment stay clean. Take a small garbage bag with you on neighborhood walks so when you see trash, you can pick it up.

Purchase your tickets for the Water & Rails Pond and Garden Tour, which takes place July 18, 19, and 20. See calendar (page 44) for more details.

Bake a blueberry pie. After all, it is national blueberry month.
Check the irrigation system. You’re using it a lot this time of year, so make sure your system is leak-free and heads are emitting water properly.

Eat a hot dog! July 23 is National Hot Dog Day so get out and BBQ some delicious dogs.

Exchange some BBQ recipes! Swap classic BBQ recipes with friends or neighbors to shake up your taste buds this summer!

Deadhead, snip, or pinch the old blooms off your roses, as well as perennials such as daisies. Deadhead marigolds petunias, and other annuals to encourage continuous bloom through the summer.

Paint. Inside or out using July’s dry days and cool mornings to do the trick, quick.

Make sure you’re not planting a nuisance! Learn about what ornamentals you don’t want in your garden in Sue Donaldson’s story “Don’t Plant a Pest!” (page 12).

Call someone who’s alone. July 11 is National Cheer Up the Lonely Day. This is a great opportunity to connect with someone who’d love to hear a friendly voice.

Edible landscapes are the big “new” thing in horticulture. The reason why I emphasize “new” is because edible landscapes are not new but the concept is enjoying a revival now that food prices are increasing due to the cost of fuel.
As you evaluate your ornamental garden this year, planning for next year, or if you have to replace plants consider utilizing more edible plants.

Imagine your single guy friends’ house. Bikes in every corner, laundry piled up on the coffee table, lawn chairs in the living room, empty pizza boxes stacked on the top of the fridge, labe-free beer bottles littering the counter next to the “pizza cheese” packets, something resembling ranch dressing in the fridge (with a 2006 expiration date), and a big hairy dog who barks low when you ring the doorbell. The dog and your friend smell the same.

We recently asked interior designer Steve Gunderson to fill us in on what’s hot, fun, and exciting in design right now. Here’s what tickling his fancy this month.

The Water & Rails Pond & Garden Railroad Tour is a unique three-day event that allows participants to visit over fifty of the area’s most spectacular residential water features and outdoor garden railroads.

When we think of skylights, we envision a framed, two-by-four inch rectangular pane of glass set into the roof. However, today, various types of skylights are available. While they may differ in design, these “green” features do share common traits: They allow natural light into a home, making spaces brighter and seemingly larger, and they offer potential cost and energy savings.

The nurseries are bursting with flowers and foliage, and it’s still a great time to plant.

Green is all the rage in home and garden. But is that translating into real eco-action? Here in Northern Nevada the answer is yes! Demand for eco-friendly living and eco-friendly products is gaining momentum, and with it, the ever more locally-offered options! What’s hot is not necessarily the newest in new, but the tried and true.

This month’s Nevada EcoNet tip: come learn about how to live “green” at Eco-Nights!

With warmer weather, it’s time for projects such as staining or re-staining the wood in your house. If this is on your to-do list, keep in mind that many oil-based wood stains emit toxic levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are known to harm the environment and, potentially, people’s health.