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Saturday, March 17, 2012 – Daily News Country Life & garden Home and garden news, notes By Mary Beth Breckenridge Akron Beacon Journal (MCT) WHAT'S NEW: KITCHEN TOWEL DISPENSER IS AUTOMATIC The automatic paper towel dispenser has moved into the kitchen. Like bathroom towel holders, the Innovia dispenser releases towels when you hold a hand near its sensor. It continues to dispense the towels until you move your hand away, and then tightens when one is being pulled away for a clean break. Excess towels retract automatically. Any standard-size paper towel roll can be used. The Innovia dispenser is available in stainless steel, red, white, black or blue, although supplies of the red dispensers were low earlier this month. The dispenser costs $99 at www.InnoviaHome.com. Shipping is free. ___ Q&A: HOW TO DISPOSE OF BATTERIES Q: Where can I dispose of household (non- rechargeable) batteries instead of the trash? A: If your concern is that the batteries contain haz- ardous materials, rest easy. The single-use, dry-cell batteries that we commonly use for household purpos- es such as flashlights and remote controls no longer contain mercury and don't have to be treated as haz- ardous waste, said Mike Settles of the Ohio Environ- mental Protection Agency. Those batteries include AA, AAA, C, D and 9-volt batteries. The U.S. EPA says it does not require special dis- posal measures for the small quantities of single-use, dry-cell household batteries a typical homeowner might want to get rid of. As long as the batteries were made in the last 15 years or so, they can be disposed of in the trash. Please note that the disposal information applies only to the batteries I mentioned. Other types of bat- teries, including button-cell and rechargeable batter- ies, may still need to be treated as hazardous waste or have special handling requirements. ___ Have a question about home maintenance, decorat- ing or gardening? Akron Beacon Journal home writer Mary Beth Breckenridge will find answers for the queries that are chosen to appear in the paper. To sub- mit a question, call her at 330-996-3756, or send email to mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. Be sure to include your full name, your town and your phone number or email address. Editor's note: Chico-based home improvement company Build.com debuts its weekly article, called Project: Home, with a spring clean- ing checklist. It's that time of year again to clean the closets, scour the shelves and gut the garage to create more space so you can live your life. Whether it's finding a new home for old stuff, eliminating clutter for the sake of organization or crafting a fresh new look, here are a few easy paths to Spring Cleaning bliss. Non-profits will profit If some of your clothes in your closet have been hanging for so long that they've skipped a fashion era, it might be time to pick through them. One way to decide whether to keep or ditch a shirt, jacket or pair of pants is to first turn all of your hangers around. Every time you return something you just wore to the hanger, turn it around the right way. Pick a length of time (one month, two months, six months), and if you haven't turned that hang- er back around by then, you probably don't need that article of clothing. And this can be a year- round practice. When you're ready to lighten your clothes load, donate them to an organi- zation that can reuse them. Non-profit groups like Habitat For Humani- ty, Goodwill and The Sal- vation Army are more than happy to pass your old clothing to someone more needy. Talk about a win-win. home Spring cleaning checklist Storage shortage Sean Murphy Project: Home Storage is always an issue no matter the size of your home. So whether your shoes are strewn throughout different rooms or your bathroom counter and tub are rimmed with bottles, restore a little order. Shoe crates or caddies are great organizational options at the front and back doors. They keep the shoes in one place, main- tain a little cleanliness on the floor and can also pro- vide a decorative accent. For the kitchen, Rev-A- Shelf provides fantastic options to help organize everything from wine glass- es and cleaners beneath the sink to spices in a pantry closet. And in the bathroom, a classic shower caddy and shelving above the toilet are fantastic options. Mini makeover One effective, and not overly obvious, Spring Cleaning method is a room mini makeover. From the bedroom and bathroom to the kitchen and living room, less is more when it comes to replacing older energy- or water-guzzling fix- tures with newer, more efficient ones. WaterSense-rated bathroom faucets save more water than ever before, and today's Energy Star- rated lights are more powerful and while using less energy. Spring Cleaning doesn't have to be a scary. It should mean what it's supposed to mean — out with the old and in with the new. And that's a refreshing thought. Until next time, happy home improving. Sean Murphy is a copywriter for Build.com in Chico. Visit the compa- ny's website for more home improve- ment tips at www.build.com. Rose form impatiens simply elegant By Norman Winter McClatchy-Tribune News Service If I asked you if you would like a rose for the morning-sun, afternoon- shade garden you would say yeas. If I said this rose also had no thorns or dis- ease pressures from black spot and powdery mildew, you no doubt would be getting out the check card. Yet this is precisely what the rose form impatiens offer to each and every one of us who gardens. Words like Rockapul- co, Fiesta and Fiesta Ole need to be on everyone's list of flowers when spring time finally arrives. These are varieties of some of the most beautiful impatiens available and each flower forms a small perfect rose. As a former executive director of the American Rose society we conduct- ed trials on the best minia- ture roses for the garden. I admit to loving them and they certainly have their 'place in the sun' so to speak, but what about the part-shade garden? That has always been one of the issues with roses — they are hard to grow for the sun-chal- lenged landscapes of America. Rose form impa- tiens just may quench that thirst in these types of low light conditions. Today most rose form impatiens are propagated vegetatively and have been put through a rigorous screening program for any unseen diseases. The results have been phenom- enal with impatiens that now produce huge rose- form flowers in abundance and put on a terrific land- scape display. They are also well suit- ed to large containers and window boxes where they form huge mounds of blooms and leaves. They really liven up a porch, patio or deck in areas receiving filtered light. The Fiesta Series with stand out like the crown jewels. Keep them mulched, watered and fed every six to eight weeks with light applications of a slow- release balanced fertilizer containing minor nutri- ents. Try using dilute water soluble fertilizer for your container. Should they look leggy in late summer, trim back about one-third to induce new branching, growth and repeated flushing of blooms. Taking care of them during late summer pays huge dividends with color all fall. Norman Winter is MCT photo This mixed container featuring Fiesta Appleblossom impatiens, Breathless euphorbia, Silver Falls dichondra and English ivy is simply elegant. 16 colors, the compact Fiesta Ole with 8 colors and the award winning Rockapulco series with eight colors have captured the lion share in today's market place. These plants have the capability of showing out in your landscape from May until the first frost, which is over 200 days in much of the country, so give them a proper home. Choose a site with morn- ing sun and afternoon shade or high filtered shade. Prepare your bed by incorporating 3 to 4 inches of organic matter to raise the beds and give good drainage. As you till, work in two pounds of a slow-release balanced fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed space. These plants get large, reaching 24 inches in height and as wide. Set out at the proper spacing and plant at the same depth they were growing in the container. Impatiens combine wonderfully with caladi- ums which have the same water and light require- ment. Try white caladiums with red veins with red impatiens. Try bold drifts of pink rose form impa- tiens planted with Japan- ese painted fern and you'll have a show that will leave your visitors speechless. These rose form impa- tiens are so beautiful they really deserve to also be in containers on the porch or patio. Use them as a monoculture as the only plant or elegantly mixed with other flowers and foliage where they will executive director of The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, and author of "Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South" and "Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden." Contact him at: winter@naba.org. 3B up to $800 Instant Cash Discounts available on high efficiency heating & air conditioning systems Instant cash discount ends April 30th 2012 Financing available O.A.C. Some restrictions apply. See dealer for details replacement systems only. 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