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Saturday, December 15, 2012 – Daily News 3B Country Life garden Dealing with window mold By Mary Beth Breckenridge Akron Beacon Journal (MCT) & home Dawn redwood offers riveting fall color By Norman Winter Q&A: DEALING WITH WINDOW MOLD Q: I have two windows that had a black substance on them. I treated them with a water/bleach mixture, then sanded, re-stained and re-varnished. A year later both windows have more mold on them. How do I find a reputable company to test and clean this for me? — Teresa Kozma, Tallmadge A: First of all, not all black mold is highly toxic, and it's unlikely the mold around your windows is. Unless someone in your household is sensitive to mold, professional remediation might not be required. Second, I urge you to investigate why mold is growing on those windows in the first place. Most likely the windows aren't sealed properly, causing condensation to form on the glass in winter. Water from the condensation can promote growth of mold on the wood. If you have storm windows, their weep holes may be clogged and can't let moisture drain away. It's also possible your house isn't ventilated well enough or the humidity is too high. But if either of those were the case, you'd probably have problems with all your windows, not just two of them. Before you call in a mold expert, I urge you to have an energy audit done on the house to pinpoint air leaks and other energy-wasting issues. Many utilities off low-cost energy audits. If you still want to pursue mold removal, you can find professionals in the Yellow Pages under "mold remediation" or "mold testing & consulting." Jeffrey May, a noted mold-investigation specialist from Cambridge, Mass., recommends looking for a remediator who's certified by ACGIH Professional Learning Center in Cincinnati; the Indoor Air Quality Association in Rockville, Md.; MidAtlantic Environmental Hygiene Resource Center in Cherry Hill, N.J.; or Restoration Consultants in Sacramento, Calif. ——— ON THE SHELF: HOLIDAY DECORATIONS FROM NATURE Florist Edle Catharina Norman believes you can find beauty in your own backyard, even in winter. She uses materials found in nature this time of year to create the holiday floral designs featured in her new book, Beautiful Winter. Some are enhanced by flowers and greenery available at florist shops. Norman provides instructions for wreaths, garlands, Christmas tree decorations, centerpieces and other seasonal accents. Most are simple to create, so you'll still have time for all that shopping and baking. McClatchy-Tribune News The dawn redwood is one of the most picturesque conifers we have at the Columbus (Ga.) Botanical Garden. It has been here for just over a dozen years and grown into quite a specimen. Its upright conical form is simply irresistible. Well sort of, that is for the first 50 to 100 years and then it may find it spreading on you. This fall its color was absolutely riveting. You may want to grow it strictly for its botanical name, which is Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Can you imagine spouting that one to your neighbors? This is one of three trees actually classified as redwoods along with the giant sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, and the coastal redwoods, Sequoia simpervirens. Fossils found in several areas United States gave a pretty clear indication that it was probably extinct. Then in 1941 it was found in an obscure valley in Szechuan, China. The rest is history, now we have the opportunity to buy it at garden centers and grow it in our landscapes. This is where I always like to start taxonomic fights. If it was here thousands of years ago is it a native? But seriously if you are a fan of dinosaur movies, then the dawn redwood is for you as it is one of the oldest living trees on Quick weekend projects What does the term cost-effective and energy- manufacturers have simpliefficient upgrade fied the installation process "weekend prowill rejuvenate with fixtures that can be put ject" do to you? the look of your in quickly and easily by Does it fill your virtually anyone. kitchen. soul with kittenFlush your water heater: After a bit of ish delight? Or planning (how When I first saw this prodoes it make many LED discs ject, I immediately put it on your chest feel and mounting my must-do list. It had me like someone's brackets do you at improved efficiency. jumping on it? need, for exam- This is a twice-a-year proWeekend prople), this job ject that's surely worth the jects don't typishouldn't take effort. cally take the This is a multi-step more than two or entire weekend. Sean three hours— process so for the skinny on Of the literally even less with a how to flush your water dozens of potenheater, visit the blog at helping hand. tial home Update your ConsumerReports.org. improvement As always, let's hear kitchen with a project that you new faucet: You about a weekend project could tackle over might be sur- you've recently finished a weekend, here prised at the dif- that you'd like to share. are five quick and easy ones that won't pre- ference a new kitchen Feel free to let me know at vent you from enjoying faucet can make in your smurphy@build.com. Until next time, Happy everyday life. And with a your weekend. Unclog the showerhead: massive selection of next- Home Improving! If the water pressure in generation kitchen faucets Sean Murphy is a your shower has been available (water-efficient declining steadily, it may and pullout fixtures, for copywriter for Build.com be time to clear up mineral example), it's well worth in Chico. Visit the buildup on the showerhead. investing an hour or two to company's website for more home improvement Get some distilled white install one. A number of plumbing tips at www.build.com. vinegar, a rubber band and a plastic bag. Place the showerhead in the plastic bag that's filled with vinegar, and use the rubber band to tie it shut. After soaking overnight, the vinegar (a natural and environmentally safe disinfectant) should eliminate any mineral buildup. Install energy-efficient light bulbs: A lot of us have already done this one to some extent. Both compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs are gradually coming down in price, making them an even Pruning Classes Start in January more worthy investment. See our Website or Stop by for a schedule. This doesn't really get much easier. Unscrew the WYNTOUR GARDENS old, inefficient incandes365-2256 cent bulb. Replace with 8026 Airport Road, Redding new, super-efficient bulb. I-5 North, Exit #673, Rejoice in the money and Rt on Knighton, Rt on Airport energy savings. Located 1 mile south of the Airport (Next to Kents Mkt) Install LED under-cabiOpen Mon-Sat 8-5 & Sunday's 10-4 net lighting: I brought this wyntourgardens.com one up last week, and it Facebook inform@wyntourgardens.com bears repeating. The counter area beneath your kitchen cabinets is an ideal place for lighting. This Murphy Project Home HAPPY HOLIDAYS earth. Its mature size can reach 70 to 100 feet high and 25 feet wide though old varieties in China are much taller. It has been known to reach 40 to 50 feet in height after 20 years of good growing conditions. These conditions are acidic soil, ample moisture and plenty of sun. This is exactly where we have ours, which is now slightly over 30 feet after 12 years. The dawn redwood is fairly quick to form a buttress at the bottom of the tree, which is most attractive in a landscape setting. Container-grown trees have become so much easier to find at garden centers. While fall and early spring are traditionally thought of as tree planting times, container-grown stock allows us to plant around the year. The dawn redwood has a huge range from zones 4-8. Correct planting howev- er will get your tree off to the best start. Dig the hole no deeper than the height of the root ball. The height of the root ball is less than the height of the container because the nursery leaves space at the top of the container to hold water and fertilizer. Plant the tree so that the top of the root ball is level with or a little higher than the ground. Digging the hole too deep may result in the tree settling too low. The planting hole should be at least 2 to 3 times wider than the root ball. Measure the diameter of the root ball and multiply that number by 2 or 3, the wider the hole, the better. When you finish planting, use your hands to form a 3-inch-high mound or berm around the edge of the root ball with the remaining backfill. The mound will help make sure all the water goes right into the root ball this summer. This will usually hold about 5 gallons of water and can be removed after the first year. At the Columbus Botanical Garden we have ours along a dry creek bed and in proximity to its cousin the bald cypress and not too far away from a cluster of Japanese cryptomerias which are also stately conifers. The fall color of the deciduous dawn redwood is a great complement with the evergreen cryptomerias. If you are looking to add a tree then by all means consider the dawn redwood.