Category: Around the Home

Weed Control Service – Guide to Bishop Weed & Prevention

Weeds are menacing invaders if your beautiful lawn. Having the right weed control service, your lawn problem will be a thing of the past. Drought and shade tolerant, with good-looking ground cover, the Bishop weed has blue-green leaves with white summer blooming flowers. It has a penchant to grow quickly, which makes it aggressive. The plant is classified as an invasive species in many northeastern states. Here are some tips on prevention and control of Bishop’s weed.

Manual Removal

Turf care 101 - manual pulling of weedsWith a little elbow grease you can remove Bishop’s weed effectively by grubbing or hand weeding them out of your lawn.

DiversifiedMosquitoAndTurf.com recommends you go after the underground roots to ensure complete removal as just small piece of rhizome can easily thrive and grow into a new plant. Also, to make the weeding easier, moisten the soil with your garden hose and then with the use of a trowel loosen the dirt.

Start your digging approximately twelve inches away from the main plant in order to help loosen up the soil. Just repeat the digging or pulling process whenever you notice new Bishop’s weeds appear.

Disposal

When disposing the weed it is recommended that you pile them on a tarp and then let to dry out in the sun for a few days prior to disposal. Avoid adding them to your compost heap as they could re-sprout very quickly.

Prevention As Weed Control Service

Weed control service and basic tipsDiversifiedMosquitoAndTurf.com recommends covering patches of your yard with thick black plastic sheets during the early spring when the plants are just beginning to leaf out. This will help deprive the weeds with much needed sunlight, necessary for them to grow. Damp the soil first to achieve better heat conduction and then install a plastic sheet over it and then weigh down using sandbags and rocks.

Displaying Your Turkey After the Hunt

Mounting a Turkey Fan Tail

Displaying Your Turkey

The best thing about turkey mounting is that all the chores involved are fairly simple and easy. There is no packing heavy loads, grueling hikes or any other laborious work. The same also applies to displaying your prize. In fact you can easily do all the work on your own without spending hundreds of dollars on a taxidermist. Here are tips on how to successfully punch your turkey tag for all your friends to see and admire.

Field Care

How the hunting begins usually determines how beautiful the mount would be. For example, avoiding to break the bird’s tail feathers is easier than trying to aligning them. A turkey that is directly facing you seems like a great target but in real sense it can be a lower success target and you can easily damage the fan with the pellets. So wait for the animal to stretch the neck or drop the tail and then target where the neck skin ends and feathers begin. And before carrying the animal make sure you smooth the tail feathers in place and then pack it gently in a bag.

Extracting the Beard

The next easy task is extracting the turkey’s beard. Just slice the beard at the base but leave some skin to attach it together. Apply a preservative to the base and some in a container. Place beard inside to dry out.

Separating the Tail

Start by cutting off the skin that connects the tail feathers and the rest of the body. Place the tail on a flat surface and then carefully and gently trim meat from the bottom of the quills without cutting the tissue that connects them. After that you can wash the tail with soap and warm water to move dirt and blood. Then generously apply a preservative to the base and massage it thoroughly. This will help prevent insects and rot.

Finally in this step, spread the tail on a soft but flat surface and then secure the feathers with nails or pins. Alternatively,you can staple the base of the tail and then organize the feathers carefully before you spread out the fan. Cover the tail with a cardboard and leave it to dry. This should take about 7days. Also note that once the feathers dry,you cannot re-organize or move them.

Presenting Your Work

This final but important step usually requires good quality turkey mounting plaques. Various stores offer a wide array of plaques but those ones that stand out and are known for their durability are Turkey mounting plaques from Stump Jumper Designs. They are reliable handcrafted and made from highly figured materials such as Curly Black Cherry, Black Walnut and Curly Maple. In addition all the plaques from the store are modeled to hold both the beard and the tail fan and they are very easy to install. The designs simply offer users incomparable and splendid ways to display their trophies.

Now after the 7-day drying period remove the beard from the container and the tail from cardboard and then remove any excess preservative. Then simply slide the fan into the slot of the plaque. Most mounting plaques from Stump Jumper Designs usually have a slot at the base for the beard too. Just coat the beard with hot glue or epoxy and then slide it into the specified panel.

Wrapping it Up

One of the most adorable things about mounting your bird is that there are many attractive ways to do it. Whatever architecture you go for just make sure that it will not only remind you of the turkey hunting escapade but also the fun you had in conserving your prize!