Up on the roof this morning...
As part of the prep for our annual Summer Music Party in the garden, I found myself up on the roof this morning, leaf blower in tow, along with my pruning saw and large loppers.
Since we needed to blow the leaves out of the garden for the party, it made sense to take the time to blow the leaves off of the roof, as well. Leaf mold on the roof can build up pretty quickly in our garden, with so many trees surrounding it. This debris can clog the gutters and cause water to back up under the shingles, so it is always a good idea to get it off whenever possible. We will have to do it again as Fall ends and our Winter rains begin, but, at least, there will be less to move when that time comes.
The leaf blower provided a much superior cleaning method than the push broom I used last time. As long as you are careful to not blow "up" the shingles and dislodge them, it quickly and easily moved everything to the eaves and then onto the ground. It also allowed me to clean the tin roof over the back patio, which had collected 4-5 inches of leaves in some spots. I can't walk on this section and the push broom couldn't be placed at a proper angle, but with the leaf blower, I slowly worked from the roof line outwards, using the blast of air to reach far beyond my arm length.
Finally, I took the opportunity to prune back some overhanging tree limbs from the podocarpus, camphor and pine trees. This will cut down on the debris that needs to be removed later.
Overall, a productive morning and a good start to our party prep. NExt, we need to pick up some straw bales for seating and figure out where to place the borrowed grill. Since we just visited Hawaii for the first time, and most of our friends have been there already, we decided on a Hawaiian theme this year. For those hard to find Hawaiian delicacies, we have a local "two scoop" chain that promises to provide us an easy source for Portuguese sausage, malasadas, misubi and more.
Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, hobby, california, grow, outdoors, losangeles, hawaii
Since we needed to blow the leaves out of the garden for the party, it made sense to take the time to blow the leaves off of the roof, as well. Leaf mold on the roof can build up pretty quickly in our garden, with so many trees surrounding it. This debris can clog the gutters and cause water to back up under the shingles, so it is always a good idea to get it off whenever possible. We will have to do it again as Fall ends and our Winter rains begin, but, at least, there will be less to move when that time comes. The leaf blower provided a much superior cleaning method than the push broom I used last time. As long as you are careful to not blow "up" the shingles and dislodge them, it quickly and easily moved everything to the eaves and then onto the ground. It also allowed me to clean the tin roof over the back patio, which had collected 4-5 inches of leaves in some spots. I can't walk on this section and the push broom couldn't be placed at a proper angle, but with the leaf blower, I slowly worked from the roof line outwards, using the blast of air to reach far beyond my arm length.
Finally, I took the opportunity to prune back some overhanging tree limbs from the podocarpus, camphor and pine trees. This will cut down on the debris that needs to be removed later.
Overall, a productive morning and a good start to our party prep. NExt, we need to pick up some straw bales for seating and figure out where to place the borrowed grill. Since we just visited Hawaii for the first time, and most of our friends have been there already, we decided on a Hawaiian theme this year. For those hard to find Hawaiian delicacies, we have a local "two scoop" chain that promises to provide us an easy source for Portuguese sausage, malasadas, misubi and more.
Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, hobby, california, grow, outdoors, losangeles, hawaii
