How to Start and Run a Landscape & Garden Maintenance Business

Own your business, own your job, own your life.

Statistics show that nine out of every ten new businesses fail. Most of these businesses fail within the first year. The rest don't make it past their third anniversary.

Given such dismal odds, why would you want to start a landscaping or interiorscaping business?

First of all because the odds are better than you think. Landscaping and interiorscaping are service businesses. A service business is the most easy business to start and be successful.

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Fall - A Time for Planting Your New Trees

Fall is the time for tree-lovers to get active. Trees are starting to slow into dormancy after a season of growth. From leaf drop to spring bud-break, newly planted trees grow vigorously to establish roots in their new location before spring showers and warm weather stimulate top growth. This is an excellent time to consider planting new trees - particularly native trees to fill in a missing layer of vegetation, provide a windbreak, or offer more food and cover for wildlife.

Before selecting where to plant your new tree, consider the soil type, sun and shade conditions, and moisture level of the planting area. Check for overhead and underground utilities that might cause problems, and be aware of how close to buildings you can wisely plant. The function of the tree is also important to consider - perhaps providing screening, shade, noise reduction, erosion control, food, or wildlife habitat?

At the nursery, look for in a suitable healthy tree with a straight central leader, strong shoot development with large buds and leaves, unbound white roots ready for transplant, and overall good branching structure. Avoid trees that have broken limbs, wounds on the trunk, discolored bark, or circling roots.

And then discuss you rchoice with the nursery. The determining factor of whether your tree lives happily ever after or is destined for a quick and untimely death, is how and where you plant it. Local advice is a great asset!

Amazon Trees Control Diabetes

Dr. Donna Schwontkowski is a researcher with a long-standing fascination with the healing properties of plants - Amazon trees, in particular.

And she has found an impressive array of human conditions tree products can be used to treat. Diabetes is just one.

Diabetes mellitus affects about 14 million Americans and is the fourth leading cause of death by disease in the United States. Diabetes takes the lives of more than 150,000 people each year. It is a major cause of heart disease, stroke and kidney dise ase, and is the number one cause of new cases of blindness and amputations in the U.S.

Doctors advise people diagnosed with diabetes to learn to live with it, because there is no cure. Treatment is designed merely to relieve symptoms, improve the body's ability to metabolize glucose and correct faulty metabolism, prevent or correct complications, and ensure adequate nutrition.

The usual advice is to lose weight, exercise, and "hope that next month's blood sugar levels will return to normal."

Dr Schwontkowski's research into the medicinal effects of Brazilian and Peruvian herbs have uncovered several plants which reportedly lower blood sugar levels, normalize the frequency of urination, and eliminate glucose in the urine of diabetics. Much of the research was ethnobotanical; however, several scientific studies showed the effectiveness of these herbs in cases of adult-onset diabetes in reducing blood sugar levels, sometimes up to 35%.

A patient named Anne took a combination of the herbs Pata de vaca, Pedra hume caa, Stevia and Cashew plant daily in-between meals when her blood sugar levels needed regulation. After one month, she said, her blood sugar level fell to 140 mg/dl. After two months, it was down to 110 mg/dl (within normal range), and it stayed there for her next annual checkup. She hadn't lost any weight through dietary modification or exerc ise.

Yet another reason to conserve and research a treasure as great as the Amazon jungle trees ...