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The seasons change in September. Some days will be hot. Some days
will be cool or even cold. Some days will be dry, while others are
rainy, perhaps even with snow or sleet. These conditions lead to
some confusion with regard to home maintenance. This especially
hit me, because for most of my professional life, I have traveled
extensively during September. When I left home, I always wondered,
“Should I close the windows? How extensively should I water
the plants? Should I have my pet care service water the plants in
my absence? Should I clear my porch in case of frost? Should I move
items away from the radiators in case the heat goes on while I’m
away?” I don’t have any definitive answers to these
questions, but I do have some guidelines to help you handle the
change of seasons.
Cleaning: I strongly dislike
cleaning. There are just so many things that I would rather be doing.
However, once the windows get closed up, and once the heat comes
on, we can often be confronted by icky scents and stale air. Here
is a cleaning checklist:
- Dusting: I do not dust regularly. It just isn’t
going to happen. But, an autumnal dusting is appropriate as I close
up my home for the winter. Dust actually has unpleasant aromas,
and can harbor mites and other allergenic materials.
- Rugs/carpets: Vacuum your rugs and carpets. Take your rugs
outside and shake them out. Consider steam-vacuuming or dry-cleaning
your rugs. Rugs/carpets can get really nasty, and they can harbor
all sorts of “stuff,” but they are so diverse in composition
and value that it is impossible to identify all of the possible
care methods. Just clean them!
- Vacuum the entire apartment: Get into corners, go under
every surface, move furniture away from walls, go between cushions,
get into the cracks of radiators or baseboard heaters.
- Washing: Wash whatever decorative items you can. If you
have throws on your furniture, they may have become dirty or “sweaty”
with summer perspiration, so wash or dry clean them (I have polyester
sari fabric atop much of my furniture, so it just gets popped into
my washing machine, but if you use silk saris or other delicate
materials, consider “delicate” hand-washing, or dry-cleaning
as I use for my llama wool throws).
- Purging: Use this “putting away” season to
just get rid of stuff. You’ve spent the summer acquiring,
and perhaps surfaces are covered with “stuff” that really
shouldn’t be there (from either an organizational or an esthetic
perspective). I’m always looking for an excuse to purge, and
I encourage you to purge as well.
Plants: I have spent many
columns writing about growing and propagating indoor plants. Now
you need to winterize them. When you close windows, be sure your
plants don’t get scrunched. If they’ve grown over
radiators or other sources of heat, invest in some poles/stakes
and wrap the vines loosely, securing them at various intervals
as you move upward. In some cases, your plants may have grown
so much that the entire plant will no longer fit comfortably in
its location with the windows closed and the heat on, so that
plant will need a new home; of course, moving a plant at the end
of the season, when it has become acclimated to a particular site,
can be risky business, but sometimes you have to take a chance.
Don’t forget to haul out the humidifers and bowls of water
to increase the humidity as heating will suck the moisture right
out of the air. You might even consider investing in some misters
(that is, devices that spray mist, rather than individuals of
the male persuasion). Most importantly, do not overwater them,
and DO NOT FERTILIZE them. Due to the changing photocycle, plants
will slow their own growth; this happens even in the tropics,
where most houseplants originate. You may get some spindly growth,
but that will be dealt with in the spring (see my columns for
April and May).
Critters: As the weather
cools, insects, spiders (and other arachnids), centipedes and
millipedes often find their way indoors. This is good and bad.
Most of all, it is self-correcting. Although I have training as
an entomologist, I don’t like most insects in my home. Ladybugs
are good, but they really need to find a good place outdoors to
hibernate. The other insects are just pests when they get indoors,
and THAT is where the other critters come in. The arachnids and
centipedes you get in your home (that is, the araneids and scutigerids,
mostly) are carnivores, and they will consume the insects, so
don’t kill them; if there are no insects, the predators
will either leave or die themselves (that’s how Nature works).
Other arachnids (opilionids, or daddy-longlegs) and millipedes
are scavengers (or herbivores/fungivores); they’ll stick
around only as long as there is food to eat. If you are among
the unlucky ones who find themselves invaded by four-legged furry
critters or two legged feathered critters, you may need professional
help, or purchase/rent a live trap (as I once had to do with a
runaway cat that had taken up residence in my chimney, but that
is another story [but one with a happy ending]!).
Air Quality: I’ve already
discussed the impact of dust and sweaty furniture throws and well-traveled
rugs/carpeting on air quality. Assuming that you have removed
the offending parties, consider adding scent. This time of year,
I particularly like to use natural scents like fresh flowers,
but I’ll be returning to the use of scent in future columns
(as I did in past columns). Can you smell a trend here?
Porch: Not everyone has a
porch. But, consider this as advice for most semi-outdoor areas,
like patios and decks (but see below for “true” outdoor
guidance that I imported from elsewhere). Let’s do a survey
of porch occupants:
- Chairs: wash and stack chairs in a corner of your porch,
or store them in your garage, basement, storage unit or spare bedroom
(you have to make the call; weather of all kinds will cause wear
and tear on all chair materials, whether plastic, wicker, wood,
metal or other. I have cheapo plastic chairs, so they stay out all
winter).
- Tables: different people have different types of tables.
Essentially, treat them like you would chairs: wash them, and store
them on the porch or in some other area, knowing that they will
last longer when put away. I have no place to store the three tables
on my porch, so I leave them there. One is a glass-topped, metal
table that I rescued from a garbage heap; it is gradually rusting
away, but it makes a light and airy addition to my porch, so I retain
it. Another is a black plastic “thing” that I also rescued
from a trash bin; it is tucked out of the way in a corner where
it holds a variety of plants. The third is a really cool redwood
table I paid only $2 for at a yard sale; redwood is very long-lasting
as a building material (and as a living tree), so I’m not
concerned about the table’s longevity.
- Decorations: haul in any decorations, such as candles,
bowls, incense burners, coasters, ashtrays, chimes, figurines, or
whatever else made you feel comfortable on your porch/patio. Freezing
and thawing can crack many items, or discolor them, or otherwise
render them less usable/enjoyable.
- Plants: since you read my column on “kitchen gardening,”
you KNEW my porch would be full of Colocasia (taro), Xanthosoma
(malanga/yautia) and various Zingiberaceae (gingers), not to mention
fuchsias, ferns, papyrus and impatiens. The ferns and papyrus will
make the transition indoors with no difficulty. I will bring all
of the others indoors when the temps drop below 50 degrees, and
they will last for about six weeks before succumbing to the dry
indoor air.
- Potting supplies: I also use my back porch for potting
plants, which means that I have tubs of soil, bags of compost and
piles of pots out there. That’s where they stay throughout
the winter, though I do tend to pile them up. If you have a basement
or garage or other enclosed area, consider moving them indoors,
but I don’t have that option.
- Trash: I shouldn’t have to say it, but if I don’t,
some people will just leave crap all over their porch/patio, the
wind will blow it away, and every else will be able to enjoy their
crap. This is one instance where I do NOT believe in sharing; throw
your trash away, rather than sharing it with the neighborhood!
General Maintenance: As I have
stated, I don’t specialize in outdoor maintenance or in anything
involving construction or carpentry or anything mechanical. I recommend
that people seek specialists in those areas. I have borrowed the
following hints from www.housevalues.com
who are specialists in general home care (though I have made edits
to make them more environmentally friendly).
- Drain and put away hoses, closing and draining hose bibs.
- Rake debris away from side of house and other structures
(unless you are mulching shrubbery and other bedding plants).
- Check and clear gutters and downspouts; repair if necessary.
- Inspect and clean storm windows.
- Check all windows and door locks for proper operation.
- Make sure there are working lights at the top and bottom
of all stairways.
- Inspect and replace weather-stripping if necessary; if
windows have gaps, you may need to purchase rolls of weather-stripping
and do patching.
- Drain gas-powered yard equipment by siphoning fuel into
a gas can before storing.
Regular maintenance is important to keep your home safe, attractive
and comfortable.
Now, go out and enjoy the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
Enjoy the harvest, and the cooler temperatures, and the changing
foliage colors. Just enjoy life!
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