Tag: Ridgewood NJ

Allergy Free Gardening
July 22,2012
Lisa Carter

At my company, Honest Landscaping and Interiors, I have been hearing from my customers a lot about allergies. Millions of people suffer from severe allergies. Some people don’t even plant a garden for fears of making their allergies worse. Fear not, I have some hypoallergenic plants and tips for naturally eliminating your runny nose and headaches.

What to plant:

You can always count on boxwood. Boxwood are slow growing, flowerless, deer resistant, and hypo allergenic. Boxwood makes a great hedge row or standalone plant. They also tolerate sun or shade.

Hibiscus is a tropical plant that can only be outside in the spring and summer months. They get a large flower but the pollen is heavy and does not travel through the air. Rose of Sharon is a perennial variety that does grow in our area. Be sure to plant in sun or part sun for best results.

If you are looking for a more traditional plant Hydrangea may be what you want. There are many varieties of hydrangea including bush, tree,and climbing. They get an abundance of flowers in bright colors. Be aware that the Deer love to consume the flowers so you may want to use a natural deer repellant. Some selections will grow in sun some in shade.

Daffodils and Tulips bloom in the spring. Once again you have an assortment of colors and varieties. Plant them in rows or clumps for the best showing and be sure not to plant them too deep. Ask your local garden center about the varieties you are planting. Plant your bulbs in full sun or partial shade.

If you want fruit trees plant Apple, Pear, Plum or Cherry. Be sure to net your fruit trees to prevent birds or deer from eating your fruit. The first year of planting will sometimes not yield any fruit. Be sure to trim your

trees properly. Call a professional like me if you need someone to do it for you. Partial sun or full sun is the best for all fruit trees.

There are plenty of annuals you can plant in spring that will not agitate your allergies. Let’s start with the ones that grow in the sun. Sunflowers, Petunias, Periwinkles, Daisies and Pansies are great and add lots of color to your garden beds. For shady areas plant Begonias. The Periwinkle and Begonias are also considered deer resistant.

If you like Roses you are in luck. Believe it or not roses are considered hypoallergenic. I would say to plant smaller budded Roses. Roses have large pollen and that is not transmitted through the air, they are pollinated by insects. You may also cut them and bring them in your home. Roses prefer sun or partial sun for best growth.

Finally, plant a cactus garden. There are so many beautiful selections that thrive in this area. Don’t be afraid to mix them up. I would recommend speaking to your local garden center about which Cactus they will be carrying. If you ask for different types they can probably order them. Cactus love sunny and dry conditions. Perfect this year.

This article is presented by www.honestlandscapingandinteriors.com, a greener way to do landscaping and interior remodeling. Please contact Lisa with any landscaping questions or for a free estimate at (727) 637-8014 or [email protected].

“Municide” : Unless the Village starts looking at new forms of revenue this would not come as a surprise

As a former resident I would never wish “Municide” on my old hometown. Though unless the Village starts looking at new forms of revenue this would not come as a surprise.

In particular, solar panels paid for by utilities, cell phone towers which offer recurring revenue, and tasteful advertising to subsidize the annual losses at Graydon. “Tasteful” could use as a touchstone the same types of advertising found on little league baseball uniforms.

I’m not in favor of sacrificing the town’s character or visual appeal. I am in favor of avoiding casting the local unions and teachers as the cause of Ridgewood’s inevitable fiscal cliff. Teachers, Police, and Fire salaries and pensions are not the problem.

The Village has to realize that a massive number of real estate tax appeals and people moving to lower tax municipalities are the problems and that these are being ignored.

Ridgewood needs some creative types to work on raising revenues and not taxes.

©Geraldine Abdoo

Another piece of history lost
July 14.2012
the staff of the Risgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , Another piece of history lost . The Zabriskie Slave Tenement house was demolished in Paramus yesterday .This was an ongoing battle over the past 3 years, and according to all accounts the demolition came without warning.

This was not the Schedler house in Ridgewood.

In September Freeholder John D. Mitchell came to the Dunkerhook site and met with Ted Manvell and Joe Suplicki who had spearheaded the movement to save the house. Mitchell was the first elected official to visit the site and show an interest in the status of the house.

Mitchell said on Facebook , “The shame of this is that all the pieces to a very complex puzzle were actually coming together. The mover was ready to move the house for free, the college was making plans for its permanent home as a learning center, grant requests and other funding avenues were promising, stubborn legal challenges were finding solutions, and many, many fine people were pitching in. We were really close.”

Hopefully this tragedy will energize preservationist in Northern New Jersey especially in Bergen County to speak up to save our precious history,. Bergen county holds many unique treasures dating back before the founding of the country . These include the Schedler house in Ridgewood which is still standing today but is also slated to be demolished to make way for more ball fields. Once these site are gone they are gone forever .

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lost-Historic-Dunkerhook-Slave-Tenement-Bergen-County-NJ/194173920631121

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zabriskie-Schedler-House-Ridgewood-NJ/141857895884672

photo by www.artchick.biz

“Municide” not so sure its out of the question
July 14,2012
James Foytlin

Ridgewood NJ, On Tuesday San Bernardino became the third California city in less than a month to seek bankruptcy protection, with officials saying the financial situation had become so dire that it could not cover payroll through the summer and the city is facing a $46-million deficit.

So this begs the question with residential real estate at decade low valuations and commercial real estate still falling it seems only a matter of time before the dominoes begin to fall.

Ridgewood itself is experiencing a massive amount of tax appeals which some question whether the Village is underestimating our liability.

While vested interests and Muni Market promoters attacked Meredith Whitney for most of 2011 because of her ill timed call as to what some have called “Municide”, where she dared to predict that catastrophic muni default rates were in the cards.

Many argue that the size ,depth and variety of the muni bond market as well as the lack of institutional players coupled with insurance and the states infinite ability to tax makes a massive muni default or “Municide ” highly unlikely ,even sighting the lack of defaults during the Great Depression as proof.

The current low interest rate environment has done much to prop up muni prices. but with the print your way out of trouble attitude coming from Washington logic suggests it only a matter of time before price inflation begins to spiral and the breaks will have to be applied by ratcheting up interest rates.

Low valuations of residential property are pressuring property tax revenues ,with massive unemployment the states ability to continue to raise taxes seems to be challenged by a the law of diminishing returns . Add to that a fleeing population to lower tax destinations leaving an ever larger tax burden for those left behind .

Now add to this scenario the new willingness of towns, cities and county’s to seek bankruptcy protection and I am not so sure a “Municide” is out of the question ?

Americans Will Work More than 6 Months to Pay Cost of Gov’t in 2012
By Sabrina Gladstone
July 12, 2012

(CNSNews.com) – This year, Americans have to work until July 15 to pay for the burden of government, more than six months.

In a new report, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) has calculated that Americans will spend a total of 197 days toiling to pay for the cost of government.

“Cost of Government Day is the date of the calendar year on which the average American worker has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burden imposed by government at the federal, state and local levels,” reads the report.

The report, Cost of Government Day, shows that Americans will work 88 days to pay for federal spending; 40 days for state and local spending; and 69 days for total regulatory costs.

“From a different perspective, the cost of government makes up 54.0 percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP),” reads the report. “What’s more, the largest tax hike in the nation’s history is scheduled to take place at the end of 2012 unless Congress acts to protect taxpayers. If this tax increase is allowed to hit, COGD [Cost of Government Day] could permanently be pushed back into August and beyond.”

https://cnsnews.com/news/article/americans-will-work-more-6-months-pay-cost-govt-2012

“Late Show with David Letterman” has made 327,832 fat jokes about Chris Christie

Chris Christie “by the numbers”

The New Jersey governor’s office somehow managed to determine that the “Late Show with David Letterman” has made 327,832 fat jokes about Chris Christie. As for the number of questions he’s received about running for either president or vice president? His aides could only summarize, “Too many to count.”

A press release titled “Chris Christie by the numbers” went up on the governor’s website Wednesday, taking “a look back at everything across three balanced budgets.” Ranging everywhere from Twitter followers (125,820) to bills vetoed (39) to Politifact.com ratings of “Pants on Fire” (four), the list boils down to the apparent point of the list: “Tax increases: 0.”  (Boerma, CBS News)

https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57470585-503544/chris-christie-by-the-numbers/