Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. The old adage, what goes around comes around is especially true in your garden. Because plants aren t the only things living there, your garden should be a friendly place for children, pets and you. Blanketing it with petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers is not only toxic, it kills the friendly insects, bacteria and fungus that are essential to a healthy garden. Fortunately, there are a lot of great natural options, like iron phosphate pellets for slugs, citrus oil-based weed killer and Pyola spray for pest insects. Products like these use naturally occurring chemicals to solve common garden problems, and they re worth a closer look. Probably the best thing you can do for your garden is to add organic material to the soil with compost. Unlike chemical additives, nutrients in compost are available to plants as they need them, making it very difficult to use too much. What you plant is even more important than how you plant it. If it s native to your area, it ll probably do better in your garden and require far less water, fertilizer and hassle than something exotic. Rather than coddling a vast expanse of lawn, design areas with mulch, low groundcover plants or even a rock garden. You ll use far fewer chemicals that can leach into the soil and the water supply, and you won t have to work as hard all season! Another way to be green in the garden is to use non-polluting garden tools. Instead of cranking out exhaust with the rototiller or tractor, pick up a shovel or a hand mower and save yourself a trip to the gym. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Jay Triandafilou and a crew from Architectural Fence are on location to install the exterior fence in this episode. The fence is a square spindle ornamental picket fence made from white cedar with an opaque stain finish. The fence is installed section by section, progressing along the length of its run. The first step is to determine the landscape's grade, and set the first support post directly into the ground at a predetermined height. Postholes are dug using a mini Bobcat-like skid steer that is fitted with a boring attachment. The crew first digs a posthole about three feet deep, and then makes fine adjustments to the hole's depth with a shovel. With the post in the hole, it is checked for level and plumb, and then the hole is backfilled. Next, a section fence is brought in and attached to the post. The fence is checked for level and plumb before being secured, and then the next post is installed.

A new tree can improve the look of a yard and add personality to a home.

Replacing a mailbox post is an easy way to spruce up the curbside appeal of the home.

Moving a shrub can be a relatively quick and easy project. For bigger shrubs, recruit a helping hand.

Bob is joined by Tom McNealy of Blue Haven Pools as the crew forms, sprays, and shapes a gunite cement pool. McNealy explains that the excavation was simple, but the crew found some groundwater at the bottom that must be removed with a line that is run and remains in the crushed stone at the base. McNealy shows how the form is established first by the two by fours that are driven and set with outriggers to establish the shape and hold back the soil. The crew then runs steeltex or paper-backed steel mesh to define the walls and floor and hold back the earth. The batch trucks bring the gunite -- a mix of cement and sand -- and pump it through a hose where the sprayer mixes it with water at the nozzle. The walls and the floor have six inches of gunite blown at them. The crew has about 30 minutes to form, shape, and smooth the cement before it sets. The steps and the swim out are sprayed in as a pile then cut and smoothed by hand.

Bob and the mason discuss the chimney. Pointing out that we have two flues, one for the boiler in the basement and one for the wood stove. By code, the ceramic flue liners need to be surround by at least four inches of solid masonry (the chimney). The mason tells Bob how they are going to attach the pipe from the wood stove to the flue. Then the mason shows how easy it is to cut a four-inch cement block with a hydraulic jack. The mason and Bob then discuss the supports for the hearth, including a concrete table and a blue stone finishing floor.

Bob discusses the concrete walk with the contractor. He gives Bob some tips on how to make the concrete cure harder and have less cracks. They then discuss the aggregate, crushed granite that will be added to make the concrete look like granite. They use a special tool to push down the stones in the standard concrete to make room for the aggregate and the colorant. The concrete is allowed to set for four hours then hosed off to expose the granite chips.

Bob discusses landscape with John Sears, landscape contractor.

Bob and Paul Morse check out the excavations and formwork for the foundation.