Ahmed Hassan TV

Consultation · Design · Nursery · Build

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Consultations
    • Drought Tolerant
    • Sprinklers, Drip Irrigation & Drainage
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Contact

DIY Crossfit at Home

November 12, 2014 By Ahmed Hassan Leave a Comment

Fall is officially upon us and you are no doubt getting your house ready for the holiday season. At least I know that’s the case here in the greater Sacramento area. This is an awesome time of year for getting your exercise regiment on as well.  Some of you may be aware of a relatively new type of work out known as “Crossfit”. If not, this video explains it.

Today’s post is an opportunity for you to understand Crossfit and create your own regiment at home using your surroundings, particularly your landscape and garden. You had to see that coming right? Let’s take a look at a few things you can do to incorporate Crossfit at home.

1. Watering Your Plants
If this sounds familiar it’s probably because I made a whole post on caring for indoor plants. We all know that plants need water to thrive. Well why not benefit from that watering yourself. Here’s how.

Find yourself 2 equal sized containers, fill with water, and get to watering all of those plants. Start indoors and keep your containers full as you scoot around the house. Then begin with things outside. Always remember proper body mechanics and to focus on exhaling (N’amaste y’all). The human body will always automatically inhale. I’m not saying that you have to get dressed up in your work out gear but, proper, comfortable shoes and being mindful of what’s comfortable physically will make your home grown workout more productive.

If you don’t have 2 matching watering cans, simply use 2 matching jars or cups. Remember the more cardio involved with your back and forth, the more of a work out you’ll receive.

 

Celebrity Lanscaper Ahmed Hassan - Two Watering Cans

Fill these up and carry both while watering your plants for a great cardio workout!

2. Spread Mulch?
Fall is always a great time of year to replace old mulch with new. Much does a couple of things for your landscape. It serves as a natural weed control through suppression. The less light that reaches the soil the less likely you are to have weeds. Mulch also keeps your plant roots warm during the winter. Your plants will fair better from impending frost damage, and your yard will look beautiful too. Makes sure you have an adequate amount of mulch put down this season. 3-4 inches is ideal, but be careful and use sparingly right close to the stems of your plants. Too much near the stems will cause an excessive amount of moisture there and rot the plants. Think of the roots and cover the plants shoulders, but don’t strangle the neck/stem.

A simple way to incorporate Crossfit is to use bags of mulch. This will cost you more than buying it bulk, but you will get a work out at the store, loading the bags in and out of your ride. Then, at your home, the workout continues as you walk and disperse it through out your garden.

A variation would be to use 5 gallon buckets with handles (you can also use recycled plant buckets). Any 2 of the same sized containers will work. They keep your weight of material balanced and assist you with not over working or straining yourself too much.
Finally, don’t forget about gravel. Gravel is considered to be an inorganic mulch. It’s generally a lot cheaper then paving stones or brick, and it bumps up the weight a bit for your Crossfit workout.

3. Windows and Wash Down
Clean windows speak volumes about your home. Make sure that the window cleaning products you use are the least toxic for both yourself and the environment. Find natural cleaning solutions online or simply use a mix of vinegar and water if you like. It is all natural and makes a great cleaning agent. Then use some recycled newspaper or some clean paper towels and your ready to get your Mr. Myagi on. Wax on and wax off!

Home improvement centers offer great environmentally friendly products that attach to your garden hose, making application easy and quick. This could even turn into washing the outside of your home. Removing spider webs, and getting things cleaned up before or after the holidays always sounds good to me. Of course this all depends on your available time for these household chores, er-I mean Crossfit! Remember, stay focused on what’s truly doable and save the rest for your next work out.

Celebrity Landscaper Ahmed Hassan - Fall Leaves

Raking leaves makes for great exercise!

4. Rake it out!
Raking leaves is not only a popular task for the month of November in California. I’ve been told that leaves fall from other trees around the country as well. Having a good flexible rake  is the perfect DIY Crossfit tool! The flex rake is a great dual purpose rake for everyday clean-up outside, and the Larger lightweight leaf rake from Fiskars is ideal for large leafed trees and The Celebrity Landscapers Crossfit get down.
When your’e done with your raking, I suggest you break out the blower and dust things off a bit.

Beyond these suggestions, there are probably an endless list of things you can do to create your own DIY crossfit routine. A couple of weekends of elbow grease will go a long way toward making your landscape and home look beautiful, while you reap the benefit of feeling better.

I’m Ahmed Hassan and I practice what I preach.

Follow Celebrity Landscaper Ahmed Hassan on Facebook and Twitter!

Filed Under: New Trends & Ideas Tagged With: Ahmed Hassan, Celebrity Landscaper, crossfit, DIY, exercise, fall, holiday season, Home, Landscape, Landscaping, mulch, rake, raking leaves

Caring for Indoor Plants

October 28, 2014 By Ahmed Hassan

10 Tips From Ahmed Hassan That He Thinks You’ll Really Wanna Know

What we typically grow as indoor plant species are actually tropical plants. These are plants accustomed to growing in hot, humid areas; similar to the hot, and sometimes humid, areas of your home. We humans tend to appreciate temps ranging from about 65 to 70 degrees, maybe a lil warmer if we want to snuggle. Many of the plants that you’ll find at your local nursery or garden center grow outside in places like Hawaii and South America. Heck, I’m from California and I often travel back east and find many of our western “houseplants” growing as annual foliage because the outside weather conditions are warmer and there is more humidity in the air.

What’s interesting is that it doesn’t matter where people live their lives. Plants are everywhere. They’re something we just can’t, and don’t want to live without. Today’s tips are going to hopefully help you better understand how to care for and co-exist with your foliage friends.

Tip # 1 Read up and do a bit of research on your houseplant.
When you buy your plant at the nursery or garden center, bust out your lil smart phone and use Google! Type in “How to care for…” whatever the specific plant name is. We live in the “Information Age”. This means that the information is literally at your finger tips. Use it! You’re paying for all that data on your phone anyway.

Tip # 2 Start w/kitchens and bathrooms.
The humidity in kitchens and bathrooms create just the right amount of humidity that houseplants need and rely on. These rooms have sinks nearby so it’s convenient to water them when you see the plant wilt. Be careful, however, of bathrooms that don’t have windows. Even houseplants need some indirect light in order to thrive. Some need more than others or they’ll start to decline. Again, do your research but these rooms are a great start since they usually have moisture present.

Tip #3 Do not water your houseplants on a regular schedule.
Instead check the plants regularly and water them only when they want to be watered. Most indoor plants die from people trying to hard. We somehow believe that plants will benefit from routine feeding. This is actually a farce. Imagine if everyday at 8 am, noon, and 6pm, I showed up to cram food and water down your throat? No matter where you were, what you were doing, there I was, “Boom! Blam!” water and feeding time! Forget your stress level, never mind if you’ve just had a snack or not. Sleepy? Tired? It doesn’t matter, I just crammed food and water down your throat. How good would you look?

All plants go through what’s called the Temporary Wilting Point, or TWP, where their leaves become flaccid and wilt. They’re showing you that they need water. Water your plants during the TWP. Within hours the leaves will be turgid, lush, and healthy looking.

Celebrity Landscaper Ahmed Hassan - Watering Houseplant

Pay attention to your plant. It will let you know when the next watering is due.

Tip #4 Saturate, but allow the soil to dry between waterings.
While some houseplants will tolerate being consistently wet, many need to dry out between waterings. The Tropics, because of their frequent persisting rainfall, have soil that contains less clay particles. This means that the soil’s ability to hold onto water, remaining wet and soggy, is greatly diminished. There’s no compacted clay to hold onto water. This is the reason houseplants are typically grown in extremely light and airy soil medium.  You are trying to mimic their natural environment. So saturate, then allow the houseplant to wilt before saturating again. If mobility isn’t possible, try using a turkey baster to remove waste water from saucers. Waste water doesn’t allow the soil to drain and will surely be the demise of your indoor friend.

Tip #5 Rotate plants so that leaves can develop in a more balanced manner.
Leaves grow toward the sun. Indoors we simply use light or nearby windows to give a plant it’s illumination needs. A simple spinning of the pot or container every so often works fine.

Be aware that when you spin the plant, you’ll likely lose other leaves that are no longer getting the light they were accustomed to. Remember what I mentioned earlier about bathrooms without windows. “No light, no leaves.”

Celebrity Landscaper Ahmed Hassan - Houseplants in Window

Rotate plants periodically for balanced growth.

 

Tip #6 Plants don’t need nearly as much food as you think they do!
If you have it, use it but sparingly. Egg shells offer calcium, used coffee grounds, however, are superior.

You won’t need much though. Think of fertilizer as Red Bull, it’s got vitamins and gives you “wings” but too much of it and you will rot your gut. Also, never feed a plant without proper watering and removal of the waste water.

Tip #7 Water using recycled tepid water if you can.
Temperature does make a difference. Best selling plant book author Jack Kramer says “If you can drink the water from your tap, it’s fine for plants too. So don’t worry the plant to death; use the water from the tap, A good idea, however, is to let it stand overnight so it’s tepid rather than icy cold, to avoid shocking some of the plant roots. The quality of water is not as important.”

Standing water begins to build up algae. This algae in turn becomes a food source and fertilizer for houseplants. Plants also obtain much of their nutrients from the atmosphere. Dust and organic elements in the air, settle on the soil surface. When the soil is watered, these micro particles become micro compost that delivers nutrients to the soil.

Tip #8 Prune only what’s absolutely necessary.
Pruning actually steals food and nourishment from the houseplant. Leaves create food for the roots, so removing any leaves and branches limits the root growth and development of said plant. So limit removal of leaves to those that are dead, or mostly dead and brown. It’s normal for old leaves to die, in the same way that it’s normal for you and I to lose old hair and skin cells.

Celebrity Landscaper Ahmed Hassan- Houseplant Pruning

Prune carefully to avoid stunting growth.

Tip #9 Protect your floors and carpet.
Water seepage happens. Be sure to use double layers of floor protection whenever possible. There are plenty of floor saving products out there. I suggest you find products that look the way you want them to aesthetically; and create 2 layers of protection from water seepage. I warned you, now go and be careful with your wood floors.

Tip #10 Talk to your plants.
Folks wanna know if it really helps to talk to your houseplants. My answer is yes! Plants take in CO2 and need Carbon Dioxide to live and thrive. We humans expel this Carbon Dioxide. Plants expel oxygen. This gaseous exchange is good for us both.

Additional Information:

Here’s a link if you’d like to learn more on what benefits both plants and people.

And another on the benefits of plants and how they clean our air, as well as which houseplants are best for doing this in your indoor spaces, according to NASA.

Join Celebrity Landscaper Ahmed Hassan on Facebook and Twitter!

Filed Under: Aesthetics & Gardening Tagged With: Ahmed Hassan, Celebrity Landscaper, Home, houseplant care, houseplant maintenance, houseplants, indoor plants, Landscaping, Plants

Water Water Everywhere… Except California

October 13, 2014 By Ahmed Hassan

Those of you who know me understand how passionate I am about preserving our environment through nurture and conservation. I believe there are many natural methods we can use to make our lawns greener and healthier without adding harmful chemicals to the mix. I also believe that we should conserve the resources we have been given. We are stewards of this planet and as such it is our job to not only take care of it for our basic survival needs, but also ensure it thrives for future generations as well as is aesthetically pleasing.

With that in mind, I want to share a bit about water conservation. California has experienced an unprecedented drought for the past three years. Since 2011, we have received very little rain and it is starting to show, big time. A few weeks ago I posted a pic on Facebook showing the Bidwell Bar Bridge that passes over Lake Oroville. The pic was taken near Bidwell Marina and shows the reality of how this drought has affected us. Here are the pics again in case you missed the facebook post.

green bridge green bridge 2

 That is a pretty stark comparison right? The first pic shows the lake in 2011 while the second one taken this year shows the lake at it’s current water level. Now I understand that we have had a few hefty rainstorms as of late, but these have been described as merely a “drop in the bucket”. If we Californians continue using water at our current level, there is growing concern that some towns might actually run out of drinking water. This is not a conspiracy theory, this is a scientific fact. It’s also one of the reasons I did not participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I am a fan of raising money for charity and I did make my own $100 donation towards the cause. I just can not in good conscience participate in something that might cause a daisy chain event where hundreds or thousands of gallons of water are wasted when we are under such extreme drought conditions.

The point of all of this is to say that in order for anything significant to happen, significant action must be taken. My fair city of Sacramento is taking action. They have implemented a stage two water shortage contingency plan.

The short version of the plan is as follows:

  • Watering is reduced to two days per week
  • Odd-numbered addresses must limit watering to Tuesdays and Saturdays
  • Even-numbered addresses are to water on Wednesdays and Sundays
  • No automatic irrigation watering is to happen on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays (This does not limit hand watering since it’s difficult to over use and waste hand watering)
  • All watering is to be done prior to 10 AM or after 7 PM (Since evaporation of irrigation water is greatly reduced during these times.)
  • No over watering is permitted. This typically applies to things like watering your lawn and having run-off that spills onto the side walk, street, or gutter.

If you are a Californian, check your local municipality’s website or that of the county in which you live. Then simply comply. It is incumbent upon all of us to take decisive action so that the situation as a whole will improve.

If you do not live in California, there are still ways you can contribute. After all, water is one of those universal resources that we all use. Consider installing a rain barrel outside of your house and use the collected water for your garden or plants. This conserves fresh water aka drinking water. If your soil is predominantly clay based you might also consider installing drip irrigation as a means to water your shrubs or other plants around the exterior of your home. Drip irrigation is efficient and just as effective as traditional spray or what we call “overhead watering”. If properly installed and managed, drip irrigation can be highly efficient and effective. There are other things you can do to conserve water as well, but my point is simply to raise our awareness of the issue. If we think about how we use water in our own homes, and develop a plan to conserve it, then we will make a difference.
Little by little.

Join Celebrity Landscaper – Ahmed Hassan on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter

Filed Under: New Trends & Ideas Tagged With: Ahmed Hassan, california drought, Celebrity Landscaper, eco-friendly, environmentally friendly, Home, sustainability, water conservation

Organic Seeds for Your Garden

February 23, 2014 By Ahmed Hassan

 

Carolyn Kenyon not only sells heirloom and organic seeds, but last year she decided to personally hand write the names on most of her seed packs.  I personally think that the hand written seed packs also keeps within the whole “Organic” feel and flavor of things.  My 2014 Landscape and garden will boast 24 or more different varieties of her heirloom and interesting plant choices.

 

Kenyon Organics - Seeds - Salt Lake City Utah

Kenyon Organics, is an urban backyard gardening business located in Salt Lake City, Utah. They offer the area’s most extensive line of heirloom plants, seeds, and amendments to the home gardener as well as the very tastiest varieties of home grown, well nurtured produce to private buyers or farmer’s market shoppers.

They are firm believers in growing wholesome food which has not been genetically modified and founded this business on organic growing principles, with a commitment to offering our gardening friends with the most diverse and pure food supply around.  No GMOs here either. Kenyon Organics has a passion for growing and SHARING heirloom and open-pollinated food options with all people and it is what prompted them to start their  “home-grown” business back in 2008.  “We too were frustrated with the lack of food diversity, not to mention veggies that tasted good, in our local grocery stores. Growing our own food was not enough. We wanted to teach our family, friends, and neighbors that there are much better, more wholesome food options than what we have become used to in our food supply, especially when kids are involved, or people who say they don’t like tomatoes. I was once that person too and now I just tell them “You haven’t tried my tomatoes, I can change your opinion!”   We focus on flavor, freshness, and nutritional value and have a passion for teaching organic, small space, season extending gardening techniques and food preserving and offer many workshops throughout the year. 

A huge part of our business is giving back to the community which we do in ways such as: donating entire gardens, plants, or seeds to senior centers, transitional homeless housing, family programs, community gardens, schools, colleges, and rehabilitation programs. We also have our own network of low income seniors that we donate fresh produce and canned goods to during the growing months.” You can purchase Kenyon Seeds by visiting Carolyn’s shop Kenyon Organics on Etsy

 

 Join Celebrity Landscaper – Ahmed Hassan on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter

 

 

Filed Under: Aesthetics & Gardening Tagged With: Edibles, Gardening, Home, Landscape, Landscaping, Organic, Organic Vegetables, Plants, Seeds, Yard

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2

Events

  • VISIT OUR SPONSOR

    Search

    Contact : 510-376-3228

    Copyright © 2023 · Ahmed Hassan | Maintained by www.SedaCustomDesign.Com

    • Home
    • About
    • Services
      • Drought Tolerant Landscaping
    • Events
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • Contact