c/cleveland-westshore-living

I finally figured out why my tomatoes kept dying in July

Overheard a guy at Avon Lake garden center say most people water their tomatoes wrong because they soak the leaves instead of the roots. Now I only use a soaker hose right at the base, no overhead spray. My plants actually stopped getting those yellow blotches after 2 weeks. I also started putting down crushed eggshells around the stems in late June and saw way less blossom rot. Anybody else switch to drip irrigation and notice a difference with west lake's clay soil?

Crocker Park traffic study made me change my mind about the roundabouts

I used to hate those roundabouts at Crocker Park. Felt like everyone was cutting me off. Then I saw a traffic study from the city that said accidents dropped by 47% since they installed them. Saw it on the Westlake city website last week. I guess slowing people down actually works. Has anyone else noticed a difference driving through there?

Neighbor lady told me my lawn needed more clover, not less

She stopped me while I was spraying dandelions and said I was working too hard. Betty from down the street pointed out her yard stays green all summer with just clover and native weeds mixed in. She said she hasn't watered since 2019 and saves about $80 a month on her water bill. Has anyone else switched to a clover blend here in Westlake and actually liked how it looks?

PSA: The Bay Village library parking lot is not a race track

Some lady in a minivan nearly took out my kid crossing to the library last Tuesday because she was speeding through like she was late for an appointment. I called her out and she just waved and said 'I'm in a hurry!' as if that justifies almost hitting a 6 year old. Anyone else notice the drivers getting worse around the Westlake and Bay shopping centers?

TIL my neighbor's dog knows the mail truck schedule better than me

I always thought I had a good handle on when mail comes to my street in Lakewood. But last week I noticed my neighbor's golden retriever starts barking at exactly 2:15 pm every weekday, and sure enough the mail truck pulls up 3 minutes later. I've lived here 4 years and never clocked it that precisely. Has anyone else's pet figured out a routine you missed?

Vent: Spent two hours trying to fix a toilet that just needed a $3 part

Last Sunday I noticed my toilet in the basement was running constantly, like that annoying hissing sound that never stops. I figured it was a flapper issue, so I ran to the hardware store on Center Ridge Road and grabbed a new one for $8. Got home, swapped it out, but the toilet still kept running after I flushed. I spent another hour messing with the fill valve and the chain length, getting frustrated and almost calling a plumber (who would have charged me at least $150 just to show up). Turns out the little rubber seal on the refill tube was cracked and letting water leak into the overflow pipe, not the flapper at all. I found a replacement seal at Ace Hardware in Westlake for like $3 and it fixed everything in five minutes. Has anyone else spent way too long overthinking a simple plumbing fix around here?

Appreciation post: that one week last spring when everything went right on my Lake Road commute

I mean, for five straight days in April, I hit every green light from Bay Village to Rocky River. No construction delays, no sudden brake lights, just smooth sailing past the lake the whole way. It felt like the universe was giving me a break after months of detours and pothole dodging. Has anyone else ever had a perfect week like that on the West Shore, or was I just lucky?

Finally got my backyard patio in shape after 2 years of neglect

I moved into my place in Lakewood about 3 years ago and the backyard was a mess. The concrete patio had cracks everywhere and weeds growing through like crazy. I kept saying I'd fix it but always put it off until last month when I finally rented a pressure washer from the Ace on Detroit Ave. Spent a whole Saturday blasting out all the dirt and crud from between the pavers. Then I grabbed a bag of polymeric sand from Home Depot and filled all the gaps. It's not perfect but man it looks 10x better than before. I even found an old fire pit ring buried under some brush that I cleaned up with the washer too. Now I'm thinking about getting some chairs out there before summer really hits. Anyone got tips for keeping weeds out of paver gaps long term?

Paid $85 for a lawn service to blow my driveway and they missed half the leaves

Booked a local company off Nextdoor last fall to clean up after the big oak in my backyard dropped everything. Guy showed up with a leaf blower for 20 minutes, hit the front walkway, and left. I checked the side yard and back patio the next morning and there were still piles everywhere. Called to complain and they said I'd need to pay for a second visit. Anyone else had a landscaper here in Westlake blow you off like that?

Water in my basement after that big storm last Thursday

I live over near Bay Village and woke up Thursday morning to about 2 inches of water in my basement. The sump pump was running but it just couldn't keep up with all that rain we got overnight. I ran to the hardware store on Detroit Road and grabbed a cheap utility pump and some hose, which cleared out the rest in maybe 45 minutes. Has anyone else dealt with the sump failing during heavy storms around here?

Talked to a neighbor at Bay Village pool about living here 30 years

She said the library was better when it was the old building downtown and now she just drives to Westlake half the time. Got me wondering if I am missing something by always going to the newer spots around here.

Lakewood rec center has been packed since they redid the locker rooms

I hit the Lakewood rec center at 6am last Thursday hoping to beat the rush for a quick swim, but the parking lot was already almost full. They finished the new locker rooms about three weeks ago and I guess word got out, because I waited 15 minutes just to get a lane. Anyone else notice the west shore spots getting way busier lately?

Had the worst commute of my life last Tuesday on I-90 near Westlake

Question about those new traffic circles popping up in Westlake

I live over by Crocker Park and noticed they put in a new roundabout on Center Ridge last month. Three different times now I've seen people just stop dead in the middle of it and wait for someone to honk. Is there like a secret class everyone else took that I missed? I moved here from Parma three years ago and we just had regular stoplights. My neighbor said they're supposed to be safer but I'm not convinced after watching a minivan nearly get sideswiped last Tuesday. Anybody else finding these things confusing or is it just me?

Wasted $150 on a fancy compost bin that fell apart in 4 months

I bought one of those supposed heavy duty tumbling compost bins from a garden supply place in Avon Lake back in May. Thought it would be great for my backyard setup since I wanted to get into composting without a pile. By September the plastic cracked right where the axle goes through, and the whole thing just sagged and stopped turning. Customer service told me it was wear and tear, not covered. So now I have a broken hunk of plastic and I'm back to just using a cheap wire bin from Home Depot that cost me $20 and works better anyway. Has anyone else had bad luck with those tumbling bins around here, or did I just pick a dud?

Question about the new Westlake parking restrictions on Center Ridge

I was reading the Westlake city newsletter last night and found out they added 68 new no-parking signs along Center Ridge near the Clague intersection. Apparently it's because of the backup from the new apartment construction. Has anyone else noticed how tight it gets through there during rush hour now?

Heard a guy at the Westlake library complaining about lake effect snow totals being off this year

I was grabbing a book at the Westlake Porter Library last weekend and overheard this older fella talking to the librarian about how the official snow totals for Rocky River and Bay Village have been way lower than what he's measuring in his own backyard. He said the NWS is missing the band that sets up right over the lakefront neighborhoods. That got me thinking because I live over in Lakewood near the water and my driveway has been a mess while friends in Avon say they barely had to shovel. Is anyone else noticing a big difference in snow accumulation between the lakefront streets and just a mile inland? Maybe I'm just unlucky or maybe the weather guys really are missing something.

The Lakewood library worker who helped me find my dad's old yearbook

I was at the Lakewood Public Library last Tuesday just kind of browsing the local history section. One of the workers, a lady named Carol who must have been 70, saw me looking lost and asked what I was searching for. I told her I was trying to find my dad's high school yearbook from 1968, and she walked me straight to a shelf in the back and pulled it out in under 5 minutes. Has anyone else had a librarian or local worker go way above and beyond like that around here?

Tried planting butterfly bushes last spring in my backyard near Lakewood...

I put in three butterfly bushes last May along my fence line hoping for some color, but they grew to over 10 feet tall in just one season and flopped over onto my neighbor's side. Now I have to dig them out and start over with something shorter. Anyone else have bushes get out of control like that around here?

That guy at Don's Lighthouse Inn was right about the pier fishing spot

Some old timer told me last summer to fish off the west side of the pier near the rocks, not the east side where everyone goes. Caught three decent walleye there last Sunday after getting skunked for months on the other side. Anybody else got a secret spot they swear by around here?

Lakewood property taxes jumped 12% this year and I almost missed it

I was going through my escrow statement last week and noticed my monthly payment went up $87. I called the county auditor's office and found out my home's assessed value shot up from $185,000 to $207,000. Nobody sent me a notice or anything, I just happened to catch it in the fine print. The lady on the phone said reassessments happen every three years in Cuyahoga County but a lot of people don't check. Has anyone else on the westshore gotten blindsided by a big tax jump lately?

Tried the new Asian market on Detroit Road for produce last week

I picked up a bag of mangoes for $3.50 and they were way riper than the ones at Giant Eagle. Three of them went bad in two days though. Anyone know which day they get their fresh stock delivered?

Paid $75 for a gutter cleaning and it saved my basement from flooding

Ngl I always thought gutter cleaning was a scam. Like how bad can leaves really get up there right? Well after that big storm two weeks ago in Westlake I had water seeping into my basement for the first time ever. Freaked me out. Called a guy from Rocky River who does it for like $75 and he pulled out like 30 pounds of muck from just the front section. Apparently the downspout was completely clogged and water was just pooling around the foundation. Now my basement is bone dry and I feel dumb for waiting so long. Has anyone else had a close call with their gutters?

Switched from chemical weed killer to a torch in my Lakewood yard

I spent $40 on Ortho stuff last spring and it barely touched the dandelions in my back lawn. Bought a $25 propane torch from Home Depot and cleared the whole driveway crack weeds in about 10 minutes flat. Has anyone tried one on creeping charlie yet?

The guy at Lakewood Ace Hardware fixed my leaky faucet with a $3 part

I spent like 45 minutes trying to find the right washer at Home Depot last weekend and came up empty. Stopped by the Ace on Detroit Ave on a whim and the older gentleman behind the counter knew exactly what I needed from just me describing the drip sound. He walked me to the aisle, handed me a little brass washer for $2.89, and it fixed the leak in 5 minutes. Has anyone else had good luck getting actual help at a smaller hardware store around here?