Natural Stone Paths

A wonderful garden has not to be a large garden, sumptuous or located in a beautiful landscape. It would be perfect, but a lovely garden must be, primarily, arranged and clean. Then, there aresome other aspects that must be considered: furniture, space, accessories… The paths from natural stones are preferred landscapers with delicate tastes. The paths from of sand, gravel or crack will be one hundred percent natural and organic. The magic of this material has demonstration: imagine a red geranium grown at the edge of any with white marble pebbles and you will realize the result

Marvelous mailboxes in the gardening

You’ve got mail!  Get inspired next time you see an old discarded mailbox at a Flea Market or a yard sale.  Many folks have heard the idea for using an old mailbox to store some garden gloves or pruners, but these beauties have been taken a step further!  They’re  some of the best ideas from Flea Market Gardening.  A marvelous mailbox can be at home in your garden and be useful and decorative,…even charmingly rusty like this one from Darcy Franco.

Darcy says, “My husband had this made for me. The mailman missed it the first time he saw it! I painted the leaves and trunk left the mail box silver.”  The weathered, even rusty look of the surface looks just right and it has the forgotten look of the tipped pot…flowers overgrowing and spilling out.
”When my husband attaches something it doesn’t come down.  He doesn’t mess around. Old newspaper boxes, like this Indianapolis Star, are great to hang on your fence and stash away your hand trowels, pruning shears, gloves, and I always keep a sturdy kitchen knife too. Then you can grab and go….´ Julie Brown says.

Nancy Anne says, “My husband burnt a hole in the bottom with a torch and then used galvanized paint around the hole so it wouldn’t rust before putting the post through the hole into the ground.

iggleworks Design Studio sends us this mailbox set onto a ladder. They say, “Step ladder, recycled glass planter, mailbox planter, all inspired from this Flea Market Gardening page.

Marvelous mailboxes in the gardening : amazon

Flea Market Ladder

I paid $15.00 for the old rickety ladder from the local indoor flea market.  I love it!  Today, I added  mums to all the pots and a few bird houses- and Voila!  A Flea Market Styled flower planter!  My sister, Connie gave me the wagon wheel to top it off!  I have a little Cherub hidden on the bottom rung.  Here is the before picture.

I can't wait until next year when I can put some Spring flowers that hang down the rungs!  I better stop wishing for next Spring now- it will surely be a long Winter!!

Flea Market Ladder : amazon

Planting a vegetable garden in pots

Before you begin figure out the best placement for your garden, observe your yard at different times throughout the day: The ideal location gets at least six hours of sunlight. Nearly all vegetables will grow better in full sunlight than in shade, but some crops (lettuces, mustard greens) can tolerate more shade than others (onions, tomatoes).
Planting a vegetable garden in pots : Amazon

Gardening on a Budget

There are lots of other savings to be made – containers are one.  Keep all your empty margarine tubs, yogurt pots, egg boxes, and the cardboard from toilet and kitchen rolls – they can all be used for seed sowing.  Plastic fruit punnets and meat packaging from supermarkets also make excellent containers or lids to cover your seedlings early in the year, as are one litre pop bottles – when cut in half they make excellent mini-greenhouses for your plants.  I also use florists buckets, when I can find them; cut the bottoms off, stand on the soil, and fill with compost to use for deep rooted veg such as carrots and parsnips.

Larger containers such as old recycling boxes or an old plastic babys’ bath also come in useful for something like potatoes. Plastic takes a long time to decompose but if you put it to another use, rather than sending it to be used as landfill then you are helping to save the planet as well.  Large clear plastic bags split down the sides make excellent cloches or as a covering to warm up the soil before planting, and potting compost bags turned inside out can be used to line window boxes and hanging baskets.

Gardening on a Budget : amazon

Breeding and Propagating Lilies

Breeding and Propagating Lilies
materiel :

• Breeding
• Propagating
• Lilies

DIY Colorful Vertical Garden On A Fence

DIY Colorful Vertical Garden On A Fence

materiel :

• DIY
• Colorful
• Vertical
• Garden
• Fence

Herb garden inspiration and ideas

This year started all my herbs from seed and they are almost ready for planting and make their way outside. {Usually completely forget and end up buying plants - so I'm really excited that I did remember me} because I want to keep it on the deck of our proximity to the kitchen, and I am always ready to find unique ways to display for the summer - other than normal something terracotta planters or normal plastic.
This Saturday is packed after weeks of inspiration for all kinds of single herbs gardens ideas to help you get off the beaten track planter.

Herb garden inspiration and ideas : Amazon

Making a Willow Wigwam is Easier Than it Looks

For me, one of the highlights at Coton Manor Garden in Northamptonshire has always been the sturdy willow and hazel supports around the roses. If I had a country estate, I'd have the same—instead of buying readymade versions that too often seem to have been built to fit into the back of a car rather than the garden. The other day
Making your own supports in situ is perfectly possible, and they will be tailored to the individual requirements of your roses or clematis or clump of asters. You don't need a team of gardeners; just an ax, a mallet, and the ability to form a circle.
Using different plant material for twisting can lead to some wonderful color combinations, though it will fade after about six weeks.

With the ends of the rods which you may have cut off in making your circles, or with thinner material (for instance weeping willow) bind the joints tightly, tucking in the ends. If you want to create a mesh in the middle for herbaceous plants to grow through, sharpen some more rods and push them into the hoops and across to the other side. It will be stronger if you weave over and under as you go (see above).

It is more practical if a wigwam does not come to a peak at the top, for the sake of the flowers,

Making a Willow Wigwam is Easier Than it Looks : amazon

How To Build a Planter & Outdoor Light Feature

MATERIALS

• Large Terra Cotta Pot (at least 14″ across)
• empty & clean #10 can
• Spray Paint
• Marker
• Painter’s Tape
• Potting Soil
• Plants
• Jute Twine
• Glue
• Pillar Candle

Self-Watering Seed Starter Pots

A few weeks ago the girls and I did a project that I've been enjoying every day since.  We repurposed 2 liter bottles and turned them into self-watering planters for starting our tomatoes and cucumbers indoors.  They've been sitting on the window sill near my desk and I've been watching them grow every day.  It's been the perfect antidote for the bummer weather we've been having here in Seattle.
I've tried starting seeds indoors several different ways over the years.  So far this is my favorite method because the soil is always exactly the right moisture level and it's very easy to see with the naked eye when it's time to add water to the planter.  There's no guesswork involved and the plants seem to love it.

Recycling onions

REAL SIMPLE FOOD: GRILLED ONIONS

Peel and cut onion to remove the center bulb and its roots. Save center and toss onion pieces in a liberal amount of olive oil and place in a oven-proof pan. Bake in center of hot oven tossing occasionally. When the majority of the pieces are crisp on the edges–golden brown–turn out onto paper towel, dry off the majority of the oil, salt and serve hot. The photo below is of quartered onions in which the center was not removed. They hold together better but they are not always cooked consistently throughout. And then, of course, there is no recycling.

Recycling onions : Amazon

Planting seedlings in a pot

There are two seedlings in each tiny compartment of my seed tray. I snipped away the smaller ones with a manicure scissors —from the four seedling I planted (in the last blog). I pull out the plug of soil and seedling (doesn’t matter how) when their roots come out the bottom of the compartment. If they are too fragile to pull out, they are not yet ready to be repotted or they are spindly unhealthy plants. I cut the plants apart with a sharp knife, and put them into a pot of compost. And no, it’s not too rich. The compost costs me nothing and, because the growing season is more erratic than ever, I need to strengthen these plants faster than in years past. The cold hangs around later; the wind, when it comes up, is intense; and the drought begins earlier each year. When I plant them into the earth they will go into a deep hole filled with compost.

SUN SUN SUN: Once the tomato seedling (or any summer garden seedling) is separated into its own pot, it goes in as much sun as I can find. I have a flat of my first potted up tomatoes sitting outside. The air (above freezing) is still warmer than the soil. If the temps dip toward freezing or there is a strong cold wind, I bring the flat inside for the night.

Planting seedlings in a pot : amazon

Controlling Cabbage Worms

Sprinkle Baking Soda on Cabbages (and other Brassicas) to Thwart Caterpillars If those small green cabbage worms have been making Swiss cheese of your cabbage, broccoli, and kale plants, try this trick:

Make a 50/50 combination of flour and baking soda, and dust it all over whichever plants the cabbage worms are eating. They'll eat the combo while munching the leaves, and die within a day or so. Repeat as necessary.

Controlling Cabbage Worms : amazon

How to grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 steps

Container gardening isn’t only for savvy urban gardeners and folks with limited space to grow, it can also be for folks who want to maximize their yields in a controlled environment. Not only does growing potatoes in a barrel reduce the amount of weeding and exposure to pests and fungi, you don’t even have to risk shovel-damage to the tender potatoes by digging them out of the ground when they’re done, just tip the container over!

After extensive research to plan his own potatoes-in-a-barrel, Tim from Greenupgrader.com boiled all of the recommendations down to 4 simple steps to a winning potato harvest.

How to grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 steps : amazon

How to Plant a Garden Using Recycled Wood Pallets

If you have a tiny backyard, poor soil or just want to make your husband nuts by tossing wood pallets all over the backyard, I highly suggest hunting down a few recycled wood pallets, {chemical free of course}. My wood pallet garden is still in early stages.  My plan is to weed the surrounding area, haul in a few wheelbarrows of dirt, and then plant a few perennial flowers around the tree trunks.  I wanted to show you the “before” picture now in case you wanted to implement this garden idea in your very own backyard.
All you really need to get this project off the ground is a wood pallet, bag of potting soil and a few seeds. Using a recycled wood pallet to start a garden can be a great space saver, plus as a bonus, there is no soil to til or weed. This is exactly the kind of project young children would love, especially if they could have their own wood pallet.

How to Plant a Garden Using Recycled Wood Pallets : amazon

Air Plants - Air Plants at a

Five of the most beautiful air plants you will find.
Unique, Hardy and Easy to Care For
Guaranteed to be healthy when you receive it
You Get 5 Plants for a Great Price
Free 21 Page Ebook by Jody James with Every Order - A $4.99 Value

Air Plants - Tillandsia Ionantha - 5 Air Plants at a Great Price! : amazon

Hinterland Trading Air Plant with Pebbles

Air Plant with Clear Glass Hanging Terrarium 4 1/2" wide with flat bottom
Kit includes pebbles, moss, glass globe and air plant
Great as a gift
Kraft colored gift box with care instruction card.
Easy for kids to take care of
Hinterland Trading Air Plant with Pebbles : amazon