Archive Category: 'Garden & Plants'

• Garden Display Project: Tipsy Pots: Today’s feature is from Gardens & Crafts with their instructions for making Tipsy Pots: Gary saw this clay planter tower in someone’s yard on his way home from work. He showed it to me on a Friday night and I put one together on the following Sunday. I came home and found a picture of one [...]
• Cool Backyard Project: Design A Mini-Garden: Today’s feature is from Little Landscapes with Step-By-Step Instructions For Building A Healthy Miniature Garden, if you’re wanting something to perk up your deck, patio or even your balcony–this is it! Arrange the plants loosely (still in their containers) in your garden until you have a pleasing arrangement, and have room for your accessories. Don’t forget to [...]
• Never Pay For Onions Again: How To: Today’s feature is from MyByrdHouse with this Onion Recycling Tutorial: I learned this tip a couple of years ago and have tried it and found that it works and is quite marvelous. I love to use fresh green onions but am always out or there is a slimy little bag of them in the bottom of [...]
• Creative Container Gardening: Tips & Ideas: Lots of goodies today! If you’d like to get creative with your yard display this year, I’ve put together a list to help tweak some creative container ideas for you (this is also a great way to repurpose household items that would otherwise be junked). Next you’ll find four videos: two provide tips for container gardening [...]
• Spring Cleaning Outdoors – Chore Chart: Yesterday’s big list of Spring Cleaning tips was for indoors, but the yard and outside of the house has a bunch of chores that need to be tended to–plus there’s plenty of prep work to be done for the upcoming season (whew!). Here’s a chore chart to help you get organized… Spring Cleaning Outdoors Chore Chart Check & [...]
• Create A New Garden Feature FAST With Moss Or Stain: Today’s feature is from Weekend Gardener with Antique Your Clay Pots & Add Fall Color: Terra cotta, stone, and concrete containers and sculptures all lend themselves nicely to having moss grown on them, giving each one an antique look. You can also add a “patina” or even a “faux moss” look to a terra cotta container that [...]
• 15 Potting Bench Plans – Free Resource Guide & Tips: Working with a potting bench during gardening season is pure luxury and you’ll find yourself looking forward to puttering away at your own little garden center. You can have everything organized in one location, including bags of potting soil, empty pots and containers, hanging garden tools, plant food and fertilizers (just make sure to store them [...]
• Plant A Sunflower & Help Bees Thrive: Today’s feature is from The Great Sunflower Project, they’re giving away free sunflower seeds and hoping you’ll help them out a bit in return (and bees too): By watching and recording the bees at sunflowers in your garden, you can help us understand the challenges that bees are facing. It takes less than 30 minutes. It’s [...]
• Frugal Recycling Ideas For Gardening: Today’s feature is from Nature Moms with some neat tips for Recycling “Stuff” for Your Garden : There are actually many things around the house that can be used to get seedlings started and it makes use of garbage you have around the house, effectively recycling things to give them another use. You’ll find tips for using [...]
• Origami Style Newspaper Pots – Gardening: Today’s feature is a tutorial for How To Make A Newspaper Pot For Starting Seeds: I have been looking all over the net trying to find directions for making seed-starting pots out of newspaper, but all of them seemed to involve staples, glue, or tape. So I decided to try and make a pot that didn’t [...]
• How to Build a PVC Hoop House – Gardening Tip: Today’s feature is from Westside Gardener with instructions for How to Build A PVC Hoophouse For Your Garden: An unheated PVC hoophouse can be a useful addition to your garden. It keeps excessive rain off the plants, blocks the wind, raises daytime temperatures 5-10 degrees (and often much more), and keeps frosts and heavy dew off [...]
• How To Make A Self-Contained Gardening System: Today’s feature is from Josho.com with a tutorial for How To Make A Self-Contained Gardening System. These gardening systems are perfect for apartment dwellers or those who don’t have time to manage a full-sized garden yet wish to enjoy growing some of their favorite herbs and vegetables. Self-contained gardening systems discourage weed growth and can yield [...]
• How To Make A One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden: Today’s feature is from Re-Nest with a nice tutorial for How To: Make a One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden: Basil, thyme, sage. These are indispensable herbs, and they grew in abundance on our front stoop all summer. It’s too cold outdoors now, but we don’t like paying $2.50 per packet at the supermarket. Fortunately it’s not difficult [...]
• Pest Prevention Concentrate: Here’s a short and sweet recipe to help with pest control for garden and house plants. You can use this as a preventative spray as well as a bug and pest killer. Ingredients: 1 cup Sunlight dish soap 1 TBS vegetable oil Directions: Mix ingredients together then store in a plastic, airtight container. When you’re ready to spray your plants, take [...]
• Make a Big Splash with a Tiny Water Garden: Today’s feature is from Taunton.com: Plunge into the world of aquatic plants by designing a mini-pond in a small container: Make a Big Splash with a Tiny Water Garden. Right now it’s pretty cold where I live so I’m in the mood for a bit of Spring and green plant goodness… I’ve learned that a teacup or [...]
• How To Grow Your Own Pineapple: Today’s feature is a cool one from You Grow Girl with a tutorial on How To Grow Your Own Pineapple: If you happen to have a pineapple on hand to eat, (and they are abundant and cheap during the late spring and summer months), then why not take a few minutes and grow your own pineapple [...]
• How To Make Pine Cone Bird Feeders: A little early for these yet since they should be set out when the weather is chilly enough for the peanut butter not to go rancid, but it’s nice to be reminded this time of year to snatch up all the pinecones you can–while you can get them free . Pine Cone Bird Feeders 6 large [...]
• How To Tap Maple Trees And Make Maple Syrup: Today’s feature is a pdf report from the University of Maine How To Tap Maple Trees And Make Maple Syrup (pdf): A tree should be at least 10 inches in diameter, measured at 4 1/2 feet above the ground, before tapping. Trees between 10 and 20 inches in diameter should have no more than one tap [...]
• Moss Starter Recipe: Today’s feature is from HeavyPetal with a recipe for Moss Starter: Quick Moss Starter Take a clump (a small handful) of healthy moss from your yard (or ask a neighbour for some if you don’t have any) and crumble it into a blender. Add 2 cups of buttermilk and 2 cups of water Blend at the lowest speed until [...]
• How To Dry Flowers: A Collection of Tips: After yesterday’s Homemade Potpourri information, I thought this collection of flower drying methods and tips was a perfect follow-up. Tips For Drying Flowers Collect flowers first thing in the morning (after the dew is gone) and at least two days after a rain. Handle them carefully so they don’t get bruised. Choose flowers that have reached near [...]
• Homemade Potpourri 101: The Three Components of Potpourri Fixative: These do the best job of absorbing the different fragrances so things keep smelling nice for a longer period of time. Potpourri fixatives are things like oak moss and orris root. Fragrance: Essential oils, fragrance oils. These are applied to the Fixatives so they’ll retain the fragrance for a longer period of time. [...]
• How To Make A Seed Starting Calendar: Today’s feature is from ReadyMade Blog with Instructions For Seed Starting Calendar: The challenge is knowing when to start seeds. Dates you need to know (the reference desk at the library, the county agriculture agents can help you find this out; Googling last frost for my micro-climate was not successful, but California is odd that way.): the first [...]
• Homemade Flower Trellis: You can make a trellis for flowers or climbing plants, such as tomatoes, using old wire clothes hangers and a piece of narrow board. Directions: Sharpen end and drive in ground. Use staples (like for a wire fence) to fasten the hangers to the board. Tie up plants with strip of old sheets. It is soft and doesn’t cut [...]
• How To Make A Garden Fountain: Today’s feature is from Garden Gate Magazine with their instructions for Build a Fountain / Container Combination: This simple design incorporates a glazed ceramic pot that you place at an angle so you hear the sound of flowing water. We’ve listed a few plants, but if you have other favorites, you can incorporate those instead. Before [...]
• How To Make & Grow A Loofah Sponge: Today’s feature is from Groovy Green with their instructions on how to grow Luffa (or Loofah) and Make Your Own Luffa Sponges: For the third autumn in a row I am pleased to be harvesting my shower sponge for next year. Now I know that must sound like a strange statement but it’s true. Many [...]