Happy what about a stone border, mixed sizes but larger sized so they won't wash down. I have seen that used, nice looking river rocks that nice and smooth looking weighting a few lbs. You could add some mixed plants in the border as well or just do the rocks. Something like this look at the size of the bigger stones. I have seen some that are even bigger. You could mix them in using some of the larger ones in the spaces where it runs over the most.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32xVBzVyb9o
New Projects in the Mid-Atlantic almost spring 2013
Thanks all. I don't think sedum will work, if only because of the scope of the project -- I have about 100 feet to edge....
Holly -- the stone sounds great except we have a very rocky hill and have been removing stones like crazy (meaning we have a lot) -- we actually built a small stone wall with the excess. If I put a stone edging at the top of this hill, sooner or later it will tumble down the hill and make a new project to remove it.
I may just leave it un-edged -- we'll see how it goes.
OK, but with the support you could get here it wouldn't take long, we have 6-8 varieties of sedums ourselves, add a bit of landscape fabric, river pebbles, and plants. TaDa!
I like RIc's idea. At least , to add that to the mix,a long row of just liriope does sound boring and uncreative and artificial.
Yup, I agree about the liriope.... And Ric, you are a sweetheart. The problem is that this is an area I don't look at very often and is largely invisible from the street. So I don't want to invest much though/labor into it, and so I want it to be self-sustaining and tough as nails. Maybe I'll start with a few feet of edging and see how that goes....
BTW, does anyone know why sometimes attached photos on DG can be opened to a very large size and other times they cannot? For example, I can't get the photo Ric attached to expand beyond a thumbnail. Actually -- that is true of all of Ric's photos, but I don't have a problem opening Coleup's or Holly's photos (that's all I tried).
This message was edited Mar 22, 2013 9:08 AM
I think the photo thing has to do with the size that was pasted in. If you pick up a picture from a thumbnail somewhere, even if the original thumbnail can be enlarged, your newly pasted photo is just a thumbnail.
Going out on a limb here (but that is better than a too subtle 'hint")
Hey Happy what do you think about having us over for an Edge Planting Party this spring/summer!
What a great excuse for a get together! We could all bring our plants (yes, many of us have oodles and varieties that could work or look good while dying...) and plant them in and mulch them , etc. Liriope, sedems. rocks, a whole variety, day lilies, shrub roses, etc. and then any time you look at or think about your awful hill (like Gita's YUK bed) you will have to smile and remember all the fun we had doing it!
What say you Happy? Ready to name a date?
You supply the food and mulch and we'll supply the plants. Each of us could 'do' 10 feet or so and set out the plants til we get it 'right' and then plant or eat or both. Maybe Happy will have her oven done by then...lol
Oh, Coleup, you are so sweet to suggest that -- but honestly if I were going to implore your help in-the-flesh it would be for the back yard, which I care about, and not for my awful front hill. I am overdue for hosting a plant swap, 't'is true. My place isn't the best for it because I'm on a hill, so except for those few parking spaces on the driveway, everyone would have to lug their stuff up the awful front hill. But what a good incentive to do my earth oven!
SallyG -- that's weird -- because when I post, I just add the link to where the photo is stored on my computer -- so it should be irrelevant whether I view it as a thumbnail or otherwise. Isn't "thumbnail" a viewing concept -- that is, it doesn't have anything to do with how a photo or other image is saved????
Well ok, I guess I didn't explain, or I don't understand it myself.
Linking from your OWN files is one thing. Linking to a picture posted elsewhere on DG works like I said above. So let's say you see a picture in Plantfiles you want to show here. You must open the picture in Plantfiles to its full screen size, if you want it to open bigger after linking.
Clear as...birdbath water in March??
Ok -- I understand completely. I've only attached pictures from my own computer -- I never thought of attaching photos from the web without first saving them to my computer -- didn't realize that could be done.
Those pics that Ric posted were from a search he did and imported them. I think they were small to begin with. Not our own full sized pictures.
Got it -- thanks. Now I understand.
Our garage is a bit of a mess. It has baker's shelving around most of its sides (like this: http://www.costco.com/Alera-Wire-Shelving-48%22-x-24%22-x-72%22-Silver-ALE-SW504824SR.product.11316751.html). But stuff is stored with no particular order. I want to put up little signs so that we will keep all the related stuff together -- so I'd like to label one shelf for automobile-related supplies, another for sports stuff, another for grill stuff, and lots for gardening, etc. I want the signs to be fairly permanent and not intrusive. The best I can think of is to print out labels on paper, laminate them, punch holes in them, and use wire ties to attach them to the shelves -- but I don't think those will be terrifically sturdy. Maybe I should get them printed on card stock at Staples before I laminate them. Maybe Staples will laminate them.
Any ideas? How do you organize your garages? Those of you who live alone may not have the problem of "other" people putting stuff wherever they choose and messing up the perfect organizational scheme you have developed in your head....
Does anyone here have a rain garden? I'm still in the planning stage and looking for inspiration. :)
I still have a lot of digging to do.
Happy--
Did you not follow speedie's renovation of her basement?
She and her DH have finished doing everything you are talking about.
If you go back, near the top of this Thread, there are her pictures of the basement "before"
and "after". A few posts further down is her kitchen renovation.
Feb. 26---Post # 94321175.
Now--re the size of the photos------Could it be that if you take it with your Smart Phone
they will be small? Or--at least when you send them--they will look small? Just wondering....
I don't use one.
Sally---I did not know either that you could just send a picture from the PF to someone--
or copy it out, for that matter--as it is copyrighted to someone else.
What I do is "save as" of that pic. and put it in My Documents--My Pictures-- and then I can
retrieve it in its full glory and attach it in a Post.
You do a lot of writing. What do you have to go through to attach a picture in one of your articles?
Been running around all day.....just one of those days....
Tomorrow, I have to be in at 8AM and have to man the EGG-STRAVAGANZA Clinic where all kinds
of sweet little children will come and plant a few seeds and take them home to grow.
They also will take home 2 candy-filled plastic Easter Eggs.
A few evenings ago--I filled about 6 doz, eggs with asst. sweets. Filled the gift bags with grass,
made tags for all the seeds--cut apart some small, peat planting cells, and a lot more "little things"...
Moms/Dads will get a cute, small Easter gift bag if they buy an Easter Plant.
I have spent HOURS at home getting ready for this. If I told you to what detail I have
prepared for everything--you would think I am NUTS!!!
However--all is done and all is prepared--and all will be well--especially my MIND-- knowing
it all IS all done. Now to smile a lot and guide the little ones to learn how to plant seeds.
Clean up the messes and make sure everyone gets a prize.
Sue from Bell Nursery will be helping.....we have a huge respect and liking for each other....
We both, kind of, planned this together.
Tonight--I still have to make a pretty sign for the table that says:
WELCOME!!! Future gardeners. And draw an Easter Bunny on it. Piece of cake!!
Gita
I think you can physically copy almost any image..there are a few that are well protected, but anyway, most of the time you can right click and will see one option, "Save Image As" You can then click it and open a list of your computer files. Of course you would not use it for profit, publish it, anything like that without knowing that it is FREE to use that way. Save to your computer, then make a new post and Choose that File from your computer, identify the place you got it, and post it. Of course I am not suggesting that everybody go out and start reposting images. Imagine if someone took one of VA Wild Rose Karen's wonderful bird pictures, copied it and started selling birthday cards with that image...
Our article pictures might work a little differently , technically, but we always make sure that the person who provided the picture to PlantFIles says it is OK to use in our article.
Your Clinic sounds like a great treat for the little tykes, Gita!
Gita: Speedie's renovation is wonderful, isn't it! I was looking for advice on labeling open shelves, though; I'm not using bins. Where I've tried to label open shelving in the past, the labels have eventually ripped off....
I am no help here but agree you have to at least start with labels to re train your selves where things are. I hate trying to organize and then losing everything. and I a famous for adding new places to store garden stuff, then filling them up, and never using the stuff.
Laminated cards sound great.
Sally--
What you described is exactly how I do it--already.
Thanks anyway.......G.
I just wish I had a clever way to hang labels that wouldn't tear off.... they are bound to be bumped and pulled.
There is so much stuff stacked in front of the garden section of the garage that I can't even get to it!
Happy, my shelves have these labels on them
http://www.discountofficeitems.com/office-supplies/binders-accessories/binder-accessories/shelf-labels/alera-wire-shelving-shelf-long-gray-pack/p102756.html
I have to say that I have lived with myself and some other organizationally challenged and demand resistant persons so sometimes a baseball bat, lacross stick, quart of oil, can of FixAFlat or an actual trowel etc wired to shelf gets more play than the printed word! I used to love peg boards with the outline of each tool so what was missing could easily be determined. I have a basic tool kit that I keep in my car trunk Some how every time I go to use my tools the 10mm and 12mm sockets have gone missing again. Takes Wayne 20 minutes to find mine,and put them back. No wonder he uses my set!
As a kid, we had a 'junk drawer' and everything else had a place. I'm still trying to get there!
This message was edited Mar 22, 2013 8:23 PM
Those shelving tags look awesome.
Our storage is really awful- the 'usual' mix of handmedown furniture, mixed shelving units bought one at a time, and old boxes. But , I tell myself I could spend a few hundred dollars organizing it, or throw it all out and just spend that on resupplying when we (IF we ) need those items. We REALLY need to dispose of more stuff.
My name is Jan and I am organizationally challenged.
IHAHAHA!
Hey ss and Happy are you aware that Montgomery County has a Rainscape rebate program of up to $2500 per property?
http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/dectmpl.asp?url=/content/dep/water/rainrebate.asp
RainScapes Technique
Maximum Residential Rebates $2500/parcel
Canopy Trees $$200/tree; # trees determined by space on parcel. Must shade or cover impervious area
Conservation Landscaping - Replacement of turf or invasive species $3.50 / square feet of turf or invasives removed 250 SF minimum
Dry Wells $1.00 per gal ; $600 maximum
Green Roofs $10/square foot, 250 square feet minimum
Permeable Pavers and Porous Concrete $4/square feet or $1200, whichever is greater; 100 square feet minimum
Pavement Removal $4/square foot or $2/square foot; rebate amount varies depending on replacement project type (turf is lower); 100 square feet minimum
Rain Garden Based on square foot of ponding area and soil replacement (media)depth:
1’ of media: $5/ square foot
2’ of media: $7/square foot
3’ of media; $9/square foot
or $1200/ rain garden, whichever is greater – see RS design manual for sizing charts
Water Harvesting: Cisterns $1/Gallon (minimum 250 gallons, up to 500 gallons)
Water Harvesting: Rain Barrels $250 (must capture 200 gallons if single family home; 100 if Townhome); $1/gallon
ssgardener, if you start a raingarden/ rainscape thread I'll definitely participate.
Judy, I started a new thread about rain gardens: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1303812/
I'm going outside right now to take picture of the "before." :)
Wow, Coleup -- I wasn't aware there were labels for the wire shelving!!!! I'll order a set and see how they work! I'm really excited! I'll be so happy if I can get our garage organized. Right now, there are stacks and stack of stuff in front of the gardening stuff, making it impossible to reach (because I'm the only person who really cares about it). Plus the price you found is great. Have you ordered from that seller before?
And re the rain garden -- I don't see how my property could qualify given that water doesn't collect on it at all -- but I'll give it a whirl. I am all ears for plants that will slow down a sudden influx of water.
This message was edited Mar 23, 2013 10:07 PM
Project folks: I need to label the rows (actually more like columns) on my awful front hill. I was going to use broken pieces of old flagstones. We painted them white and I was going to pain the row numbers on them, but the paint is chipping off badly. I didn't do anything special for the paint because at the time I didn't think I'd want them to last long, but I've changed my mind.
So .... what is the best paint to use on stone? Is there anything that will stay on for a few years?
Once you paint them use a clear acrylic sealer to give them extra life, too.
Thanks!
Small bottles of Acrylic paint can be bought at Craft stores.
Not sire about stone==but it is permanent once it dries on anything.
Comes in every color imaginable--about 59 cents a bottle.
You could also check at HD or Lowes. They have so many kinds of paints...
G.
Is acrylic what is best for stone, for sitting outdoors in the elements and mud?
Happy---
I do not know about stone..I have only used it on crafts...wood...kids faces (face painting)...
HD Aprons to paint pictures (survives laundering!)... etc..
I would ask in the Craft store--I KNOW they have so many paints for all surfaces--
I am sure you could find something....
G.
Ok, thanks.
Happy I would look for an Enamel paint either water or oil based.
Thanks, Holly. I'll try that.
Back in the day painted rocks were painted with acryllic craft paints and then a final coat of clear acryllic.
If your stone has smooth and rough side, use smooth side for best adherence.
lol Happy, I just had a vision of a guide map of your hill mounted at street level as a key to what's planted where for tourists!
Coleup---are those rocks yours???
Looks like a bunch of stylized owl heads.....