So who has what planned for this spring? Anyone planning on making new planters, pergola's etc??
This year I am hoping to get some type of pergola built for us to sit under. Our fabric gazebo was a waste of money so now I am looking for something more sturdy!
Special projects for this spring?
My brother is looking for a 10' metal satelite dish to make a gazebo for me..I'm excited...lol
Dismantling a 21 foot swing set. Putting up a 8'X6' greenhouse. Moving the trampoline to the farm. WAHOO a new rose flower bed & lots of grass to rip out for more flowers.
Betty I have seen a few of those done and they are awesome!!! Good luck with the project - you will certainly have to post pics of that!!
Same for you joanna....you have a lot on your plate....your name makes me laugh cause my daughters name is Hannah and I always call her HannahBanana! LOL
Hi everybody- My neighbor has been trying to get her metal dish taken down for awhile, but I think she wants to get paid a little for it. Betty and Dawn- how did you like our storm this week. Even our mailmen were sent home, city buses taken off road, malls closed and of course the highways were closed. I ended up with drifts right to the front door. The roads are still slippery and they only barely got the power back on in some areas. I hope we don't get any more wind and snow like that. Darrell- the weather ch. said it was moving east, so I hope it peters out before it reaches you.
BTW - How would you use the metal dish to make a gazebo??
Sandra
Mitchesgarden..been out about 5 times yesterday shovelling..just took a peek and I'd say I've about 5 inches of wet heavy snow to shovel once again..have someone doing my drive as it's wide and long but still have several areals to deal with..hate to see what I'll look like with a light t-shirt..those muscles will be popping..lol..
Ice underneath all of that snow which really makes it hazardous..last week didn't get into work Mon. on Tues..1 1/2 hrs and had to leave, off Wedn. then this week off Wedn. and Fri. goodness, won't know how to deal with full week..
Dawn, sounds as though you've quite a project going as well..
Will look for photo of brother's gazebo and post..he was here for a few minutes yesterday and said we'd have to get the cement poured early spring..I'm all for that! Nice to have 'smart' brother...
Well, it's a painting day for me so I'd better be off, must shovel excess snow in drive from Municipal plow..don't you just hate that...
Have a nice day, stay safe, enjoy the indoors!
Mitch yes the weather was pretty nasty this week but you guys in the Sault got it way worse then we did. We still went to work and schools were open here....however even that being said it did get VERY nasty outside!
Found photo of DB gazebo..started in the fall, this spring railings will be added as well as shakes for the roof...looking through photo's to determine what mine will look like...
Well, how cool is that! Recycling too.
Sandy
Good stuff! I like it!!!
wow, neat ideas!
The first really nice weekend in April, the first thing on the to do list is rebuilt the barrel stand behind the greenhouse. The metal tool cart that was 'just temporary' has been there for 10 years, lol It's sunk into the ground, and no longer sits level. the barrel now tips towards the greenhouse, and spills water down the wall. ug!
follow the same 'design' as the other stands at the house...put them on patio stones...2 more recycled olive barrels (note to pick the shorter, chubbier ones, lol) plumbed together, and if possible have it stand taller than the current metal stand.
the stand will sit tucked in behind the greenhouse, should fit nicely between the end corner and the window. Another tap on the outside gh barrels will make it completely convenient!
Maybe March will have some nice warm weekends, lol
driven, I'm really intrigued with your rain/water barrel set up. Are there 2 on the ground and then 2 behind, but raised on a stand? Why are the shorter, chubbier olive barrels better? Do you happen to have a picture or a sketch to help me visualize it? I have two Lee Valley rain barrels that are connected together, but where they are situated I'm thinking I may be able to irrigate the slope of ferns and hostas with more barrels. Oh-oh sounds like a project!
Sandy
Sandy, I'll have a look on the computer at home for pics of the barrels, for a visual, but here's the 'written' theory, lol.
Currently, a total of 8 barrels, all collecting/holding water, 4 each in two separate parts of the yard
House barrels:
Four of the barrels are set up to collect the rainwater off of the house. These barrels are set up as 2 pairs, with the barrels sitting side by side on a wooden stand, (about a foot and a half tall). Both barrels in the pair are connected to one another by a hose between them.
One set sits under the kitchen window, against the family room wall, and collects the water from the main part of the house. The other set sits at the back of the house and collects the water from the flat roof of the family room.
The downspout off the house empties into just one of the barrels. (Because the barrels are connected by a hose, both barrels fill to the same level, the old water seeking it's own level thing)
One barrel of each pair has a tap, with a 'Y' connection. The tap can be used independently from the other branchof the 'y'... open the tap and fill a bucket, watering can, or attach the hose.
There is a hose connecting the "y" outlet from the kitchen barrels to the 'y of the family room barrels. The 'Y' valve is always in the 'open' position, and this allows all 4 barrels to fill/empy at the same level. I do have the choice to isolate one pair from the other by closing the 'Y', but prefer to keep them open.
Greenhouse/garden barrels:
Currently there is only one barrel on a stand behind the greenhouse. The eavestrophe drains directly into that barrel. That barrel has a fitting that allows a hose connection. The hose connection attaches to a threaded-end galvanised pipe through the back wall of the greenhouse (wooden wall) ) with a tap on the inside. Voila, the greenhouse has running water! OK, it's gravity fed, but it's water!
Another single barrel lies on it's side on a wooden stand out on the old satillite dish concrete pad, on the edge of the veggie garden. This barrel is clear, and is one piece. There are two threaded openings on the top of the barrel, (that's why it lays on it's side) tap threaded into one hole, and a hose can be attached to that barrel, too. Use the 'upper' hole and fill the barrel....
The other two barrels are free standing, one in front of the greenhouse, and the other beside the greenhouse I dip out of these as needed.
I can attach a hose to one set of house barrels, and fill either of the greenhouse free standing barrels, (water seeking it's own level, again, lol)
If I want to replenish the greenhouse/stand barrel, I just pop the pond pump and hose into the free standing barrel, plug it in and voila! I really need the second (or even third) barrel at/in the greenhouse, I use a lot of water starting seeds...
I can even attach the hose to the pond pump, drop it into a barrel, and 'power' water the veggie garden...
I want to use the 'shorter, squattier' barrels for the greenhouse stand, cause there's a limit (8 feet) from ground to the bottom of the eavestroughs and I want to get the maximum stand height to utilize the water pressure (think water tower, lol)
With a couple of hundred foot hoses, I can water every flower bed in the yard!
The next time you're in the neighbourhood, drop by and I'm happy to give you a tour!
Kiwi Gardens is about 3 minutes from me.
visitors always welcome!
Well, I've got this new garden which I made last year. Needs to be filled with plants -
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/759398/
I think it will keep me busy. LOL
Ann
I remember "lurking" on that thread and following along Ann. That is a beautiful design.
--Ginny
driven, I'd love to come see your setup, as I usually get out that way at some point during the season. If Bellie comes to the area to vacation, perhaps she and ViolaAnn will also come, but we'll check with you first. Your explanation was great and it enabled me to visualize it. I'd sure like to see it in person though. Not to mention some purdy flowers!
Sandy
Sandy - we could make it a plan to go out there for a visit some time. Better to meet there though. Google maps makes it about 1 hr 20 minutes from my house and 1 hr 15 from your house to Perth.
Ann
Sounds good. I'm happy to be able to see your new hosta bed in person, too!
Sandy
sounds like a GREAT plan!
let me know when's a good time! I'm always happy to share my garden.
ViolaAnn where in Ottawa are you?
East end - Beacon Hill North - a couple of blocks from the Ottawa River (close to Upper Duck Island).
If Sandy wanted to, we could meet up in Almonte and one of us leave a car there. It would add a few minutes to my trip, but not too much. BTW, they generally overestimate the times involved. It says 1 hr 10 minutes from my place to Sandy's, but in fact it takes me almost exactly 1 hr.
You 'speedster' you in that little red car of yours! ... and, to get back on subject - this would be one of our spring projects! We'll contact you, driven, to see if it's convenient to stop by. Thanks, I'm looking forward to it.
Sandy
Sandy, I'm SSSSOOOOO looking forward to it too!
My husband and kids consider the gardens as 'weeds', lol and it will be nice to 'talk garden and all things green' lol.
My biggest plan for the upcoming season is to reshape the back lawn and woodland beds to make them a bit more orderly. I like a contrast between a more formal layout and the informal planting in the beds. I keep playing with the details but this is what the latest plan looks like (scribbled only roughly to scale on a copy of the property survey.)
Lawn - what lawn? You go girl LOL .... I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd love to see some pics of your progress!
Sandy
The other special project for me is not a gardening one. I used to run a Food Bank. Retired two years ago but still volunteer regularly. My successor just tendered his resignation with 2 weeks notice. Starting the 25th of Feb, I'll be returning to work there 20 hrs/ week until approx the middle of May or until we make a decision on hiring the new person (or people).
Less time to garden but more $$$ to buy Hostas. :-)
Ann
Well, if one had to have a forced reduction in garden time - the food bank would be an excellent excuse :-). 20 hours a week will definitely cut into your gardening time - although the extra $$ would help with your new hosta bed! You haven't spent it all yet, have ya?
Sandy
Sandy - I probably wasn't clear enough... all the beds in the drawing are there now but not quite in that shape. I want to make the (remaining) lawn a more formal shape, which will result in reshaping some of the exisiting beds, adding a path or two and putting in some beds in front of the shed. The area around the shed is currently pretty empty - we tore down an old shed at the end of 2006 and built a new one. We had some drainage issues to sort out so left the planting until this spring.
Here's a picture looking towards the shed from the end of the south alley. I didn't take a lot of pictures last year but you can see some more at:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid16732951
or, for pictures prior to 2007, you can look at:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid2831017
woodyoak - looks pretty good to me already, but have fun with it.
Sandy - we'll still go to Perth, but it might be in June. Weill be away late May and early June.
Ann
woodyoak - I hope you don't mind, but I peeked at all the garden photos. Wow, you were even on the OHS tour! Love your planter bench and the copper fence you made, not to mention your plantings. I get what you mean now by the contrast of the formal layout with the informal plantings. Do you find you have to weed the bark paths?
Sandy
Sandy - I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. The planter bench is one of my favorite things! The garden is still evolving. I'm working now to put more structure into the lay-out, which has largely been developed piecemeal up to now. I didn't really think we were ready to be part of the tour in 2006 but we got talked into it. I was nervous about it but it turned out to be fun - but tiring!
The only weeds in the bark paths are copious ash tree seelings and forget-me-nots. Since I mulch the woodland beds each fall with chopped ash leaves, I have to do a daily patrol of all the backyard beds and paths up until about the end of June to yank tree seedlings while they are still in the seedleaf stage! Once they get their true leaves, they get a long, tough tap root and become very hard to yank out. The forget-me-not seedligs come along later. I leave the ones in the beds to be the next year's flowers and just rake the paths lightly to clear them off the paths. The columbines also sometimes seed into the paths but are easy to rake out. The paths are made from about 1 part concrete sand to 3 parts well shredded pine bark mulch. It makes a nice combination that packs down quite firmly. When the sweet woodruff under the pines had spread out onto the path, I was able to run a blade lightly under their roots on the path and roll them up like a carpet! I just rolled them back off the path and left them there.
Very, very well done, I must say ... with tons of vision!
Sandy
Well my pergola will be on its way to being built....dad and I talked about it this past weekend. I showed him my idea with little scratches on paper LOL He helped me out a bit so my plan is complete. Soon I will be heading off to his indoor garage to start cutting wood....I am hoping to get this done in mid spring! I can't wait!!