Winter Plants for the perfect winter containers

With the cold temps. tonight and for the rest of the week, it is time to replant and refresh your containers.  This year challenge yourself and do something completely different from last year.  May be introduce different heights and varieties of juniper and cypress trees like the Lemon Cypress.  Then add some variegated Euonymous plants, Angel Vine, and even pine cones for that special winter detail.  It's all up to you , but I will help give you a few hints to lead you in the right direction.

In the Gutter Gardening

Do you dream of having a garden but live in a small space?  If so, the gutter garden is the perfect solution!  It consists of 3 (3 foot) sections of gutter wired together to create a narrow and suspended look.  Here are the necessary steps:

1. Measure the distance from your patio or other designated space where you want the first gutter to hang.  Measure all the way down to ensure all three gutter pieces will fit without hitting the     ground.
2. Have gutters cut into three 3 (3 foot) sections at local hardware store or big box store.
3. Gather supplies and begin the drilling process.  Using a 1/8" drill bit, drill holes at least 4 inches apart along the bottom of each gutter for drainage.  Next, drill 1 hole at the front and back of each gutter section to place cable through.  Be sure all holes are drilled the same in each gutter section for it to line up equally when suspended.
4. Place end caps on the sides once holes are drilled.
5. Run the cable through the top (front and back) holes of each gutter section and secure with a ferrule.  The ferrule will be clamped shut using bolt cutters.
6. Pull the unattached end of the same cable through the drilled hole in the next higher gutter section.  Slip on the ferrule and then clamp it shut.  Measure your cables throughout the process to ensure ferrules are put on in equal lengths.
7. Attach thimble sets to the end of each top cable.
8. Place screw-in hooks in designated space and suspend your new gutter garden!

Supplies:

- 2 Thimble sets (used to create hook loop on the top cables)

- 2 Ferrule sets

- 1 10 foot plastic gutter cut into thirds (Big box store will do this for you)

- 6 Gutter end caps (3 sets of 2)

- 2 Screw-in hooks to suspend from patio roof, shed, fence

- 16 Feet of 1/8" non-coated cable (2 lengths of 3 feet for top cables and 4 lengths of 2.5 feet for rest of project)

- Dirt and plants

*You will need to measure for yourself how far down you want your top cables to hang or if you'd like more space between the middle sections.  The lower cables give us a 12" space in between our gutters.

Tools:

- Bolt cutters

- Drill

- 1/8" drill bit

Just Plum Delicious!!

There is nothing like the taste of cool fresh fruit on a warm summer day.  If you like plums then here is a wonderful recipe sure to make any gathering a festive one. 

All you need is the following:

2              Ripe Plums.  Pitted and cut into wedges

3/4 cup    Chilled sparkling Rosso Dolce or medium-bodied red wine (Yum!!!)

1Tsp.        Packed of fresh tarragon leaves

Place plums in a shallow bowl.  Top with wine and tarragon: season with pepper

Rather simple recipe which is what I love about this scrumptious snack but also very healthy for you.

Enjoy  

Stackable Crate Garden

For an interesting focal point in the garden, make a stackable crate garden!  This unique display is super easy to create.  Begin with unfinished wooden crates.  The number of crates will depend on the height you would like in the garden.  We used three crates.  Use any color of wood stain and brush the stain onto the wooden crates using a foam brush.  You may blot excess stain with paper towels. Once the wooden crates are completely stained, spray or brush on a clear water sealer to protect the crates from the outdoors.  Stack the crates as you wish.  Line crates with plastic bags or another product that will keep dirt inside the crates.  Fill the crates with herbs, flowers, or a variety of plants and enjoy your stackable crate garden!

Supplies:

-Unfinished wooden crates

-Wood stain

-Foam brush

-Paper towel

-Plastic bags

-Dirt

-Herbs, flowers, and/or plants

Snail Patrol

Those little slimy snails and slugs can cause a big problem in the garden.  They can munch to the ground seedlings, make your hostas and other perennials unsightly, and destroy a vegetable garden  in just a few days.  I have 3 great homemade slug bait remedies.

Chris's Yeast Slug Bait Recipe:

1 cup water
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of flour
1/2 teaspoon of dry yeast

Just mix in a bowl and place a couple of small bowls full of your mixture out in the garden.  It is best to tuck the bowls of this secret mixture under the foliage of your garden plants where the snails and slugs hide.

Chris's Slug-Be-Gone Natural Spray:

I use a spray bottle 3/4 filled with water, few drops of liquid soap and 1/4 cup of ammonium.  All you have to do is just squirt the chlorophyll suckers whenever you want.

Kid Art

Water Gun Painted Canvas (Kid Art):

School may be starting back in just a few weeks, but it's not too late to still have some fun with the kids!  This fun involves water guns and paint!  Take as many water guns as you'd like and fill them with acrylic paint (1/4 full) and add water.  Place a drop cloth or some type of protection to cover a space outside.  Prop any size blank canvas against the drop cloth.  Let the spraying begin!  Mix it up or use one color.  Either way your kids will have great fun with this summer fun project!  

Supplies:

-Blank canvas any size

-Water guns

-Acrylic Paint

-Drop cloth

Destructive Ivy

Slowly but surely both the tree and the building will be sorry they couldn't move to get out of the way of English ivy.  Ivy won't pull off tree bark unless you try to remove it by brute force, but as it spreads upward and throughout the canopy, it shades out the tree's inner leaves.  None of those leaves are there just for decoration-the tree needs all the food they can make.  A trunk covered by ivy can also make it hard to see structural damage from other sources.  It isn't that ivy attacks in the way that twining vines can strangle a tree, ivy does its damage inadvertently.

We may think ivy is beautiful on buildings, but the ivy League grounds and buildings managers at Harvard and Yale agree it's a problem.  Ivy grows small rootlets, called holdfasts, which make a glue that dissolves some of the mortar between the bricks.  Worse, the ivy traps moisture, dust, and debris next to the building.  Between acid rain and the decomposition of the debris, the acidity next to the building increases.  That causes further damage to mortar eventually need repointing (replacing worn mortar).  Ivy makes it happen sooner.

Boston ivy because it was used to cover Harvard's brick buildings, is a least deciduous.  In the winter, snow and ice are able to drop off and the walls are able to dry out.  But because English ivy is evergreen, in never takes a break.