Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
It's a Jungle Out There!
So the flowerbed had become a bit of a jungle this summer. Yeah... this picture is a bit embarrassing. When we purchased the house we inherited lots of plants that we had no idea what to do with! : ) I cringe at the thought that the former owner might ride by to see what we have done with the place and fall over dead!
Unfortunately a lot of these wonderful plants have been here for some time and have become intertwined, overgrown, and some are trying desperately to escape the perimeter of the flowerbed.
Most of the green you are seeing to the left of the bunny are weeds or Japanese lanterns. I decided the lanterns, as neat as they are, were looking more like weeds and growing crazy across the whole flower bed so they had to go. I also had gotten tired of letting the irises, lilies, and daffodils soak up the sun for next spring so I went ahead and cut them off as well. I was nice enough to leave the peony (for now) that will get trimmed back in the fall. I also trimmed the boxwood and raked some of the mulch out to make room for more later.
I may call myself clever, and crafty but I am not either of these in the yard/garden. I am trying and learning and hopefully one day I will catch on. I am however, cheap by doing it all myself and moving/re purposing as many plants as possible.
So here is the end result of a long, hot, day working in the flower bed. The boxwood looks a little patchy because some large parts of it were actually growing separately from the ground. I removed those so that the main bush could fill out more.
What is in store for the future of our flower bed? Short term: get rid of the red mulch and replace it with brown. I also want to plant some low maintenance plants and attempt to move some of the bulbs around. My gladiolas and irises fell over and need to be planted deeper.
Long term goals: I would like to replace the scalloped brick edging with something more updated. Mr. Bunny you are cute but you've gotta go! I am working on growing new sage and rosemary from cuttings from the current plants so I can dig up the old ones and move/replant the new ones. The sage is actually hanging out of the bed and the rosemary has roots as thick as a small tree.
As for the rest of the front yard we also plan to plant grass where the azaleas used to be and maybe line the walk with some liriope once the weather is cooler.
So stay tuned for future updates and pictures showing improvements to the front yard.
Unfortunately a lot of these wonderful plants have been here for some time and have become intertwined, overgrown, and some are trying desperately to escape the perimeter of the flowerbed.
Most of the green you are seeing to the left of the bunny are weeds or Japanese lanterns. I decided the lanterns, as neat as they are, were looking more like weeds and growing crazy across the whole flower bed so they had to go. I also had gotten tired of letting the irises, lilies, and daffodils soak up the sun for next spring so I went ahead and cut them off as well. I was nice enough to leave the peony (for now) that will get trimmed back in the fall. I also trimmed the boxwood and raked some of the mulch out to make room for more later.
I may call myself clever, and crafty but I am not either of these in the yard/garden. I am trying and learning and hopefully one day I will catch on. I am however, cheap by doing it all myself and moving/re purposing as many plants as possible.
So here is the end result of a long, hot, day working in the flower bed. The boxwood looks a little patchy because some large parts of it were actually growing separately from the ground. I removed those so that the main bush could fill out more.
What is in store for the future of our flower bed? Short term: get rid of the red mulch and replace it with brown. I also want to plant some low maintenance plants and attempt to move some of the bulbs around. My gladiolas and irises fell over and need to be planted deeper.Long term goals: I would like to replace the scalloped brick edging with something more updated. Mr. Bunny you are cute but you've gotta go! I am working on growing new sage and rosemary from cuttings from the current plants so I can dig up the old ones and move/replant the new ones. The sage is actually hanging out of the bed and the rosemary has roots as thick as a small tree.
As for the rest of the front yard we also plan to plant grass where the azaleas used to be and maybe line the walk with some liriope once the weather is cooler.
So stay tuned for future updates and pictures showing improvements to the front yard.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Fabulous Freebies
Check out this great blog and enter to win one on her many giveaways including a cordless hair straightener so cool!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Thrift Store Find Redesign: Dresser Tray
Finally....my pics of the dresser tray are loaded and ready to go. I picked up this old plaque at The Love of Jesus for $1.00! I think the guy at the counter thought I had lost my mind for buying it and decided to give me a bargin. Anyway, this is what it looked like when I bought it....apparently someone took the important part and gave the rest away. : ) It's thick and heavy so it should stand the test of time.
After pulling the felt and metal plate off I primed the plaque using Kilz 2. Then I painted it using Benjamin Moore Super Spec semi gloss white. (both the Kilz and white paint I had left over from painting trim) After painting I hemed a piece of fabric I had left over from a previous project to fit inside the frame. I measured the inside of the plaque and had a piece of glass cut to fit at Lowes. So here's the low down on the cost of this project:
Plaque: $1.00
Paint and Primer: Free
Fabric: Free
Glass: $3.49
That makes a grand total of just $4.49! So there you have it this beautiful tray to hold my perfume and whatnot on my dresser for less than $5.00!
Here's the finished project:
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