Firepit Updates

It's Smores' and cozy blanket season around here and I'm so happy I sprung for new Adirondack chairs from Highwood USA.  Our old wooden chairs held up for about seven years, but these recycled plastic adirondack chairs should last for about 20 years.  And hopefully they can be recycled again!   I decided to go with white chairs to change it up a bit from the dark blue ones. I think they look very classic. The style chairs are called The Essential Adirondack Chair and can be found here.     So far they seem very easy to clean and won't splinter or need repainting/sealing/staining at all. 

The cozy fleece throws are from Pendleton. 

This photo shows the new pansies, petunias, broccoli, and cabbage that I recently planted. In November I will add tulip and Allium bulbs and in the Spring it will be gorgeous.

Our Breeo Smokeless Firepit is going on two years of use. It is developing a nice patina on the outside because we chose the X Series in Size 24 with a Corten Steel finish.  We wanted it to look a little rustic and aged.  We also bought the lid for the firepit that keeps it from rusting on the inside.  The absolute best part of the firepit is that it's made right here in the U.S. of American Steel.   Other similiar firepits like the Solo Stove come from China. We are very picky when it comes to where products are made. 

Looking forward to many roasted marshmallows, ghost stories, and family time.

Happy Fall and almost Halloween!

Cathleen

 

DIY Garden Posts and String Lights 💡

After a recent Hurricane in NC, I'm looking at you Ian, we had to rethink our patio lighting. One of the old posts we installed in a pot had cracked (my fault for not buying pressure treated exterior wood.) So we decided to add sturdier posts and also extend the lights across the entirety of the backyard.

Here is look at our DIY Garden Posts.

Supplies for DIY Garden Posts:

• 4″x4″ pressure treated posts (at least 10′ long.) We used 16' posts because our yard slopes and we cut down to size them up evenly.
• Gravel (enough for a couple inches at the bottom of each hole to prevent the post from rotting)
• Quick-setting concrete (one 50-lb. bag for each hole; we used Quikrete Fast-Setting Concrete Mix in the red bag which is only around $6 per bag and sets in just 20-40 minutes)
• Respirator mask
• Post hole digger
• Post level
• 4×4 Post caps (these are the beautiful copper ones that I got from Amazon)
• Liquid Nails
• Screw-in hooks
• Zip ties
• String Lights (We Used 4 sets)

Optional Supplies:

• Shepard Hooks to hang baskets/lanterns/etc. We purchased ten.
• Hanging baskets
• Timer for string lights
• Lanterns
• Exterior stain (We used Cabot Wood Toned Stain and Sealer in Heartwood.)

Instructions for DIY Garden Posts: 

 

1. Decide on your post placement.
2. Dig holes with the post hole digger. Dig to a depth of at least 1/3 of your wood post and a diameter of about 10-12 inches. We used 16' posts so we had 5 feet underground.
3. Cut your posts to proper height if needed. Our posts are all different lengths but level at the tops.
4. Add a couple of inches of gravel to bottom of post hole. This will prevent the bottom of the post from sitting in water which can create rotting issues.
5. Place post in post hole and make sure it’s square and level (use your post level.)
6. Put on your respirator mask then add the Quikrete powder to the post hole. It’s best to add it slowly all the way around the post, otherwise the pressure of the concrete mix can shift the post out of position.
7. Add water and mix with a stick. I think we added about one gallon of water per 50-lb bag. We really just jabbed it around for a little bit to let the water get down into the concrete powder. It’s really not a huge deal if you don’t mix it completely since the concrete powder will draw in water from the soil until it has just enough.
8. Using your post level again, and double check to make sure the post has remained square and level throughout the previous two steps. You only have a few minutes where you can actually move it so be sure to do this right after you add the water!
9. Repeat for each post hole, then let the posts set for 24 hours.
10. 24 hours after your posts set, stain them. We used a long pole with a staining pad to reach the tops and make it go quickly. If your post caps have any un
11. finished wood, you will want to stain them at this point as well.
12. Add post caps. Liquid Nails adheres well.
13. Add hooks.
14. First drill pilot holes, then screw in the hooks. The placement of the pots and lanterns lines up evenly at the bottoms.
15. Add string lights! I used a zip tie to attach the string lights to keep the line taut and prevent sagging. If connecting more than one string, fold the cords back on themselves and secure with zip ties to keep the spacing the same between all your lights.
16. Install timer for lights. This is great to have so you never have to turn them on or off. They are great to have at Christmas as well.

We just love the pots and lanterns on the posts. They really give the tall posts lots of character. I added pretty purple flowers called Plectranthus from Lowes. They are an annual so I will have to think of winter plants soon.

Now, off to enjoy the backyard at night. We've been seeing lot of different kinds of frogs lately. I think the pond we made is attracting them.

We hope this tutorial was helpful! 

xo

Cathleen

Shade Gardens

Creating paths and walkways through forested areas of your yard is a great way to wander through without disrupting plants and wildlife. It also gives people a safer route so they are not accidently having an encounter with a snake or other potentially dangerous animal. Shaded gardens or heavily treed areas are sometimes thought to be challenging, however there are many plants suited for this type of environment. A few come to mind that I've listed below. These photos show just how beautiful an area can be that gets some dappled light. I hope it inspires you not to chop down your trees, but to work with them. This is especially true if you live in a area that has an abundance of them, like here in the South. 

xo

Cathleen

10 Great Plants for Shade

1. Heuchera (Coral Bells)
2. Lamium Maculatum (Dead Nettle)
3. Tiarella cordifolia (Foamflower)
4. Pulmonaria (Lungwort)
5. Astilbe
6. Digitalis (Foxglove)
7. Hakonechloa (Japanese forest grass)
8. Primula (Primrose)
9. Euphorbia (Spurge)
10. Alchemilla (Lady's mantle)

Chocolate Ruffles Heuchera

Heuchera (Coral bells). Heucheras make fine plants for shady sites. Plant breeders have had a field day with the genus heuchera. There seems to be no end to the variations in leaf color: silvery, burgundy, purple-black, chartreuse, salmon and rusty orange. With heuchera, its the foliage that provides the visual excitement, though some varieties also have showy flowers on tall, slender stems. The variety in the photo is called Chocolate Ruffles.

Lamium

Lamium maculatum (Dead nettle). A low, spreading plant with silvery foliage and purple, pink, red or white blooms in early summer. In shady locations, I find this plant spreads happily — not invasively. If you wind up with too much of it, just give it a tug, lift out a whole section and pass it on to a friend.

Tiarella

Tiarella cordifolia (Foamflower). Similar to heuchera in leaf and form, tiarella has matte rather than shiny leaves, which gives it a slightly more "natural" look. The bottle-brush flowers are white or pale pink and I find them showier than those of most heucheras. New varieties often feature burgundy-red leaf veins.

Pulmonaria

Pulmonaria (Lungwort). Another plant with beautiful silvery foliage. Leaves are typically long and narrow, and may be entirely silver, spotted with silver or randomly splashed with silver. Lungwort flowers in spring and its blossoms are quite showy, ranging in color from white through pink and blue — with different colors often appearing on the same plant.

Astilbe

Astilbe. Known best for their colorful flower plumes, many of the newer astilbe varieties also have showy foliage that may be bronze, pale green, blue green, dark green or wine red. If you choose varieties with different foliage colors, bloom times and heights, they can add lots of interesting color and texture throughout the season.

Foxglove

Digitalis (Foxglove). Most foxgloves are biennials, which means they spend their first year growing foliage, their second year flowering and then they die. This may sound troublesome, but the plants usually reseed and sort things out so you wind up having flowers every year. I find Digitalis grandiflora the easiest and most reliable of the bunch.

Japanese Forest Grass

Hakonechloa (Japanese forest grass). Unlike most grasses, this one grows best and looks best in partial shade. It's short (12-15") and clump-forming, and the narrow leaves have a cascading habit. Depending on the variety, its foliage is golden green, lime green or variegated. Some turn red, orange or purple in the fall.

Primula

Primula (Primrose). I always thought primroses were difficult to grow, but I've found them to be super easy as long as you provide shade and moist soil. There are 425 species of primula. They come in every color of the rainbow and range in size from little 3-inch dwarfs to 4-foot giants. The photo shows Primula denticulata, also known as the drumstick primula. Colors range from white through lilac, pink and deep red.

Euphorbia Polychroma

Euphorbia (Spurge). The beautiful, burgundy-leaved Euphorbia dulcis does self sow, but the seedlings can be easily removed (and given to appreciative visitors). I also like Euphorbia polychroma (shown at left), which is a dome of chrome yellow in late spring. In zones 5 and warmer, try Euphorbia polychroma 'Bonfire', which has three seasons of color. A variety named Jessie grows up to 4 feet tall.

DIY solar sconces

Sometimes I buy things used and I don't really have a plan for them. Like these black sconces. I thought maybe I would find a place inside for them but adding electrical outlets into the wall through the crawl space sounded like too much work. 

I had a great idea that I could turn them into something for the garden. Since adding a trellis gate to the side yard I thought it would be fun to mount them outside. I found perfect size globe solar lights from Amazon that turned out to have the same diameter as the base of the sconce. 

My 13 year old had fun dismantling the electrical bits and removing them. 

We used long screws to mount the Sconces to the 4x4's. The lights were glued down with Gorilla Glue. We set them to the "on" position and they come on at dusk and turn off automatically at dawn.

I think this turned out pretty cool for such a cheap and easy DIY project.  

xoxo

Cathleen