Blog posts tagged with '#diygarden'

Dear garden friends,

Baking Soda is our friend in the garden as well as in the kitchen. Baking Soda can be used in the garden for many different reasons. If you want to keep the pest away from your plants, rejuvenate your roes bush, sweeten your tomatoes, and more. Next time you are making your grocery list add another box of Baking Soda for your garden. 

How to keep the pest away:

If you are having a problem with pest you can sprinkel Baking Soda around the garden. Don't sprinkle it directly on your plants. This will help discourage rabbits, roaches, silverfish ants and more.

How to rejuvinate your roses:

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. clear ammonia

1 tsp. Epsom Salt

1 gallon water

(This mixture will treat about 4 rose bushes that need a pick me up.)

How to make sweeter tomatos:

Sprinkel Baking Soda near your established plants to make a sweeter tomato.

Check out Mister Landscaper Pintrest page for more great DIY garden ideas.

Happy Planting!

Nothing says I love you like chocolate! If you are looking for a creative way to tell someone you care about them, this might work.

The one you care about will thank you. If they don't like milk chocolate you can melt, white chocolate or dark chocolate.

For this DIY craft you will need:

1. strawberries (12 or more depending on how many you are going to taste test)

2. 12-20 wooden skewers

3. chocolate melting chips (found at  Walmart or your craft store).

4. wax paper

5. medium size sauce pan

6. Vegetable Oil (small amount  (tbs.) added to chocolate if it gets dry)

7. heave vase of your choice (will need to be heaver to support the weight of your 12 or so chocolate treats.)

8. dish towel

9. filling to place between your chocolate strawberries.(kale, green tissue paper)

Wash your strawberries and pat them dry with the dish towel. Use your wooden skewers to

pierce the green leafy end of the strawberry. Follow the directions on the back of the chocolate candy

to melt your chocolate. Dip your strawberries in the chocolate and place on the wax paper to cool. Place your 

strawberries into the fridge until you are ready to deliver.

Feel free to put your own touch on this craft. You may want to roll the chocolate in you friends favorite candy before the chocolate cools.

Have you ever said, "What's that sprouting up in my garden?"  

I know I have a time or two.

You won't have to wonder once you finish with your Rock Markers. This is a cute and easy DIY craft that you will want to share with all your garden friends. You are going to want to start by collecting a dozen or so medium size smooth rocks. If you cant find the smooth ones any rock big enough to paint and easily pick up would do.

The one to the left is a nice rock but it is too big for this garden craft! The one to the right is the perfect size for our Rock Garden Markers. Once you have found your just right rocks you will want to wash them off in a hot bucket of soapy water.

You might just want to drop the rocks in and let them soak for a few minutes. Be sure to wash all the dirt off. If you don't your paint may come off in that area. 

Now it's time to dry off. A large towel would work best. Wrap your rocks up and pat pat pat! Allow them to dry over night to be sure no dampness remains.

Let the fun begin! Go to your nearest craft store and pick out some fun craft paint that works for outdoor crafts.

You may want to think about what you want on your rocks before you pick out your colors. Once you have your design in place pick out your paint and paint brush. You will want to spread out newspaper on your surface before you begin.

This craft can get a little messy depending on the age group. :)

Ones your art is finished you may want to cover it with a gloss finish. This can be found at your craft store or Lows.

Happy Painting!

 The sound of a wind chime on a cool fall night can be music to the ear.

If you are looking for  a nice and easy DIY garden craft that will continue to give the gift of a beautiful sound then you might want to creat a wind chime.

You can make a wind chime out of just about anything that makes a sound when it bumps into each other.

Different objects make different sounds so you might want to try a few sounds before you beging to create your wind chime.

Materials you may need:

strong string or thin roap

nice thick stick about 6 inches long.

screw driver

small saw

heavy fishing line or thin wire

sand paper

glue

glass beads

cans

paint

old fancy keys

shells

rocks

metal bottle caps

glass

bailing wire

metal pieces

and so on...

This craft leaves a lot of room for creativity. It just depends on the style and sound you are looking for.

There are many neat ideas. If you go to google images and search wind chimes you will see many great ideas.

 Don't settle for the same old stepping stones you find at your local hardware store.

Make it your own by adding your personal touch. Is all you need is a  cake pan, contact paper, ready mix concrete, rubber gloves, Vaseline, chicken wire, sponge, bucket, varnish and your personal selection of marbles, glass, rocks and anything else you might like to add. You can also make new pieces by breaking up old china or glass.

Be sure to use protective gloves and eye ware before you start hammering.   Now you will need to rub the inside of your cake pan down with Vaseline to prevent the cement from sticking.

Next you cut out the contact paper into the shape and size of your cake pan. Place the contact paper in the bottom of the cake pan with the sticky side up. Place your rocks, glass and marbles onto the contact paper face down creating your own personal design. Now you are ready to mix your concrete. find an old bucket and pour enough concrete into the bucket to fill your cake pan.

Next you need to slowly add water and stir the concrete with a long spoon until it is the consistency of cake batter.

Do not get the concrete on your skin. If it does get on your skin wash it off right away. If you leave it on your skin it will start to burn. Fill the cement to the top of the cake pan. Now place a square or circle piece of chicken wire into the cement and press it about half way down.

Don't cut the wire too big or it will be sticking out the sides of your stepping stone.

Allow the cement to harden then you are ready to remove your personal stepping stone.

You can use a sponge to clean your stone and use the extra cement to fill in any air bubbles. Finally you can varnish your stone to keep it nice and shiny.

It's the time of year where you work so hard to getting your garden planted. The rewards are great as long as you can protect your plants from the last frost, and pests!

The scare crow is a good idea in some cases for example keeping the curious three year old out, but it does not always work.

I came across a cheap DIY idea that may help some of you protect your seedlings. It might not work for all of us, but it is very inexpensive! It may be worth giving it a try. 

Just cut off the bottom of your jug/plastic container and place it over your seedling. The jug will protect your smaller plants from frost, birds and other small creatures.

Protecting you seedlings now will be very rewarding in the near future.

It's that time of year again where you put on the garden gloves and start planting. It's so exciting sometimes you can forget what you just put in the ground.

This could leave you guessing all summer long. No worries. I have found the solution! It's an easy DIY craft that will take all the guessing out of gardening.

There are many easy ways to mark your seeds! You can keep it simple or get creative. My favorite is using old tea spoons with a picture of what you planted glued to the spoon.

The options are endless. For this one you will need

Materials Needed:

outdoor Mod Podge

Permanente markers

heave construction paper

ice tea spoons (check thrift stores or ebay)

acrylic spray coating

scissors

For this DIY craft you might want to ask the kids to help with coloring a small picture of the vegetable you are going to plant using the permanent markers. Make sure to cut out the paper the size of the spoon before you color the picture. This way you know it will fit on the spoon.

You will also want to put a small cut on one side of your circle to help it lay flat  on the spoon. Next put the outdoor Mod Podge on the back of your picture with a paint brush or Q-tip.

Then stick the picture to the inside of the spoon and press it down till you get it just right. This might take a minute.

Once the picture is in place cover the top of the picture with the outdoor Mod Podge. Give it time to dry. This will take about 20 minutes.

Next you want to seal it with the Acrylic spray. This will keep it safe from the rain and sprinklers. Now you are ready to start planting.

Remember don't lose it Use it. :)

Check Out These Other Great Ideas!

Check out our Pintrest page for more great DIY garden ideas!

This DIY craft will have your garden friends turning their heads for a second look. 

Be on the look out for bird cages the next time you stop at a local garage sale or flea market. With a little paint and some nice flowers you  can make an old bird cage  beautiful!

You will need:

1. bird cage

2. small chain to hand the cage

3. spray paint to paint the bird cage (you pick the color)

4. sand paper to lightly sand the bird cage prior to spray painting if needed.

5. flowers or greenery of your choice

 Once you have found a bird cage you like you will be well on your way to enjoying the beautiful new addition to your garden with just a few easy steps. First you will need to decide if you want to paint it or leave it the origional color. If  you decide to paint you will need to clean the bird cage and lightly sand it.

Next find a well ventelated area outside and spray paint the cage. Follow the directions on the can. Allow the bird cage to dry and then prepare to plant your flowers inside the cage.

You can use the tray that came with the cage as long as you place holes in the bottom as well as small rocks prior to adding your dirt and flowers. If the bottom of the cage does not have a solid bottom you can use a flower pot or another container that fits. Once you have planted your flowers you are ready to hang your new DIY garden craft.

If you are looking for an easy way to irrigate  your new birdcage garden check out www.misterlandscaper.com  for some great high quality  DIY low-flow drip irrigation solutions.

 Do you have an old stump in your yard that is an eye sore? 

Before digging it out and leaving a large hole in your yard take a look at some of these creative ideas.

1. Use that old stump to create a beautiful flower display! 

2. Decorate the stump to be a mini home. Get creative and have it match your home.

3. Find some more logs to place around the stump and turn it into a table with stump seating.

The ideas are endless. Check out Mister Landscapers pintrest page for more great ideas from other pintrest friends.

This is a blog for all garden lovers who have a hard time storing all their garden tools.  I struggle  to untangle the rake from everything else that is piled in the corner of my shed every time I go to use it. After browsing through Pintrest looking for great new garden ideas I discovered that I don't need to fight with my garden tools any longer!

I need to  separate my garden tools and display them in a creative order on the outside of my shed. This way I no longer need to fight for my rake and I now have a creative display of garden art on the side of my shed.

I'm however going to give my tools a face lift prior to displaying them. I have not decided what color to use yet,  but I am going to spray paint all the handles first. I'm thinking bright and bold to match the flowers. If you decide to join me in this creative garden tool art project please feel free to share you are on our Facebook page Mister Landscaper.

To get you started I am going to pin some of the creative ways our Pintrest friends have displayed their Garden Tools.