Blog posts tagged with 'DIY'

With spring rolling in around the corner, there are many things to get in order to prepare for Spring gardening. For those of you out there who are a little more free spirited with your gardening, in the sense that the flowers will “grow where they grow,” this DIY probably won’t hold much interest for you. But for those of you with the obsessive-compulsive, perfectionist’s personalities in the garden stay tuned.

Here is a great way to get all your little seedlings lined up and in order like a well-trained platoon of soldiers. 

What you will need:

1.        1- foot by 1-foot pieces of plywood
2.        Tape Measure or ruler
3.        Pencil and Permanent Marker
4.        30 small objects to make holes in the soil (wine corks, wooden spools)
5.        Wood Glue
6.        4 cabinet handles
7.        Sandpaper
8.        Wood stain (if desired)

Steps:

1. Sand out any rough edges on our 1-foot by 1-foot boards

2. Using your ruler measure out in the cneter of the boards, a grid of 9 equal squares (see image) 

3. Take your small bojects using the wood glue, and attah them at al intersections of your gride. Let dry. (see image) 

4. Once your pieces are dry, flip the board and attach your cabinet handle using wood glue, in the center of the board

5. Finish with wood stain if desired. 

Once spring comes, and it’s time to plant, you can be sure that this DIY Planter Template will have you planting even rows of beautiful flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Happy Gardening Everyone! 

Stop! Don't throw out the leftowvers just yet. Did you know that you can use your left over fruits and vegetables to grow more fruitd and vegetables? In this blog I will name a few of thes vegetables.  I will tell you how to regrow Celery, Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple from the pieces that you might usually toss in the trash.

Celery:  Take the bottom of the celery you cut off and soak it in warm water for about 24 hours. Next plant it in fertile soil with the cut side up. Water Daily. in about 1-2 weeks you should start to see the tops of baby celery.

Sweet Potatoes:  To grow a sweet potato is all you need is the end of one of your old sweet potatoes. Cut off the end of the potato, place toothpicks around the outside of the potato and submerge the tip in water allowing the toothpicks to support the remainder of the piece of patato above the water. Palce the potato in a nice sunny spot near the window and watch the roots start to grow in about three weeks.  Once the roots form it is ready to plant in the ground.

Pineapple:  You can grow a pineapple by planting the top of your scrap pineapple.  Once you have removed the top you need to peel away about 1/2 in. of the leaves at the bottom of the stalk. Next you need to trim the bottom and sides of the stalk till you see little brown dots around the rim. This is where your roots will come from. Now you need to let the pineapple dry for two days to prevent it from rotting.  Then place the pineapp.e top into a bowl of plain water. Remember to change the water every 2 days. Once you see lots of roots growing it's time to plant the top in a pot that drains well with about 9 inches of soil. They grow slow, but soon you will have a healthy pinapple bush that one day, a couple of years from now, will produce a pinapple.

I hope you have enjoyed our blog.  Good luck growing your scraps. We would love to hear about your experience on our Mister Landscaper Facebook Page. If you enjoyed this blog and want to learn about other scraps you can grow do a search on google.com for "plants you can plant from scraps".  And as always, Mister Landscaper the best way to irrigate all of you fruits and vegetables.

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome week.

Most people who work in the landscape or gardening industry know about Drip Irrigation and Micro Irrigation.  It's been used in some agricultural areas for over 40 years and is increasingly being used by larger and larger farms and groves for everything from grapes to oranges.  This has proven to be a vast improvement on the goals of saving water and wise use of water by the industries that depend on it to survive.

In recent years, large landscape companies have also adopted Micro and Drip Irrigation as a way to water a variety of landscapes, keeping the plants well-nourished and saving 50% or more on water usage.  Everywhere you look you can see it, little black stakes in the ground with Micro Sprays hidden behind bushes, Drip Irrigation tubing stretching through landscaped flower beds. With ever-increasing awareness of conservation of water, and the importance of being wise with resources, this trend will continue to improve as time goes on.

All of these things are incredible on their own, but they are just the beginning.  Where Drip Irrigation is heading now is into the garden and landscape of the average homeowner.  Most homeowners shy away from trying to mess with installing irrigation, for fear that it is too complicated or that they will not do it right and create a disaster that will kill all of their plants. But with droughts at a record high, and the desire of many to establish home gardens, that mentality is quickly changing. 

The benefits of using Drip Irrigation and Micro Irrigation are tremendous.  It's not just about not wasting water.  The plants get what they need rather than too much water, which can lead to fungus growth and premature rot in the root systems.  Also, many areas in the country that are under drought conditions will allow home owners to use low-flow irrigation products in their landscapes and gardens, rather than sprinklers.

Right now, homeowners across the country are realizing the need to use water wisely and are looking to install their own Micro and Drip Irrigation systems .  We applaud that - and encourage others to do the same.  A difference can be made, one garden and landscape at a time!