Oooh Raggedyann ~ Good idea! Brigidlily do you mind if I save your picture, so I can copy that idea when the kids are done with our pool? LOL
Garden art/decor for cottage garden?
Help yourself, PrairieGirl! Makes me feel good.
Raggedy (and by the way I have 3 generations of your namesake at my house...) just be sure to plant the middle first! And Louise Riotte's companion planting books have been a godsend. Post pictures! An above-ground pool is a pretty pricey soil solarizer, but I guess it would work!
Brigid, if they were willow, I would guarantee it, as long as the soil stayed damp - I guess willow is sometimes added to plants that are being propagated (Sp? It doesn't look right to me!) because of a chemical in it that aids in root formation - like rooting hormone. But if the soil has dried out, it would be unlikely that anything would root... but you never know!
I wonder if you could get a grape vine going up it, then cut the shoot when you've had enough. It would be easier than trying to twist vines into it...
I've wanted to make 'living willow' structures for years, but haven't had the opportunity. Now that my little cottage garden is taking shape, I'm contemplating putting in a couple willow arches.
I've had a tough time finding willow in the U.S. (much easier to find in the U.K.), but have come across one source located in Canada. In case anyone else is looking, here is a nursery that does mail order: http://www.bluestem.ca/living-willow-structures.htm
Guess I'd better get going on that project...
If you do plant willow ,be careful about planting them close to where their roots might block your drainage or damage any other underground services ,as they are notorious for that here .
Emelle
Yikes, thanks for that reminder, Emelle.
Brigid, I showed your pic to my hubby and he said save that pic and use it as a guide. I can't believe he approved. He doesn't usually pay attention except for telling me I need to be around people more than plants! LOL I live in my yard in warm weather and if I choose to be outside, I may as well love my surroundings! Plus plants don't talk back or argue with you! LOL
Do you mean you have Raggedies at your house? Old ones??? I might like to see pics of those! I should post in the trade section,"Will trade Raggedies for plants or seeds"
Have a good weekend!
Susan
Wrightie, willow will *love* your drainage problem. I'm surprised you're having trouble finding it, they sell it all over the place down here. Curly willow, weeping willow... don't know if it's all the same genus or no....
Yes, Pagancat it is, salix is the genus name. :0)
LOL - So it is! Thanks, Ms. Prarie.
BTW, I got a stick of Pussy willow (also a Salix) at a garden show 2 weeks ago and it has big 'ol roots on it, just from sitting in water.
yikes, don't plant it too close to the house or plumbing.
here is a slide show of my yard and 'junque'...someone made a comment that my frontscape looked like an antique store.....funny, i own an antique store....guess you can take the person out of the antique store but not the antique store out of the person....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39654735@N00/sets/72157594161102308/show/
not sure if i was suppossed to put some kind of html with it ...but just cut and paste into a browser to see...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39654735@N00/sets/72157594161102308/show/
This message was edited Mar 20, 2007 5:22 PM
"page not found" doing a straight copy + paste into browser's address field
shoot...on my end it works...here is the link again:
[www.flickr.com/photos/39654735@N00/sets/72157594161102308/show/]
start your cursor at 'www' and end at the backslash after 'show' then paste into a browser...do not at the brackets
that one works... haven't looked at pics yet though
SticksnStones, my brother told my hubby right before our wedding "you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl" LOL
You own an antique store? How fun. You have a beautiful yard and flowers and I love all of the white accessories, especially the chandelier!
Susan
raggeddy...thanks, there are actually 4 chandeliers...talk about overkill....but by golly, the antique/shabbychic girl is just in me(LOL)!!!
I suspect not a lot of places sell willows because they're so easy to propagate! I got mine (weeping) from the National Arbor Day Foundation. I was driving just north of here the other day, and a weeping willow had fallen over, probably in the hurricane. It was quite a big trunk, and there were hundreds of shoots growing straight up from it!
Raggedy, I'll take some pics of the dolls, though right now I only have mine and my daughter's -- her daughter has reclaimed hers.
That is very cool! I like the dress form the best :)
Yes! You need to find out if Foxgove grows there! Would be perfect!
Suzy
S_n_S, love your pictures! I'm SO jealous with all that shade!
ms robin...thanks ...it does come in handy during this heat!!!!
Bridiglily, I love the photo of your circular garden that you posted back in March. How big is it, and what did it take to install it? I would love to put something like that in my back yard. What does it look like now?
Opps, brigidlily, I spelled your name wrong!
Thanks for the compliment, Lalasland! It's 20 feet in diameter. I wish I'd brought my camera; I'll try to remember to bring it tomorrow so I can post a recent picture. It's a lot of work, but worth it, I think.
I marked out the circle with a rope tied to a center stick (just walked a circle with another stick in my hand) and then covered the area with landscape fabric, which sat for quite a while until it killed the vegetation under it. Then I lined the four sections with bricks and put a layer of newspaper in each one, filled them with dirt, let it sit for a few weeks, and started planting.
Three rose bushes at the outer edge of each section are supposed to be for shade, but it will be another year or two before that makes much difference, and when I do have to replace roses, I'm going with blush knock out. It has grown better than any other rose I've planted, bar none, and blooms constantly. It's not my favorite rose, but I do love it and it sure is the best performer. I've thought about using BKO alone and putting the other 11 roses elsewhere (if I can find some elsewhere) as I think it would put a little order around the beautiful chaos that is the rest of the garden. I mean, it looks great when it gets out of hand, you know? But only to a degree. That really is the only major thing I'd do differently.
I tried to get creeping thyme to grow along the paths, but whatever weed that so generously softens the paths now is doing well and is a lot less trouble as it's volunteering! It's easy to keep in check. I need to find out what it is. My major battle is that killing the grass with landscape fabric was not entirely successful. I'm battling it constantly. Come fall, when I do the major garden cleanup, I'm afraid I will resort to roundup. I do hate to, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
So, it will be a rose garden, then? That's what I was thinking about, too. My mother had good luck with the newspaper-on-grass method, but when I tried it the grass underneath it just kept on growing and growing until it lifted newspaper, mulch and all several inches off the ground! That was several years ago, though, and I can't remember what time of the year it was. It must have been in springtime. I would be tempted to use Round-Up, also, but I have been known to cause lots of "collateral damage" with it. And to dig that much grass up would be a sure-fire way for me to help my chiropractor finance his kid's education! What to do? Let me know what you decide and keep us posted on your progress.
I've had good luck this year with the KO Rainbow variety of rose. And Carefree "Sunshine" is a great one, too. These are my first roses! I was told that the Carefree line is much like the KO's in their low-maintenance-ness (another horticultural term!)
I have rainbow KO and Carefree Sunshine as well, and they are doing great, but for some reason the blush KO is the best. I must have planted it at the exact moment the third quarter moon passed from Cancer into Leo while Pluto was retrograding into Uranus three trines before the vernal equinox. Or something.
(Low-maintenance-ness is one of the best horticultural terms there is.)
LOL - love it, Brigidlily!
;}
This is a trellis I made from sticks, tacks, and an old piece of lumber.
-Joe
An old glass-less window frame. It's been naturally distressed by a few decades worth of wear. :)
-Joe
One of my favorite things. Someone threw this lovely chair away. A wild grape vine thinks it's just wonderful. This will decompose in its current location. Wear and tear just make it look better, in my opinion. :)
-Joe
This isn't a wreath so much as it's just a shape made out of grape vine. It creates a nice shadow behind the mimosa.
-Joe
I have a friend who has taken two doors and made a lovely two person garden seat/arbor out of them. I will get a picture the next time I visit her and post it here.
-Joe
Z5girl, I have made a birdbath before by just turning a pot upside down and sitting the saucer on it. You can get outdoor paint and paint it or just leave it a pretty terra cotta. If you can spend about $70 I just found a really cute birdbath at KMart for that much? ; )
Sticks! Love that slideshow. I posted once before to see if anyone else had their gardens on flickr and was discouraged that no one did! I love that green cup and saucer pot. I actually saw one at Walmart and could kick myself now for not buying one. It would look cute with some succulents in it! Love the white iron too! Thanks for sharing.
cactus.....ding ding ding ding ding....the bell just went off in my brain about the flickr thing.....didn't even dawn on me when i saw your thread.....boy am i an idiot...
as for the cup and saucer....actually i got that at dollar store last year....it is a smaller version than walmart....thanks for the compliments....someone said looking at my pictures that it looked like i was an antique store....i said...well, i own an antique store....; we laughed and said you can take the girl out of the antique store but you cant take the antique store out of the girl.....(or her yard)(g)
Joe, those are great creations and/or finds!
Brigidlily, maybe it was because you held your mouth just right when you planted them...
JoeGee, I like your decorations. I've used grapevine circles and old windows, too, and they look great, and none of it is expensive. You can find old window frames at flea markets and places like that. I saw someone take an old windowframe and put a cheap mirror behind it and hung in on their wood fence. It made a great focal point. I would go a step farther and rig up something to be a "windowbox" and plant flowers in it. I might just do that...
I collect "treasures"- read -old unusual objects that I find along the way. Currently I have an old birdcage that I "found" in my MIL's trash 30+ years ago. It sits in the. corner of a small garden. I have a small childs size park bench, painted white & it is shabby from rain & the elements. That's in the corner of another small area tucked amidst some day lilies. My favorite is an old kitchen faucet that I placed in the soil near black eyed susans.
This is my first attempt at gardening and so far, I see a cottage gargen emerging.
I am thrilled with all the new knowledge I am getting as I pour over books at the library and gardening magazines, and of course, this website! I am posessed by a desire to scour the garden shops and yesterday, after work, I shopped for coneflowers in the pouring rain.
So glad to have found you all.
Next venture is planting my first bulbs ordered at John Scheeper's. I appreciate ratings at the Watchdog- and was able to cancel orders @Breck's & Michigan bubs based on questionable reviews.
Thanks for this wonderful website!
Karen
A hearty welcome, kfish! You'll be amazed the wisdom and sympathy you'll find here! Your treasure garden sounds great. Do you have pictures you could post?
I too would love to see some pictures - I think we're all picture nuts in DG!! It makes sense that gardeners are very visual people.