Garden Planting Box Project #2

I am moving right along here! Faster than I thought because I tend to over think but for the most part it is very important. I don't want to screw it up and have to make it again. Enough of that.

So today I went to Lowes to price my material for my planting box. I should have gone there last because they were by far the cheapest. Let me just say something....FUCK YOU HOME DEPOT!! Okay! Now that is out of my system. Let me explain a little. Home Depot has a policy about price matching and then beating it by 10% IF it is the same product. I guess when it comes to wood it is a different story. It is managers discretion because Home Depot has superior quality of wood compared to everyone else and they must have a whole forest to themselves to make this statement. Just what I was told....other than the forest part! They also don't beat it and give you the 10% on lumber because they have amazing lumber that can only be found at Home Depot!

So I left and went back to Lowes to gather my materials. I bought 6 - 1X6X6 fence boards and 1 - 2X2X8 so I could cut it for corner supports and keep the boards together. I also bought 1 1/2 inch deck screws to put it all together and had some wood glue to use also. extremely easy to make and not much effort. I built it in about 1 hour without any help. Here are my steps.

1.   Get a cold beer from the fridge and open it to take a sip. Good way to start a project!
2.   Measure 2 1X6X6 fence boards to the 3 foot mark to cut in half. These will be your end pieces.
3.   Make sure the ends are all the same length and trim if some are a little off like mine where.
4.   Have some more beer and make sure you have at least 2 more in the fridge or one in the freezer.
5.   Take the 2X2X8 and measure it to the size of 2 boards placed side by side. Should be about 10 inches.
6.   Cut 6 pieces to hold the corners and middle of the sides together. Set aside.
7.   Take 2 end pieces you cut and lay them down to make sure they fit together nicely without too much of a
      gap between the boards.
8.   Place wood glue on 2 of the 2X2X8 pieces and place on the ends of the boards. Screw into place.
9.   Once the pieces are screwed and glued do the other end the same way. The ends should now measure
      3 feet wide by 10 inches high.
10. Place 2 full 1X6X6 side by side and glue and screw one end onto one side. Repeat for the other end.
11. Place the other 2 boards on the other side and glue and screw them into place.
12. Take the 2 extra 2X2X8 pieces you cut and glue and screw them into the middle of the full boards for        support and stability.

I will post pictures soon. I have jiffy pots with peas, carrots and tomatoes sprouting up already. I also bought some jalapeno plants and yellow onion plants. I have yet to plant the watermelon or sunflowers or garlic. Looking forward to growing some fresh veggies in our backyard!

Cheers!!

Rock Garden Project #1

So we have been researching rock gardens and everyone is different and look nice in any shape or size. The trick is making sure you have a solid base and go from there. It is simple. Dig out an area that you would like to have your rock garden. Dig about 10-12 inches of soil in the area you choose and then place a solid base. It is recommended to use old concrete or bricks or old patio slabs to have as your base. Then put sand over the base layer to help drainage. Then place your large rocks in your garden and position them in any way you like. Once you have the large rocks set in place you put a mixture of the following. 1 part top soil, 1 part peat moss and 1 part pea gravel. This helps with the richness of the soil and drainage. Place the mixture into your garden and level. Place medium and smaller stones in your garden and remember to leave pockets for plants. The purpose of the rock garden is to create one of two things. A beautiful garden with flowers or an arctic type landscape with lots of sun and little water. We decided to do the arctic landscape and that is why we opted for the drainage. Our plants are good in 6+ hours of sun with little water. If you want to change what you are planting then you adjust the pea gravel in the mixture so it will hold more water.

Once you have planted your garden, place wood chips over the garden to give it a nice finished look. We went with a hazel colour for ours. we are also not finished. We love what we have done but will add more curves to the garden and not have such a straight edge to it. We collected our rocks from the beach at Lake Ontario so we did some really heavy lifting but saved some money in the process.

Cheers!!