Guide to Growing Annuals

When I was a little girl, my dad who was an avid gardener, started me off in gardening by giving me a bed of my own to grow and maintain annuals.  My favorites were zinnias and marigold.  I took care of that bed like the plants were my babies.  It started me on the road to gardening love.

Click here for an awesome guide to growing annuals.

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How to Make a Log Planter

How cute is this log planter?  I love it!!  We still have a huge log that fell on our outdoor shed that needs to be dealt with.  This is the perfect solution for what to do with it.

It would be awesome to use the log planters to form a raised bed.

Click here to find out how to make the log planter.

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How to Attract Birds to Your Garden

One of my favorite tasks back in my days of serious gardening was feeding the birds and sitting back to enjoy their antics.  In addition to the birdbath fountain with running water, I set up tables with real dishes for them . . . build it and they will come!

Watching birds is so interesting as they have definite social patterns that you will recognize after watching them for a while.  It is a very relaxing pastime in the garden!

If you want to attract birds to your garden, check this article out from Birds and Blooms.

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Bamboo Hydroponics - Inspiration

I was so inspired by the photo of bamboo hydroponics that I had to share it.  

The photo is for inspiration only, there are no tutorials.

Source

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DIY Garden Decor - Inspiration and Tutorial

This is what I call some awesome yard art!

The painted teapot is just one of the projects in this awesome article that I found.

I just goes to show you that looking at what you once thought as "junk" can be given new life in your garden.  You will hopefully be as inspired as I was with this article!

Click here for the entire article and tutorial from The Navage Patch.

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How to Root Tomato Plants

One of the easiest ways to multiply the number of tomato plants in your garden is rooting them.   And your new plants are free!

Back in my days of growing lots of tomato plants, I would root them by using Rootone and planting directly into the soil or containers.

Click here for another method from A Piece of Rainbow.  

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Unusual Succulent Container Inspiration

What a cool and unusual succulent arrangement in a meat grinder for inspiration!

Look at yard sale and flea market items in a new way :)

Photo Source

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Tiered Herb Garden

This tiered herb garden represents the best of container gardening as far as I'm concerned!  

Pack this beauty with herbs and annuals for a practical and beautiful show.

Click here for the tutorial from Decor and The Dog.

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Seed Storage Box

It is always a good time to think about saving your seeds safely.  My seeds are used year after year with great results . . . I store mine in oversized index card containers, but I love this idea!

Click here to go to an article all about saving seeds.

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Keep Weeds Under Control

Weeding has to be my least favorite task in the garden.  My best method of keeping them under control is to pull weeds every day as I walk through the garden.

Click here to go to an article about weeds and keeping them under control from Mother Earth Living.

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Landscape Inspiration

Love this landscape makeover!  You would not believe the transformation from the "before" photo.

The DIY Channel has posted a very impressive gallery of landscape makeovers that will inspire you to start on your landscape project.

Click here to go to the gallery.

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Benefits of Using Coffee Grounds in Compost

There is something about coffee that plants love.  One of the things I do is water my plants with left over diluted coffee.  It is like a drink of fertilizer for them.

There are many benefits to using coffee grounds in compost.  Read about those benefits here in an excellent article from Plant Care Today.

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Save Time and Money in the Garden

Everyone loves to save money and time is precious!  

Check out some tips and tricks used by another gardener . . . click here.

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How to Grow Flowering Mandevilla Vine

Love the showy flowering mandevilla vine grown on a trellis.  We had a beautiful mandevilla with pink flowers that died in one of our harsh winters.  It was one of my favorite plants!

If you would love to grow a mandevilla, click here for an excellent plant profile.

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How To Make Faux Rocks

Rocks and boulders make an awesome statement in the garden landscape, but real ones are really heavy and expensive.  So, why not make your own?

Click here to go to a tutorial from Instructables that takes you step by step with lots of photos.

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Container Plants for the Shade

Love a shady garden!

When I moved into my house, several decades ago, it was a shady yard with large oak trees and citrus trees. Before that time, I thought growing in full sun was the only way to go, but I was so wrong!

Coleus plants are one of my favorites to bring bold color to the garden without flowers . . . and they are grown in such a wide variety of leaf shapes and colors. There are many other plants that are shade loving.

If you grow in the shade or would like to, click here for an excellent article on plants to grow and how to care for them.

Happy gardening!

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