New Inhabitants of Sylvana's Garden

Teak, Wicker, & More Inital Review

The table from teakwickerandmore.com came very quickly. I got it last Thursday; a mere 9 days after I was told that it was ordered for shipping. The industry standard for this type of product is 7-10 business days, so this arrived on an average schedule. The box was a little banged up, but the product did not appear to have suffered too much from it (see below).

The item was just as they had described on their site. I appreciate that greatly, especially with an online shop since you don't get a chance to "kick the tires" before purchasing.

Of course it was "some assembly required". I don't have a problem with that at all since I am quite comfortable with tools, and had all the right tools for the job. I used a ratchet set; you could get by with a Vicegrip or some other adjustable wrench.

It was little banged up (possibly from the shipping), but all on the under-carriage. I sprayed the back of the table with a little black Rustoleum that I always keep on hand for my garden accessories. The back of the table is made of what looks like non-treated plywood, but I don't see that as a problem since it is protected from weather by being on the underside. There was a little stray caulking set into the sealant that they use to coat the table top, but it wasn't that noticeable, and if it doesn't bother me -- Miss Obsessive-Compulsive -- most people probably wouldn't even notice. It is hidden well by the natural texture of the slate.

I didn't even need instructions this was so self explanatory. The cap nuts and bolts were attached to the table parts which made it really easy to inspect for any that might be missing -- they were all there - Yay!! It also makes it very clear how everything is intended to go together, and saves you from having to dig out some small baggy from the packaging box and trying to keep track of them all.

The table top took a little finagling to get all the bolts (which were attached to the underside of the table) into the holes into the top of the table legs. You might want a second person for this since the top is HEAVY!

It is the perfect table for this spot. The table appears to be sturdy and was tall enough for my regular sized chairs. The size can accommodate 4 people for just drinks, 3 people with light snacks, or 2 people for dinner.

The look of the table with its natural slate top and black iron frame goes with just about anything. I especially liked that the legs were scooped, matching well with the feminine style of my other garden accessories. The slate was a beautiful mix of earthtones and I really like the particular pattern that they installed it on the top. It is reminiscent of a spiral, which is perfect for my garden!

If I had found this table while on my recent store searches for a table for this area, I would have snapped this one up -- even at the $86.99 price tag! And they offer FREE SHIPPING on this! Wow!

My initial recommendation: I would suggest checking out Teak, Wicker & More. I know that I will be surfing their site for other wishlist items! Good deals on high quality, stylish items with accurate descriptions. Can't beat that.

New Additions

Since I had to go all the way into the Twin Cities yesterday for a work related seminar I decided that I would stop at Gertens to look for non-invasive ground covers and came home with these beauties. Disclaimer - not all are ground covers.

Sagina subilata - Irish moss
Sedum spurium - fireglow sedum "Fuldaglut"
Sedum hispanicium - "Purple Form"
Geranium cinereum - "Purple Pillow"
Iris sibirica - "Pink Haze"
and last, but definitely not least...
Lavandula augustifolia - "Lavance Purple"

Can you tell I like purples? That iris is not pink, it's purple. I was going to show a picture of its wonderful bloom, but it was spent by this morning. There is another on the way though!

The lavender is tagged as northern grown and zone 4. We will see. I bought two so that I could try out a couple of different sites. Wish me luck -- and give me any advice you may have on them!

The geranium is similar to Ballerina, but the flowers are a rich reddish-purple.

The Irish moss is for my husband. He loves moss and it was on his wishlist.

Another one on his wishlist was that tiny leafed sedum, Purple Form. The university has it all over their native garden (mostly natives, some non-native) as ground cover and we love it.

The other sedum is just so perky! I love its form and color combo. I can't wait for this to multiply so I can spread it everywhere!

OMG, 1st GBBD!

So finally all vanillaed up, I made it back outside to get some pics for my first GBBD ever (well, actually I was already going to get bloom pics and decided, why not link and share - right? Say thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens).

My favorite hardy geranium: Ballerina. It was a tough one to get started, but well worth it! I discovered in my garden, it likes to snuggle in the sun. Plant in sun but tuck it in with other plants so it won't feel so exposed.
My second favorite geraniums, because they are FREE! These came into my garden on their own and have been busy setting up their friends and family. They are pretty and polite, so I don't mind.

New this year to my garden: Dream Queen hosta.

Isn't she dreamy?

My first delphinium of the year. Not sure of the variety, most likely Magic Fountains. This one is four years old.

Thimbleweed in the rain garden. They are getting nice and bunchy.

Bleeding hearts, and not-so-bleeding hearts.

Blue Ravine clematis. Not as nice as the first one I had, that met an unfortunate accident, but lovely all the same.
The absolute best picture I could get of Pewter Moon heuchera. I only have two, but I want more!
Red Prince weigela and cerastium tomentosum. I love this cerastium tomentosum and creeping thyme together.

I planted these peach poppies from seed years ago. What's that? They aren't peach? Yep, because this is what happens to all my color varieties of poppies - back to orange after a couple of years. But I love them anyway!

Hardy dianthus. It came in a big pack from Home Depot years ago. I thought it was an annual but needed the color and it was 50% off! It has never disappointed with its blooms and has since multiplied!


Anthemis marschallianna. I got it from Shopko years ago and haven't seen it offered since, anywhere. I have tried to divide it, but it is a fussy little bugger. As long as I leave it alone, it does fantastic and has been mounding up nicely.

FINALLY A PEONY! And unfortunately I don't know the variety. I thought it was Sarah Bernhardt, but it's not a soft enough pink. Maybe someday I will find that tag!

These daisies were some of very first plants I bought when I started my garden over 10 years ago. I bought twenty, three survived. I love the way they look against the golden barberry.

Speaking of daisies, lets not forget the backbone of my garden: the humble oxeye daisy. They volunteered their services almost immediately and have not let me down in all this time. Thank you daisies!

Oh, Gnats!

I have a HUGE gnat problem! Well, the gnats aren't huge, there's just a lot of them and they all love me, or hate me -- however you want to look at it; they are all over me! I was out in the garden today trying to get a few pictures of what is blooming and they would not leave me alone! They were in my ears and hair, up my pant legs, shirt sleeves and even in my shirt! They leave big itchy welts and sometimes when they bite it feels like a tiny bear trap! UGH!!

I gave up and retreated to the house. But being the obsessive gardener that I am, I did not let it go. I hate using insect repellent because it it stings my skin, is sticky, smells bad and sometimes gets onto my lips or in my eyes - yuck! So, Google to the rescue!

In 30 seconds I found my answer - vanilla! Apparently gnats don't like it, and I have some so why not give it a try? I took about 1/8 a teaspoon real vanilla extract and rubbed it onto my neck, ears and forehead, grabbed the camera and went back outside. I was outside for the same amount of time I had been before - no gnats! And bonus, I smell like a cookie!

Heavy Duty Squash Trellis

I have grown squash for the last few years and usually just let it ramble into the pathway around my veggie garden. This year I decided that not only would I get all that squash vine out of the paths so I could get around, but that I would also block out some of the not-so-scenic alley with one project. I searched the internet for squash trellis plans. Most involved making two simple wooden ladders and leaning them together. Hmm.. not exactly what I was looking for. First, it doesn't take up as small a footprint as I was hoping for, second, it just didn't seem tall enough. I decided that I would have to come up with something on my own.

I already had a bunch of lumber I had bought for another project years ago that I never got to, so I decided that I would make use of that. They were treated 2x4 in 8'+ lengths. I figured that I could make posts out of them and use some pound-in post holders that I had seen for $15 each. For a 16' span I figured that I would need 3 posts.

For the area between the posts I picked up a 16' 4g galvanized fence panel. I almost bought one for $28, but as I was picking it up, the warehouse guys asked if it needed to be pretty. I said not too pretty, why? Well, they had a stack by the dumpster that the manager was letting go cheap. I got the whole panel for $11! And you can't even really tell what was wrong with it! I had intended to leave it the full 16' span, but we had to cut it in half with some bolt cutters so it would fit in our friend's truck.

The various tools that we used: small and large sledge hammer, long level, quick clamps, crowbar, chunk of 4x4, ratchet wrench set, screwdriver, drill driver w/bits, chop saw, tape measure, and bolt cutters.

The post holders were a little tricky to install. You have to pound them in using a chunk of 4x4 and a sledge hammer. We learned that you should hammer a little, lightly and then check for level and repeat often. Don't try to get these in too quick, or hammer too hard, or your posts will be cockeyed and the fence will look terrible! We figured how far apart to put them in by installing one post holder, putting in the post, attaching the metal panel then setting up the next post where the end of the panel landed. This worked better than trying to measure out everything. We know because that was what the crowbar was for -- pulling the post holders back out to try again! And that is why you should not hammer the post holder flush to hard ground. I left ours up about 3" and back filled with compost which made them very easy to get out when we screwed up the first placement.

Also, to get the post centered where you want it, flip the holder upside down and press the square opening into the dirt to leave an impression. Then flip it right-side up and push the spike into the center of the square.

And don't forget-- before you pound these in, call digger's hotline! They were out in just a couple of days and marked all incoming lines so I was sure I wasn't going to blow up the block spiking a post holder through the gas line.

Since we were using 2x4s and the post holders were made for 4x4s, we had to make up the difference with filler. We were very lucky to find these treated lath pieces, a huge bundle for $3! I dug through the whole pile of bundles to find the bundle with the most 5/16" pieces. (2x4 are actually 1-1/2x3-3/4, go figure)

Here are all three posts in place. We added the height of the fence panel, the depth of the post holder's post holding square, and added a couple of inches to it for good measure (to add post toppers if we wanted!) to figure out how long to cut the lumber.

We were asked by our friend who picked up the fence panels for us why we didn't just save ourselves the hassle and use 4x4s. Well, not only did we already have this lumber, but the space left between the boards gave us a way to attach the fence panel.

We put the panels between the boards and ran a 4" bolt through holes we drilled in the boards at measured intervals so that we would be between rungs in the fence and not hit them. The bolts go through the end squares in the panels. By going through the squares, the panel will not fall out as the edges of the panel will hold it in place. The middle post has two ends of the panels which we overlapped to be sure that the bolt went through both panels' squares. We attached a locking nut to the other side of each bolt to cinch the boards together.

Here is the before (OK, yeah you can see the post holders already in place, but you get the idea)

And here is the after! The squash is planted and now we just have to wait for the screening magic to begin.

The whole project cost us around $65. The lumber will cost you extra - unless you too have a big pile of treated 2x4s just laying around. And the fence panel will cost you extra too - unless you get lucky as well. You can get a non-gradated panel for $21.

This will be fairly easy to dis-assemble (we know because we already had to do that once) and store or move. Once we had all the materials it took us just a couple hours to cut and drill all the pieces and install the post holders. An easy project even for you non-carpenters.

Opportunity Knocks

I got an email a while back offering me an exciting opportunity. Normally I just send these to the spam pile, but this one did refer to trying out and reviewing garden accessories, so what the hey, why not check it out? I went to their site, Teak, Wicker & More, to check out their products and I was very impressed with the style and the prices!

I spent some time seeing if there was anything that I might want to try out. I had considered the cold frames, but the one that I really wanted wasn't available until late June. Not to say that I wasn't drooling over some of the other marvelous greenhouses that they had available, but most of those were either not the right size or were out of my try-out price range.

Then I remembered that I had just finished the floor in the gazebo and it really was needing a nice table to have coffee in the morning, right? I had been looking at the local stores for a good bistro set that went with my garden style and wasn't having any luck. Maybe TW&M would have what I was looking for. And guess what; a quick search in their outdoor furniture section led me to a nice find: a round slate table (frequent visitors must know by now how I like curves and natural material)!

So here's the deal, I have never gotten anything from this supplier before, and maybe you haven't either. Once I get the table, I will post pictures and write a review of the service that I received and the quality of the product - and you know how opinionated I am, so you are guaranteed a good, honest review!

Hoop House Heaven

PrimRozie has got me all obsessed about hoop houses. We are finally getting some much needed rain (just in time since yesterday my husband and I put the corn gluten fertilizer on the lawn and our dogs have been fussing about going out to eat it!!), so instead of spending the morning in my garden, I have been scouring the web for info on hoop houses. They seem very simple and I have been wanting to build one. This year it might just happen now that I have both raised beds built - now I can just put the hoop house right over both of them and have a path down the middle!

Most of the designs that I found were pretty similar. And being the Scot/German that I am, I immediately was thinking of ways to improve the design and make the plans more efficient. It took me about an hour for my epiphany - instead of building a spine to keep the PVC poles in place, why not sew a spine? The tent I bring camping doesn't use a separate spine, the poles feed through tunnels sewn into the tent to keep them where they are supposed to be and they themselves are the spine. Why not do the same for the hoop house, 'cause what is a hoop house but a tent, right? And I not only sew, but I still have a spool of plastic thread from when I made a bunch of tomato cage covers (mini green houses! If I make them again, I will post the plans - VERY EASY; even for non-sewers).

Here are the most interesting hoop house sites I found:

How to Build a PVC Hoophouse for your Garden at The Westside Gardener
This has great pictures and walks you through the entire process, including a materials and tools list! (the website needs some attention, but it is still very informative).

Home Sweet Hoophouse or How to Change Gardening Zones without Leaving Your Own Backyard at Kitchen Gardeners International.
This article had great pictures showing people actually putting one together. Not much in the way of a step by step, but does offer some advice for fortifying based on use experience.

Hoop House I from the Utah State University Extension
A fantastic video (41min) about the university's trials with their hoop houses. It gives a fairly thorough explanation about the structures they have built as well as the potential uses for the structures. I took the most notes from this video. Good stuff!

AND once your done watching that video, check out some of the other similar videos YouTube suggests! Larks Hoop House is quick and descriptive - but as a disclaimer, that accent sounds more Minnesotan than Wisconsin!

[and just as a cool find I found this. Science geeks and off-the-grid dreamers will LOVE this!!]

I've been taking notes and making drawings all morning. Hopefully I will be able to get one built this summer for use this fall. I can't wait!

Garden Project - Raised Veggie Bed

I promised you fine readers years ago that I would cover how I build my raised veggie beds. Well, I finally got around to making a second one a few weeks ago, so now I have pictures to show!
MATERIALS: 15 3x4 8' long ACQ treated landscaping timbers (they have the corners rounded; use 3x6 if you want a larger seating area - do not ever use railroad ties for edible gardens!) and 20+ 2' long rebar rods (these are hard to find - you could use 3' or 4' or get longer pieces and cut them down - a pain in the patootie). Total cost: just under $84.

TOOLS: Tape measure, chop/miter saw, long level, wood boring bit a little smaller in diameter than the rebar, hammer drill, sledge hammer, flat shovel.

Here is the bed I started two years ago. See my awesome patch of garlic? The rest is pretty much weeds except for some volunteer leeks from last year's leeks. I had laid down treated boards (leveled, of course) then stacked bricks on top. It worked pretty well, but I wanted something more stable and permanent.

My son and I tore down the old and replaced with the new as we worked our way around the bed. I was moving this bed a little on the garlic end to make it parallel to the raised bed next to it (my bad from two years ago when I laid the second bed cockeyed in haste to plant ;)

Make sure that you carefully level the first layer as the whole bed is dependent on this layer. I leveled it all the way around as well as leveling it to the other bed.

I made 4' x 16' beds since the lumber is 8' long and you shouldn't have beds more than 4' wide to be able to reach all parts of it from the edges. For the ends, I just chopped 3 pieces of the lumber in half. For the sides, I wanted to alternate for strength, so I start with 2 full pieces end to end, cut a piece of lumber for the next layer so that I have one full piece in the middle and two half pieces on each end of it, then the last layer is back to two full pieces.

Now here's where the 20+ on the rebar comes in. There are two ways to tackle the attachment - you can either drive in rebar after the second layer and then again for the top layer or wait until the top layer to do it all in one. I did rebar as I went along, but in hindsight, I would get all the lumber laid out and do it all in one to save the hassle and money on rebar.

Where ever there is a joint, drill a hole to either side of the joint and drive a rebar through. Our drill bit was only long enough to go through two boards, so on the top layer, I drilled through the top and middle layer, pulled the top board off and finished drilling the hole all the way through the middle and bottom. Do not attach any rebar until you have all the holes for one piece of lumber all the way drilled through all three pieces!



Here is my helper with the finished product. As you can see, we alternated all the lumber, even the corners. This adds strength and stability. These corners will not pull apart. That bed next to it is over 8 years old; all the lumber is still where I originally put it.

Now it is just a matter of finishing off the bed with some compost and we are ready to plant!

I actually have already finished that part too. I have even gotten both of these beds fully planted: 14 tomato plants, 8 Packman broccoli, 12 pepper plants (orange sweet, red sweet, yellow sweet, jalepeno), 3 Fordhook straight neck summer squash, 2 Black Beauty zucchini, 1 spaghetti squash, all that garlic, an equal size block of American Flag leeks, two 8' rows of mixed lettuce, a 2' row of more garlic, a 4' square of Maxibel green beans, a 2' row of Vates kale, eight 4' rows of various peas, and Bloomsdale spinach and Mammoth basil everywhere!! Yay for me!

Garden Project - Gazebo Floor

I got this gazebo in 2005 for my graduation. I did put the legs on blocks, but I never put a floor in. I had considered putting sand in, but my inconsiderate neighbors let their cats roam free and I already spend almost an hour each week digging cat crap out of my front annual beds. So the floor just went to weeds. This spring things were looking so nice in my garden that I just had to do something about it. I dug out all the weeds and got some sand from the compost site.
I started with the centerpiece. I dug up this millstone while gardening years ago. Now it will have a befitting home. The square blocks are leftovers from the patio project. The smooth, blue stones are from our trips to the North Shore of Lake Superior.
I leveled out about 1"+ of sand for the floor material. I didn't have enough of the patio blocks to do the whole floor, so I just used those as borders. What I did have a ton of was chimney bricks!
My husband helped me get them all laid out before night fall to avoid having to sift through the unlaid area for cat-doo before laying the rest of the bricks. I figured we would just get the bricks down and not worry about what it looked like, but strangely enough, it ended up being perfect!
The finished product! I think it looks old-world, and it ties in the blocks from our patio and the bricks I've been using all over the garden. We didn't have to cut any bricks because we had taken brick pieces as well as whole bricks when we tore down the chimney. I filled in the big gaps with some pea gravel and the rest with more sand. To help level the bricks, I flooded the area with water and raised and lowered the bricks to water level and filled it all in with more sand when the water disappeared.

I can't use a tamper on these bricks, so now I just have to wait for a couple of really strong rain storms to help settle and compact everything naturally. It will take a while, but it is SO worth it!!