On the Deck: Plants Are a Must

As I introduced last week, after years of planning and construction (in 2 phases!), we are really excited to have a fully functional deck.  I don't have all of my "deck projects" finished, but it is at least at the point where I can sit out there and finally relax.  I thought I would spent a few blog posts going through the projects I have finished, so this is the first installment of my mini-series: "on the deck".  I know, engineers really are the most creative people out there.  If you need someone to concisely state the obvious, I'm totally your girl.

This post is dedicated to the plant life that calls my new deck home, starting with this cute little corner:

To help you get your bearings, the corner is located here, by the orange arrow:

This spot is too small to hold much furniture (picture the traffic flow from the top deck to the backyard), so I decided on a grouping of potted plants instead.  To raise the pots off the deck floor, I went on the hunt for plant stands.  After some searching at Home Depot without much luck, I found three matching plant stands at Home Goods in 3 different sizes (I think they were something like $10, $15, and $20).  The only problem was, they were in a oil-rubbed white color, which looked like this on my deck:

 

You might be thinking to yourself, "umm, Amy, nice job on the photography, I can't even see those."  But that's the point.  I think they were going for an aged finish, but on my deck, they just looked dirty and sort of invisible.  A can of spray paint fixed the issue, and tied them in with the rest of the deck decor in a dark teal color (specifically, Rustoleum's Dark Turquoise):

  

I think this looks much better!  Getting three stands in varying heights adds some visual interest, but making them all the same, solid color makes them unified and not too distracting from the main feature: the plants themselves.  You could use the same idea with stands that didn't match - a can of spray paint can work wonders!

If you look the other direction on the deck, you'll see that the plant collection doesn't stop in this corner...

On the left, I have a large pot welcoming you as you make your way up the stairs from the yard.  The plant choices turned out to be a little wacky in this pot, but oh well:

Next are two hanging baskets that were a birthday gift from my parents, one of which became a home to a mama mourning dove.  She just showed up one day with her eggs, and squawked at me until the babies flew the next.  

Next is a pot of yummy herbs:

Then a pretty blue glazed pot with all sorts of things in it:

The fuchsia might be my favorite, but the variegated petunia is a close second. 

There are a couple scattered small pots in there too (really, is it possible to have too many plants?).  I plant to take some detailed notes/photos of what is in each pot, so I may share those in the future.  

You may also notice that I have a color theme going, and all of these pots are varying shades of blue, with a few white/black thrown in.  I think it helps to keep some balance (i.e. all in the same color family), especially because I wanted to mix up the plants I chose for each pot.

To sum up this post, consider gathering pots together for added visual effect, and also consider varying the height to make each pot's flowers stand out on their own.  Don't be afraid to make something work better for you, like spray painting plant stands.  Just be sure that you really want it before you lose your ability to return it. :)  When you are trying to decide what to plant where, keep in mind your light conditions (part shade for the most part on my deck), and your willingness to water pots.  All of my pots are fairly deep for their size, and I use MiracleGro Moisture Control (I think it just has extra perlite in the mix?) in these to help retain moisture.  I'll still end up watering them most nights once it gets to the hottest days of the summer.

I think that's enough plant life for one post!  Hope you are enjoying your backyard during these long days!  I know I am!

~Amy

Deck - Part II

OK friends, this one is big.  At least to me.  We can finally call our deck, at least the structure, finished.  *Sigh of relief*

In case you haven't been following along, here is what we started with:

Old, worn out, and in some cases improperly built.  Back in 2014 we tackled the "top deck", which comes off of the dining room.  You can read about that here.  Here's what it looked like by the end of 2014:

And here's where we are today:

The construction was finished up around Thanksgiving last year, and I was finally able to stain it in the late spring.  You can see that we went with the same herringbone pattern for the decking (centered at the door) as the top deck.  There are steps to the back yard, and then steps to the patio we built underneath the top deck.

I started out thinking that I wanted a full roof on this side, but after weighing all of the options, we landed on a pergola.  I hung shade cloth to help it feel a little more like a room (post coming soon!), which has become a good alternative.

I'll go through all of the projects for filling the space in later posts, but for now I just wanted to share our new space.  It looks cozy at night too:

I got really excited before I stained the deck and actually drug everything out, just to see how it would look:

It was a lot of work, and there is still some more to be done, but the deck itself is finally open for business! :)  We are so happy with how it turned out, and it really gives us options for entertaining that we just can't do inside the house.  Our house isn't big enough for a crowd, but this deck opens up so many possibilities!  Aside from entertaining potential, we eat many of our meals at our table on the top deck, and find ourselves just resting out here in the evenings.  

If you live in the local area, and are thinking about revamping your outdoor space, consider Huber Landscaping and Excavating (http://www.huberle.com/) for your project!  This is a great example of the work he does!

Stay tuned for more posts about the details!

Take it easy,

Amy

Tall Planters for the Front Porch

Hi there!

It's a rainy spring day here, so I figured I would catch up on some blog posts. I love that I can be working outside again!  I'm totally exhausted, but very happy!  Anyone with me?  If you have been looking for a new planter, but are surprised at the cost of them, I might have a solution for you!  Here's my latest home made planter box:

I have made planters a few times before, which you can see here and here, but these tall skinny ones fit perfectly on either side of our front door.  We had a few deck boards left over after building our deck last fall (post coming soon!), so I decided to make use of them and build these. My favorite part is that they are tapered; the top is wider than the bottom.

I'll write down the instructions to build a box to the size I made, but keep in mind that you can scale this for your needs.  They are made to hold a square pot inside, so I suggest buying that first and building a planter to fit.  My version is just under 11" at the top opening, so your pot can't be wider than that for the dimensions I'm using.  

Each planter took about 20' of deck board, which is 5.5" wide.  The basic process is to build squares that you will stack on top of each other.  Then, use the trim pieces to hold the squares to each other.

So, to make the top square, cut 4 pieces on a miter saw at a 2.5 degree angle, that are 12" on the longest side.  The short sides will come out to about 11.5".  Make note of the exact length for the next step.  Screw them together like so, so that each side is of equal length:

View from bottom of planter

Next, cut 4 more pieces, at a 2.5 degree angle, with the long side at the measurement you took in the previous step (about 11.5").  Measure the short side again (it will be about 11"), then screw them together.

Repeat this process until you have 5 squares, or you reach the height you want.  

Stack the squares on top of each other, and attach trim to each square using 1x2's and 1x3's for the trim.  Or, if you are really particular, cut them down so that each side will be exactly the same once you put them together.  I also braced the bottom couple squares internally, but it was probably more trouble than it was worth, and i could only go up part way to avoid interfering with the square pot.

Next, use more trim to frame out the very top. I cut these at 45 degree angles, but you could also just use square ends.

view looking inside from top

Finally, cut two pieces to use as a cleat and another piece to sit on top of the cleats.  This will give your pot something to sit on.  Screw this in at the appropriate height for your pot.

I stained by planters in the shade "gunstock" because I'll be adding some cedar window boxes to the house, and wanted these to be similar in color.

 Don't forget to fill with your favorite plants (and maybe a solar light if you always forget to turn on the front porch light like me...)!  These pansies and primrose were my choice for early spring.  I'll be planting the primrose in the flower bed and adding some more summer-y (heat tolerant) plants soon.

I made these out of scrap wood, but it looks like for 3 8' deck boards and some trim you would be out about $20.  Much better than some of the prices for large planters!

I like that since these are pressure treated lumber, they should be able to withstand the elements for a long time.  My front porch gets very intense heat in the summer, and plastic pots just get brittle and break within a season or two.  

As always, if you need any clarification on how to build these, just leave a comment!

Hope you are enjoying the spring!  

~Amy

SPRING PROJECTS!!!!!

Am I the only one out there that can't wait for spring??  I'm doing everything in my power to rush it along- wearing bright colors, buying plant seeds, making lists for outdoor chores... yeah,  I know it doesn't make a difference, but it at least it brings my brain out of hibernation!

If you are looking for a few things to get spring moving, I have a few ideas for you!  These can be done even when spring isn't really showing yet outside.

First, bring a few branches in your house and encourage them to bloom.  I might be a little behind in showing you this one, but if the spring blooming bushes in your area haven't blossomed yet (like forsythia), you can cut a few branches and bring them inside.  They should bloom in a couple days.

You can see the bulbs in the foreground, that's another way to bring in some green- stick some daffodils in a vase and put water in them just to the bottom of the bulb.  These aren't moving as fast as the forsythia, but I think they'll come around.

Now for the really fun part.  I've been dreaming about what to put in my garden this year, and had an idea when I walked past these tiles in the home improvement store: 

And, since I had my garden on my mind, I thought, 'these would make great plant markers!'  So, here's what I did with them (excuse the fact that they're marking my houseplant... I only have so much influence over spring, haha):

So, here's what I did to make them:

Step 1: Paint the edges of the tiles.  The edges aren't meant to be seen, so they're a little ugly.  I dressed them up with some gold craft paint that was good on tile.

Step 2: Attach a stake to the back.  I used a cut up hanger and outdoor caulk to attach it.  There may be a better adhesive for the stake, like an epoxy, but I'll let you know how the caulk holds up.

Once that's dry, you just need to write your plant names!  I used a paint marker to do this.

Like the markers, but don't need them for a garden?  How about using them for place markers for a party table?  I would suggest using a washable or dry erase marker for this one, so that they can be reused:

Any other spring fans out there?  Anyone else have some fun projects to celebrate the season?  I might have a few more in me... stay tuned!

Hope you all have a good week!

~Amy

That Time We Built a Block Wall

Today I'm sharing one of the bigger projects that we have completed lately.  It's just part of the work that we have been doing to the front yard, but this is a big part of the overall plan.  This week, we installed a retaining wall to help with a slope in our front yard.  I'll also share the border I installed a few weeks ago in a second flower bed.

First, let me share a before picture of our front yard:

You might be able to tell that our driveway has a major slope toward the house, and the flowerbed slopes toward the driveway.  This is a problem when it rains because it tends to send all of the water heading for the garage door.  No good.

You'll have to excuse my lack of in-progress pictures, but there are plenty of tutorials online for how to install a block border/wall.  It involves digging a trench for a stone base, then sand for leveling, then lots of stacking/checking level as you go.  Here's the one mid-way photo:

The after photos:

First, here is the small border that I put in a few weeks ago:

 

If you are wondering why the rhododendron is sitting outside of the flower bed- I do plan to remove it, but I'm waiting until later in the year.  A few reasons for this: the plants I planted in the bed are really small, and I didn't want the house to look totally bare, the rhododendron was in bloom when I finished and it looked beautiful, and a robin had made a home out of it.  So, that part will come later.

  

Here's the final project (minus a little bit of mulch if you are really observant):

If you look really closely at the light above our front door, you might be able to notice our other robin's nest.  She's been squawking at us all spring every time we leave the house, but we finally got a peek at the babies this week:

  

Just for fun, here's the oldest picture I could find of the front of our house:

And here's the current:

You'll have to use your imagination a little bit- our grass is not in great shape because of all of the work we have done, but overall the front yard is a lot less overgrown.  Once our plants recover from being transplanted in June (not ideal), it will start to look a little better too.

A few tips for building something similar:

- If you are going higher than a couple feet, consider hiring a pro.  The weight of the soil that the wall is holding back is tremendous once you get above a couple feet, so you'll want to make sure it's right.  Also, if you are building a wall as opposed to a border, check to see if your township requires a permit.

- You'll need a crushed stone base and sand for leveling.  Look into buying these in bulk- even if you would need to have it delivered, you may still save a lot of money over buying the bagged stuff.  For example, in our area, bagged stone was about $4 a bag, while a half ton was less than $20.  Since this project took about a ton of stone, it made a huge difference to buy in bulk.

- If you are able to haul the supplies yourself, make sure you check the payload rating of your truck/trailer.  A pallet of the blocks like we bought weighs about 3000 lbs.

- Do this in the fall if you can- especially if you are planning to plant bulbs for the spring.  I had to dig up a lot of the plants to fill back in with dirt, and June is not really the best time to do it.  My perennials will not look great this year, but next year they should come back just fine.

I hope to check in soon with a few more summery updates!

~Amy