Slugs and Snails
19.07.2023 - 03:59 / hometalk.com
Check out the longer version of this video on our YouTube channel with charts to help you choose just the right colors from 5 different brands of chalk paint. The longer video is here: Stephie McCarthy Bark Texture made with Caulk
Here's how we used this same technique to make RealisticRust with Ash Paint.
We think you'll love this easy craft and the look of rustic bark in your garden! We sure do!
We created this realistic bark texture using brown DAP caulk and an ordinary plastic fork. This new craft is easy to do and waterproof in the garden.
Here’s what our flower boxes looked like before. Plain, bland, and serviceable, but about to become rustically amazing. If you are starting with new boxes, sand them lightly first. Just a few scratches will help the caulk hold to the surface. Our boxes were old, they were scratched plenty already.
We painted the bark texture with chalk paint dusted with wood ashes from our stove. Yes wood ashes! This solidified the surface and made the bark look even more real. You can use any wood, charcoal, or paper ash. If you don't have a fireplace, stove, or fire pit, check campgrounds for bonfire and BBQ pits. You'll only need about 3/4 a cup for 3 boxes.
Here’s the brand of caulk we used. We think any good brown caulk would work including the one in the link below. We found our Dynaflex Ultra Brown at HomeDepot. To apply the caulk, we used a caulk gun and made long wiggly stripes to create a grain. Then we spread it a bit with a putty knife.
We scratched texture into the caulk with an ordinary plastic fork. The video will show you how, and the longer version on our YouTube channel has lots more details too. The link is at the top of this post.
You can layer the bark texture dramatically because
Ulex europaeus better known as Gorse, furze, furse or whin is a very prickly shrub of the pea family. Western gorse Ulex gallii is frequent in the western side of Britain and is relatively low growing yet robust. Dwarf gorse or Ulex minor is a low growing, sprawling shrub.
For something a bit different this book on botanic art covers some of the unusual colours from black flowers, plants and seaweed like strange green, blue and puce pink.
1. Sunflowers. One of the most rewarding plants to grow from seed is the sunflower. You can sow seed in March – May. April is a great time. For best results. Try sowing seed in 3 inch pots. Protect from slugs and keep well watered. After a few weeks the seedlings can be planted out. Sunflowers will need staking. But part of the fun is seeing them grow so rapidly. – Growing Sunflowers
Rows of tall Delphinium ‘Strawberry Fair’ in Polly Nicholson's Wiltshire garden
The Russia-Ukraine grain deal that has been critical to keeping global food prices stable and preventing famine is currently in tatters. On July 17, 2023, Russia said it was pulling out of the year-old deal, which allowed shipments of grains and other foodstuffs to travel past the Russian naval blockade in the Black Sea. And to make matters worse, over the next two days Russia bombed the Ukrainian grain port of Odesa, destroying over 60,000 tons of grain.
Seeds that are sown in summer can either be planted out in winter as seasonal bedding (pansies), or stored over winter in a greenhouse, ready to plant out the following spring. From annuals to biennials and perennials, sowing seeds is one of the cheapest ways to grow your favourite seasonal blooms and plants. Here are just a few examples of flower seeds to sow in summer. Cornflowers — Cornflowers are attractive wildflowers that are easy to grow and even easier on the eye. They can be sown indoors over winter, ready to plant out in spring — or sown directly outdoors in early summer for a bout of blooms.
Start a new holiday tradition with your family this year by making orange pomander balls. They can be hung on your Christmas tree as ornaments, attached to garlands, or used in a holiday centerpiece with live greenery. These delicious-smelling, clove-studded oranges will fill your home with a festive spicy fragrance.
Although it is possible to get an accurate reading of soil texture in a lab, it can be expensive and time consuming. That’s why it’s a good idea to learn to estimate soil texture accurately by feel.
Lee’s tips for growing pawpaw or American persimmon couldn’t make it sound more appealing, or simple:“Plant it, water it, and keep weeds and deer away for a couple of years, and then do nothing,” he says. No fancy pruning (like those apples crave), no particular pests–and a big, juicy harvest. More details on how to choose which variety to grow are included in the highlights from the April 29, 2013 edition of my public-radio show and podcast, transcribed below. To hear the entire interview, use the streaming player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).growing ame
Andrew, who is now assistant director of the Chicago Botanic Garden, is past president of Magnolia Society International’s board of directors, and remains a member of the society’s board. In his tenure over 20 years as curator at Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, Andrew built the magnolia collection from about 50 to more than 200 cultivars. That’s a lot of magnolias.Now Andrew Bunting is author of a book on the queen of flowering trees, called “The Plant Lover’s Guide to Magnolias,” just out from Timber Press as part of an ongoing series on various distinctive genera of plants.We talked magnolias on my public-radio show and podcast. Read along while you listen in to the April 25, 2016 edition of the podcast using the player below (or at this link)–and even learn how to train a magnolia or any w
EXPLODING Eremurus, why vulnerability is good for us, and the answer to why bird poop is white—all, and more, in the latest collections of links I’ve loved lately while staring into my computer screen (which I alternately do between long gazes out the window). Five links worth exploring: