outdoor living Archives - Page 2 of 3

Tuesday

18

October 2016

Gardening: Preparing Roses for Winter

Written by H, Posted in Gardening

If you’ve been following along on the blog, you know that earlier this summer, Wes and I planted four different roses bushes in our front garden. Our roses this year have been a huge success, and now we’re getting ready for our first winter with these beautiful bushes!

Although we’re well into fall, our roses are still producing new blooms, and we want to make sure the roses are protected throughout the winter months.

Here are some helpful tips if you’ve got rose bushes of your own and are preparing roses for winter:

1. Keep roses watered. Fall usually brings with it plenty of rain (depending where you live), however it’s a good idea to continue to water your rose bushes and keep them hydrated. You can continue to water even after the first frost, but stop before the ground freezes for the season.

2. Stop cutting the roses. Yes, it may be tempting, especially if you’re still seeing new growth, but in order to properly prepare roses for winter, you should stop cutting back your roses in early to mid-fall. This will allow the roses to form rose hips (rose seed pods). Done right, you can actually collect the seed pods to plant more roses for next season.

3. Stop fertilizing roses before the first frost. Like watering, fertilizer is an essential tool for healthy roses during the warmer months, however you should stop fertilizing before the first frost. This will prevent growth from spreading too long into the fall season, and will encourage the roses to prepare for winter.

4. Protect the base of the rose bush. Cover the base of your rose bush with soil or mulch, to cover above the bud union. You’ll still have the stems (or canes) of the roses sticking out. Also take this opportunity to pull off any old leaves from the roses (leaves can contain disease, as you may have seen with one of our rose bushes this year). Rather than just covering the base of the rose bush, some people actually form a base (of mesh or plastic or another material) and fill it with soil or mulch.

5. Tie the stems (canes) together with string. Winter can be windy (and snowy!) so hold your rose bush together by tying the canes together with spring, and then in the spring cut back the old stems to promote new growth.

Tuesday

4

October 2016

Garden Stone Border

Written by H, Posted in Gardening

Our yard has been buzzing with activity this season; I’m thankful to be married to a man who is so gifted. Wes has spent several hours over the spring and summer season complementing our garden with three dry lay stone benches (you can see the stories here).

After the completion of our stone benches, Wes started on our garden stone border. Previously, we had a single row of large rocks edging our flower beds. We thought it would look beautiful to tie in the strength of the dry lay stone benches off the patio, and bring them all around the flower bed, creating a strong stone border to showcase our garden.

After pulling the stones that were originally edging the garden, Wes stationed some stakes at either end of the garden as well as the corner, and strung a line around the perimeter of the flower bed. He also levelled the line so it was even all around. This line acted as a guide as Wes built the border, to provide consistency in both height and straightness.

Another important thing to keep in mind if you’re looking to create your own garden stone border, is how you disperse the large stones throughout the border. Wes was careful to keep things consistent so that all the large stones were not bunched in one area, but rather dispersed evenly throughout the garden wall. As you can see from the photo above, the start of the garden stone border blends well with the dry lay patio bench, and is about half the height of the bench.

It’s important to keep colour in mind if you’re building a stone garden border (or a stone wall of any kind, for that matter). Sometimes the colour of the stone is more important than the size or shape. Notice in the photos above, how Wes evenly distributed stone colours, size, and shape to achieve a uniform, attractive edge. The photos don’t really do it justice, but this wall is incredibly constructed, and has an even, flat top and straight lines.

Wes did quite a bit of working and re-working to consider where the stones would best fit. Not only is he extremely gifted, but patient as well! The end result is a classic, eye-catching stone garden border that really highlights our flower beds.

Tuesday

27

September 2016

Hope’s How-To: Build a Dry Lay Stone Bench, Part 2

Written by H, Posted in Gardening, Hope's How-To

As you’ve read previously, Wes has completed two dry lay stone bench projects in our yard. In August, he started working on a third, just off our patio, and we’re finally getting around to posting more photos of the whole process. The photo above shows the dry lay bench when the yard-facing end was complete. Wes notes that if you’re building your own dry lay stone bench, it’s important to consider that each layer of the bench should be completed at the same time for structural strength.

This is a photo from our patio vantage point, looking at the completed dry lay bench, just before Wes poured the concrete cap. Wes was very careful to maintain the angle of the bench, taking into consideration which way we want the water to run off the bench (away from our home and patio). During the building of the bench and pouring of the concrete cap, our patio stone was covered to prevent any staining or damage.

In preparation for pouring the concrete cap, Wes utilized some old wire from a sign in substitution for rebar and to reinforce the strength of the concrete cap. We debated whether we actually wanted to pour a cap on this bench, or just leave it as an entirely natural lay, and in the end we opted to pour a cap for a couple of reasons: 1. So the look of our patio would be symmetrical, and 2. A poured concrete cap = extra outdoor seating for entertaining in the summer months!

It required a lot of patience to build the form for the concrete. Wes ensured the run off angles were accurate by using a level every step of the way. He also used string to pull in the plexiglass side of the form to create the curved side of the concrete cap. He made several adjustments along the way as setting up the form was tedious work.

As you can see from the photo above, Wes used plexiglass for the one side of the form as we wanted to create a curved side that runs parallel with the natural shape of our patio stone. If you’re planning a project like this on your own property, we’d recommend ensuring that for your concrete cap you use the right ratio of water to cement. Add the water slowly to your mix. After the concrete cap was poured, Wes used a broom to create the brushed effect in the centre of the concrete, and used an edger to create the finished border.

Stay tuned for more pics of the finished product and our patio!

Thursday

22

September 2016

5 Fall Container Gardening Ideas for Your Patio

Written by H, Posted in Gardening

The transition from Summer to Fall can be difficult to navigate for even the most advanced gardeners, and it seems like at this time every fall season we find it easier to purchase pre-made containers filled with fall blooms or even just basic potted mums.

In looking for some autumn garden inspiration, I came across some beautiful and unique fall container gardens that would suit our home — especially while we’re fortunate enough to be experiencing some warmer temperatures! Take a look at my latest gardening pins over on my Pinterest, and check out these five fall container gardening ideas for your own patio!

1. Not your traditional fall planter. Featuring all the deep shades of autumn, this fall container garden is both unexpected and absolutely lovely. Filled with Purple Pixie® Loropetalum, ‘Lemon Lime’ Nandina,, ‘Fireworks’ Pennisetum, and ‘Alabama Sunset’ Coleus, this planter is one that would get compliments at any door.

img src southernlivingplants

2. Tall and slender. This unique container doesn’t take up a whole lot of horizontal room, which I love — ideally suited for smaller patio areas or apartment living. While most people view yellow blooms (pictured below is thunbergia ‘Susie Orange with Eye’) as a sure sign of spring, the warm hue works well and stands out against the rest of the darker plants like pennisetum glaucum ‘Purpple Majesty’ (ornamental millet), iresine ‘Purple Lady’, alternanthera ‘Purple Knight’.

img src gardendesign.com

3. Warming up wicker. While most of us look to Fall as the season for putting away patio furniture, if you’ve got a wicker side table, try using it as a stand for your fall container gardening! While potato vine wouldn’t thrive in our climate, homes in the south could certainly enjoy a vibrant fall container filled with the cascading vine, croton, and large gal mums.

img src southernliving

4. Colourful kale and cabbage. Definitely not comes to mind when I think fall container gardening, ornamental cabbage (brassica hybrid) and kale are a very interesting way to fill a planter for fall! Both hearty and eye-catching, you can usually find ornamental cabbage and kale in a variety of shapes, colours, and sizes. Add some common ivy and you’ve got a beautiful fall container.

img src OMGLifestyleBlog

5. Grasses and mums. Ah, the traditional fall planter. When it comes to fall container gardening, you really can’t go wrong with a variety of grasses and fall mums. Try incorporating grasses in a variety of heights, colours, and texture into your fall planter, and complement with brightly-coloured mums. The beauty of using grasses in your outdoor autumn decorating is that grasses quite often last right into the winter season.

img src thegardenglove

6. Dark and moody. If you’re not a fan of colour and prefer to keep your outdoor decorating low-key, this striking fall foliage planter may be a combination that could work for you. I love the monotone mood of purple millet, black mondo grass, and sweet potato vine.

img src gardenista

If you’re looking for more fall gardening inspiration, be sure to follow along on my Pinterest!

Tuesday

20

September 2016

Oscar Peterson Roses

Written by H, Posted in Gardening

Earlier this Summer, I got an amazing deal on some roses that were listed as clearance at a local store. Marked down to less than half price, I couldn’t resist purchasing a bush of Oscar Peterson roses, part of the Canadian Artists series. It wasn’t necessarily the quality and good condition of the rose bush that sold me, it was more the fact that these were Oscar Peterson roses! (If you know Wes and I, you know our obsession with all things jazz music). Naturally, the Oscar Peterson roses seemed like they’d be a perfect fit for our front garden.

As you can see from the photo above, our rose bush was in need of some tender love and care. We planted it as is, and trimmed off the dead blooms, and we also fertilized. Not discouraged, I thought it might help new growth if we trimmed the entire rose bush back. Sure enough, the plant grew back, however after about one month there were still no blooms.

It looked good and appeared healthy, however nearer the end of August, our Oscar Peterson rose bush still had no blooms. It could have been related to the fact that we experienced a cooler period in the weather, or the fact that we trimmed back the entire rose bush. That being said, last week, after two months of no blooms, our Oscar Peterson rose bush finally produced the most beautiful, delicate blooms!

Aren’t they absolutely lovely? We are loving these roses. As a mature flower, the Oscar Peterson rose features vivid white petals and a yellow stamen. The two roses pictured above were our first two blooms of the season, followed by two additional blooms that haven’t quite opened.

As you can see, the blooms above are the roses before they’ve fully bloomed. The Oscar Peterson rose variety begins its life as a very soft yellow rose, and as it opens becomes a bright white. We’re thinking the two yellow blooms could be due to the cooler weather we experienced last week, and are looking forward to later this week when the roses totally open up.

The unfortunate thing about our Oscar Peterson roses is that since we’ve trimmed the bush back, the plant regrew and appeared healthy, however once the roses started blooming, we noted the leaves have taken on a spotted appearance, where the skin of the leaves actually takes on a transparent appearance. [#Gardenchat friends, any advice here would be appreciated.]

Wes and I are looking forward to adding additional roses from the Canadian Artists Roses Consortium to our garden next year. If you’re not familiar with Canadian Artist roses, more than 1,000 original hybrids were made in the development of this series. 35 of these made the final selection list, and in 2007, two varieties (the Felix LeClerc rose and the Emily Carr rose) were introduced; in 2012, the Bill Reid rose was introduced; in 2014, the Campfire rose (named in honour of Group of Seven artist Tom Thomson) was introduced; and this year, in 2016, the Oscar Peterson rose was introduced.

If you’re looking for a unique flower for your garden, we would definitely recommend checking out the Canadian Artist rose series. Each bloom is beautiful, a different colour, and tells a story you can share in your garden for years to come. For more information, visit the Canadian Artists Roses website.

“In the plant world, none is more revered than the elegant rose, a symbol of true love for millennia, a flower of singular beauty with no equals.”

Thursday

1

September 2016

3 Hostas to Add to Your Garden

Written by H, Posted in Gardening

I’m a huge fan of low maintenance plants, so it’s no surprise that hostas are one of my favourite perennials. Requiring little maintenance, hostas can grow just about anywhere, and besides watering, they’re some of the most low maintenance plants for your garden. If you’re looking for some hostas to plant in your garden, check out my Hosta Pinterest board for some inspiration!

Here are 3 hosta varieties to add to your garden that will definitely stand out:

1. White Feather Hosta. White feather hosts plants are characterized by their large, pure white leaves that emerge in late spring/early summer. Throughout the summer, you may notice green streaks developing on the foliage, and lavender flowers.

img src jparker

2. Inniswood Hosta. What I love about the Inniswood hosta variety is the distinct texture on the leaves. While the colour of this hosta is similar to other varieties, the texture on the leaves gives almost a metallic look to the plant.

img src sunnysidegarden

3. Canadian Blue hosta. The Canadian Blue hosta has to be one of the most different hosta varieties that I’ve ever seen. I love how the steely blue contrasts against the green in the rest of this garden. What a beautiful plant!

img src tradera

For more pictures of hosta plants and lots of gardening inspiration, follow me on Pinterest!

Tuesday

30

August 2016

Hope’s How-To: Build a Dry Lay Stone Bench

Written by H, Posted in Gardening, Hope's How-To

We’ve had several compliments and questions regarding Wes’s masonry style when it comes to the dry lay stone benches he has been creating in our yard. He’s working on the third bench now to round out the project, and I can’t wait until it’s complete!

The above photo is before things really got started on the dry lay stone bench. Previously, we had a pile of large stones between the garden and slab stone step off our patio. To get the ground ready, Wes raked and levelled out the earth, and put down some gravel.

If you’re looking to create a DIY dry lay stone bench of your own, you will want to choose the stones for your bench based on their function in the wall system. In the above photo, you can see how Wes has carefully selected larger anchor stones for around the border of the stone bench, and used smaller, filler stones for the centre of the bench.

Choose a stone according to its density. For example, if your DIY bench requires custom stone cutting, ala the photo above, you’ll want to choose limestone to work with it because it cuts more easily than other rock varieties. As you can see above, Wes is cutting a piece of limestone against a blue metamorphic rock (which is extremely dense and does not break easily).

Wes highly recommends laying stones out so you can see them before you get started with your stone bench project. Having a full view of the rocks available for your DIY will greatly assist you as you compose your stone bench. This practice also allows greater ease in experimenting with which stones will work best for the space in which you’re building.

For more advice and photos on how to build your own dry lay stone bench, check out our other completed DIY stone bench projects here, here, and here.

Thursday

25

August 2016

5 Shade Gardens to inspire your yard

Written by H, Posted in Gardening

I love anything green in the garden; the more foliage the better! Shade gardens are a great place to showcase your love for green. Wes and I love the cedars and hostas in our yard, and we’re always looking for more garden inspiration. Cue this curation of shade gardens from my Outdoor Living board on Pinterest!

Here are 5 shade gardens for your yard:

1. All the perennials. This shade garden features several different perennials, including hosta varieties, a Brunnera, a Heuchera, and a Pulmonaria. There are a few pops of colour, and even a wrought-iron accent for climbing plants. The garden border is clean and simple.

img src threedogsinagarden

2. Natural stones and hostas. I love a garden with some natural stone work throughout. Featuring hostas, ferns, and other green leafy vegetation, this shade garden will grow with time. It’s a rewarding experience when you watch your plants mature from the first season you plant them. Over time, hostas will spread and expand (you may even look at dividing them and transplanting after a few seasons).

img src diyandcrafts magazine

3. A versatile garden and stone pathway. The stone pathway in this patio scene is lovely! Also lovely? The versatility in this shade garden. A great way to create interest is by potting your plants — small shrubs, hostas, even boxwood, — do well in urns or pots, and they allow you to move them throughout your garden.

img src havetid.blogspot

4. A proper border. I love a good stone border along the garden. An established border around a garden helps keep everything in its place, and actually draws the eye in to the contents of the garden. This garden has several varieties of hostas, as well as some hydrangea, and some cement urns. Talk about a sanctuary for small animals and birds!

img src indulgy

5. Backyard oasis. My Mum and Dad’s back shade garden has to be one of my most favourite places around. Their garden is carefully curated, and is a wonderful place to relax throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall months. Complemented by a mature cedar hedge, emerald cedars, and some well-manicured boxwoods, Mum and Dad’s garden features several varieties of hostas, ferns, hydrangea, and a beautiful lilac bush.

img src HopeReflected

For more inspiration, be sure to follow along on my Pinterest for lots of gardening and outdoor living ideas!

Tuesday

23

August 2016

Roses: Rosa Hybrid Ten-Ten Hybrid Tea Rose

Written by H, Posted in Gardening

It’s no secret that Wes and I are big fans of roses. This Summer, we picked out three rose varieties to plant in our garden. I’ve already shared with you about our white Bolero Floribunda roses and our Singin’ in the Rain Floribunda roses, and today we’re talking about our Ten-Ten hybrid tea roses.

Initially, we picked out the best looking rose bushes we could find, meaning, the rose bushes were showing promise of new growth, and the leaves looked healthy. We planted the bushes the day we purchased them, making sure to pack the plant down with our feet and give it a good watering after establishing it in its new home. We chose our front garden as it gets 6+ hours of sunlight each day (rose bushes require full sun), and we planted each of our three rose plants in an area where the moisture from watering would hold (each is stationed near a large stone).

One of the things to look for when you’re shopping for garden plants is new growth. Our Ten-Ten hybrid tea roses had one partial bloom and several buds (as pictured above).

As you can see, without any fertilization at all, our red tea roses produced several large, beautiful blooms. What you can also see in the photo above is that we did run into a minor setback with saw fly larvae. To solve this problem, Wes killed all the worms (you can also buy plant soap for a bath, or just use some Dawn soap diluted with water). We trimmed back the bushes, and fertilized, and then we were back on track.

Characterized by large, lovely blooms, hybrid tea roses are apparently the oldest group classified as a modern garden rose. There are many different varieties, however we’re loving these Canadian grown red beauties. They add a beautiful pop of colour to our front garden.

Before fertilizing your roses, I’d highly recommend trimming back the plant. After the first of our ten-ten hybrid tea roses had bloomed, we trimmed back the entire rose bush, used Miracle Gro, and the above photo is the result after a couple of weeks. The roses grow back stronger, with longer stems, and with larger blooms (also several more blooms than when we planted the rose bush initially).

Tuesday

16

August 2016

Dry Lay Stone Bench, Patio Edition, Part 1

Written by H, Posted in Gardening

If you’ve been following along, earlier this Spring, Wes built the most beautiful DIY dry lay stone bench by one of the large trees in our yard. You can see the progress here and here, and now, he’s working on another stone bench, this time by our patio.

When he suggested the idea, I was all for it. Wes and I both love the old European, timeless feel of a dry lay stacked stone bench. There’s something so captivating about the ancient art of dry laying stones. Wes has a real talent in this area, and I can’t wait to show you the finished product.

Since we already had a pile of stones by the patio, Wes took some time to reconsolidate the collection according to their shape (and use) and prepare the foundation. He kept the larger, more flat rocks on the bottom to support the overall bench (like a float).

The art of dry lay stone stacking involves using smaller wedge-shaped (pins) stones to pin up the larger boulders. If you’re planning to try a DIY project like this in your own yard, best practice is to always prep your foundation first (level out dirt, add smaller gravel, pebbles, and then test which stones will work best in the system).

A good rule of thumb to remember when building a dry lay stone bench is that every rock or stone has its place. In the photo above, to the right of Wes’s hand, is a long stone called a through. Throughs stabilize the wall by tying the exterior weight to the interior weight of the stone system. (The longer the better.)

When he’s building a dry lay stone structure, Wes puts emphasis on the positive slope of the stones leaning in to one another towards the centre of the wall (or in this case, bench). This way, the bench or wall is always leaning into itself. Walls created from a dry lay or “drystone” lay have stood for hundreds of years in Europe and are still standing today. You just require the right foundation on which to build.

How you complete your DIY dry lay stone wall or bench is personal preference. Because of the location of proximity to the sitting area on our patio, we thought it wise to complete our dry stack stone bench with a cement cap. Bonus: Extra seating when company comes over! If you are planning to pour a concrete cap, be sure to “hoard” materials between the top stones on your wall that are round. This will prevent any concrete from running and will preserve a clean edge for your cap.

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outdoor living Archive

18

Gardening: Preparing Roses for Winter

4

Garden Stone Border

27

Hope’s How-To: Build a Dry Lay Stone Bench, Part 2

22

5 Fall Container Gardening Ideas for Your Patio

20

Oscar Peterson Roses

1

3 Hostas to Add to Your Garden

30

Hope’s How-To: Build a Dry Lay Stone Bench

25

5 Shade Gardens to inspire your yard

23

Roses: Rosa Hybrid Ten-Ten Hybrid Tea Rose

16

Dry Lay Stone Bench, Patio Edition, Part 1

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