photography

(Don’t) Blame It On the Rain

/ The Bent Trowel / Leave a comment

wp-1494543434376.jpgRain, rain, and more rain! My part of the world has seen its share of water lately! As we know, rain can  be damaging, destructive, and downright deadly. Despite all of this, there is an upside to rain and your garden, particularly in the spring time, right before the growing season ramps up!

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This spring deluge of water can be helpful to you in garden prep!

Now, it’s obvious the main reason why rain is crucial–it aids in growth. But there are a few other reasons that you want to LOVE gardening right after a good bout of rain:

  • It’s a GREAT time to pull weeds and/or invasive plants. You can successfully pull the whole weed/plant, root and all, right after a good gully washer.

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  • Making new garden beds. Digging into the earth trying to make new garden beds is hard enough —  do yourself a favor and dig into the ground after some serious precipitation, and that will make a hard job less hard.
  • Sinking your hands in the earth. Is there anything you can do to get closer to nature than getting dirt under your nails when it’s at its most workable and pliable? I think not.

So, even though the rain drives us crazy as gardeners, because we are stuck inside, just remember how much nicer it will be to go outside and work the soil with little effort and less headaches!

2016: A Look Back in the Garden

/ The Bent Trowel / 2 Comments

It’s hard to believe this is the last day of 2016. What a year! Here’s hoping we have a more peaceful, content 2017.

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My bayberry candles are lit and I’m ready for a happy 2017!

I want to thank all of my readers for sticking with me through this year. I have been trying to change things up, but at the same time, I didn’t post as much as years before. This is something I am going to actively improve in the new year. Posting more, even if it’s something small, and it doesn’t have to be as uniform as I have been trying to make them in the past.

Now, back to the garden…

This was the first year my husband and I experimented with tomatoes! We had a great crop! We also had a few small pumpkins and gourds from the seeds of our Halloween pumpkins the year before! We have since expanded this bed and I plan to start shopping for more veggies to plant this year!

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This past year was the first time I really enjoyed Spring. I loved all the cherry and apple blossoms on the trees, and I planted more unique bulbs that truly made me happy.

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This hair allium was the showstopper of my back of the garage flower bed. I was so happy they came up!

I also took a big interest in window boxes. For those of you who can actually have window boxes, please try having one. I love how they make your house look so homey and quaint!

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Another highlight– seed collecting. I had never taken the time to do this before. It was actually very enjoyable, and I found a new appreciation for the beauty and uniqueness of seed pods. They are all different– some you wouldn’t even think were seeds!

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This is a Giant Hibiscus seed pod. I think it’s beautiful, and gave these away as Christmas presents!

So? What on the schedule for 2017? I am tackling projects I have wanted to get started on for the past few years, but something else always took priority.

Here’s what’s on my list for 2017, and you can hold me to it! 

  • Pergola project –I am going to make sure my pergola project gets under way. I have been dreaming of one of these for about 3 years now, but we have always had to set it aside for something else. Sometimes you just have to make it happen!
  • Window boxes— I am going to add a few more window boxes to my little house. I really LOVE how they add so much character. My dream would be to have one at every window, but I have to get approval from the hubs, first!
  • The Veggie Garden— we are expanding! If you follow my instagram account, I posted a picture of how I extended the bed on the side of the garage to accommodate more veggies– my hubby wants it bigger, so we will be expanding the bed even more, which means more veggies in the garden!!
  • Garden Appreciation — I am going to start touring more and spotlighting more great gardens this year. So many people have so many great gardens, I think their designs should be shared!

I want to wish everyone a great 2017– enjoy every moment and be happy with everything you have. You wouldn’t believe how much more beautiful life will be!

 

 

 

 

Great Garden Reads

/ The Bent Trowel / Leave a comment

Andddd we are back up and running! I had a little computer situation– yea, almost had to buy another one if it weren’t for my husband who knows how to play around with them and get them working again! Thank goodness all is well (for now), and I can get back to blogging!

In between the computer issues and being sicker than I have been in YEARS– I got walloped this time– I had to sit back and rest as much as I could. If you know me, I am a reader– books, magazines, anything. But I LOVE magazines. Do you ever find yourself gravitating towards the magazine aisle of any grocery store, drug store, or book store? Yep, that’s me, too! I subscribe to them as well as buy them in the stores.

My tastes have changed over the years. I went from Seventeen magazine as a teenager to every fitness magazine under the sun for a while, and then there was Rolling Stone magazine, several outdoor magazines, The New Yorker…  and now garden magazines!

Garden and Decor magazines can be great inspiration. Please do not be intimidated by the absolutely gorgeous homes and gardens these periodicals display. The intent of any magazine is to give you ideas for your own home and garden, not to make you feel bad because you don’t have a 100+ acre spread with guest house and sprawling gardens. I personally love the photography and articles in a lot of these periodicals.

BUT, I will admit I am picky. I like high quality, worth-my-money reads. Because we all know magazines can be expensive. Some of the ones I like are almost 10 bucks a pop!

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Here is a pile of magazines and a book that I am loving right now!

Here are a few magazines (and a book) that I think are fantastic reads:

Gardenista– this book was published in October, and a very easy, yet informative read on making your backyard a getaway. They not only show you examples of great garden ideas, but also point out great garden tools/gear, give you a directory to good landscapers/designers, and much more. This should be something on your Christmas list!

American Magazines:

  • Garden Design — (Not pictured!! My copy was hiding on me!!) Fantastic publication. This was the first magazine I actually subscribed to immediately when I really started getting into gardening. Photography is amazing, and they give you an in depth look on designing your garden to the way that fits your home and life.
  • Fine Gardening- This magazine is, in my opinion, the best gardening periodical in America. It is so informative– picks out plants that are best for your region of the country, and they go in depth with a lot of different aspects of gardening that you do not normal see.
  • Elle Decor — This is not exactly a garden magazine, but for interior design. However, I like this magazine’s idea of using different flowers and plants in your living space. And it will do a feature every now and then on a great garden. Besides, I love design and I am constantly changing my little house around!

British Magazines:

By far, British gardening magazines are my favorite. Europeans take their gardening seriously, and it shows in the pages of some great periodicals. Gardening is a way of life for them, rather than just a novel hobby. The articles you read about can be everything from making your own butter to scything (yes, scything!). Here are a few titles to check out some time:

  • Gardens Illustrated — if you want a magazine worth your money, you will not be disappointed with this one. Great photography, great plant and flower pics, great features. Must read.
  • Country Living-– The British edition of this magazine is wonderful. It is full of some of the best feature writing on classic country living. The gardening features are informative and I could read this over and over!
  • Elle Decoration — British version of Elle Decor and another great read on inspiring design and gardening. I love that I can get two of my favorite subjects in one read!
  • House and Garden — Love this magazine for its great spreads on fantastic gardens, along with interior design. Another magazine that I get two subjects in one!

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What are some of your favorite reads?

A Natural Pause November 6 2016

/ The Bent Trowel / 4 Comments

The past few weeks have been very productive around here! Painting, yard work and buttoning up the little things before the snow starts flying next week! This weekend was a treat, because I took a break from doing any major house work and got outside while the weather was nice! A quick trip down to my parents house, along with the usual hike around the woods always makes me happy! Those of you who follow me on Instagram have already seen this photo, but I couldn’t help myself– I had to post it as a “Natural Pause” because I was pretty happy with how it turned out! Enjoy!

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It’s “Sow” Beautiful!

/ The Bent Trowel / 1 Comment

One day until Halloween! I hope everyone is having a spooktacular holiday!! I decided to actually dress up the exterior of our home for Halloween this year. I have kind of neglected full-on Halloween decorating the past years and just kept my fall display up. Since my daughter was really getting into it this year, I figured I would make it fun. So, as I have skeletons coming out of my window boxes!

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Besides getting creative with decor, I have been fortunate to have 70 degrees temps for pretty much the whole fall. We have had significant rain in Western New York (and we are still considered in a drought!) this fall as well, and that has left the soil very easy to work with.

As I had wrote in my garden journal, I wanted to work on the front of my yard. For the past 8 years, I have been so busy landscaping the back yard (because it was a disaster– NOTHING was there but a sandy outline of a once-upon-a-time pool ), that all I have done is keep the flower beds in tact out front. Well, that has changed! I have done my homework, and I am very happy with the initial stage!

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I started digging that nice, soft soil and I am going to plant directly in front of the hedgerow. There is SO much potential there, and I am finally going to tap into it! The front yard is a dry shade, but after further review, every part of the tiny place gets SOME sun, so I started with some full sun/part shade spring bulbs, and then, as I did out back, it will grow from there, I know!!

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This pack of 40 bulbs cost $20. It is a very cheap way to add a little color to your landscape!

I love daffodils, and this variety pack caught my eye. I have to be careful of what I plant because of my deer problem.

I had a little helper yesterday with my bulb planting. After the bulbs were planted, I manually took the big chunks of dirt I dug up and loosened them to cover all of my bulbs. It was a lot of work, but it did the job. Now, I just have to hope that the squirrels won’t get my bulbs…

I am actually looking forward to next spring even more so to see what my little daffodils will do! I figure I will use the bulbs as a bench mark, and then design from there.

Overall, this fall has been full of seed collecting and bulb planting, as usual. Not as much as last year, but definitely making an improvement on the front yard. It’s a start!

That’s exactly what it is, a start. Everybody deserves a “start”. Gardening takes years, and lots of work, but SO worth it. Make your little part of the world yours by investing in the future of your home.

All the little things you do for your landscape will be “sow” beautiful. I promise!

 

Seeds n’ Things

/ The Bent Trowel / 4 Comments

Happy fall! I hope everyone had a wonderful summer– which honestly, it still feels like here in Western New York. The weather has been beautiful– however, maybe too much. It has been so warm here that my spring bulbs are starting to sprout again! I fear that we won’t have such a colorful fall like last year because it has been so dry and warm this past summer.

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Never the less, I am not wasting another minute inside, it’s time to get along with my fall garden preparation tasks. A couple of years ago, I wrote a step by step on how to plant bulbs in the fall. I know a lot of people really don’t know how to (I know I sure didn’t at one time), so I wanted to give a little tutorial on how to plant them.

Well, now I am learning how to preserve seeds more. I have done this a little bit in the past, but this year, I have found great joy in harvesting seeds. Every plant has its own unique seed pod.

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The seeds of the hollyhock are slim, wafer-like discs.

Here are a few tips when collecting seeds:

  • Make sure the seeds pods are completely dry when you harvest them.
  • When storing seeds, never place them in plastic bags. Use paper seed packets or bags to allow the seeds to breathe.
  • Remember to share them– think of them as holiday gifts!

Harvesting seeds is a good thing. It is a natural way of controlling individual plant species from taking over your garden.

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The seed pod of a Giant Hibiscus is, well, giant!

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Hollyhocks, Cosmos (Upper Right), White Globe Thistle (Lower Center) will make any gardener happy!

I spent a good portion of last weekend re-organizing and making a place in the unfinished side of my basement to become my little gardening area, which means, saving seeds and storing bulbs that cannot stay outside for the winter. I plan on scouring  Etsy in search for the perfect antique printer tray to hold all my seeds until spring!

I also have purchased 3 more varieties of Allium bulbs that need to be planted, but until it cools down a little more, I think I will wait it out a little longer.

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What are your plans for fall planting? I would to hear what everyone is planting. Trust me, I am not done purchasing bulbs, yet…