Start Planning Your Garden

Right now is a great time to start planning your garden. Better Homes and Gardens has a free online tool for you to use to do this.

This is one of my husband's favorite.

I have been looking over my seed packets from last year and trying to figure out what I need to purchase this year. I am planning on growing a large pumpkin patch this year. One of my favorite companies is Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They have a great variety to choose from. The seeds packages are around $2.00 each. I have had the pleasure of going to their seed bank in Petaluma, California. It was an amazing experience.

As for flowers this year, I am excited to be going on a small field trip with my mother and husband to the incredible Digging Dog Nursery. They have an amazing selection of flowering perennials. You may go online and order from them or go to their nursery located in Albion, California. I am planning on posting pictures from this trip! These are just a few ideas. Have fun and get your hands dirty!

Owners, Deborah Whigham & Gary Ratway

-The Crafty Gardener

Christmas Presents

I am always trying to bring the outside in and this year I did this with my Christmas tree. I picked hydrangeas from my yard and put them in my tree as well as adding birds and bugs. I just love how it turned out.

I also tried to reuse/recycle by using old maps as wrapping paper and using vintage Christmas cards as tags. I found fun ribbon to tie it together at my local craft store.

My mom made me this really cute tree skirt this year and I was inspired by the colors! Thanks Mom!

-The Crafty Gardener

Merry Merry Christmas...

Merry Christmas

Finding a paint color can be a difficult decision. I just love blues and greens. I always find myself with tons of paint chips laying around because of this. So this year I decided to make them useful. I took paint chips and stamped out the letters MERRY CHRISTMAS and make myself a cute banner. I hung the banner up over an old window with cute ribbon I used for my Christmas presents. This was a fun project!

The Letter 'E'

-The Crafty Gardener

Make It A Homemade Christmas

This year I decided to make all of my Christmas gifts. I made homemade candles out of soy wax, living ornaments, and  succulents in tea cups to name a few. I had so much fun making these, I think I will be making gifts from now on.

Soy Wax Candle in a Container from Ross

To make the candles, I just bought soy wax flakes at my local craft store and melted it down in the microwave. I found that 5 minutes worked out best. Next, I poured the wax in a container and inserted a candle wick. I also found the wicks at my local craft store.

Living Ornament

To make the living ornaments, I found glass ornaments that had a hole in the front at my local craft store. Then I bought air plants at my local nursery. Lastly,  I went down to the closest creak and picked up rocks. These turned out so cute and made great gifts.

Tea Cup Succulents

To make the succulents in a tea cup, I found a tea cup at the thrift store. After washing it, I dug up succulents from my yard and put them in the tea cup. I filled in dirt around the succulents and gave them a good water. After this, I put some pretty moss around it. This turned out so cute, it is going to be hard to give it away!

-The Crafty Cardener

Planting Trees in the Fall

September to November is the time of year to plant some trees around your house. Most people think that fall is the end of the growing season but it is not. Fall is a great time to plant a tree. While we are waiting for spring, your new tree will be growing a strong root system. This is a huge advantage because when the hot weather comes in spring and summer,  your tree will already have a strong root system, meaning you will have a less likely chance of losing the tree and you will not have to water it as much as you would need to water a tree that is planted in the spring.

Variegated Dogwood Leaf

Another great advantage of planting in the fall is that most garden centers have sales on their trees. They do this because they do not want to care for the inventory over the winter. Last year I was able to buy a 5 gallon curly willow for $5 and two variegated dogwoods for $55. I was practically stealing these trees. I have seen curly willows priced from $30-$60 in the spring and variegated dogwoods go for $55 each.

Mature Curly Willow (photo from http://www.hornbakergardens.com)

According to savatree.com, trees recommended for fall planting include the maple, buckeye, horse chestnut, alder, catalpa, hackberry, hawthorn, ash, honey locust, crabapple, amur corktree, spruce, pine, sycamore, linden and elm.




-The Crafty Gardener

Show Off Your Address

Why stick to the old school way of showing people your address, when you can be creative and unique. While on the Auburn, California, Garden Tour, I saw these amazing little "Bird Houses" that were turned into address numbers. I just fell in love! Adding these to your garden will definitely put a smile on your face as well as your neighbors.

Visitors in the Night

Deer once again have decided that I planted these lovely plants to keep their bellies full. Yes, I planted them for you, deer, not myself or my husband or my neighbors to enjoy. Well, it is time to fight back! I just sprayed my entire yard with Liquid Fence. Liquid Fence does smell but the smell goes away pretty quickly. Last year, Liquid Fence is the only thing that allowed me to enjoy my flowers that I worked so hard on planting.

This year I also planted a ton of Foxgloves. Why you ask? Well, deer HATE Foxgloves and I just think they are beautiful. They come in a large range of colors and they reseed themselves. Who doesn't love that? I find them in six packs at my local Ace Hardware Store Nursery. Not only are the beautiful, but deer hate them! THANK YOU!

-The Crafty Gardener