DIY Projects

Fall in Love With a Pergola

Fall in love with your yard again with a pergola.

For homeowners, beautiful landscaping can make a significant difference. While lush plants and verdant lawns are common outdoor features, adding a structure to complement the greenery in your backyard is a popular move, too. Try a pergola!

What is a pergola?

 

Pergolas are wall-less structures that consist of vertical posts that support a roof of slatted beams or lattice. Unlike an arbor, which typically has rounded arches, pergolas are made up of straight lines. While these structures are traditionally free-standing, some homeowners attach them to the side of a house for added support.

Why do people love their pergolas?

Unlike other types of backyard structures that come with closed roofs like gazebos, a pergola is an open-roof feature that provides filtered shade. Both people and plants love them because they do not block all the sunlight. They’re also easy to install on any flat spot in your yard, so you can get creative with the placement and you can order complete kits from many stores like Menards and Walmart.

A pergola can function as a trellis for climbing plants toward the back of your yard. Need to create a little me space in your backyard? A pergola can help you carve out a little separation for an outdoor room.

Pergolas can also benefit a yard by offering good bones to a landscape all year-round and during winter in cold-weather climates, a pergola can add visual appeal to a barren yard.

Pergola design ideas

Patio or deck overhang: If you are looking for ways to dress up a concrete patio or a wooden deck, a pergola will turn what you have into a fresh new feature. For a little privacy or protection from bugs, consider adding fabric walls. Curtains, sheers, or netting rated for outdoor use will get the job done. If you prefer hard walls, wood lattice works.

Cover for a front porch: A pergola over a front porch is an architectural element that can add a little value—and curb appeal—to your home. To embellish it, hang potted plants or climbing vines. For a dash of stylish flair in the evening, you could wrap a pergola with outdoor lights.

Outdoor room: Outdoor living spaces are trending, and pergolas give you a great structure and an unlimited canvas for personalization. Virtually any spot in your yard can be transformed into an outdoor room for gardening, dining, napping, or reading on gloriously warm days.

Walkway cover: Have a detached garage? Make the most of the walkway between your home and garage with a pergola that offers a little break from the sun.

Entryway overhang: Homes that lack fascinating exterior features do not make a stellar first impression. A pergola over a front door will instantly beautify a plain entry.

Outdoor entrances: Frame the opening to your side door or backyard walkway with a small pergola covered with climbing plants. Ivy, morning glory, and climbing hydrangea are all good choices. If you prefer to plant something edible, you could go with climbing vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, and climbing pole beans.

When planning to install a pergola, you should know that wooden pergolas are the most common with pressure-treated wood being the most economical, however, plastic ones have come on the market in many colors

Garden Pests

Tomato Problems in South Dakota

Most of the questions that will be coming in will relate to tomato problems, and earlier this summer, relate to tomato problems in South Dakota. Despite early predictions that this summer was going to be dry, many areas have received above average rainfall with many parts of South Dakota far exceeding typical rainfall amounts in the month of June. Very warm and humid weather was also common in early this month which helped to spawn thunderstorms that produced high winds, heavy rain and in isolated areas, hail.

Common Wet-Weather Diseases

As in most years, the most frequent problem with tomatoes this year will be leaf spot and blight being so humid and wet. There are several common fungal blights with Septoria leaf spot being the most common. It causes small dark spots on the leaves then the leaves tend to turn yellow and fall off. It usually starts at the bottom of the plant and works its way upwards. It is favored by wet and humid weather so the rainy weather we have seen in many areas is very conducive to its development and spread. If you water your garden with overhead sprinklers, that can spread it too. This disease usually does not cause damage to the fruit, but the plant loses so many leaves that it cannot support a good crop of fruit.

Septoria Leaf Spot Fungus

The other two main diseases of tomato are late blight and early blight, but I have not seen many samples of either of these two diseases yet. They cause larger spots to develop on the leaves, stems and fruit. They are also caused by fungal pathogens. Protective fungicides containing chlorothalonil (Daconil®) can help with all these diseases but they need to be applied at the first signs of the disease to protect the young growing leaves.

Early Blight Fungus

Late Blight Fungus

Bacterial spot and bacterial speck may also be a concern. These bacterial diseases cause small dark spots to develop on the fruit and leaves. The spots are usually surrounded by a yellow halo at initial stages of the disease. Unlike the fungal diseases, fungicides are of little use in controlling bacterial disease problems. But if you can find garden disease control products that contain copper, these may be helpful in slowing the spread of these diseases.

Mulching around the plants will also help using either plastic or an organic mulch like old straw or alfalfa hay. Spacing plants apart and staking to allow for good air circulation is also helpful. Using tomato cages around plants can help too. Unfortunately, most of the inexpensive tomato cages that are sold are simply not that strong and usually collapse under the weight of a large plant bearing multiple fruits on each stem, so I pound a tee post into the ground and tie it to the cage. A stronger cage or other support is more helpful. If stems break off over the cages, this will also decrease yield. Using drip tube irrigation helps control foliage diseases by keeping them dry.

Landscaping

Design Under Your Backyard Trees

Design under your backyard trees without the extra cash to afford such things as designer landscaping bricks or other pre-made landscaping elements, I turned my attention to the resources of the internet for some inexpensive do-it-yourself ideas. I found some incredibly interesting and unique tree landscaping ideas that nearly anyone can do for little to no money at all. As a matter of fact, there were so many great ideas that I had to share these creative tree landscaping ideas with you. If you also are looking to “spruce” up the landscaping around the trees in your yard, check out these examples of outside-of-the-box solutions.

Plant it, it will grow

You may have a wild, free, and untamed approach to your floral landscaping for around your tree. There are many unique designs that can be created with color, height, and season when dealing with shade loving plants and flowers.

To get the most out of the landscaping, it pays to make sure that many of the plants that are prosperous in these types of areas are perennial varieties. This will ensure a yearly re-occurring landscaping element to which you can add your choice of annuals each year.

Many ferns have evolved to live in the forest understory, where they receive very little light and have to tolerate the poor soil beneath the canopy of trees. For such hardy forest plants, thriving in the area around a tree is no problem. The hard fern or Blechnum spicant is particularly desirable for this purpose. It is an evergreen fern and many strains are cold hardy. It has rich, green fronds and grows well in many soil conditions. The giant Dryopteris filix, or male fern, is another choice which will thrive in the shade beneath the most dense foliage.

Picnic Spot

The shade of a tree is an ideal place to hold a summer picnic. Landscape to create an ideal picnic spot without impeding the flow of water by building a patio around its base. Create a broad stone border around the base of the tree and fill in the area with gravel. Add a picnic table and any other pieces of outdoor furniture you desire. Install a grill, a small firepit of both at a distance from the base of the tree. You will have a fine spot for afternoon barbecues and evening campfires.

Stumps

As for dead stumps instead of trying to chip them out, use them as decoration, stools, or checker boards.

Then Sit On It

Creating a beautiful space around the base of a tree can not only create a pleasant look, but it may also provide you and your family with an extra gathering area to sit and enjoy the pleasant outdoor weather. The cost of this type of landscaping solution can vary depending on from where you obtain the building materials. Lumberyards and do-it-yourself centers are great resources for purchasing brand new materials. For those who are in search of a cost-free solution, it is possible to use boards that are left over from other projects or are re-purposed if they are in good condition.

Benches can be shaped and formed to enhance the beauty and natural flow of a landscape without compromising the natural beauty of the greenery. If a wooden bench is not what you are looking for, check out these metal alternatives. These weather resistant benches are both beautiful and durable. Unfortunately for the population who do not dabble in metalworking, these benches often carry a heavy price tag.

A more economical approach is to use more of the materials that are found naturally around your property such as sticks and stones. There are endless possibilities for creating your very own seating element for around your trees when considering bench ideas. But, if a bench is not what you are looking for, perhaps a more floral solution is the answer.

Enter the Magical World of Tree Fairies or Gnomes

Creating a home for these illusive creatures can add a mystical and decorative element to the base of trees without the need for live plants. This type of tree decorating is even effective long into the throws of winter in many cases. There are no limits to the amount of fairy dwellings or accessories that you can introduce to this type of magical landscape. Whether they are handmade, or store bought, these tiny little homes bring a smile to visitor’s faces while creating a unique and fun landscape element for around your trees.

 

Regardless of whether you choose to add the comforts of a wood or metal bench, the beauty of flowers or greenery, or the fun and whimsical elements of a fairy village, these elements will entice your visitors into your garden to take a stroll among your trees and share in the enjoyment of your labor of love.