Container gardening

Breathe New Life into Your Patio or Front Door with a Group of Container Gardens

Plants in containers have small footprints but make a big, beautiful impression. They’re a welcome sight at a front door, bring life to a back patio, and can even serve as a lush centerpiece on an outdoor table. Flora Grubb, owner of the eponymous nursery in San Francisco, shares her tips on creating and caring for potted displays, from choosing striking plant combinations to keeping them hydrated and happy.

THREE’S A CHARM
Chose a trio of plants that are interesting on their own or if the pot is large try 6 or 9 plants.

EASY EVERGREENS


Housed in an all-weather pot, these hardy dwarf conifers — stately Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Habari’, yellow-green Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea’, and light-green Cryptomeria japonica ‘Little Diamond’ — can withstand even freezing temperatures.

A grouping of pots is a focal point — a part of the landscape that you want to look good all the time. Here’s how to create a dazzling display.

CHOOSE A VESSEL
Select your pot first. It’s your investment, and you’ll have it even as plants come and go. Don’t be afraid to go big. Large pots make a statement, and most plants are happier in them in the long run. Plus, a small container will need more frequent watering. Also consider color, shape, and material (most ceramics, for example, can’t handle frost). And make sure it has at least one good hole for drainage.

PICK PLANTS
Go for varieties that will work with your conditions. Flowers are fleeting. Nurseries are full of an amazing array of colors and textures, but show restraint, not everything is beautiful together. build the rest of the pot around its colors and textures. Also think about how the light will hit them at home: Plants can look different in sun or shade. If your pots will be under a porch, for instance, move your picks to a shady spot to see how they look before buying.

HELP THEM THRIVE
Use organic potting soil like Miracle-Gro when planting. Top-dress containers with compost or more soil at least annually, and water thoroughly. To promote deep root growth, place a hose on a very slow trickle in the pot, and let the water be slowly absorbed until it starts running out the bottom. For lush and robust plants, pinches back new growth frequently too keep them from getting leggy. Every year, clear the drainage hole by tipping back the planter and poking through it with a screwdriver.

Landscaping

Old Farm Equipment for Home and Garden Decor

Old farm equipment adds a rustic touch to decor for the backyard, garden, front porch — or even inside, in moderation. Everything from wagon wheels to a wooden wheelbarrow may be repurposed into decor around the garden; in some cases, the old pieces can even do double duty, housing plant pots or serving as a chandelier, for instance.

From Garden to Garage

Antique farm equipment tends to be made of wood and metal, rusted and aged to display-worthy perfection over the years. An old two-person tree saw — the type with gnarly teeth, a long blade and a handle on each end — creates an interesting piece of wall art above the door on a garden shed or a garage, out of reach of children. An old pitchfork, shovel or sickle serve as rustic decor for the outside walls of the shed or garage; add large farm tools as you come across them for an eclectic, ever-changing display. Mount them with old spurs or rusted chain-link fence clasps attached to boards for added visual interest; the tool handles hang from the spurs or clasps.

Buried stock tank as a pond.

Large-Scale Looks

If you live on a large property with plenty of yard space, large-scale farm equipment provides a stunning sight, even from afar. Place a large antique tractor complete with metal wheels in a place visible from the road; leave it in rusty, rustic condition, or paint it bright red or a color true to its origins. Search the make and model of the tractor online, if known, to find out its probable original color if all the paint is gone. There is a beautiful example of this west of Winner, A wagon near the driveway provides a playful space for additional decor another example of that is on the way home tucked on a side road– in the autumn, stack bales of hay and a few pumpkins atop it; in the spring, jazz it up with an assortment of crocks or flowerpots filled with colorful plants and flowers.

Old seeder as a flower container.

Complete Circles

Circular wooden wagon wheels, huge metal tractor wheels and old grinding and sharpening stones add a soft touch to rustic decor with their round shapes. Lean a wagon wheel against a picket fence in a flowerbed, or against a lamppost or mailbox post. Use a huge metal tractor wheel as a centerpiece for a small flowerbed, allowing vines or roses to climb on it. Large grinding stones and sharpening stones add an organic look to an outdoor display — lean them against posts, like the wagon wheels, or use an assortment as unusual stepping stones for a path to the garden or backyard. I have an old stone mallet head I have on the garden path.

Close to Home

While you may not have space for large farm equipment indoors or on the porch, small- to medium-sized bits of farm gear add a rustic touch to your home. A wooden wagon wheel, fitted with a series of chains and small, open-topped tins, becomes an unusual chandelier for battery-operated tealight candles, or tealights dropped into deep glass votive holders. Punch holes in the tins in a pattern such as a star or crescent moon to allow the candlelight to shine through. Attach the chandelier to a beam on the ceiling of a tall porch, or from a sturdy beam indoors. A butter churn becomes a planter for ivy on the front porch; a wooden wheelbarrow holds seasonal potted plants for an ever-changing display of greenery, flowers or herbs.

Old tire rim as a planting container

For more ideas go to our pinterest page:  https://www.pinterest.com/robertmoyer3194/using-old-farm-equipment-for-lawn-garden-design/

DIY Projects

Vintage Kitchens Remake

Kitchens from the late 40s through the 50s, smooth colorful easy-to-clean surfaces reigned supreme.

Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall post-modern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of “retro” style generally implies a vintage of at least fifteen or twenty years. For example, furniture from the 1980s or 1990s could be retro today.

Vintage kitchen designs are represented by simply cozy cabinets with elegant or vintage chairs, or modern kitchen cabinets with touches of the retro style. Both options can perfectly fit in every house decor and can cause a really pleasant atmosphere. Vintage decorations, special lighting fixtures and wood kitchen cabinets in retro style are well thought and designed to create the ideal interior for all family members and guests. They look so inviting and warm and everybody love them. Enjoy our collection and get inspiration for your retro dream kitchen.

 

Picture 212

 

The kitchens can be very playful, as daring designs are what established the concepts of shape and contrast that would come to bear in the modern design movement. Designers started experimenting with sleeker shapes and lines, smoothing one area of the kitchen into another.

While a mainstay of vintage countertops was tile, laminate, Formica and easy-to-clean synthetics were embraced by homeowners. Vintage and retro kitchen eras were when laminate first started being proudly displayed, metal trim and all. Metal edging isn’t so popular today, but out of the various rounded edges available, a classic and simple corner edge to your countertop can keep that vintage feel.

Cabinets were also smooth, often with slab style doors but Shaker style doors could fit if the colors were kept light and bright. Enameled appliances were available in colors and are a treasure for someone planning a vintage or retro kitchen.  A colored appliance, whether bright or pastel, speaks strongly of days gone by but can be hard to find. Smaller appliances like a bright microwave or toaster might do the trick without breaking the bank.

Once your kitchen is designed, you can buy many vintage appliances and containers online to fit your color scheme. When it comes to kitchen appliances, pros often opt for antiques that are currently being manufactured  like Big Chill, GE, and Northstar for bright, vintage lookalike fridges and stoves. Bonus: Newer also means more energy efficiency.