Milliways Mail order shop: Advice, tips and tricks.
Phase 2 herb veg garden tips n tricks.
You should have completed phase one by now. So you have clear space with planted areas labels and all the required ground work done.
Step Six
Add some items to help wild life and the wild life with help you.
Some bird accessories in the herb garden will give you hours of avian observation. Locate bird feeders near the edge of the garden where the birds feel safe enough to land and eat. They need to see clear ground.
Place a bird bath in the open where the rain can refill it or even use an old tin bath or container make it easy for creatures to crawl out of it. Some old pots can help to harbor wildlife or wodden boxes for hedehog hotels.
Buy some mushroom dowels and drill holes in old well soaked logs (walk in the woods or ask about large logs can be got)and put the dowels in the holes. Put the plugged log in the damp shaded, part of the garden with some straw, leaf mould and soil to support it. You can grow Truffles, Porchini, Shitake, Oyster, Enoki, and many more this way. Takes a little time but its worth it.Consider using old logs and simple wooden boxes to help nice mice and hedgehogs and frogs to hide out. They will eat pests and parasites keep ing your garden in shape.
Also plant some sunflowers and millet for the birds.
The tops of cavity blocks can be potted up with Pak choi or Swiss chard and can be used to make hard boundaries. you pick as you need with these vegetables.and it looks great those wild colour of the chard.
If you have a salad garden use some of the lettuce plants maybe seedling thinning's,and place it near the rough outside of the area and make it nice and easy for the slugs and snails. Believe it or not they will go for the easy option. Try it it really works. You can re sow every so often and not poison your food or the wildlife with bad chemicals.
Step Seven
Think about gilding the lilly, step back and have look at the space see how it looks, wait a little while ask others for their opinion.You can always add to it later but some wind chimes or lanterns painted glass pots, string lights, outdoor fairy lights, maybe paint some more surfaces or even age some. Get some lichen rocks position them facing the direction you found them in or in dark areas.
You can paint rocks or concrete with live yogurt and it will help age it. In your dark areas if there is a line of sight that obvious brighten it up. many plants can be used or a lantern. Or a fruit tree.Paint or stencil garden characters or flowers or such like on the walls or fence nearby or furniture. Use some old tiles to and break them up make mini mosaics on walls or bits that stick out if you know what I mean.
Maybe frame a old mirror like this use a good tile cement and mix with some PVA glue to get weather proof bond stuck to a wall it will really enahce the space just as in a house. Make sure they are flat and even don't worry about the pattern just go with it, if you have no defined idea.
Sand off the sharp edges a bit, then tap down each bit in to place with piece of wood so they lay flat. Then use a stick to check they are all smooth and level. Then grout and clean. You need to make sure they are level so people don't catch themselves or cut them selves on sharp edges. Sharp tiles can open you like a surgeon.
If you have few quid spare consider these as luxuries, irrigation system or porous pipe. Garden audio this can be great for parties or even playing bird sounds from at a back ground level. If you hide the speakers well people never can tell. Bose make top notch system but there are many alternatives out there, but remember its going outside so don't skimp on quality or safety.
Remember, it is stage dressing you will see this re occur in all our articles. Look for and secure props, you can change the themes of the gardens you create with the seasons by thinking smarter.
Get or grow some pumpkins for halloween, use them for lanterns or pile them up in a corner. You could use your patio or herb gardens for the kids halloween party use a garden fire bin, have a mini bonfire.
Look for artifacts to use and rotate them in the garden. You can always give them away or trade them dump them or they will compost.Always gently check piles of leaves and wood for hibernating animals. BBQ hedgehog is off putting.
Phase 3 Care and attention is coming soon.
COPYRIGHT 2007 MILLIWAYS GARDENBARGAINS IRELAND
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