Hi Guys!
I prepped a new garden bed and added some new rustic goodness to the backyard, so I thought you'd appreciate an update.
Plus I can show ya'll some new salvage scores I got.
It all started when I made a trip to Menard's. I was headed right where I needed to go until I looked to my right and saw the wood.
All cut up just begging for me to take it home and make something out of it.
I have two jasmine vines growing in our fountain we made last month, and surprisingly it is growing fast enough that I need to transplant it. ASAP.
So, I needed either an arbor or some obelisks for it grow on.
I chose obelisks, because I thought they would look great in a new garden bed. Plus I had an idea on how to try (operative word - "try") to contain the jasmine vines, so they don't get out of control.
Greg and I both agreed, for once (ha) that anything this invasive should not be up against the house. Vines growing on houses is gorgeous, but it always leads to huge issues down the road.
I do not plan on writing a diy tutorial on how we made the two obelisks, simple because that wheel has already been invented.
Basically what we did was if you scroll back up and see the strips of wood. The package says they are meant for staking tomatoes.
Plus they were super cheap! I think one 6' long six pack is 3 bucks? Score!
I bought two different lengths, so I could make two obelisks. For the "legs" I bought two packages of the 6 foot length and for the horizontal pieces I got two 4 foot packages. Plus I bought fence post tops and finials.
We cut the four footers into picture frames with mitered corners. One each for each obelisk.
Two - 22" squares
Two - 17" squares
Two 12" squares
Two 8" squares.
We did this part first, that way each obelisk is pretty identical to it's sister. After the boxes were stapled we inserted a 6 foot piece inside the frame and stapled it to an inside corner. Like making a teepee.
Please note: I did not figure nor did I care to try and figure out the compound angles on this.
Rustic....not perfect. So this is an easy DIY project. Once I got Greg on board, which was a Lucy and Ricky episode, believe me.
He only heard me say let's make "this", then after that the top of his head was trying not to explode because he couldn't figure out how to get the angles on everything.
And when I kept saying "I don't care about the angles, I want it rustic. I was just going to make the boxes first and then secure them the legs".
That went right over his head.
But we got there and I think they turned out really sweet.
You'll see I was playing with location of where they were going to end up.
To try and contain the jasmine vines that I want to grow on these, I cut the bottom out of a plastic pot.
My plan is to plant the jasmine, and drop the pot over the jasmine, so it "borders" it and sticks out of the ground about 7 to 8 inches.
Which maybe (ha) will keep the vines from growing into the ground and help me to just wind them up and around the obelisk.
We'll see!
In this new bed I also added two gorgeous Phantom Hydrangeas and a Blue Point Juniper.
The hydrangeas are the larger variety. They get 10' wide and 10' high. The Juniper gets 15' tall but only gets 2 feet wide. I think once they fill in, the contrast will be awesome!
I'm going to start taking pictures of the plant tags and saving them in a garden folder so I can reference them later. Especially since they go missing outside.
The galvanized pots are just a boundary I am creating for Blitz.
He is trained to stay out of my flower beds, but this bed is not bordered with rock yet, and I want him to learn to go around.
And not cut through this new bed.
Last weekend we went junking at a flea market and look at what I scored for 20 bucks?
Some huge galvanized goodness.
It says planter to me, but we shall see. I am staring at it right now and I'll let it tell me what it needs.
Also, while doing yard work, I noticed my neighbor two doors down was cleaning up some old junk out of his yard.
He had a whiskey barrel all set to be thrown out like trash. So guess who came home with two of those!
For free!
For these babies I am seeing fall plantings. But like the other new container I got, we'll see.
You never know where the wind will take me.
