Tag Archives: Garden

Home Improvements To Help You Get Through Winter

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You may not like the bitter winter cold but for your house, this season is the hardest to survive. In fact, the biggest structural damage your home suffers occurs during winter as the snow and cold take their toll on the unprepared house. Luckily, there are home improvements that can help you get through winter without any major repairs. Regulating the temperature inside and insulating the walls are just some of the measures you can apply to winter out this snowy season.

Insulating the unusual spots

You probably know all about the importance of insulating the walls of your house. However, it is equally important to invest in insulating the less probably areas of your home. For instance, insulating the basement is not a waste of money since a cold basement will literally drain all the heat from the rooms above.

Furthermore, the hot water pipes that run through the basement can benefit from insulation as well. The last thing you need is lukewarm water reaching your heating bodies when the temperature outside plummets below minus 20 degrees Centigrade. Metal is not very good insulation so even a thin layer of foam around the hot water pipes can help reduce waste of energy.

Finally, insulating the attic is also a great move. You don’t of this space as an energy-inefficient area because the roof is slanted. However, a roof without proper insulation underneath will give out warm air that is generated below. This will cool down the house, especially the upper floor where the nursery and the bedrooms are located.

Disconnecting the garden tap

Just like the hot water pipes in the basement, every meter of piping that is not going to be used during winter and that lacks proper insulation should not be used. This is easier said than done, as homeowners forget to disconnect the garden tap, for instance. They turn it off in September or October and completely about it until springtime comes. However, as temperatures hit their yearly low, the water inside freezes over, increasing the risk of a pipe bursting.

Instead of closing off the garden tap, be sure to disconnect it all together so there is no water inside the pipes underground. The same should be done with other outdoor water features, like a provisional kitchen. As far as swimming pools and splash pads are concerned, they should only be fully emptied but covered with a plastic sheet to prevent the show from accumulating inside them.

Cement rendering the walls

Having mentioned the swimming pool, it is worth noting that its inner walls are much more reliant to cold than the walls of your house. The main reason for this is that cavity insulation can only provide protection against cold air to a certain point.

A much better solution is rendering the walls with cement. This method will not only weatherproof the walls (subzero temperatures included,) but it will increase the overall aesthetic appeal of the house. If you have already used this method to treat your walls, then perform the necessary cement rendering repairs before the onset of winter.

Helping Santa

If your children ask you if the chimney stack is clear for Santa to come down, don’t take this question as a joke. In the best Christmas spirit, be sure to actually look up the chimney. Namely, it needs to be cleaned because you are going to fire up the hearth once again and if there is anything stuck inside the shaft, all sorts of problems can occur. Even if the chimney is unobstructed, it still needs to be cleaned for the inside so call the local chimney sweeper to the rescue. Finally, check the kitchen hood and all the other air vents, as they should all be ready for the winter season.

Inspect the house for openings

In the end, one final checkup will get you ready for the holiday season. Get outside and walk around the house inspecting it in the process for holes, cracks, and openings. You might find out that there is a draft coming from under the windows or that the corner roof tile is missing. These are easy fixes but if you fail to perform them, you could be in trouble after the first snowfall.

If you notice a chilly breeze sweeping through the house but you have ruled out the window area as the likely culprit, turn to the front door. Its bottom section is often disproportion to the size of the frame so a gap several millimeters wide can appear. You could never tell it existed during summer but in winter you’ll need to get a rubber gasket to cover this minuscule opening that cold winds can still get through.

Getting through winter is not easy as it’s the most challenging season of the year for your home. However, a couple of home improvements listed here will help turn the tide around and ensure you spend the snowy January in the comfort of your warm home.

 

Clear Mushroom For Your garden using Vases And Bowls

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What a clever way to use old invaluable glassware. Thrift stores are full of it. They often dump it by the trash can full. Before using glassware I plead with you to make sure the glass has no value. But if it does not there are endless ways to make these. Use epoxy to attach the bowl to the vase. If they are too heavy you may need to bury the base a little bit into the soil to help them stand up. If they break they are easy and cheap to replace. The designs are endless. I imagine someone handy could figure out a way to light these up. Maybe pain with a clear glow in the dark paint? Can you imaging a garden with a bunch of these throughout at night time all lit up.

Garden Art using Old Pots And Pants And Utensils

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We all have old pots and pans sitting around that we don’t want to get rid of or don’t know what to do with them. Here is a simple solution using a combination of these to make a flower garden with wooden cheap wood. Using 1″ x 1″ by whatever length you desire piece of cheap molding as a base with the same cut into 2′ and 3′ sections for the flower stalk use the example in the picture to create the base and stems of the flowers. Paint green. Here the flowers are screwed to the fence but you can make them free standing by using two foot sections of rebar. Pound into ground and wire to garden structure. Paint metal pots and pans in a color scheme that fits your like using Krylon outdoor paint that is designed to adhere to plastic and metal an dis designed to be outside. Spray well with two coats. You can leave them like this or can use small paintbrushes to paint tiny designs on them. Drill through the metal pans to make a hole. Screw on to wood stems. E6000 or liquid nails can be used to attach small pans inside others.

Lamp & Bowl Art For Your Garden

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I found this great idea on the internet and wanted to share. These are mushrooms made from bowls and candlesticks and the larger ones are made from lamps. They are so unique and would be a great spruce up for recycled art in your garden. The best thing is you can source the materials from your old items or cheaply at any thrift or yard sale.

There are a variety of methods to make these and vary on the items you are using. The easiest is to drill a pilot hole through the bowl and into the candlestick or lamp post. Screw a large heavy duty screw through bowl and into lamp post or candlestick. You need to use a drill bit designed for the metal you are using. If you have a smooth surface between the inside of your bowl and the stem then you can use epoxy.

To paint you will need a spray paint like Krylon that is designed to adhere to metal. You can paint them traditional type colors or get really funky with the color choice.

Make them yours. You can also glue little accessories on them like little gnomes or fairies. Moss and pebbles glued on the the base where it sits in your garden will make them loo like they have been there for a long time.

 

Attracting Bees To A Victorian Garden

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The global population of bees is in decline. In the US, striking National Agriculture Statistics show that the number of bee colonies per hectare has gone down by 90 percent in the last 50 years. We have a role to play in halting the decline in the bee population. With modern beekeeping having its roots in Victorian times, here are some gardening tips to attracts bees to your Victorian garden.

Beekeeping In Victorian Times

In early Victorian times bees were kept in straw ‘skeps’. However, in order to gain access to the honey, the skeps had to be burnt which subsequently destroyed the bee colony. The late 19th century then saw a revelation in beekeeping when a hive with removable wooden frames was invented by Philadelphian Lorenzo Langstroth, credited by many as being the father of modern beekeeping. At that time, many Victorian estates had an apiary, a collection of bee hives, because the Victorians loved the sweet taste of honey in cakes and tea.

A Victorian Apiary

Honeybees nest in beehives which can be placed, if needed in a small space in a garden. The beehive should be placed in a quiet, sunny spot which is sheltered from winds. A Langstroth hive is a modular beehive contains vertically hung frames with an entrance for the bees at the bottom of the hive. The bees build honeycomb into the frames which are easily removable to harvest the honey. After a year or so, you can expect your hive to make about 25lbs of honey per year, assuming it is disease free and the bees have plenty of flowers to forage within 3 miles of the hive.

Plants For Bees In A Victorian-style Garden

Cottage and woodland styled gardens, popular in the Victorian era were informal in design. A cottage garden is a great way to attract bees by planting plenty of pollen rich flowers providing blooms all year round. Choose several shapes and colors of blooms and plant them in clumps. Popular plants in the Victorian era which are attractive to pollinators include lavenders and geraniums. Try also including a herb garden as bees are particularly attracted to borage sage, mint, thyme and rosemary.

We all have a role to play in stopping the global decline in bee numbers. Introducing a apiary into your garden as well as planting pollen-rich plants will encourage bees to make a home in your Victorian garden.