So Clever! A DIY Garden Trellis Made From Repurposed Materials

I’ve got a quick DIY idea for you guys today: a garden trellis made from a repurposed wooden bed frame!

These photos aren’t taken at my house, but rather when I was visiting a friend. With so many outdoor gardening projects on my to-do list lately, I guess my brain is just wired to look for them (kind of like whenever I work on molding projects; I find myself staring at people’s ceilings and windows to brainstorm!).

I spotted this on the side of the house and asked to take a few quick pics. Honestly, I think it’s pretty clever. I like how it repurposes something that would have likely been heading for a landfill. Clearly these are just getting started, but can you imagine them covered in flowering clematis?

This trellis looked like it was made from parts of a twin-size bed, but I think children’s bed frames would also be a good choice. A simple coat of opaque deck stain (it matches their front porch and rear deck stain) ties it together nicely and protects from the elements (when doing anything that leans against your siding like this, waterproofing is a wise move).

I guess it just goes to prove that I need to take more strolls around my neighborhood (and crash my friends’ places more often, too). Have you ever spied a clever repurpose project while out & about?

P.S. Don’t forget, there’s still a giveaway going on this week. Click here for the latest on my backyard garden and enter with a comment on the post for the chance to score some freebies!

The post So Clever! A DIY Garden Trellis Made From Repurposed Materials appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/diy-repurposed-garden-trellis/

Fight back against hackers during the smart home revolution

Engineers and innovators everywhere are building new ways to make our lives at home less demanding, more efficient, and more secure. Smart home devices have created a new market that is growing at a mind-bending pace. Today, the average household has 10 connected smart devices. By 2022, experts believe the average household will eclipse 50 connected smart devices.

There are obvious benefits to this growth. Advancements in data bandwidth and technology now allow homeowners to manage their house from anywhere on the planet.By using a video doorbell camera and smartdoor lock, users can open, lock, and answer their front door all from a remote device, wherever they may be.

However, this also opens the door for unwanted intruders. More (digital) doors and locks for a homeowner create more (digital) opportunities for hackers to enter a home. Each smart home gadget in a household essentially functions as another door or window that can be broken into. Growth in the market of smart home devices has outpaced growth in the market of home security, creating a gap that thieves and intruders will happily exploit.

The threat can come from anywhere. Security specialists showed during a demonstration at an exhibit that they could take control of the lights of an entire office complex by hacking into a smart lightbulb in a single room of the building. That video doorbell and smart lock used to let in guests in? It can also be used by hackers to monitor activity in the house and break in while you’re away. 

Click here to see enlarged version.

In the meantime, there are simple ways to protect your home. While the security industry catches up with the advancements in smart home devices, you can use basic yet effectives methods to secure your home, family, and gadgets. Check out the accompanying infographic to see how you can protect yourself.

This is a guest post and infographic is by Joseph Mack from smart homeSAGE, a blog that analyzes the impact that smart home technology has on home life.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog UK http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/05/fight-back-against-hackers-during-smart.html

The Start of a Beautiful Before and After (+ Giveaway)

I’ve had a sad little corner of my back yard for too long. And, it’s time to fix it. I’ve already done a few improvements here and there, like replacing the front side of the chain link fence with a wooden one, but I’ve been working on a new corner garden lately, and I’m finally far enough along to share the first few glimpses with you this week!

It all started with a gift card. Like most DIY budgeters, I can really stretch a dollar when I need to, and an opportunity popped up for me to take care of this little nook thanks to a sponsor who just so happened to be a brand I’ve used in the yard before.

I love it when lucky coincidences like this happen, because it means that I get to do something I was pretty much going to do anyway, only I have an actual timeline that forces me to get my butt in gear as opposed to procrastinating indefinitely. Enter: Endless Summer® Hydrangeas.

If you’re a fan of the blog already, you might have seen me mention them before. I’ve had some of their Original variety in various parts of the house for several years now, and I absolutely love the color they add to both the front and back yard. If you’ve missed those posts where I show them off, here’s just a small sample of their gorgeousness:

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I could say that I get credit for any of that, but I really can’t. They’re just really easy plants for people who are bad at growing things (ahem, me) to build up their gardening confidence. I think my favorite part is that instead of blooming once, Endless Summer® varieties bloom over and over again, on both new growth and old (during the winter, the old stems on typical hydrangeas die off and you trim them back, but with these you can be super lazy like I am and let them be, because after August 1st don’t want to wind up cutting off the new buds that will come the next year). When they bloom and re-bloom through the fall, the color is absolutely stunning and totally different than how it looks in spring and summer:

With the new garden bed I wanted to plant, however, I was after a variety called BloomStruck®. From the images I’ve seen online, these bloom from pink to blue just like the ones I already have, but the color of the looks like they’ll be a deeper, moodier color.

I can’t wait to surround a petite blooming tree with these, with a spot in front for gravel and a small bench. In my head, I’m basically looking at this:

And thinking of a gorgeous little garden nook, with a small white-flowering tree, with just enough room to sit and read on a bench, surrounded by deep, purpley-pink flowers. Plus, as they bloom, they’ll make for excellent bouquets inside (especially when I mix them with their other variety counterparts).

When shopping at the local nursery (you can find a retailer here), I asked the clerk where I could find the BloomStruck® hydrangeas, but I probably didn’t even need to; this brand specifically puts all of their plants in a big blue pot, which is easy to spot when shopping around.

I loaded up a cart and headed for the checkout. To my surprise, they offered me a bag of ladybugs (yes, living ladybugs) to take with me and put in my new garden. Ha!

I loved the novelty of it, but promptly forgot about them*; it was time to plant!

*don’t worry, I later remembered.

With supplies filling the truck I borrowed, it took about a day and a half to get everything into the ground (and I’m still not done!). It’s not that planting them is all that difficult, but the prep and finish work: planning out an entirely new garden, making sure I’ve spaced things correctly, dealing with the frustration that is landscaping fabric, mulching, and cleaning up surrounding areas takes time.

I also want to cover over the chain link with fence panels (thus why you see them here), but with rain interrupting the project for the last few days, this is still on the to-do list. To be honest, one of the fence panels fell over and almost squashed all of the progress I’d made (thankfully the hydrangeas bounced back quickly), so I’m safely storing them away from the new garden until the shrubs have a chance to get established, and then I’ll go back in with the fence upgrade.

Planting the hydrangeas themselves was far easier; all I had to do was space them evenly, dig a hole (you can get planting soil if you’re starting a new bed, but the soil quality in my yard is pretty good on its own right now), and plop it in. I like to rub on the root ball a little to get it loose so that it takes to the new soil quickly, and then I put a little fertilizer on top once they’re in (Osmocote is my go-to for all of my plants, but I’ll talk more about color-changing fertilizer for hydrangeas in a future post).

For garden beds that I change up a lot, I don’t like to use landscaping fabric. It’s pricey per square foot and figuring out where the holes are each year is annoying, so I tend to use a thick layer of newspaper for beds like the mailbox and front garden because it breaks down over the season. But since I plan to let these BloomStruck® hydrangeas be the sole star of the corner garden, landscaping fabric is an excellent weed blocker to cover over all of the other areas (unfortunately, my back yard has weeds in abundance).

Next, I surrounded the new tree (it’s a tea olive, which is a shrub, but you can trim it to be like a tree as it grows bigger) with some leftover edging from another spot in the yard, and filled in the entire area with a thick layer of mulch. Good thing I did, too — the temps have been fluctuating a lot in the last couple of weeks because of rain, so the new beds have been kept very happy until I have a few more dry days to take next steps. But, as summer rolls on, I’m hopeful that this will be one stunning before and after!

One side of the house already has a few Original varieties in place, so I bought a few more with the gift card I was provided to help balance out both sides of the patio. Doing so will give a nice variety of color, even though they are the same plant (which is nice, because then it’s the same in terms of care).

As you can see from the growth on the biggest one that I planted a few years ago, they need lots of space to fan out as they mature. Even though they haven’t really taken up much time for me in the past, I really want all of the new ones to grow in as quickly as possible, so I’ll need to keep them fertilized in a timely manner (FYI, it turns out there’s a text program — text ENDLESSSUMMER to 73095 — that is designed to provide timely reminders to make sure I’m doing the upkeep correctly).

I’m not quite done yet, but this area is already looking incredible for spring! I’ll have more posts to share during the summer as I give this area more updates, and you can already see that I have some plans for the fence too. I honestly think this is going to be one of my favorite spots in the entire yard once it’s all finished.

And as you might have seen from the title of this post: there’s a giveaway for you, too! Here are all of the details:

Endless Summer® Bloomstruck Hydrangeas Giveaway!

• Prize: One (1) pair of Endless Summer branded gardening gloves and one (1) Picnic Time ‘Gardener’ 5-Piece Garden Tool Set With Tote And Folding Seat
• Number of winners: one
• Giveaway ends: Friday, May 19th at 11:59pm
• Geographical restrictions: U.S. only
• To enter: Leave a comment on this post answering the giveaway question below. Yes, you have to leave a comment. Or don’t, but if you don’t, you probably won’t win. I check them because I’d much rather reward a regular reader (usually giveaway jumpers don’t stop to leave a comment, so that seems to help your chances!).
• Please update the Rafflecopter widget to confirm you’ve left a comment. Winner will be chosen at random via the widget auto-generator.
• Giveaway question to answer (many of you know how this goes): Have you ever gotten a weird gift with purchase? What was it?

Ready, and… GO! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Endless Summer® Hydrangeas Social Channels:

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The post The Start of a Beautiful Before and After (+ Giveaway) appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/corner-garden-makeover-endless-summer-bloomstruck-hydrangea/

A Pluming DIY: How to Fix a Clogged Toilet

Clogged toilets can be a scary inconvenience, but in most cases, it’s an easy problem to fix. This process is less complex than replacing a toilet altogether or even fixing the components inside the tank. Clogs can happen suddenly when a user attempts to flush an object that’s too large, or they can build up over time and happen unexpectedly. Learn how to unclog a toilet with this quick tutorial.

Step 1: Shut off the water supply by turning the knob at the base of the tank where the plumbing connects to the wall. You should hear the water stop running; if you still hear it, tighten the knob. This will prevent the toilet from overflowing.

Step 2: Gently position the plunger at the base of the toilet bowl with the plunger centered over the opening. Press in gently to begin as the air in the plunger can cause the contents of the bowl to spray if you push in too vigorously.

Tip: Use a bell-shaped rubber plunger with an extension flange at the base. These may be a bit more expensive than the basic rubber domed shaped plungers, but they work better and are worth the cost.

Step 3: Maintain a constant position with the plunger to avoid breaking the seal over the toilet bowl opening. Press the plunger up and down quite vigorously for about 30 seconds.

Step 4: Check to see if the clog has cleared by taking the lid off the toilet tank and lifting the flapper valve. The water should flow down from the bowl into the pipes easily. If it does not, your toilet is still clogged. DO NOT FLUSH until you are certain the clog has cleared. Use the flapper valve until then.

Tip: If repeated plunging forces all the water out of the bowl and your toilet tank is empty, open up the water supply valve long enough to let the tank refill, then close it again. It’s important to keep water in the bowl to maintain pressure and indicate whether the clog has cleared.

Step 5: Continue plunging and testing (alternating between steps 3 and 4) until the clog is clear. You’ll know the clog is clear either when the blocked material in the bowl drains easily and rapidly. A slow-emptying bowl indicates that some blockage is likely still intact.

Step 6: Your toilet bowl should be empty when the clog is clear. You can turn the water supply back on and push the handle to refill the bowl, then flush again to test. Turn off the water supply to the tank after this test flush just in case the blockage hasn’t actually cleared. This will help prevent overflowing. If flushing does not proceed as normal, your toilet is still blocked.

Step 7: When plunging doesn’t work, you may need to use a plumbing snake or toilet auger to get the job done. You can also call a qualified local emergency plumbing company to diagnose the issue and fix your clogged toilet.

Author Bio:

Leo is the owner of Northridge-based plumbing company Rooters On-Time of Northridge. On his free time, he enjoys writing how-to articles and tutorials to help others.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/05/how-to-fix-clogged-toilet-diy.html

Where the Green Grass Grows (Finally!)

Houston, we have grass!

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It’s been kind of a slow process, but thanks to some help from a cute guy I know (is it a thing that guys want to take on grass-growing projects or something?? My friends and I had a frank discussion about it the other day, and they were all chiming in with their husbands and SO’s about how the guys took on the grass-growing and fertilizing tasks), I have a lot more green growing in the yard. Well, thanks to him, an efficient timer, and the sprinkler system he set up.

Solid truth: if you’re a lazy grower like I am, you need to have something that waters the yard for you. New grass is a needy baby, and I am not a diligent enough DIYer to do this as often as needed.

You might recall that less than two months ago, it still largely looked like the giant dirt pile that it was when I first filled in the deeper spots and evened out the most difficult areas with a backhoe (click for parts 1, 2, and 3 of that saga). I hired some help for prepping the dirt and spreading new seed, but the results were very disappointing. There were lots of factors considered (Charlie, the weather, foot traffic, birds eating the seed, etc.), but it wasn’t until I started using a sprinkler system that I realized that I was probably the biggest contributor to its first failure.

In a recent storm, a piece of my neighbor’s fence (the one you see above and below) was uprooted from a dead tree, which pretty much created a giant hole directly on the other side of my fence line. After all of the work I’ve done on this yard, the last thing I want to happen is for it to be ruined through erosion that I can’t do much about (since it’s also not on my property where the water is draining). So, keeping the dirt in the yard via plant roots and a thick layer of grass became even more important. The first step was putting in the new hedge, but the other was growing grass asap. Basically: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again… and put in a better watering system. It soon became very obvious where I’m getting too much water, and where the sprinkler is missing its target.

Granted, it may not completely prevent erosion long-term (and I have a dog), but doing everything I can now is for the best. Some of the new growth has been a quick-grow rye seed (that will eventually die off after a season or two), but it allows time for the fescue to grow in. For several weeks, I kept all dogs away and limited foot traffic to prevent undoing most of the progress, but I’m about to hit the first milestone: the first mowing. Woo hoo!

I’ll have many more seasons of applications, weeding, etc. before it’s a nice, thick lawn like my landscaper-neighbor has in his yard, but I’m one (much greener) step closer! And to be honest, I am really grateful that I got to keep my hands off of this project while I was busy working on the others (that I’m revealing in just a week or two… stay tuned!).

(P.S. My happy, furry blur-ball approves.)

What have you been working on lately?

The post Where the Green Grass Grows (Finally!) appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/growing-grass-difference-sprinkler-system/

How I Got Twice The Hedge For Half The Price

I’ll be honest with you guys: I was kind of certain I was going to fail HARD with this little “trick” I’m about to show you.

I waited until I started seeing new growth, so I think I’m in the clear and can finally share.

I first hinted at my cheat last month when I mentioned that I planted a bunch of new boxwood shrubs along my backyard fence line. Fourteen of them, to be exact. But the truth is, I only spent real dollars on seven of them, because I was able to successfully split each shrub in half! The trick? All I had to do was look for plants that had two existing stems in the same pot.

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My reason for the new hedge line was twofold. With the way my lot works out in my neighborhood, I have four different neighbors’ back yards facing my own, which has led to a hodgepodge of fencing surrounding me on three sides (some of which have the “ugly” side facing me, and some with the cosmetic side). If you look back at the yard fill-in project I did last summer, you can see and compare each. I could put up my own new fence line (and sort of have been, slowly), but finishing the rest is both time-consuming and costly, and not really convenient to do in the near future with all of the other exterior and interior projects I have going on this year. I also have my own chain link fence on two sides of the yard, which while ugly, is still very functional for Charlie The Escape Artist and other pups who come to visit. So, by planting a bunch of shrubs along the longest part of the yard, I can actively be growing a newer, more beautiful division that masks my neighbors’ fences and my own while I get to work on more urgent projects. It’s not immediate, of course, but then again hardly anything with this house ever is.

When I went looking for hedge shrubs, I wanted to find the cheapest and the hardiest ones I could find. Given that spring sales are abundant right now, I was able to find pots of boxwoods at a big box store for $5 each. The common boxwood isn’t really my favorite plant in general because they are pretty boring to look at. However, when healthy, they have a decent growth rate, make for excellent hedges, and can seamlessly grow into each other with very little care (aka neglect, which is what I need to be doing right now). I noticed while shopping that many of them had two stems growing out of each pot rather than one, and it got me thinking: could I possibly just split them into two separate plants?

Well, since you probably know from experience that I like to take a gamble with DIY projects, I decided to go for it so I could tell you if it’s worth doing. It is!

Tools and Materials Used:

• boxwood plants
• heavy duty utility knife (this one’s my favorite and worth every penny IMO)
• small garden shovel (buy a set like this for better prices per unit)
• slow-release fertilizer
• landscaping fabric
• flexible, no-dig landscape edging
• root growth hormone
• mulch
• drip hose

The process is really pretty simple, but I wanted to give this new hedge the best no-fuss start I could. I started with some landscaping fabric and ran a line of flexible landscape edging to contain the mulch. Then after spacing and digging holes, I split each boxwood plant along the middle to separate its two stems using a small garden shovel and utility knife (I didn’t want to rip/mangle them too much, so cutting seemed better than tearing with my hands).

Then, I used my new favorite secret weapon: root growth hormone. I’ll be sharing some other wins thanks to this handy stuff soon, but for the hedges, I just sprinkled them on the shredded ends of the plants once split, then plopped them into the ground. The soil in this back area has excellent drainage since it was part of the fill-in project, so I needn’t worry about soil quality. I covered over the entire hedge line with mulch and added some fertilizer along with a soaker hose (to keep the plants watered until they were established, but not double my workload in the process, this hose has a bunch of holes in it to periodically water along the length of it). The hose comes loopy and kinks up easily, so I weighted them down with extra edging and bricks I found from removing the trees in years past since the mulch wasn’t heavy enough to do that on its own.

So, that’s pretty much how I got twice the hedge for half the price. Thanks to the drip line and recent rain, the boxwoods are already sprouting new growth and seem to be doing very well! They’re even tolerating Charlie’s frequent strolls around the perimeter (she seems to have a liking for how mulch feels underfoot, I suppose). It will take several years before they grow tall enough to hide anything, but in the meantime, I’ll be able to remove the chain link fence, build the new shed, and concentrate on the next 1,257 things on the to-do list.

Oh, and all of that green grass you see on the left of that photo? That’s been a success too… more soon!

The post How I Got Twice The Hedge For Half The Price appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/split-plants-into-two-with-root-growth-hormone/

Slaburday: Laying a Concrete Slab for Trash Bins