Picket Fence Weblog

The weather here has been beautiful lately. It’s almost as if we skipped Spring and went straight into Summer. I put out my deck furniture early. Flowers will go out in May. I bought an Outdoor Pillow to spruce up my patio table chair. It’s really comfy and can withstand the sun and rain. I’ll attach a pic so you can see how nice it looks. I think it’s great that you can now buy the weatherproof furniture, rugs and accessories that look as nice as the home decor you see on the inside of your home. Have you put out your deck/patio furniture yet? The time is here!

Until next time… Ann

For those of you itching to get in your garden, but the weather just isn’t cooperating, I know of one thing you can do. Put your mulch in. No need to wait for flowers - this is one step that can be done even if the threat of a freeze still exists. And don’t forget to put mulch around your trees. I don’t use regular mulch for that. I buy Mulch Rings. And for outside of my garden I use Rubber Border Edge. These are two items that you buy once and then use season after season.

Happy early gardening!

Until next time…. Ann

The weather is finally starting to turn! We had a week with temperatures flirting 70. Granted, this weekend it is supposed to be in the 40s, but I am choosing to ignore that fact. I did see that my tulips are starting to come up.

With the weather finally cooperating, you know that weekly lawn mowing is not far behind. That being said - now is the time to get your lawn mower out of storage and serviced. I think this year it is time to consider a Reel Mower. I will give you a few reasons why:

1) With gas prices soon to hit $4/gal. (do not even get me started on that!), it will cost you more to fill your lawn mower tank this season.

2) A Reel Mower is better for the environment and better for your lawn.

3) It’s great exercise!

So there you have it - my top 3 reasons to reel!

Until next time… Ann

Do you have nosy neighbors?   Do they like to  sit on their back deck and use your family as entertainment?  I know plenty of folks who have told me similar stories.  Not only do some of these stories include neighbors just staring, but some of these same neighbors wait until you come out so they can come over and talk.  It gets tiresome.  Short of putting up a hedge fence or an expensive yard barrier fence, there isn’t much you can really do.  Giant wooden fences that surround your yard can be extremely expensive and hedge fences are, well, ugly.

This Privacy Trellis is much better looking, can be used to grow hanging plants, and will protect you from the eyes of nosy meddling neighbors.  It adds a little bit of old world charm to your backyard, too.  If this doesn’t seem big enough for protect you from those prying eyes you can try the  Outdoor Privacy Screen.

Just trying to help you keep your summer fun between you and and the fence….

As always, Art.

There has been so much talk on the news channels (take your pick of Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc.) of how the war in Iraq has lasted 5 full years, the economy may or may not plunge, and the ongoing presidential debate between Hillary and Obama.   It’s pretty much been the same recycled stories for the past few weeks.  I’m starting to tire of it, possibly much out of boredom.

Then, Spring suddenly arrived. I know here in Western New York the first day of Spring brought more snow.  Soon, the leaves will bud and not long after April showers we start seeing beautiful blooms.

Summer really does make you seem care free, even if the worries are still there, a long quiet walk on a nice starry night might do the trick.

There is a bit of prep work to do as spring starts to usher in better weather.  I know the lawn is always an issue, trim, and any general yard clean up.  Somehow after the snow melts we find lots of strange debris resting all over the yard.  Get it cleaned up early and there won’t be any bare spots.  If it’s already too late, you can try Velocity Lawn Patch Plus. 

It’s one of the best products to date.

So here’s to the kick off of Spring!

As Always, Art.

It certainly is a hot button issue.  Every where you go you see companies boasting that they have gone green.  You hear it on the news, at work, in department stores, coffee shops, and all over the radio.  There are plenty of ways to go green, even if you’re not a multi-million dollar corporation.  Everything helps too.  From the light bulbs you use in your living room, to the small solar powered devices you buy for your yard. 

You could also save other resources besides energy.  Try to have a nice lush green lawn, one in which has strong roots and will not dry out to quick.  In a past blog, Ann talked about a neighbor who had a perfect lawn by using an underground sprinkler system.  That could be considered a waste of energy as well as water.  There are plenty of natural lawn care products that won’t fill your lawn full of chemicals, and having a strong lawn will help keep bare spots to a minimum, and keep you from wasting water trying to bring back a patch of dirt.  Try Velocity Lawn Patch Plus and/or Canada Green for the spring, to get your lawn back and help save a bit of energy.  Don’t forget about Solar Power Products too.  Every little bit counts.

As always, Art.

I thought that I would touch on some more security features and products that shoppicketfence.com has.  I had been blogging about ponds and pond gardens, but today, here in western NY, it is freezing cold, windy, and snowy.  So, gardening, ponds, and lawn care are about the last thing on my mind.

At shoppicketfence.com there are more security products than just the camera that looks just like a flood lamp.  We also have a wireless driveway alarm, too.  This sends a signal to a transmitter that sounds an alarm, so you know if someone has pulled in to your driveway, or started up your walk. Many people like and use this product so they do not miss deliveries.  It’s great for businesses too.

There is also the Transonic Pro.  This is not so much a measure of security or alerts as it is to keep pests away, which is a kind of security.  The Transonic Pro can drive pests away from your garden, home, garage, or storage space.  It keeps small and large pests and rodents away for good.  I’ve heard of some folks who use this in the spring and summer for their garden and then use it for their garage and/or storage in fall and winter.  They really are multi-useful.

Just a few unique products from the QCI Direct. 

As always, Art.

I heard a great story the other day and I felt compelled to share it.

A friend of mine lives in the suburbs.  He has quite a bit of land behind his garage and this is the fourteenth year in a row that he has had a garden.  Each year it has gotten bigger and bigger.  The last 4 years though, he was growing a lot of vegetables to can with.  He also makes different sauces and salsa’s throughout the year and makes gift baskets with his creations to give away at Christmas.  He spent years as a chef before owning his own business, so he knows his way around the kitchen.

Anyway, over the last four years, he noticed that a few vegetable would always be missing. Not every night or anything, just once in a while he would go back there to dig up a carrot or grab a tomato or onion, and notice that some of them were missing.  He couldn’t figure out what he was up against since no pest repellent seemed to be working. I suggested a special camera that looks just like a flood lamp.  It sends a video signal to your television so you can watch what types of animals are getting into your garden.

I know that most people use them for security against  criminals, but this is just an alternate use. Anyway, I talked my friend into buying one.  I even helped him set it up.  He called me a few days later, he had caught the animal red handed!  It turned out, his next door neighbor, an old man into his 90’s, was helping himself to whatever he felt like that day.  When asked, the man told my friend, “not to worry, he’ll keep an eye out” for whatever is stealing the veggies.  My friend said he didn’t have the heart to blame the man.  So now, once a week, he leaves a basket full of vegetables on the mans front door step, no matter what time of the year.  He has never had his garden raided since, and the old man has yet to say another word to him.

I wonder if he’s still “watching out” for the culprit.

As always, Art.

Ok, I know in Western New York it is still winter, but we’re having a little bit of a warm up. In fact, it is supposed to be in the middle 50’s by tomorrow. It wasn’t all that warm this weekend, but it was sunny enough, and by gosh just warm enough, for the topsoil to thaw slightly. I decided to go up to camp and make sure everything was ok. I mean, as long as the weather’s good I may as well spend a little time there. It also got me out of chores around the house. Anyway, it was even warmer at camp then in the city. I thought that maybe I would measure out the are I was thinking for my new garden pond and place markers in the ground, surrounding it with twine, so I could see the shape of the pond.

So I put stakes in ground and set up the string and stood back to look at it. The shape was great. I could tell it was going to look natural. Since the ground was warm, I decided to plunge the shovel into the ground, just to see how many rocks were going to be in the soil. Since the camp is so close to the river, it’s mostly sand for the first foot or two, and after that its actually not all that bad. Sparse large rocks posed a problem but they were easy enough to cast aside. Before I knew it, I had almost dug the pond out.

About half of the pond is already dug out. It’s a lot easier than I thought. My pond is only going to be about 7 x 12 feet, and about 3 feet deep, so it’s not all that large. But the ground, it is still partially frozen, but because the river is close to the lake, it wasn’t frozen all the way, which actually made it easier, I think. I realized that I had spent most of the day digging, it only took a few hours to dig half out. I stopped though, and cleaned up and headed for home. It’s really made me excited for spring, to have a new project ready for me when the sun comes out and the snow quits for good. It is a small breakthrough, and it sort of cured those winter blues a little, plus, there is no turning back now, I have to put a pond in. Unless I want to return in a few weeks and fill it back in. Which dosen’t seem likely. I’ll keep you up to date on what my next step is, which as of now, I’m not sure of.

In the meantime, check out some of the fun spring categories at shoppicketfence.com. Pond, lawn and garden, and patio, deck, and pool are some of my favorites.

As always, Art.

I have been searching around for more articles and blog spots about garden ponds.  It’s been really great.  There are some truly fascinating stories out there about individuals who built their own ponds, or folks who are trying to build their own garden ponds, as I am.  It’s nice to see a community of people out there who are true DIYers (Do It Yourself-ers).  I guess that probably comes from upbringing, or maybe just the quest for knowledge and pride.

I have finished designing where I want my pond and what shape I want it to look like.  Its going to be a small oblong oval shape.  I made it so it was not completely oval, it has some strange curves to it.  I tried to make it look as natural as possible.  I’ve started looking for liners, which is a technicality, because I’m more into what is going around it and how I am going to finish the overall design.  I know I am going to put a bird feeder close by, possibly a fishing boy, and maybe even a flamingo.  I’m not sure that I’ll be able to fit all that in the small space that I have designed, but I will try.

I’m going to put rocks up on one side, and then let the grass come up on the other.  I’ll probably place a lawn border or maybe a fence there, to keep the grass a few inches away.  I hope it attracts some local wildlife, which everyone tells me is one of the best benefits of having a garden pond.  I’ll write more when I get more decided.

As always, Art.