Look what I found…. Can you tell what I’m going to make this bell coupala from an old school house in to? Yes, a small building….a dove cote. I’ll fasten it to a large column I have in the shop ….that’s as much as I know so far.
What better way to usher in an earlier spring than to snip a few flowering tree branches and place them in water in your warm home. Watch the buds swell and than explode. Pictured here is cornus mas, a type of dog wood.
I think the term salvaged has generally been reserved for shipwrecks and other property or goods saved with the intention of being reused or sold. Architectural salvage has been a familiar phrase to many of us, but the term put to plants may seem a bit off, but for me digging up any very large, long lived mature specimen just seems like salvaging. It requires finding these specimens in unexpected places, often on old estates slated for demolition. Like the the beauty one finds in a salvage architectural antique door surround or old window, these plants have a size and beauty only acquired with time. They bring instant maturity to a new garden without all the fuss of waiting 30 years.
This is a converted chicken coupe I’ve been working on. It is also my summer kitchen. I’m to the point on the project where I need to build luvered vents for ventilation above the windows. I’m very excited because I’d like the vents to also function as habitat for bats. I’m currently looking for reclaimed unfinished cedar boards to build them as I’ve found out bats prefer raw wood to hold on to. I also need to find bat guana ( bat shit ) to put in little cheese cloth bags, staple them to the newly constructed vent to attract new residents. There will be screening on the inside as to keep the bats out of the inside. Why bats? Why not….they eat a lot of bugs and they don’t bother me
Filed under: Garden, Inspiration, Nature, Why Not? | Tags: birds, color, fall, groundwork, nesting, plant, poison ivy, spring, trees, Why Not?
Why not plant Poison Ivy on a large tree. For one, you can see the beautiful fall color. If you plant it on a tree off the beaten path you can avoid contact. It creates heavy dense cover for nesting birds in an other wise open branched tree. It also produces berries that the birds love. With a little thought, You can have a plant inside a plant.
Filed under: Garden
I have an appreciation for all seasons,but it’s the Spring that I always want to be home for. After all the festivities of the winter season pass and winter starts to loose her grip, it’s the Witch Hazel that always catches me off guard…a sunny day in early march, snow on the ground and a blooming witch hazel …wow…but it’s still really cold. So by the time the Daffodils make their entrance in April, I have savored the wonder of buds of red, green, yellow all set to the music of courting song birds…I love Spring
