How to Make a Vertical Pallet Garden for Shade

This spring when I came home with a bunch of free leftover shade plants after working at our garden club's annual plant sale, I knew just what I wanted to do.

shady pallet garden!

We've had a stack of pallets sitting in our basement, and I've been toying with the idea of making a pallet garden out of one for awhile.  We had a bare wall by our patio that really could use some livening up, and a pallet garden was perfect.  Now that I had the plants, it was time!

Here is what I did to make my pallet garden:

Step 1:  Painting.

I chose to spray paint the pallet black, since I really wanted to showcase the plants.

I only wanted four rows of plants (no plants on the very bottom), and I wanted to be able to put taller plants in my pallet garden, so this pallet that I had was perfect.  (If you want to recreate this garden and your pallet has too many boards on the front, you will need to pry some of the boards off.)

Step 2:  Make pockets for the soil and plants.

I made 8 pockets in total, since there's a board running through the middle of the pallet, and I made them out of landscaping fabric.  For each pocket, I cut the landscaping fabric slightly longer than the pocket would end up.

I then folded the landscaping fabric up so that the pockets would be a double thickness of fabric.  I then folded it up in half again (same way) to make a double-thick pocket.

I then stapled most of the way down each side.

To give the pocket more of a bottom, I then flattened the bottom part and stapled it flat on each side, like so:

Thus the bottom should make a 'Y' shape, and each side of your pocket should end up looking like this:

the bottom of the pocket

Now for the magic: turn the pocket inside out (or should I say 'right side out'?)

making a pocket for a pallet garden

Tada!  It should look like a (double-thick) pocket now.

Step 3:  Stuff the pockets inside the pallet and staple them all around the inside with a staple gun.

(This is easier said than done, as it takes a loooot of stapling.  You want those pockets secure!)

Step 4: Fill with dirt and plant!

My pallet garden is leaning against the wall on the north side of my house, and it is also under a deck, so I used plants that would do well in the shade.  I used the plants I happen to have, which included: white and red Wax Begonias, Astilbe, Variegated Solomon's Seal, Epimediums, golden Creeping Jenny, golden Japanese Forest Grass, and a couple ferns that I scrounged from my shade garden.

I have to thank my mother-in-law for giving me a whole tray of Wax Begonias that she had bought and didn't need, as they really add great pops of color in the pallet garden.

I'm so happy with how it turned out!  We'll see how it ages through the summer.  I'm really hoping to overwinter some of the perennials for next year, too, so we'll see how that goes.

Happy gardening!

DIY Outdoor Winter Containers

I am no floral designer.  When it comes to arranging vases and containers and the like, I know very little.  However, I am a member of a garden club that has quite a few floral designers, and I have enjoyed learning at least some basic 'tools of the trade' from them - just enough, anyway, to be able to turn my two whiskey barrel planters into proper-looking holiday winter containers this year. (woohoo!)

my holiday winter whiskey barrel container

The containers were fairly easy and quick to assemble.  Most of my time was spent in tramping through our woods surreptitiously cutting branches from trees where Mr. Red House wouldn't notice.  (He has a thing about trees.)  I ended up used four different types of evergreens, some spray-painted branches, ball ornaments, ribbon, floral foam, floral picks, and a couple wire hangers to make them.

Anyone who has done any floral designs or who is more crafty than me might know about floral foam, but for me, a newbie, it was a revelation.  Ah, this is the magic behind it all!  I used wet floral foam, often sold under the brand Oasis, as I want my greens to last as long as possible.  I just stuck two brick of wet foam on top of each container, securing them to the soil by sticking a piece cut from a wire hanger down into the middle of it.

Some notes about floral foam for fellow newbies: there is wet floral foam and dry floral foam, and you could probably use either here.  You can find them at pretty much any arts and crafts store.  To use the wet kind, fill up your sink with water and just set the foam blocks on top of the water.  They will slowly absorb the water and sink to the bottom.  (It is good to do it this way as opposed to just dunking them into the water to avoid getting air bubbles in it.)  After it is wet, it is easy to cut if you need to cut it down to your container size.

The one drawback with the wet floral foam is that it is not good to keep putting stuff in it and then taking it back out, as it will start to crumble.  So you want to have a good idea about what you are going to put in it and where before you start.  Dry floral foam can be more forgiving.

I first stuck white pine branches in a ring around my whisky barrels, as it was what I had the most of and it spilled nicely over the edges.

After a bottom layer of white pine, I started to layer my other greens (fir, Hinoki cypress, and boxwood), sticking them into the sides of the floral foam.

Then I placed my tall "thriller" pieces: branches cut from shrubs out in my woods that I spray-painted white.  (Thank you, Karen, of Quarry Garden Stained Glass blog, who was my inspiration.  She is the spray-painting queen of containers!)

I picked white because that was the spray paint I happened to have, but I think red or even silver or gold would have looked quite nice in these containers.  After that I stuck many of the small pieces of evergreens into the top of the foam to fill it up and hide the foam.  Then came the decorations to give it some color!

The second trick I learned this year was to use wooden floral picks.  Also found at any arts and crafts store, they come in a variety of sizes, and it makes it a cinch to attach ornaments, pinecones, lengths of ribbon, or whatever else you need to the arrangement.  Just attach the decoration onto the wire end and then stick the wooden pick into the floral foam.

And viola!

I hope this helps any floral arranging newbies like myself!  Happy gardening...

...or in this case, happy decorating!

Two Enchanting Miniature Gardens

A few days ago, we got a brief break from the snowy winter weather by attending the 2015 Boston Flower Show.  The theme this year was 'Season of Enchantment', and I have to share with you one of the most enchanting parts of the show - the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's miniature gardens competition.

Each miniature garden is in a box and viewed through a glass window that is about 2 feet wide and a foot and a half high.  The gardens are judged on how it represents a larger garden, with a scale of 1 inch equalling 1 foot, at least for the part in the foreground.  Combining both horticulture and design on an intricate, scaled-down level, the results are impressive and amazing.

There were two entries at the Boston Flower Show this year.  The first one, by Gloria Freitas Steidinger, is titled 'The Lot Was Pasteurized', and shows a charming scene of a home in the woods.  It is complete with miniature lambs frisking through the front yard, a water feature with a swimming swan, miniature moose or elk surveying the scene from atop a cliff, and tractors resting in the nearby field.

I love all the little plants and moss that help create the scene.  So cute!

The second miniature garden was created by Debi Hogan and Warren Leach, and shows an enchanting scene of a playhouse up in the trees, complete with vines and children's playthings. Birdhouses hang in nearby trees, and a stone path leads to a picnic table and chairs behind the playhouse, completing the look of a miniature backyard retreat.

The variety of plants used was astounding.  It truly looked like a lush, miniature backyard garden, full of bushes, trees, vines, grasses, and even flowers.  Can you believe this was all done with little tiny plants?

I wish I would have taken even more pictures of all the little details going on in the two gardens - it's worth clicking on the pictures above to enlarge them so you can see how many things are going on.  The miniature gardens truly were enchanting, and just seeing them makes me itch to get some tiny plants and make a miniature garden of my own in a terrarium or something!  I don't remember seeing the miniature gardens competition when I went to the Boston Flower Show last year, but from now on I know to be on the lookout.  So charming!

Some (after) Christmas Cacti

The only houseplants I own are safely locked away in terrariums due to a cat that enjoys her leafy greens a little too much.  I've actually loved houseplants from a young age (during one of our moves as a kid I tenderly stuffed a fairly large asparagus fern into a box and carried it on an airplane).  So I especially enjoy seeing my mother-in-law's beautiful collection of houseplants when we visit.

Lots of buds!

Among my favorite are her Christmas cacti.

My mother-in-law says they are fairly easy to care for.  They don't need much water (it is a cactus, albeit a tropical one, after all), and they don't even need much light.

a bud about to bloom

Her plants are around five or six years old. She says they are also fairly easy to propagate from stem cuttings.

The flowers of the Christmas cactus are exotically beautiful.  Though with how my mother-in-law arranges them, the plants look amazing all year long even when not in flower.

Christmas cactus placed in a glass seashell with stones

Oh, how I do miss having houseplants!  

Anyone want a veggie-loving cat?

With this Kale, I now Pronounce that you have Turned into your Mother

As similar as I am to my mother, there were several things we disagreed on growing up.

I didn't understand why in the world we would need to make our beds when we were just going to sleep in them again that night.  I vowed that when I grew up, I would never tell my children 'because I told you so.' Being forced to eat whole grain bread was cruel and unusual punishment (and let's not even talk about spinach).  And I certainly didn't understand how anyone could stand to watch that many episodes of the extremely boring home improvement show 'This Old House'.

Our differences also stretched to the garden.  Those blue Hydrangeas that my mom loved?  I informed her that blue flowers and green leaves do NOT match.  Irises?  Pretty flowers, but those leaves are too poky-looking.  And in the fall when she bought Ornamental Kale, I thought they were the ugliest plants alive.  Who in the world would buy a plant that looks like it should belong in (ugh) a salad?

Of course, now that I am grown up, my tastes have changed.  I love Hydrangeas and blue flowers of any kind.  I find myself looking for the types of Irises that my mom used to grow when I was young.  My dislike of Ornamental Kale, however, held out for quite some time...

...until this year when I was looking for something to fill a fall-blooming container.

Well, since planted the Kale has edged out most of the pansies and pushed a little Juniper to the side in its quest for Gigantic Awesomeness.  And you know what?  I find that I don't mind a bit.  In fact, I wonder how in the world I could dislike this plant for so long.

Oh, the brilliant fall color!  The beautifully veined leaves!  

And after a frost?  Divine!

So I do apologize to my mother for criticizing her planting choice for so long.  I am now off to go lie on my neatly made bed and watch some home improvement television after feeding my kids a healthy supper that included whole grains.

Hey, at least I didn't serve them spinach.

Making Terrariums - So Simple a Child Could Do It

What is a gardener to do in the wintertime when he or she needs their plant fix?
Start an indoor garden, of course! 

Terrariums are all the rage right now, and as they seem like a possible solution to my houseplant-munching cat, I enjoyed making a couple of them this winter.

Terrarium: a glass container, chiefly or wholly enclosed, for growing and displaying plants

Terrariums being sold at the hardware store

Now that they are so popular, it is a lot easier finding a variety of little plants for terrariums that were previously not available locally.

Fittonia albivenis (white), Palm seedling, Hypoestes (red), Fern

 Of course, as soon as my kids saw the first terrarium I made, they wanted to make one, so out came the old goldfish bowls out of storage. 

(RIP Fishy 1 and Fishy 2)

How to Make a Terrarium

Step 1: Choose a glass container, either open or closed, and clean thoroughly.  Choose your container with your plants in mind - some plants enjoy the high humidity of a closed terrarium, while other plants need more air circulation.

Step 2:  Put clean rocks, sand, or marbles in the bottom for drainage.  

This was actually my kids' favorite step - going outside and collecting rocks for their terrarium kept them quite busy for a good hour or two!  (This is of course much easier when you have an extremely mild winter and no snow..)

My more decorative river rocks

Step 3:  If you have a closed container, put a few spoonfuls of activated charcoal over the rocks to filter the air and prevent the buildup of bad microorganisms and odors.  You can find it at the pet store in the aquarium section (sometimes it will be labeled as activated carbon).

Step 4:  If desired, put a layer of moss or a mesh to prevent the soil from falling down into your decorative rocks.  You can use sphagnum moss or landscape fabric or any sheer fabric.  I used a strip of sheet moss I had, turned upside down.

Step 5:  Plant your plants, using a light potting soil.

Hmm... this one is still going to have to go up high out of reach of the cat..

Some common plants for terrariums include Fittonia albivenis (also known as Nerve Plant), certain types of Begonias, orchids, ferns, Peperomia, and Hypoestes (also known as Polka Dot Plant).  Make sure to choose a grouping of plants that all prefer the same light and humidity levels. 

Clockwise from top left:  Fittonia albivenis (pink), Fittonia albivenis (small and white), Palm seedling, Hypoestes (red), Fern

Step 6:  Add any decorative items you would like.  My four-year-old added rocks and glitter hearts to her terrarium.

My four-year-old's terrarium: Fittonia albivenis (pink), Fittonia albivenis (red)

My two year old added the rest of her rocks on top and left me to finish with sheet moss - she just wanted to go outside and collect more rocks!

My two-year-old's terrarium: Fittonia albivenis (pink), button fern

Step 7:   Lightly water your plants (the lightly part being the hardest step for kids - I suggest a spray bottle) and set in a location that gets the proper amount of light.   Most terrarium plants like a decent amount of indirect light but not direct light. 

Water the terrarium every once in a while when the soil starts getting dry.  If you have a closed terrarium, you will need to let it air out every few weeks and be careful not to overwater (especially with little kids that looove to water).

My four-year-old's terrarium

As you can see, making a terrarium is so simple even a child could do it!

Now keeping it alive, that's another story...