Signs your Garden Needs some TLC

Although the weather has been going up and down, with the official Spring date approaching, I can't stop thinking and planning the outdoor space and the garden! I find that it is important to keep up with the garden especially in the beginning when the weather warms up and we start planting. This way there is less work to do during the season and we can keep enjoying the green space. Here are somethings to keep in mind.

Summer Gardening with Plantables

We found using Plantables to be a convenient way to order plants online for our summer garden this year and got them delivered right to our doorstep! 

Quick and Easy Bean Salad made with Garden Fresh Beans

This bean salad needs to be made ahead of time, at least 2 hours before serving, for the flavours to marinate.

Easy Ways to Spruce Up The Garden

In the spring and summer, we spend a lot of time in the garden. Spending time tending for the plants and caring for the green space can be quite relaxing and satisfying. Here are some easy ways to spruce up the garden in no time when it starts to look a little tired.

Winter Garden Maintenance

Most of the time, during the cold season we neglect our gardens, only to face a huge amount of effort preparing the garden once the sun begins to shine. We all look forward to garden parties, barbecuing, playdates, catch-ups, and to relax and enjoy ourselves in the summer. So why not make it easy to jump right into the fun by preparing a few items ahead of time?

Creating A Relaxing Spot In Your Garden

Gardens are one of the most relaxing places you can go to on any day. They provide a place for us to unwind and enjoy nature's beauty. Winter is the perfect time to dream of the garden and plan the projects you want to do when the weather gets warmer. Here are a few ideas to think of when you are planning to create a retreat in your garden.

Painted Birdhouse inspired by Travels to Eastern Canada

We built another birdhouse for our garden and painted the three sides inspired by beautiful places we visited in in Eastern Canada.

Gardening in Small Spaces and Giveaway

Gardening is one of our favourite hobbies. In the past years, we have passionately done a variety of DIY projects and improved our gardening to become a backyard oasis. We have built a variety of different gardening structures, put in a pond with aquatic plants, made spaces for birds, planted fruit trees, invested in different types of perennials over the years, and more. When it comes to growing vegetables, we usually buy transplants from garden centres and put in a few seeds directly in the garden.

Keeping the Garden Neat And Tidy

Sit back, relax and enjoy your corner of green paradise: this is the dream of every garden owner when summer arrives. But it's not that simple, because grass always grows back too quickly and the rain allows the bushes to overgrow in abundance. It is all the more important to prune regularly so that the native plants retain their shape. It is also important to keep your garden free from unwanted critters and creatures as they too can damage and destroy wildlife. For example, you may want to look at skunks removal! We have a skunk that is too curious with our pond, and often removes things from it. We do try to prevent it from destroying the pond area by covering the pond every night with a mesh.

Attracting bees to the garden with these DIY bee hotels

Over the years, we have made our garden pollinator friendly by adding a variety of features! It is exciting to watch these homes and places being utilized by benefiting creatures. We have also seen the benefits of these features as they have encouraged different types of bees to come into the garden and help pollinate flowers - especially in our vegetable garden. 

The bee hotels we placed in our garden were made in a post or block style, and painted with acrylic paint for aesthetics. We leave these homes all year round in the garden. 

Sustainable living and gardening

The weather is finally warm and we have spent most of our time preparing the garden. DK books Self-Sufficiency for the 21st Century and Indoor Edible Garden has inspired us to do a few projects this spring like building a compost bin and getting our seeds started indoors.

Painted Bird House

We find that it is fun to add our unique touches to home decor pieces. The process and the final results of these conversational pieces always excite us, and give a feeling of satisfaction. This summer we decided to add a couple of bird houses that we made to the garden, as we had a variety of different birds that come to the bird feeder. 

Painting Plant Pots

Easy projects that can be done within a few hours, which transforms a space to feel creative and fresh are our favourite type of DIY projects. This summer, we painted most of our plastic planting pots with Americana decor outdoor living paint. This specially designed acrylic paint can be used for interior and exterior home decor projects. This eggshell finish weather resistant paint is smell free and easy to work with.

Attracting birds to our garden with Squirrel Buster Plus Bird feeder

Over the past few years, we have updated our garden to encourage pollinators such as bees and butterflies to visit by choosing plants and flowers that attract them. We also made structures where they can build their homes, and created water features like bird baths. We also have a pond area which the birds love coming to take a bath and to quench their thirst or to sit by the rocks and sun bathe.

Waterproofing our fence with Rust-Oleum RESTORE®

We built a new wooden fence in our garden last summer using treated green wood, which has a bright refreshing feel. We gave the new fence boards time to dry out over the summer before applying a clear coat sealer to protect the wood from moisture. We used RESTORE® 12x Clear Coat Transparent Stain and Sealer. We went with the clear finish because we liked the original colour of the fence boards. This sealer can be tinted into six different colours. 

DK books on Flora and Fauna

We enjoy books that encourage the love for flora and fauna, as it helps us slow down and be thankful for every creation that is around us. DK books, An Anthology of Intriguing Animals and Smithsonian Flora, would make thoughtful gifts, as it would be appreciated all year round. 

DK Canada books to inspire Summer Detox and Giveaway

When spring comes along, we get quite excited to plant a variety of different vegetables, herbs, and flowers in our garden. Harvesting and caring for the plants all summer long is one of our favourite hobbies. In order to inspire us to spend our summer feeling relaxed, refreshed, and ready to take part in adventures, we took a closer look at a few DK Canada books that inspires Summer Detox. 

Win a copy of The Encyclopedia of Landscape Design

Encyclopedia of landscape design is an inspiring book that helps us to plan, build, and plant in our outdoor space. This book will be useful for anyone looking to do a total redesign or target a specific area of their garden. We like the fresh and achievable ideas in this guide, which will be useful for every gardener. The Encyclopedia of landscape design is produced by a team of award-winning horticultural experts.

Learning Correct Methods of Pruning and Training

Plants require a little more T.L.C. than the removal of dead, diseased and damaged wood to be in good health. Pruning and training a plant correctly helps keep it healthy and eliminate problems such as structural weakness and disease. 

Yard Maintenance with the Dewalt Brushless Blower

We have been wanting to reduce our work in the yard, and enjoy spending more time just relaxing in the garden. One of our manual tasks in the garden is raking - we can do this job much easily using a leaf blower.