Category Archives: Gardening

Spotted: Cloche Terrariums

Gardening, Spotted, Store

New feature! Every time we see someone using an outdoor living product from Willard & May, out on the web or in real life – we’ll post it on our blog in a new category called Spotted. This way you can see how others use our everyday products and become inspired.

Last week, while perusing the blog, Young House Love,looking at all of their great DIY projects for outside and inside, we noticed a Cloche Terrarium featured on their kitchen counter, protecting a little plant. In the past, this indoor garden tool was merely functional as it was used to accelerate the growth of young plants. Now are they not only used for the same purpose and also to protect the plants from extreme weather, but they’re also decorative and uniquecloche garden terrarium bell shaped!

(Source: Young House Love)

Before & After: Backyard Patio

Before & After, Curb Appeal, Gardening, Outdoor Decor, Pin Inspiration

Don’t you just love a transformation – whether it be on those hgtv shows or extreme makeover? Sometimes it just takes a little effort to make a huge impact. The bloggers of Young House Love know all about diy transformation, and how updating just a few things can bring about a whole new life.

Check out their before & after of their backyard patio from their first house. The simple things such as redoing the stone, adding some soft landscaping, bringing new outdoor furnishings and adding a fire pit, made a huge makeover. Read even more about their backyard makeover on their blog.

young house love backyard makeover before
young house love backyard makeover after

Have a Before & After you’d like us to share? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

Father’s Day Gift Guide

Gardening, Gifts

Father’s Day is just a few days away! And when you notice that, you’ll probably panic and think, “What am I going to get Dad this year?” Before the panic begins, take a few minutes to think about your dad and remember some of the good times you had with him. We asked our team “What’s a favorite memory of you and your dad?” And here are some of their replies and a few photos for good measure :)
wm dad tribute

Jenny – “Cleaning the refrigerator…no joke it was an annual tradition that me and my dad did! But we did have a lot of fun fishing together.”

Mel – “My ‘Dadio’ (as I used to and sometimes still do call him) was really the first person who taught me to love listening to music. When my sister and I were little girls he used to dance with us in our play room or let us lay on his chest while we listened to music”.

Krista – “We’d play our own mini Olympics in our yard!”

Nick – “My dad and I always went hiking a lot (Kettle Moraine, Devil’s Lake, middle of nowhere Iowa, etc)…and odds are we’d end up finding a walnut tree with the big green husks, and start playing ‘dodgeball’. Everyone usually ended up with some bruises.”

Vanessa – “Dad would always get me and my sisters roses for our birthdays. We always got the same number of roses for the number of years we were celebrating.”

 

Bill Cosby describes fatherhood as “Pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.” We’ve all give our dads some interesting gift one time or another – whether it be the tie, the picture you colored or a pet rock. Hopefully you’ve wised up and are looking to get dad a great gift this year, something he can actually use and appreciate. To help you out, we’ve put together this list of outdoor-related Father’s Day gifts for you…
gift ideas for dads fathers day
(1. LP Gas Fireplace with Slate Mantel 2. Rectangle Premium Umbrella 3. Bird Hose Holder 4. Foot Planter 5. Cast Iron Bird Bath and Feeder 6. Boot Drying Rack 7. Belize Woven Dining Set 8. New Orleans Table Lamp Heater)

Weekend DIY: Hanging Basket Succulents

Gardening, Weekend DIY

Back in February, we did a Weekend DIY post on building an indoor succulent garden. Now that it’s almost summer time, you can try using succulents outdoors within your rock gardens, or if you don’t have the space, try making a hanging succulent garden with a hanging basket. We browsed Pinterest for some ideas and thought we’d share the steps on how to make this succulent hanging basket, inspired by Better Homes and Gardens and Canadian Gardening. This hanging basket also works well for those that live in dry areas or often forget to water!

succulent hanging basket diy  (Photo Source: Better Homes and Gardens)

Here are the supplies you’ll need to re-create this look: a hanging basket, a variety of shorter succulents, coir or coconut lining to line the outside of the pot (sold at your local garden store), and landscape fabric to line the inside of the basket.

To get started, line your hanging basket with the coir lining (or use sphagnum moss to create an even more natural look) and line the inside of the basket with landscape fabric to keep the plants/soil from falling through the moss. Next, add the soil, being careful to leave enough room for the succulents. Plant the succulents on the top of the soil, but also on the sides as well, so that their roots grow into the moss. Give the basket a good drink of water, but then allow the basket to dry out completely before the next watering.

It is a good idea to allow the succulent roots time to establish if they are hanging on the outer sides, so that gravity does not win them over. Does this by treating them extra gentle during the first few waterings. For other succulent planting and growing tips, refer to our blog on growing an indoor succulent garden.

Plus, check out the selection of hanging baskets which each come with their own coir lining from Willard & May below:
hanging baskets online
(1. Bird Hanging Basket 2. Butterfly Hanging Basket 3. Rustic Hanging Basket)

Happy Weekend!

Weekend DIY: Modern Fence

Curb Appeal, Gardening, Pin Inspiration, Weekend DIY

Neighbors – You either love ’em or hate ’em. If you love them, celebrate that fact and invite them over for a bbq this weekend and realize that you are lucky. But, if you hate ’em we’ve also got a project just for you! This DIY project is all about building a fence, to either block out the neighbors or because it looks really awesome if you are into the whole modern look.

mid century modern fence
modern fence how to (Photo Source: My Mid-Century Modern Life)

We came across this awesome Modern DIY Fence from the blog, My Mid-Century Modern Life thanks to pinterest. I’m sure you’re looking at this photo and thinking, this is no way just a weekend project, and you are correct – this may take a few weekends, but we think this would be well worth your time in the end!

While we’d love to hash out the details of building this amazing fence, but we figured you could just hop on over to the original blog posts from My Mid-Century Modern Life and discover how they build this fence from scratch.

Step 1: Plan – Here is the post where they wrote about how to plan out the fence
backyard fence layout (Photo Source: My Mid-Century Modern Life)

Step 2: Posts – Here is the blog post where they explained about creating the posts
diy posts (Photo Source: My Mid-Century Modern Life)

Step 3: Progress – Here is the post where they explain how to space the planks, attach them, stain them, and more
how to build a modern fence (Photo Source: My Mid-Century Modern Life)

Step 4: Stain & Seal – This post they talk about finishing up the fence
staining a fence (Photo Source: My Mid-Century Modern Life)

Step 5: Windows (optional) – Here is the post where they explained they added some windows to the fence to allow for a tree to grow properly
fence holes for trees (Photo Source: My Mid-Century Modern Life)

And maybe if this project scares you to death, you can hopefully get inspired to build a fence to add some privacy to your backyard. We also created a board on Pinterest with other fence/privacy ideas for you to check out!

Happy Weekend!

Mother’s Day Gift Guide

Gardening, Gifts, Outdoor Decor

Mother’s Day is coming up – and we have a question for you! What do you love most about your mother? Maybe it is the way she loves you unconditionally or that she will always support your decisions. Or is it that she’s your best friend? What about that sixth sense of her’s – that she knows everything? Throughout the many seasons of life, the reasons why you love your mother may change but one thing remains the same: no matter how old you are, mother’s still love to feel appreciated – and you should never stop showing her how much you care.

We’ve put together this handy Mother’s Day Gift Guide for you to make shopping for her a bit easier this year! Whether she likes to garden, host outdoor parties, or just enjoy a quiet evening on the patio, we’ve got some great gift ideas for that special lady in your life.

(1. Herb Dryer Rack 2. Butterfly Hanging Basket 3. Chalkboard Herb Pots 4. Vine Planter 5. Butterfly Pot Holder 6. Outdoor Hook 7. Key Hinder)

Weekend DIY: Tiered Planters

Curb Appeal, Gardening, Weekend DIY

After getting an unusual dose of summer weather this spring and if you are anything like us – you are itching to plant some fun annuals to bring some color into your life! Though for us in Wisconsin it is a little bold to go to a nursery and pick out some plants due to our crazy weather, it may be perfectly fine in your area to plant away! For us who have to wait for that fun step, we can prepare for that day with this project!

We found this fun DIY Tiered Planters from the blog Positively Splendid – the possibilities to create are endless, especially when it comes to painting colors, patterns, and what you plant in them. For this project you’ll need a few terra cotta planters (in 2-3 sizes), A terra cotta saucer for the largest pot, spray paint (1 or 2 colors), a polyurethane sealer, stencil (if you want to add house numbers), bricks, soil, and plants of your choosing. The steps are pretty simple, paint your pots how you’d like then apply a sealer. Then pick out your flowers. Stack the pots using the bricks, then fill in with dirt and the plants! For a step-by-step detailed instructions, refer to Positively Splendid’s blog post.

Here are a few photos to show the steps:


 

And if your house numbers are like some of ours in Wisconsin (a crazy 9 digits), you can skip the numbers, or make a cute mini version! We love the colors that were chosen for this example too:

(Photo Source: Positively Splendid)

Happy Weekend – if you have DIY you’d like to share, feel free to leave us a word in the comment section below!

Pin Love: Dino Planter

Gardening, Pin Inspiration

We just wanted to share a quick pin we saw on Pinterest the other day and absolutely love! It’s pretty dino-mite (clever bunch we are)! Check out this creative Dinosaur Planter that is very easy to make. We love the contrast you see from the dainty flowers with such a beast of a creature.

To read the full tutorial on how to create this planter, read this post from Cut Out & Keep. And if you ever have a tutorial you’d like to share, feel free to drop us a line, we’d love to feature it!


(Source: Cut Out & Keep)

Trend: Neon Spring

Gardening, Outdoor Decor

Ever watch the teenage sitcom, Saved by the Bell? Remember the crazy fashions: bright neon colors, spandex, splatter paint, bleach, that whole look? Well, I have good news for those who enjoyed that era (and still have the fashion to prove it)! NEON is back, and is the current trend for spring and summer!

Doing a simple Google search for “neon trend” shows you what you can do with a bit of neon… and you can do a lot!

Now, let’s take the neon idea and bring it out to the garden! Check out these colorful garden totes that come in four vibrant hues: pink, orange, blue, and green! Never misplace your garden bucket in the landscape again! We also rounded up some of our favorite summer-blooming bulbs from TulipWorld that can bring those neon hues to your flower beds and your neutral garden planters this summer!


(1. Sylphide Anemone 2. Orange Double Camellia Begonia 3. Golden Chalice Hybrid Calla Lily 4. Wyoming Canna Lily 5. Golden Emblem Decorative Dahlia 6. Tout a Toi Gladiolus 7. Red Pixie Lily 8. Guacamole Hosta 9. Royal Dream Hybrid Lily 10. Pineapple Lily 11. King City Gold Semi Dwarf Canna Lily 12. Purple Gem Cactus Dahlia)

Happy NEON spring!

Spring into Spring

Before & After, Curb Appeal, Gardening

Today marks the official first day of spring – and lucky for us, the weather reflects that today with a wonderful high of 70 degrees F. The coming of spring can also mean many things, such as spring cleaning, new life as plants begin to grow again, finding new ways to do things, or a new fresh look.

How about this spring, you find a new way to relax. You can sit back in a hammock, enjoying the chirping of the birds and the humming of the bees and lawn mowers – and think about how you won’t have to drive in or shovel snow until next winter. We think this photo describes exactly what spring should be all about, when it comes to relaxing…

(Source: House to Home)

Once you are finished relaxing, let’s talk about spring cleaning… Spring is also a great time to clean those pesky things that we normally skip over during weekly cleanings. We have compiled this spring cleaning checklist that pertains to your outdoor spaces for you to use over the next few weeks to get your outdoor space in tip top shape! You can download a free copy of our checklist to print out here.


OUTDOOR SPRING CLEANING CHECKLIST

Garden Space

  • Clean up any trash, weeds or dead foliage
  • Clean and/or replace garden tools

Patio

  • Power-wash your patio or deck, and clean to remove grime, pollen, fungus and/or mildew

Other Backyard Areas

  • Check and replace pool filters
  • Wash windows
  • Hang up screens on windows and patch any holes
  • Re-seed spotty grass areas
  • maintenance
  • Check your hoses for cracks and leaks
  • Clean out the gutters
  • Clean and organize garages and sheds
  • Check your driveway and sidewalks for any needed repair

Are there any you think we missed on our checklist, if so let us know in the comment section below! Happy First Day of Spring and happy cleaning!