Continue reading »]]> Share the love

UPDATE:: After writing this post I found out that aHa! Modern Living has a giveaway going on for  a Roost Recycled Glass Wall Terrarium with Timber Press’s Terrarium Craft book by Amy Bryant Aiello and Kate Bryant.  Go ahead and enter now!  (after you check out my Pinterest Wednesday, of course )

It’s a succulent Pinterest Wednesday at Dirt & Martinis today!

As we know, succulents are very popular and fashionable in indoor and outdoor gardening these days.  Here are some of my favorite images that I’m very excited to share with you today.  I’m absolutey smitten with what you can do with these fascinating plants and am inspired to add some of these ideas to my home…

The above miniature garden tricycle would be so cute to add to any miniature/fairy garden.  Isn’t it darling?!

Pinned image found here.  Website for this image is from Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center shop found here.  

What’s not to love about these toy planters!? 

Pinned image found here.  Website for image found at More Design Please. 

I love Fern Richardson’s flour sifter planter!  So cute.

Pinned image found here. Website and tuturial for image found at Fiskars.com 

The above bubble terrariums are stunning aren’t they?  Sleek, modern and simple.  I adore these lovelies.

Pinned image found here. Website for image found at aHaModernLiving.com

So, are you on Pinterest yet? You can follow my Pinterest boards here or let me know via Twitter, Facebook or leave a comment on this post… Happy Pinning!

Continue reading »]]> Share the love

Not junky bad, but junky good!

I realize it is appalling for some people to use junk in the garden but not to me.  Most of my garden “art” is aged, rusty, and weird but in my eyes it’s interesting to look at and the BEST part- most of it was free!  I admit and confess I’m a junk junky .

Recently I had a chat with someone that was down in the dumps because her garden was blah and boring.  She procrastinated doing anything to update it because she thought it would take wads of cash to even get her garden space comfy and inviting. This made me sad. 

For those with little money my garden is living proof that you don’t need a bunch a cash to create a unique garden of your own.  Here are some “dumpster diver” tips that I gave to the lady I mentioned before:

 Use splashes of color throughout your garden.  Here’s a couple of battered rusty chairs that a couple of nice guys dropped off for me.  Since they’re non-functioning I thought they’d add some interest and color in my flower bed…

Use similar found items and group them together.  As you know, I heart rocks…

Create flower/vegetable beds and borders out of bottles from your recycle bin or do what I did…put the word out on Facebook and you’ll have bottles in no time!

Make your own garden art by thinking outside the dumpster…literally.  Here’s some metal pieces that got a new lease on life.  The round metal rings were off a wine barrel planter that fell apart and the metal candlesticks were found at a second hand store for a few bucks…

Before you throw something out ask yourself if you can plant in it.  Here’s a couple vertical planters, one made from a heater that was salvaged from a house demo and the other from a rice bag…

So, I hope this has given you some junkalicious inspiration to get in the garden and be creative with found objects and items headed to the dump.  Gardening with reused materials sometimes is a better and prettier way to go,  especially,  when you don’t have a lot of money in your pocket. 

What sort of fun ways do YOU garden?  I’d love to hear from you!!!!

Continue reading »]]> Share the love

Happy Friday everyone! 

The weekend has arrived and a lot of us gardeners look forward to playing in the dirt,  harvesting produce, dead heading plants, planning new projects and focusing as much time as we can being and living in our gardens.  Although some view tending to the garden as work, I view it as cheap therapy.  There’s something about the smell of a tomato plant, herbs, and even the soil that can lower my heart rate and lift my spirits.  With that it mind, let’s take a walk through my garden, the Dirt & Martinis little patch of heaven.

Welcome to my garden…

 I have a few butterfly bushes and lots of bergamot!  The bees and hummingbirds love it….

Here’s some Russian sage, more bergamot in the background and I don’t know what the red flower is, do you?  My garden is also full of rocks.  I heart rocks…

Along the way I have nasturtium, basil, dill and cilantro growing in pots.  Here’s some I have planted in an old toolbox… 

I’m fond of succulents, hummingbirds and, yes, there’s more bergamot…

All throughout my garden I have mystery plants popping up.  I think this may be a pumpkin that appeared one day from underneath the flowers. 

Here’s some echinacea.  I find the colors of this flower mesmerizing and I think the bees do too…

 

I do have lots of flowers, but I assure you I have some edibles growing too.  Here’s one that is both edible and ornamental, a daylily…

 In my veggie garden I have shallots ‘saffron’ from Annie’s Annuals…

Here are Kentucky blue pole beans growing up an old ladder… 

There’s more veggies in my garden to show you but it’s time relax with something icy….

  I hope you make time to eat, drink, and play in the dirt this weekend garden friends!  Stay cool and thanks for joining me on a short tour of the Dirt & Martinis garden!

Continue reading »]]> Share the love

This post originally appeared on the #gardenchat blog.  You can follow #gardenchat on Twitter and on Facebook.

Reduce, reuse, recycle are words we hear everyday and sometimes several times a day. Specifically in the area of reuse, gardeners all around the world, from all walks of life and economic status have taken the incentive to use items that were headed to the landfill to create unique gardens.

Not only does reusing items help the environment but it allows us to get very creative in our garden spaces with little or no money. There are several ways to use junk and trash in our gardens .  For example instead of recycling, why not reuse cardboard egg cartons, toilet paper rolls and newspaper for seed starting? Mini blinds can be cut up for for plant labels, old windows can be turned into cold frames, veggie scraps and yard waste can be composted to create nutrient rich soil.

Another way to turn trash-into-treasure and reusing found objects is by creating funky planters. Here’s a peek of trash and junkyard finds that I’ve turned into planters.  My motto is if it has a vessel or receptacle you may as well grow in it!  The three materials I look for when proverbial dumpster diving are metal, wood and straw. 

Metal

Galvanized metal stock tanks and cattle troughs make excellent container and water gardens.  I love Pam’s article, on her blog Digging, No Bull!  Cattle troughs make great containers.  Keep your eye open for these cool containers at yard sales, second hand stores and flea markets.  I recently picked up two of these containers that a friend of mine was going to take to the dump.  Score!  Another fun way to use metal is by planting in cut-off pieces of metal pipe. 

Wood

Wood is another material that gets wasted and thrown into the landfill.  A vertical garden can be made out of a pallet, mini raised garden beds can be achieved from wooden wine boxes, a salvage door can be turned into a potting bench and an old toolbox can be transformed into a planter.  Here is a toolbox I rescued from the trash and planted with herbs…

Note:  Do not use railroad ties or other treated lumber in your garden because of chemicals thay may leach into the soil.

Straw

Straw you may ask?  Yup, I specifically look for those fabulous kitchy vintage Hawaiian straw tote bags .  Often found at second hand stores and estate sales these bags make great containers for planting not mention a playful conversation piece in the garden.  Yes, I’m a bag lady and proud of it!  Here’s my latest straw bag planter project that I created from bags purchased at a local second hand store for $2.

Do you use junk in your garden? 

Continue reading »]]> Share the love

Vertical gardening, green walls and living wall art has certainly become the trend in garden design.  Companies like Wooly Pocket, Smith & Hawken, and Elt Living Wall Panels have come out with wall planting systems that allow you to create vertical gardens on indoor walls and the outside of buildings.  For those that have limited garden space or no planting beds at all you may want to consider vertical gardening.  A plain empty wall or fence can instantly be transformed into something beautiful with vertical “wall art”.  Are you new to vertical gardening?  I’m here to tell you that once you get familiar with it you’ll be hooked!  If you have access to free succulents and sedums, this project can be made for under $10. 

Oh mom, you may be missing a few hens and chicks from your garden

Materials:

• 16-inch wire basket

• Sphagnum moss 432 cu. in. bag

• Potting soil  suitable for hanging baskets

•  Succulent and/or sedum cutting or plants

• Water

• Latex gloves

Directions:

• Put on gloves and add sphagnum moss to a bucket, fill with water and let soak for at least 10 minutes. While the moss is hydrating lay out your materials in an assembly line fashion: potting soil, plants, watering can or hose.

Soak for 10 minutes

"Foraged" succulents and sedum cuttings

•  Hang  the wire basket so it will be easier to work with.  The basket will become heavy so make sure the nail or screw is firmly attached to a fence or wall.
• To start your first row, grab a handful of moss and squeeze out the water.  Firmly press moss into the bottom, sides and back of the basket. The moss “nest” should be at least two inches thick with no holes or the potting soil may fall out.  Add potting soil to the moss “nest” and gently plant your first row of succulents. Now, sprinkle with water.

Gently lay the succulent roots over the moss and onto the soil

Tuck a leaf behind the wire to help hold succulent in place

• Repeat the previous two steps until the top of the basket is completely surrounded in moss.  In the top of my basket I planted sedums that will get some height and flowers as they mature.  One of my favorites being Sedum Siebolbii.  Be sure to water well after planting. You’re done!

Water basket well after planted

One down, several more to go!

Do you like it?

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!  I’m not an expert but I’m more than happy to help in any way I can.  I’ve created this blog to share and learn from others so please feel free to post your garden pictures or questions on my facebook page or send them to me via Twitter…I’d love to hear from you!

Happy planting!