bullfrogs & bulldogs | Garden Talk

Building My Vertical Garden + My Very First Video! {Part 3) #DigIn

May 6, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs 1 Comment

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

So, it’s finally happened! As you know from my previous post, I went on a fun shopping trip to The Home Depot to pick up all my supplies to build my vertical garden and with the help of David’s cousin, Joel, I have put it together and today, I’m going to show you exactly how.

To build your very own vertical garden you can follow the instructions found on The Home Depot website or, you can follow my instructions. There was one little error in the instructions found on The Home Depot site which fortunately I caught shown below. To begin you will need the following supplies:

Materials:

1″x4″ white wood or pressure treated wood for outside frame. (I just used pine)

2 at 24 1/4″ length
2 at 37″ length

1″x6″ white wood or pressure treated wood for main box.

2 at 32″ length
3 at 18″ length

1″x2″ whitewood (I used pine)

2 at 32″ length
1 at 20 3/4 length
1 at 18″ length

1/4″ plywood sheeting at 19 1/2″ x 32″

1″x4″ white wood

4 at 12″ length

Other supplies you’ll need:

Enough soil to fill the box
Lattice or Chicken Wire (I used chicken wire)
Flower and/or herbs
Plastic lining to line the box
Weed blocker

To begin, lay out your materials as if they were a kit. This way you are completely organized and ready to go.

Next, you are going to begin assembling the main box. The pictures below will match up with the steps I describe below.

2. Take the 1×6 lengths of 32″ and measure down from the top 14″ and up from the bottom by 3 1/2″ and place a mark in each spot. Then lake your 1×6 lengths at 18″ and place one at the top and one at the bottom, holding off on the one that goes in the middle until you have the plywood backing on. You are going to want to secure all four sizes. It’ works well using the clamp thingy (sorry, that’s my technical name for it) like we did to hold the pieces in place as you use wood screws to secure them.

3. It works really well if you label each piece of wood like I did above. It makes finding your pieces much easier.

4. Once you have all four sides together, take the piece of 19 1/2 x32″ plywood and secure it to the back of the frame using wood screws.

5 & 6. So, in The Home Depot directions you will notice a step that has you adding a water inlet but I chose not to do so. Now, flip your box back over and attach the middle 18″ support 1×6 at the 14″ mark.

7.Taking your plastic, line the inside of the box using a staple gun to hold the plastic in place.

8. Now you are going to want to assemble the outside frame which is to give you extra surface area to support the face frame without adding a lot of weight. The 32″ long 1×2′s are drilled into place along the top edge of the soil bed. Repeat this with the 20 3/4 long 1×2′s along the top and the 18″ 1×2′s along the bottom.

9. If using chicken wire, before attaching the facing frame you will want to cover the front of the vertical garden and staple in place. Now you can attach the facing frame, making sure to align your screws so that they embed into the 1×2 supports.

10. From here you are going to want to move your vertical garden to wherever it is going to live because once you add the soil it is going to get very very heavy! Once it is in it’s new home add enough soil to each compartment fill to the top.

11. With the bed full, place a layer of weed block tightly across the top and staple into place.

12. And now, the moment you’ve all be waiting for! A short video from yours truly to demonstrate the last steps Be kind. I’m super camera shy and awkward on video! But it was a pretty fun experience none-the-less.

Stay tuned for next weeks final post showing the final project!

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need to #DigIn for Spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, they have great values on all you need. They’re ready to help you with renovation ideas and expert advice, too.

Get over $300 in email exclusive savings each year, sneak peeks on new products, monthly lawn & garden ideas for your region and access to The Home Depot’s gardening experts. Click here to join the world’s largest garden community today! Or go to http://gardenclub.homedepot.com/ to see some of the many benefits of membership.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Filed Under: Garden Talk Tagged With: #DigIn, Building a Vertical Garden, The Home Depot

Garden DIY with The Home Depot {Part 1} #DigIn

April 18, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs 2 Comments

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

As I mentioned in an earlier post {if you missed it you can find it here} I’m working with one of my favorite stores of all time, The Home Depot, on a pretty cool project to spruce up my home a bit.

My project is one that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time and I was really excited when I found out that I get to make a vertical garden and show you all how I do so. I love vertical gardens for many reasons but mainly, it’s a unique way to add green to even the smallest of spaces. And although I am definitely not short on space, I do have a lot of outdoor wall space around our home that could benefit from the beauty that is a a vertical garden.

I love when vines or flowers are creeping up a trellis and adding height and varying textures to the outside of your home. We have several, more like ten 3 x 13 raised garden beds for our veggie garden and plenty of old wine barrels we’ve cut in half for our container gardening so I’m pretty excited to see some color crawling up the side of our home too.

I’m planning on getting a few more planters for around the house, especially on our front porch and on the ground level patio that is currently bare. I also love the idea of doing a couple square food gardens in random places with a bunch of flowers and herbs. I love herbs and actually use them as ground cover in a few beds around our home.

But more thoughts on my future vertical garden and what I am thinking of doing. I’d love to plant herbs and some edible flowers for easy access when I am cooking. Since most of our veggies and herbs are in the garden and the garden is a whole 50 yards away from our house, I love the convenience of being able to step outside my back door and snip off exactly what I need.

This is the area I think I will hang the vertical garden when I’m done building it:

I’ll be making something a lot like this:

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But I came across a couple others that I would love too…

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Or this…

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This weekend I’m heading to The Home Depot with my shopping list and I’m pretty excited because the employees at THD are always extremely helpful and make you feel at home. I will be buying a couple different sizes of wood and that, to me, can be really intimidating but there is always someone around with a smile on their face to help out.

Regardless which style of vertical garden I go with I definitely think I’m going to be planting a mix of edible flowers like nasturtiums, borages and french Marigold and herbs like basil, cilantro and parsley. See, this brown thumb is slowly but surely turning green?

This weekend is going to be a busy one for me with several projects in the works but hopefully this sunny spring weather we are having stays around. Next week it is suppose to be in the high 70′s. Can you say YES! One thing about us Pacific North-westerner’s is we definitely know how to appreciate the beautiful spring weather.

Get over $300 in email exclusive savings each year, sneak peeks on new products, monthly lawn & garden ideas for your region and access to The Home Depot’s gardening experts. Click here (http://thd.co/ZNbhDj) to join the world’s largest garden community today! Or go to homedepot.com/gardenclub to see some of the many benefits of membership.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Filed Under: Garden Talk, Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: #DigIn, container gardening, planters, rain barrels, raised garden beds, square foot gardening, The Garden Club, The Home Depot, trellis, Vertical Garden

Garden Planning with HGTVGardens.com

April 10, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs Leave a Comment

Have you heard of HGTV? I think it’s safe to say that most of us have but did you know that they have an area on their website dedicated to all things pertaining to the garden? HGTVGarden.com is an awesome online community that has something for whatever your gardening needs are. Whether you have a specific question or need inspiration, when you join their online community you can find answers and browse through the abundance of information they provide on their site.

I joined HGTVGardens.com and you can find my profile here http://bit.ly/Xg33n6.

All of the areas on HGTVGardens.com have been extremely helpful as I plan out some new landscaping ideas for around our home. One of the things that has been really overwhelming for me has been the actual designing and knowledge behind what should go where and with what. I found this article on How to Create a Design for Small Gardens found here: http://bit.ly/10zsPlJ to be really helpful and now I’m actually really excited to create a drawing of the area I’m working with to size and start planning.

There is literally information for everyone’s needs like Gardening Basics, Learning about Edibles, Flowers and Plants, Landscaping, and something else I find super helpful is their tab Plant Finder found here http://bit.ly/17flxYZ. This is an extremely detailed way of figuring out what plants or flowers will go perfectly for what you have with the option to input your zone, whether its shade, part shade or a sun exposed area, elevation, soil type, time of year and even the colors you are wanting to work with. I think it’s safe to say gone are the days of having to browse gardening book after gardening book. HGTVGardens.com is a one stop alternative where you can find absolutely everything. Pretty incredible, huh?

Here is a screen shot to give you a little taste:

When you create a profile and put in your location it will automatically tell you what your zone type is which isn’t something I use to give too much thought to. That and what kind of soil we have which just so happens to be clay. Hard, clumpy, brownish-orange clay. Not so fun to work with. By creating a profile and putting where you live it also gives you recommendations on what to plant which I have found really useful as I start to plan this one bed by our driveway.

I’m thinking about incorporating a few of these plants to add texture and varying heights. Not in the same area but in a couple different beds around the house. What do you think?

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I strongly encourage you to drop by HGTVGardens.com and take a look around and hopefully sign up to be apart of their ever growing gardening community!

Brought to you by the gardening crew at HGTV.

What are you planting this year or what plants/shrubs do you love that you want to recommend? I’d dying to know!

Filed Under: Garden Talk, Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: Gardening, Gardening Community, Gardening help, HGTVGardens.com

I’m Leaning on My Friends at The Home Depot and Their Garden Club This Season

April 1, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs Leave a Comment

Can you believe it is April first already? Spring has sprung in Oregon and let me tell you, I am so excited. I love living in the Pacific Northwest because we get four seasons {somewhat} but around this time of year I think it’s safe to say that most of us here are very ready for sun and a little warmer temperatures.

We’ve been busy hurrying to get a few projects done while we have a break in the rain. The winter was pretty mild which means one of two things, we are going to have a crazy good spring or we are in for a real treat {insert sarcasm} until after the Fourth of July, when it actually starts to feel like summer around here. But regardless, we still have a long list of projects to get done and most of them involve working outside.

David, my husband for those of you that are new here, is the one with the real green thumb. He is excellent at growing, nurturing, and seeing our vegetable garden through to the end. Me, on the other hand, I’m a work in progress. I have been assigned the role of landscape and flower beds which is no small task at hand. With a limited budget, I’m trying to figure out what to do with the beds around our home, specifically. As mentioned before, we live on our 50 plus acre vineyard and only twenty-six of it is planted in vines so I have a lot to work with. We also have a manufactured home that David’s cousin lives in with a whole other situation to deal with. But that’s another story.

After last spring and summer I decided that it would be most efficient and cost effective to take on one project at a time, starting with the beds around our house {including our front porch} and our deck. My main goal is to add more perennials so that over the coming years I have to worry less about the lack of. I love annuals because you can change things up and add exciting pops of color every year but my main focus is going to be adding evergreens and other perennials that will help keep our yard looking nice all year long.

Here is what I am working with:

Our back deck… I’m thinking this year I’m going to do lots of purple, yellow and red flowers and a few vegetables and herbs.

A different perspective… our patio furniture goes on the far end but it’s still in the garage waiting for consistent warmer weather.

The front of our house… I’m thinking of adding some window boxes to add depth and texture to the front of our home. And more height with evergreens in yellows with pops of color in the flower pots.

This is a garden on the back side of our house. I have no idea what to do here. I do know, however, that the Ivy is going away.

This is on the side of our house and my main project. I want to rip out all the Ivy because it’s so invasive and put in some raised beds full of evergreen and other perennials with a border of annual flowers.

So, you are probably wondering where I am getting my inspiration from? Did you know The Home Depot has one of the largest gardening communities? The Garden Club offers so much information right into your inbox it would make even the novice like me and expert in no time! Each morning I wake up to another deal or piece of advice that is perfect for this time of year. I think that is something I struggle with the most, knowing what I should be doing in the garden each month of the year.

Also, by joining The Home Depot’s Garden Club you get exclusive offers that can save you over $300 each year in your gardening endeavors. The benefits don’t stop there though. When joining their exclusive Garden Club, which is so easy by the way, you get awesome benefits such as

+ $5 your next garden purchase of $50 when you sign up

+ Projects to help you #DigIn to spring

+ Tons of advice and how-to videos

I don’t know about you but this is totally worth the free membership to get so much helpful advice right to your mail. I sip on my morning cup of tea and read my daily email.

Gardening can be pretty overwhelming, especially if you are working desperately to uncover some kind of green thumb. With the help from my friends at The Home Depot, I can pretty much guarantee this will happen a lot quicker. I encourage you to take a look at their Garden Club and see what it’s all about.

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need for spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, The Home Depot has you covered.

Spring is the perfect time for all your outdoor home renovations. Shop The Home Depot for terrific values on new patio furniture, landscape supplies such as fertilizer and potting soil and outdoor grills. Keep your lawn and garden looking great, too, with the huge selection of lawn mowers, edgers and trimmers, and garden tools.

Visit The Home Depot Garden Club for product ideas from kick-starting your Spring with seed starter kits to building a window birdfeeder.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

So what have you been busy doing in the garden?

Filed Under: Garden Talk, Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: Green Thumb, Spring gardening, The Home Depot, The Home Depot Garden Club

Our Front Planter Bed Addition

April 16, 2012 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs 3 Comments

Our front planter beds have been something D and I have wanted to work on since I moved in. Our house is very one dimensional in front and still needs some serious work, like window boxes to add some depth and to paint the trim white, but baby steps Amanda, baby steps. In the warmer months we spend a lot of time outside and it’s always been a dream of mine to be good at landscaping like my mom was. I admire her tremendously and how much she knows by just teaching herself and asking questions. She is the queen of DIY in every aspect and when I have questions I always call mom first.

D and I have decided to take on one planter bed at a time. We have a lot of them and since eventually there is going to be the winery on site and people who come to it will be able to see our home, it’s important to me that the landscaping is something we are proud of. We are starting with the front planter bed and yesterday D and I went to Al’s Garden Center to get a few Perennials to fill in some of the space. My dream is to have no weeds able to grow so we also got a lot of plants that are ground covers and will grow throughout the bed with time.

I took this picture at the nursery because I love the varying heights and depth of the bed. There is a lot going on yet it seems to flow very nicely. I’d love something like this eventually.

We picked out several things and decided to start small and grow from there. We’d get a few things planted and in a couple of weeks go back for more. The colors I want to emphasize are purple, yellow and white. A few days ago I picked up some lavender and Ajuga’s or Bugleweed (ground covers) and planted those. Last year D and I went to a couple Lavender farms down here (read here) and it really inspired me to plant a bunch of lavender this year.

Here is the right side before:

Here is the left side before: The front door is in the middle of the two. As you can see, just a lot of green thus far!

I started by removing a Rhododendron which is behind the center shrub. It sat way too close to it and to be honest, I would get rid of the other Rhodie but it’s too big so I just cut it back some to open the space up on the right by the walkway. Then I transplanted another shrub because it was in an awkward location and I wanted to fill in some of the space in back. It’s not dead, I promise. It just looks that way in the picture. It has small little buds on it

Then I took what D and I bought at Al’s Garden Center and placed them where I wanted them to go based on what they were and how much they will grow over time.

Here are a few pictures after I planted. I will post some more in a few weeks as things start to grow a bit! Right now it still looks a little spars and bare but it will grow!