Happy Garden Newsletter - September 27, 2007

Volume 2, Number 38, September 27, 2007 (Read It Online) This week we have more tips and photos from readers including ideas for Protecting Pond Fish From Wildlife. Thanks for reading, Susan Send to a Friend! Submit Your Gardening Tips Submit Photos of Your Garden Submit a Gardening Request Edit Your Subscriptions: To edit your ThriftyFun subscriptions, click the Update Profile/Email Address link at the bottom of this newsletter. Today's newsletter contains: Photos: Coffee Can Bird Feeder Pink Roses Backyard "Drinking" Fountain Butterfly on Butterfly Bush Tips and Articles: Protect Your Garden Produce With Pantyhose Old Clothesline as a Garden Trellis Bury Wet Garbage In Your Garden Protecting Pond Fish From Wildlife Removing Rust From Tools New Requests: Is This a Butterfly Bush? Is this a Geranium? Uses for Dried Lavender Today's Sponsor: Crafting for Fun and Money! If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish. More Information: Click Here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_craft.ldml Photos: Coffee Can Bird Feeder I took an empty coffee can, painted it orange then sponged another layer of a different shade of orange to look like stripes on the body. The face was cut out of wood scrap with a hole cut out for the mouth and then stapled the plastic lid to the wood. I painted a face to match the body. I used L-brackets to attach a string to the top to hang the bird house. The tail is cut from foam and painted to match the body. The colors could be painted to suit your taste. I hung mine out in my yard and it has a nest inside. To clean out the bird house, just take the lid off, clean then put the lid back on. By Craftingblues from Havre, MT Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf70766701.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Pink Roses I was just strolling along the street to breath fresh air and want to spent myself alone and my eyes caught at this beautiful pink roses behind a garage of a Swedish family. By Lourna from Ronneby, Sweden Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf69800920.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Backyard "Drinking" Fountain Everything from chipmunks, birds and next doors Dalmation enjoy a refreshing drink from our backyard fountain. I rinse it out every morning and clean it throughly weekly or as needed. I shaped/pruned the butterfly bush to partially surround the fountain. Impatiens surround the base of the fountain. A solar spot light gently illuminates it at night, making it look spectacular day and night. By Mary Lou from Abingdon, MD Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf59040425.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Butterfly on Butterfly Bush Butterfly on Butterfly Bush in my backyard. By Mary Lou from Abingdon, MD Editor's Note: Mary Lou sent in more fabulous photos so we added them to this post. Enjoy! Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf97523639.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Tips and Articles: Protect Your Garden Produce With Pantyhose To protect your garden produce from insects or animals that love to sample, cover each (squash, lets say) with a length of panty hose. Close the top and bottom of the hose by knotting or tying with string so there are no openings for critters. The hose won't hold in the heat and will dry quickly after a rain. By Marie from West Dundee, IL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf76280714.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Old Clothesline as a Garden Trellis Plant any kind of vining plant below an old clothesline. As the plant grows, you can anchor it to the pole with string or yarn. When it reaches the top of the pole, you can train it across the clothesline itself by attaching it to the line with clothespins. I planted a wild blackberry bush under my old line and it not only looks great, but it's easier to harvest the berries each year. By Marie from West Dundee, IL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf64425878.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Bury Wet Garbage In Your Garden A good way to enrich your garden soil and help out the earth is to bury your "wet" garbage. I bury my apple, orange, potato peels, etc. in my garden. We can't have a compost heap, but I've found this works just as well. By Phyllis from Cheektowaga, NY Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf53433516.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Protecting Pond Fish From Wildlife Tips for setting up a pond to prevent pests from eating the fish. Make Hiding Places When you make your pond, be sure to construct some hiding places at several water depths for your fish like a rock condo, rock overhangs and use plenty of pond plants. That way the fish can hide when they sense danger. Also, try not to leave too many flat ledges around the pond for pets or other animals to use as fishing spots. By Bluealt Lattice My sis-in-law, in California uses inexpensive lattice to keep unwanted raccoons and other predators from her fish pond. Just place them over the pond in the early evening, EVERY evening. Works like a charm. By Margie Netting If you are planning to have Koi, carp or goldfish in your pond and you live in a very rural area filled with lots of critters remember to invest in some fine leaf netting. Draping this netting over your pond at night can prevent night creatures from making a meal of your precious fits. By Hope http://www.lulu.com/spiritbooks Netting And Water Hyacinth In our small pond, there is a problem with big herring birds - legs like stork. They will eat all the fish they can catch! Put a frame over the pond, if not too large, and attach plastic netting. Add some water hyacinth (they multiply very fast, so you don't need many). It is an aquatic plant with blue flowers: a perennial aquatic plant, native to the subtropical Americas but also found elsewhere that has glossy rounded leaves with bulbous stalks, and lilac-blue flowers. Widely cultivated as an ornamental, it has become a troublesome weed of waterways in many subtropical regions, including Australia, Africa, and Southeast Asia. By Syd Watch Out For Water Hyacinth Regarding the water hyacinth. Syd is right. Here in Australia it's a noxious weed, and a 'banned' plant as it takes over so quickly choking creeks and waterways. It's beautiful to look at, but bad in habit. Seems like it's not yet classified as a noxious weed in America and Canada. My daughter has a pond with fish in her front garden, she doesnt have a 'net' over it but does have lots of 'hidey holes' for the fish among the rocks and water plants. Her cat laps from the pond, but doesnt attempt to catch the fish, and the dog is around the back behind the gate. I guess 'fishing' birds could be a problem, but she hasn't lost any fish yet. By Ellie Advice On Depth, Mosquitoes And Plants The local gardens in our city just make certain the ponds are at least three feet deep and have plantings all around the edges. Koi are WAY too expensive to purchase and not know everything about them. I'd suggest regular goldfish if your pond is going to have a solid bottom. If built in a wet area with a dirt bottom, most ANY kind of fish will survive if it's deep enough and has circulation. Remember to add the Mosquito Wafers every few months, sort of at the same time as furnace filters. I believe they claim not to harm fish, but read first. If you are in a cold climate, the pond should be heated somehow, and deeper and covered often. The water lilies need a pond all to themselves. Hyacinths are lovely but not welcome anywhere anymore. Horsetail herbs are quite nice and distinctive, along with water irises. I have a 3'x 3 1/2" "bog",or also known as a "tub garden", with a bonsai Cypress tree growing among dwarf cattail reeds and water iris. Whatever you do, do not allow what I think is called Duck Cabbage to get started. It overgrows and quickly takes over, as do some Mallows. Read carefully before adding water plants and fancy fish. I have had mosquito-eating fish like the ones Israel has now added to their citiy fountains, but the winter got so cold one year they all died out. I hope the formula I've just discovered on the Internet will work to prevent mosquitoes from living there. Good luck and God bless you. By Lynda Post your own ideas below. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf50614356.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Removing Rust From Tools How do you remove rust from metal tools? Tips from the ThriftyFun community. Sand It Off The only way I know to restore rusted tools is with LOTS of elbow grease - sand the metal parts, either by hand or you could try one of those abrasive attachments for an electric drill. Once the rust is removed, coat the metal with some butcher's wax (available in hardware stores, kmart, walmart, etc.) when storing the tools to prevent further rust damage. Clean and dry tools after each use, and periodically apply butcher's wax throughout the season of use. Hang them when storing - don't let the metal parts rest on the damp ground or damp basement/garage floor. Depending on how bad the tools are, you might need to use a bench grinder to put a new edge on shears or even shovels. Wax afterward. By one_ramp Oil and Sand Bucket Fill a 5 gallon bucket with sand, pour used motor oil in there. When you're done using the tool, shove it in the bucket. It cleans it, coats it with oil and sharpens it slightly, works great. By Leann Salt and Lemon Juice Here's a sharp idea: remove rust from household tools by using Morton's Salt and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Apply the paste to rusted area with a dry cloth and rub. By MrsMoted2 WD-40 And Wire Wool Spray with WD40 then use a metal wire wool to remove the rust. By Stuart WD-40 and Steel Wool Spray WD-40 and wipe it off with steel wool. By Twin Turbo Remove Rust and Then Oil The best and least expensive way to remove rust is using a wire brush to knock off all the heavy stuff and steel wool to finish it with and after you get it all cleaned up coat it with car polish or regular old cooking oil By Deniser Blackstrap Molasses A eco friendly product which is great on rust is Blackstrap Molasses. You water it down, 1 part molasses to 9 parts water. Use this on steel products only, no alloys as they will be eaten away. It's safe to handle except it is sticky but washes off in water. Drop the rusty steel in the brew and check it in a couple of days, most surface rust will be gone. Badly rusted objects can take as long as 3 weeks. Wash down occasionally and give parts a scrub to remove any dirt or oil then put back in the brew. When happy that object is clean, wash down and oil or use WD40/CRC to stop from rusting again. Old idea used by vintage engine restorers like myself. It keeps working for about a year but does get a bit smelly so leave outside. When finished, dump it in the garden as plants love it, no dangerous chemicals! By Brent from New Zealand Naval Jelly or Rust Converter Naval Jelly is made for removing rust and works well on tools. There are also products that are rust converters and turn the rust back into metal. It still requires some sanding but they work quite well. Susan from ThriftyFun Post your own advice below. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf000500.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Contest! Tip Contest Submit a Tip or Recipe! Photo Contest Submit a tip with photo! The above contests are weekly. We pick 2 tip winners and 1 photo winner at the end of each week. Each winner will win $25! My Frugal Life Submit a My Frugal Life Essay! New Requests: Is This a Butterfly Bush? Is this a butterfly bush? Thanks, really trying to identify what I have at my new house. Hardiness Zone: 5a Linda from Bellevue, NE Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf56399248.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Is this a Geranium? What is this plant? Sure resembles a very tall Geranium. Hardiness Zone: 5a Linda from Bellevue, NE Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf71367420.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Uses for Dried Lavender I recently purchased a home in the Sierra foothills in CA. It came with hundreds of well established lavender plants. What can I do with all those dried flowers? Pizzamama from Pioneer, CA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf39378944.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Looking for a frugal solution to an everyday problem? Submit your request here: Click Here Today's Sponsor: Crafting for Fun and Money! If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish. More Information: Click Here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_craft.ldml More Stuff Seed Swap! Swap seeds with other ThriftyFun.com users. 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