Landscaping and hardscaping the back yard

Ever since we bought this house several years ago my wife and I have been trying to come up with a plan to fix up the back yard into a showcase lawn that would rival anything you could see in a Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

We’ve been thinking about putting some patio pavers on the ground right outside of the sliding glass doors in the basement to make the area look like an outdoor living room/lounging area. I am even thinking about turning the area out there under the deck into a screen room, but first we want to take care of the yard. We’d like to make a path with paving stone that winds down to the platform at the pond’s edge from the back deck.

For now we need to come to a decision about whether to set the stones in gravel, concrete, or go the more natural route and simply have them set in mulch. I’m inclined to go with gravel or mulch because concrete does not fare well in this area. I’d like to do something in the back yard that will reduce the amount of mowing that I have to do back there; there are several steep hillsides that need to be terraced. I think that with a little bit of elbow grease that we could have this yard ship-shape in no time at all!

Powdery mildew

One of my favorite plants in my garden is the perennial tall garden phlox. They come in a variety of colors, orange, white, pink, purple, and red. Every year I have noticed that my tall garden phlox suffers from powdery mildew. I’ve done some research on the problem and I get the impression that I can address it by spacing the plants further apart and to stop using the lawn sprinklers to water them. Apparently the lack of air circulation from having the plants crowded together in addition to wet leaves makes the powdery mildew thrive. I’ve always thought that they were not getting enough water because the powdery mildew looks like it is a drying problem.

So anyway I’ve decided to try to dig up some of the plants to space them further apart, giving them a little bit more room to let the air circulate, and then I will try a drip irrigation system of leaving the perforated hose in the garden winding around and through the plants. I think that will minimize the amount of work I need to do, and hopefully will solve the problem. Have you had any experience with this problem? How did you fix it?

Re-use Cardboard Boxes

When I get deliveries to my door of the items from Amazon, I am always impressed with the quality of the boxes that they used for shipping. Everything I have ordered from Amazon arrives in a well sized, well packed box and I have never had the contents arrive damaged.

It seems a terrible waste to take out the item and them just throw the box in the trash. So I decided to use a box cutter and slice through the packaging tape, flatten the box, and store them under the stairs for future use. Not that I can imagine what future use I might have for them, myself, but if anyone else ever needs boxes for moving I can share these and maybe save that person some money. Boxes are expensive and always hard to find when you need to pack the house up for a move.

I can’t just throw them in the trash. It seems disrespectful to our environment to do that. Hopefully these boxes will have at least one more use before they hit the landfill.

Amazing Grapes

Celebrations are steeped in tradition, depending upon the occasion. I like the ones that involve a toast, like at a wedding reception. The last time I had a Champagne toast was at my parent’s anniversary party. It is always good to toast a happy couple, whether they are starting out on their life together or celebrating 40 years of marriage.

Chicken Sliders

Poking around in the freezer for a snack or a treat and I came across a small box with chicken biscuits in it. They are fully cooked and frozen, then all you have to do is pop open the cellophane and put them in the microwave for 1 minute.

I have to say that I was expecting something a little bit bigger than what came out of the box. The photos on the box are about 50% bigger than the actual biscuit and chicken. In fact, if you are expecting a chicken sandwich like you buy at Wendy’s fast food restaurant, you will be very disappointed.

Anyway, I popped open the cellophane and put these two tiny biscuits on a paper plate and let them nuke for a minute. That heated them up nicely and anything longer would have turned those biscuits into hockey pucks. The piece of chicken is about the size of a McDonald’s chicken nugget. So I added a piece of sliced American cheese and a slap of mayonnaise and had a couple chicken sliders. Not bad for the price and the convenience, once you know what to expect.