A Bird Bath Made From Coat Hangers
Here is another fun project for the home that you can spend time on that makes use of old coat hangers. You will need some wire, three coat hangers, a grapevine wreath, fresh grapevine, a ceramic bowl or pottery bowl (about 12 inches in diameter), some rocks, pliers, and wire snips.
When selecting your bowl, make sure it is large enough so that it will fit in the hole of the grapevine wreath, and that the wreath will be able to support the bowl once water and rocks are added.
Using the wire snips, cut off the top (hook section) of your coat hangers. Then use your hands to straighten them out, or set them on the driveway or a sidewalk and use a hammer to straighten them. Once you have straightened the clothes hangers, bend one end of each of them to form a small hook about the size of a cup hook. You will probably need to use pliers to do this.
Now take the wire and wire the straight (or long ends) of the hooked coat hangers together. You will eventually use another wire through the three hooks or loops to affix to a tree or other object from which you will be hanging your bird bath.
Now take the other ends of the coat hangers, and create large hooks which are fitted to the underside of the wreath. Hook the wreath to the three coat hangers so that the wreath is on the bottom, with the three coat hangers forming a conical or tripod shape, which comes to an apex above the center of the wreathe (where you have previously wired the three coat hangers together and made the small cup hook shapes). Then, wire each of the larger hooks which support the wreath to the wreath itself, so as to safeguard against them coming off.
Cut the leaves off of the fresh grapevine, and wrap the coat hangers with the fresh grapevine. This will disguise or cover the coat hangers and give the bird bath a look of aesthetic continuity. Other options would include covering the coat hangers with leafy silk vines, silk flowers, or holiday lights.
Place the rocks in the pottery bowl. It is a good idea to use river rocks which can be purchased from craft stores and come in various colors. Fill the bowl to about two inches from the top with the rocks. Place the bowl inside the center of the wreath.
Add water to about one inch or one half inch from the top. Place your new bird bath in an ideal spot for watching its new customers. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Ron Maier is the owner of OnlyHangers.com, a leading online vendor of coat hangers, clothes hangers, wooden hangers, decorative hangers, and more. For more information, please visit www.onlyhangers.com
Bamboo in The Garden - Create An Exotic Paradise
You can achieve a lush green garden all year round with minimal upkeep.
These tropical bamboos are perennial and mostly evergreen and offer another dimension to any garden whatever the season, bamboo is one of the most versatile plants with its varied foliage and colourful culms and is ideal as a specimen plant, to use as ground cover or screening your garden giving it privacy combined with natural beauty. Bamboos will mix and match with any garden and different plants like grasses can be added to compliment the bamboo and create different garden themes.
The use of pots and containers can add another dimension creating a whole new look quickly and easily whilst Grasses compliment bamboos beautifully.
Bamboo habits vary from tight, compact clump forming to invasive, running bamboos which offer a little more of a challenge, however with the correct care and attention the running bamboo can be controlled without too much trouble. Heights can range from 10cm to 7m with culm colours from gold, blue, green, purple, red and black.
The Bamboo Plant Bamboo can be defined as, “ Tall or Shrubby Grasses with Woody Stems (Culms)” and are some of the hardiest evergreen plants around, providing all year round interest for your garden. Bamboos are a subfamily of grasses and come from the GRAMINEAE / POACEAE Family, their subfamily being Bambusoideae.
Bamboo comes in many different sizes, from the giants like Dendrocalamus Giganteus and Phyllostachys Edulis, (which can reach over 70ft (20m) even in climates like the Uk with its cold winters) to the Pleioblastus akebono, which grows no bigger than 12 inches (30cm) tall! These larger bamboos make ideal screens or hedges and other than the removal of dead canes needs little or no trimming. There are a wide variety of types, some having coloured canes whilst others have variegated foliage. For example, Phyllostachys aurea (Fishpole or Golden Bamboo) has Golden Canes and Yellow Green Foliage and is ideal for screens or hedges, whilst the compact Phyllostachys nigra has green canes which when mature turn to a shining black.
See our bamboo seeds at www.seedgarden.net
Disposing of Wood Ashes
HOW DO I SAFELY DISPOSE OF FIREPLACE ASHES?
Improper ash removal from fireplaces and wood burning stoves cause thousands of fires every year. According to the National Fire Protection Agency, 9870 house fires were caused yearly (1994-1998 statistics) due to improperly discarded ashes.
Hot coals, hidden in a pile of ashes and thus well insulated, can stay hot for up to 4 days. Ancient man actually transported fire by carrying hot coals, insulated by ashes and wrapped in animal skins, from one location to another. When arriving at the next home site, rekindling a fire was easy: remove the still-hot coal, place it on a small pile of leaves and twigs, blow on the hot ember, and restart the fire.
Keep in mind that fires are still started this way, but too often it’s an accidental fire. Never empty ashes into a paper or plastic bag, cardboard box, or other similar container. The only suitable means for ash storage is a metal container with a tight fitting lid; this helps keep air from blowing through and disturbing ashes which can leave hot coals exposed for reignition. Many home fires begin from improperly stored ashes while the home’s occupants are asleep, as the evening breeze intensifies.
For optimum safety, wet the wood ashes prior to attaching the metal lid to the pail. DO NOT store your metal ash container on your deck, in your garage, or in any location that may allow heat to transfer from those hot coals to nearby flammable items. Untold wooden decks catch fire every year due to this simple oversight.
CAN YOUR ASHES
Northern Virginia’s Fairfax County has begun a homeowner safety awareness program called “Can Your Ashes” in an effort to reduce the hundreds of thousands of dollars in home damages caused each year by fireplace and wood stove ashes that have been improperly handled. Help spread the word in your community too!
FINAL DISPOSAL
Wood ash, once completely cooled, can safely be disposed of in your garden because natural firewood ash makes a great soil additive that your plants will enjoy. Just make sure you have removed any mulching materials such as dried leaves and other dried plants first, so there’s nothing to catch fire in your garden. Spray the dispersed ashes with water as an added safety precaution. Do not add ashes to your soil if you burn coal, or ashes from burned wood that was painted, stained or treated with any chemicals as these chemicals may be harmful to your soil and plants.
And remember: Can Your Ashes!
*This article copyrighted by THE FIREPLACE CHANNEL
Karen Duke is a fireplace, chimney and hearth industry expert of over 25 years in both the retail and service sectors. She is a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep and has numerous hearth industry certifications. She is the founder and webmaster of http://www.TheFireplaceChannel.com and she is the co-founder and webmaster of http://www.TheVictorianFireplace.com , which is one of the largest online fireplace retailers in the world. She makes her home in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Karen’s contact information can be found on either of the above sites.
How To Deal With A Snake In Your House Or Garden
If you happen to come accross a snake in your house or garden the first thing to do is to resist the urge to attack it with a broom or stick or any other form of stick for that matter. Snakes can jump quite high and strike you just as well as if they were on the ground. Sometimes if the snake is in the house they may be on a slippery floor surface that reduces it’s ability to move efficiently. If this is the case the best thing to do is to place a heavy object like a big book on top of it. This will limit it’s ability to move still further. Be careful though. Use the book as a shield in approaching the snake.
Please note that I do not advocate killing snakes if you have any way of calling a trained expert to remove it. Snakes are a necessary part of the environment and play a vital role in controlling certain species. Only if you have no other option available to you should you consider killing it.
It is always a veryadvisable to find out about distinguishing non venomous snakes from the vonomous ones in your area so that you don’t kill the non venomous ones by mistake. It is of the utmost importance not to kill non venonous snakes because they actually control the population of venomous snakes by actively preying on them.
If you have decided that there is no alternative other than to kill the venomous snake the next thing to do is to either chop it in two with a long handled, broad bladed garden hoe. I still say it’s best to call the PDSA and get them to send an expert out to collect the snake if at all possible. Usually they will catch it and release it somewhere far away from human habitat.
If the Snake is found in a drawer or somewhere difficult to access leave it alone, move all family members away from the immediate area and most of all do not attempt to interact with it at all. Call the PDSA, or RSPCA, and get them to collect it. If they do not have a snake catcher they will contact a trusted professional snake catcher.
If you come accross a venomous snake in the garden the first thing to do is to get everyone away from it. If you actually do need to kill it, do this with a long handled, broad edged hoe simply choping the snake in half as previously stated. Other tacktics include spraying it from a distance with a high pressure hose or opening the garden sprinklers. This will have the effect of ‘persuading’ the snake to leave the area.
The thing to do after that is to find out why the snake came to your area. Do you keep rodents or birds? Are there birds nesting in your garden or in the eves of your house? Do you have a rodent problem on the house or garden. Note that in places like the USA this can be problematic because animals like chipmonks and squirrels are everywhere. Snakes, however, like mice and rats and other small rodents. Again in places like the USA, where buildings are mainly made out of timber, rodents often find easy shelter in the space between the outside and inside walls. If you hear scatchings or find evidence of mouse trails in your kitchen, get an expert to solve the problem. Remember, No mice, No snakes.
A mouse can get through a hole the width of a pencil with no problem at all. Make sure there are no holes in your walls. Fill them immediately. High pitched sound devices are now becoming a popular way to discourage vermin from entering our home. Evidence shows that there is some proof to this claim. Having one installed can be a good idea. Remember snakes always follow their food source.
Snakes do not take any active interest in humans and all contact between them and us in merely coincidental. The threat of snake bite is quite remote exactly for this reason. If, however, somebody in your vacinity is bitten it is important to establish the following procedure; move the person to a safe place and keep them calm. Establish what kind of snake bit the person. If you can safely kill it for identification, do so. If not, make a mental note of it’s markings. Call the emergency services to evacuate the wounded person or evacuate them yourself if they are not critically ill. Meeting the ambulance on the way is another good option. Keep calm and keep the patient calm.
Hi, I’m andy Routledge. I write articles on a wide range of topics and I would love to write articles for you. If you like my writing style please contact me to discuss how we can co-operate. My e-mail is andrew@routledge-associates.com you can also voice mail me at aky292b@gmail.com
Taking Care Of Your Beautiful Garden Pond
Keep a pond looking great by following certain seasonal, as well as typical guidelines When it is time for the colder air to take over, pond care will still be necessary if you want to maintain the good condition of your pond. Autumn can bring challenges for pond care.
The first point I need to make about pond care in autumn leaves that fall into the pond will decay if not removed. Perhaps you can skim the surface of your pond to remove them. However, this method of pond care—once fall is really kicking in—may have to be done many times throughout the same day.
One better idea, in my opinion, for keeping falling leaves out of your pond is to purchase a cover for it. Perhaps just a small canvas big enough to cover the water, nothing fancy, you can set it up with stakes or stones.
Try to keep as much sludge out of the pond during the colder months. There will be slime, decay of water plants and other plant debris, and you will certainly need to perform the proper pond care to keep your pond from becoming an enormous chore when the warm seasons begin.
If you have fish in the water, for great pond care, be sure to feed them less. This is because when the cold approaches the fish will eat less due to a slowing metabolism. Extra fish food in your pond can contribute to the bacterial problems that often develop during the winter. Someone who wants to provide great pond care for his or her pond will want to make sure that, by using good pond care, he or she will keep as few bacterial sources away from the water as he or she possibly can.
For your fishes, pond care is very important. You can provide foods for your fish, which contain a protein content of twenty-five to thirty-two percent. A wheat germ based food is good fish pond care. During this time of year the food easily digested.
Pond care spring and autumn food is an excellent choice for you to maintain your pond at this time of year. When you practice the proper pond care, you will definitely be glad you did.
These are only some of the guidelines for pond care. Depending on your individual pond care needs, the advice I have just given may vary. For example: even if you have no fish in your pond, certain pond care is still especially important.
Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, recreation, education and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles about ponds, waterfalls, and more, please visit Ponds and More.