Planting Mosquito Repellent Lemon Grass

Home.

I recently did an outdoor planter facelift on two of my larger planters and my mother passed on some of her gardening knowledge to me during the process.  Instead of filling them with soil, use some filler... free filler, such as plastic soda bottles and/or water bottles.  I have always used rocks at the bottom and sometimes styrofoam, but I never thought to use the empty bottles.   My mother, she is such a smart one and frugal.   I wonder where I got that from?

Source

My main reason for this post was not to talk about filling planters, I have been really wanting to try out one of my pins that I posted about a year ago.  My husband is a mosquito's dream and he seems to be constantly eaten by them.  Now that we live right on the water, I knew that they would be more prevalent.  I pinned that lemon grass was a natural repellant and always wanted to get huge planters for it to grow.  In VA we didn't have the outdoor space, but in our new place we do.

With pots as large as the ones I currently own and my recently purchased Huson planters from IKEA, it would require loads of soil and that can be costly.  By filling the bottom with rocks and then empty plastic bottles, much of the planter is filled with the “filler” and less of the costly soil.  They also cut down on tons of weight so the planters/pots can be moved easier. 

See the dent in the bottom, that was my way of trying to make a hole.

My two new planters didn't have holes at the bottom for drainage, so I had Jeff drill some holes before I filled them up.  I actually tried to make the holes myself, but that was not happening.  See above.

This is the way to make real holes with an actual drill.

Jeff used a smaller drill bit first to start and then gradually worked up to a large drill bit. He discovered that the metal was thin enough to use the larger one without any pilot holes, but the whole process took a total of a few minutes anyway.

Next, I put some rocks that I picked up from my property.  If you don't have rocks lying around, you can also purchase them from your local home improvement store pretty inexpensively in bags.  Bricks are also another alternative.   Use these rocks for drainage, but also to put some weight on the bottom since my planters are pretty tall and could be easily toppled by wind. 

Then add in filler bottles.  I used a mix of smaller bottles with a few larger bottles, like the those from the post about using vinegar for weed killer.  Be sure to rinse them out first!  I didn't want to go too high up because I still needed enough room for the plant to have enough soil.

Next, I put in the potting soil, making sure that it filled in the gaps down to the bottom of the planter.   Finally, I planted the lemongrass and am currently waiting (patiently) for it to fill in.  I hope they will look like my inspiration (above) soon.  I bought the plants at the local farmers market for a few bucks. The vendor said that it would fill in a lot from the small plant that we purchased so we only bought two plants for each of my planters.  I haven't seen these plants on sale at any home improvement store, but I am sure if you go to a specialty garden store you can pick some up.

As mentioned earlier, my mother suggested using styrofoam peanuts as filler that you might get when ordering something online.  She suggested using them if you have them, but to put coffee filters on top of them and then layer your soil.  This way the styrofoam will stay in place and not mix with the dirt.  This was a great suggestion, but I didn't have any styrofoam laying around.  Make sure the peanuts are the non-biodegradable type as some will dissolve in water.  Test one by running it under a faucet first.

Time will tell if the plants fill in as predicted or if they will prevent mosquitos from biting my husband. I do know that the filler bottles used saved me money on soil for each of the planters and anytime I save money, I'm a happy girl. 

<3 mk

Outdoor Planter Facelift

Home.

Since we have moved, I have had this wanting for all new things.  New outdoor furniture, new rugs, new bedding, new EVERYTHING; to go with the new house.  Well, budget does not allow for that and my frugal self would not allow for it either.  So, I have been really trying to use what we have and redo it so it feels like new.

The outside front entrance to our new house is quite grand compared to what we're used to.  There were two large round planters in the front that had some type of coniferous ornamental trees in each pot.  I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to remember how bad they looked...and I forgot. The last owner didn't do too much in the garden department so when we finally owned the house, these trees were brown and sad looking.  The pots weren't in nice condition either, but to buy two pots at that size was little more than I wanted to spend.  A facelift was required.

The facelift required first getting rid of the old plants. This was quite funny to see because the planters didn’t have any filling, just all soil and plant.  I am proud to say I am pretty strong, but this was ridiculous.  I gently tipped over the planter and pulled the soil out to loosen the tree.  Then after lots of back and forth, it finally came loose.  I put the plant into a really tough construction garbage bag and drug it to the side of the house for my husband to lift into garbage cans.  The remainder of the soil was sad looking so I just mixed into the mulch/soil mixture that is currently in the planting beds. 

Now that the soil and plants were out, I was able to assess the planters closely.  The actual pot wasn’t very heavy, but in poor condition.  You can see at one time there was a big crack that someone put back together with the putty stuff they sell on tv infomercials.  Well, it was ugly looking, but the pot was still together.  There were also a bunch of smaller holes.  I decided that a good cleaning and some spray paint would perk this poor pot up.

Before

After dragging the pot out of the garden area, I cleaned the pot off with the garden hose and soap.  A little elbow action got off the caked on dirt and years of outside grunge.  I let it dry for most of the day in the sun to make sure it was nice and dry.

I found a Terracotta spray paint at Lowes that matched the roof of our new house perfectly to use as a spray paint.  If this planter was a different material, I would suggest sanding the sides a big or even spraying a primer on it, but it wasn’t necessary in my case. 

It turns out the spray paint that I got was the exact color that was currently on the pot.  I sprayed 2-3 coats on the planters each.  It took two cans of the Valspar Terra Cotta.  I then sprayed a clear coat for outdoor spray paint in top to make sure the color stuck.  The bottle did not say it wasn't for outdoor use, but it didn’t say it was either.  They didn’t make that specific color in the outdoor spray paint they had and I really wanted the Terracotta color.  I might regret it in the future and curse the entire time I am spraying the pot again.  If you can, buy outdoor use spray paint.

Once the pots were dry after their facelift, they looked so much better.  Perfectly matched with the roof and they looked like new, from a few steps away.

My mother was helping me and gave me a few money saving tips.  First we filled the bottom of the planters with rocks we found down by the lake.  There was already a hole at the bottom that was used for drainage. 

Then we used the empty (and rinsed) vinegar bottles that I used to spray the weeds that were taking over the mulch.  With the rocks and the weeds, the planters were about half way full already.

We then filled the remainder of the planters with soil.  My mother was there to help me choose the plants that would look the best in the pots.  We went with a tall grass and then some sweet potato vines ("blackie") that would be the spill over the sides.  Dont forget to loosen your root ball or "tickle your roots" (quoted by my mother) before planting and read the plant label about depth, spacing, watering, and light.

The spray paint cost twenty dollars for all three cans.  Sure, If you add in the cost of the soil and the new plants, the cost increases, but you would have to do that for what it would cost to fill a brand new planter.

After Close-Up

Final product

How do they look?  So much better, and it cost just a fraction of buying a new pot.

Do your planters need a facelift?

<3 mk

Vinegar - The Natural Born Weed Killer

Home.

I HATE WEEDS!  We have been in our new home for less than a month and I think I have spent the majority of the time pulling weeds.  We have about an acre of land and about 1/3 of the land is mulch  covered in weeds. 

When we bought this house the allure was the house, the land, and the lake.  The house is in great condition and doesn’t need much in the space we are currently living.  The lake is beautiful, but the land, that is in need of major help.  We knew getting into this house that the landscaping would be the biggest expense.  We are letting professionals plan out the steps to take this fall and in the future, but for now,  I have weeds!  TONS of weeds!

Before being sprayed with vinegar

Living next to the lake means that anything we put into the soil is going to eventually end up in the lake.  We also want to eventually plant in the soil so we don’t want to put anything into the soil that will completely ruin it.  Based in my mother’s suggestions, we went the natural way to get rid of those wicked weeds and crab grass…Vinegar.

One day after vinegar spray

There are natural weed killers all over the internet.   They mostly all involve vinegar and other products like salt and/or dish soap.  We used diluted white vinegar from the food store and our handy dandy backpack sprayer (see above) sold to us by the prior owner.  He apparently killed the weeds using the other methods and would do this yearly. Apparently the backpack is a must for the amount of land we have to cover.  

Dead weed in the driveway

This weed killer won't remove the actual weed plant, just kill it.  After spraying the plant leaves with the vinegar, it took about a day and most turned brown.  I still have to go out possibly spray again and then pull the dead plants, but it ended up looking much better than it did before.  Before I cursed the windows in my house because I was constantly looking at the weeds grown on the hillsides, now not so much.

Weeds and crab grass in mulch yellowing from vinegar applied the day before

Until we get the time and the dough to have a professional take care of the land, this is a fine solution that works, the natural way.  Now to pulling the dead weeds.  At least ill get a nice tan doing it. :)

<3 mk