First, you need to recognise what is actually unique about your mother: what are her interests? How does she spend her time? Has she been hinting of gift ideas in your conversations?

Finding Unique Mothers Day Gifts Is Worth The Effort

10 Very Unique Mothers Day Gifts

If you’re like me then finding the perfect mother’s day gift can sometimes be a chore that’s not relished. You spend weeks agonising over finding that one true gift that speaks volumes to your mother – only to settle for a box of chocolates the night before.

Needless to say it doesn’t have to be that hard. So, here are some very unique mothers day gifts that should get your creative juices flowing.

Create A Gardening Voucher

Sure, you could buy your mother a voucher from one of the big-box stores and be done with it but if you’re looking for unique mothers day gifts then this idea is unequalled. Think of what your mum would really appreciate; a few hours weeding the backyard, a weekend pruning or even the time it takes to plant out all those bulbs ready for spring. It doesn’t have to be mercurial but some devoted time to a chore that your mum would rather not do might really do the trick.

Make a Flower Arrangement – From Your Own Garden

Sending flowers for mother’s day is always nice but imagine if those flowers came from your own garden. A flower arrangement consisting of your own buds and blooms is far more personal than one ordered online and the time taken to create it will certainly not go unappreciated.

Homemade Potpourri

Carrying on from the last unique gift idea is to make your own homemade potpourri. While fresh flowers are lovely their dried remnants, mixed with spices and perfumes, will certainly demonstrate your appreciation of your mum. You could even take it a step further and prepare different potpourri recipes for specific areas of your mum’s home.

Enjoy a Herbal Tea Together

Quality time together is certainly cherished by most mums and what better way to do it than sit down and share a cup of herbal tea together. And, to take it a step further instead of delivering a bunch of blooming mums why not make them into a cup of chrysanthemum tea instead. It combines the traditional pressie idea into one of the best unique mothers day gifts.

Visit an Open Garden

Getting your mum outside and into some public gardens meets two agendas; spending time with her and allowing her to enjoy her pastime with inspiring ideas. A stroll through an open garden, or two, is a lovely way to spend mother’s day.

Send Her on a Gardening Trip

If you’re not into spending too much time with your mum then you could send her off on a gardening trip all by herself. These days gardening trips can be as expensive, or as inexpensive, as one can afford but it allows your mum to be inspired while you still appear as the doting child without having to spend a lot of time together.

Name a Rose After Her

Now, tell me one person who wouldn’t love a plant named after them? This is one unique gift idea that will blow your mum’s socks off. Having a rose named after your mum may seem a little extravagant – but she’s worth it.

Repaint an old Watering Can

If your mother has a fetish for garden whimsy then one of the most unique mothers day gifts would be a handpainted watering can. You could use an old one found at the recycling centre or garage sale, paint one that your mother already owns or start from scratch and paint a brand new can. It doesn’t really matter provided that the design is pertinent to your mum’s interests and preferences for colour etc.

Organise a DIY job that’s been on her To-Do list

This idea is a little like the voucher idea mentioned at the start of this list however instead of telling your mum that you’re going to do something in the garden why not just turn up and start doing it. Obviously, you will need to be certain that the DIY task you’re about to perform is exactly what your mother wants otherwise you’re not going to live it down anytime soon. This is another idea that can be as inexpensive as you choose or you could really splash out and bless your mum extravagantly.

Hire a Garden Photographer

Imagine allowing your mum to be the star of her universe for the day. Hiring a garden photographer will allow your mother to shine in the one environment she enjoys and give her years of memories to look back over with fondness. Heck, if you play your cards right it could even be a gift that keeps giving for years – turn the photos into greeting cards, put them into a digital photo frame for another year’s gift or have them enlarged and mounted to display in your mum’s home.

As you can see, it’s not difficult to think of some very unique mothers day gifts. They don’t have to be flash and expensive but they do have to be personal and speak of the love and appreciation for your mum.

This post came from Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas – Gardening tips and advice.

WHW Gardening News – 10 Unique Mothers Day Gifts – MD VA DC is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...

Leaving a Garden Is More Than Memories

Yet leaving a garden is almost as much a part of life as starting one. Inevitably a gardener will walk away from a garden they’ve created leaving behind years – decades maybe – of dreams, sweat and even the odd tear.

So, how does one leave gracefully?

Many options present themselves to the departing gardener; they could dig up their favourite plants and repot them into containers, take a myriad of cuttings, overload their hard-drives with photos from every angle or merely soak in their remaining moments in the garden committing the sounds, smells and textures of each plant to a patchwork of memories.

Leaving a garden doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Consider it a new beginning if you will. While the plants and soil that you’ve laboured long and hard have given you great pleasure they’ve also educated you through a realm of solve problems that you may never have encountered elsewhere. The garden has apprenticed you for the next one.

So, while the departure from one garden signals the end of a chapter the book is still being written. The next chapter should be a continuation from the last but hopefully it takes you on an adventure that couldn’t be paralleled in your current landscape.

If you’ve had to leave a garden behind, how did you handle it? Are your new surroundings providing a better backdrop for your ideas and inspiration or you do you pine for the garden you once had?

Photo source: hortulus

This post came from Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas – Gardening tips and advice.

WHW News – Leaving a Garden – DC MD VA is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...

Made from recycled materials this is a great DIY greenhouse

After the successful project build, Jennifer wanted to encourage others to do the same – especially those with cooler summer months like her own.

I’ve talked about building your own greenhouse here before but this solution seems a little more robust and long term. While constructing a cheap greenhouse from inexpensive materials may get you into gardening space quicker this idea proves that with a little more consideration and use of rigid recycled items the end product should be far superior – and just as easy.

This post came from Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas – Gardening tips and advice.

WHW Gardening News – DIY Greenhouse Shouldn’t Be This Easy – MD VA DC is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...

Why Has Edible Landscaping Become Too Greedy?

According to Christopher Weber’s article In a hungry world, should edible landscaping do more? we’ve become self-sufficient to the point that “self” is the only one gratified by this practise.

With the dearth of food available to our hungriest citizens and the glut that we produce for ourselves, surely we can find a way to solve one of the world’s worst social problems. From a home gardener viewpoint there’s heaps we can do to solve some of these issues but are we prepared to make the sacrifice – if it is a sacrifice at all?

Ideas For Your Edible Landscaping Produce

Donate the surplus crops to your local food bank or homeless shelter. Most of our edible plants crop bountifully all at once meaning that the fruit is often wasted.

Create a Street-Side Veggie Patch where others can pick fresh produce as, and when, they need. This is the freshest way to offer a sustainable solution but may create other problems with unwanted visitors and vandals.

Petition your local government and businesses to use their gardens as edible landscaping opportunities rather than pour countless finances into tending ornamental shrines.

Participate in the Plant a Row for the Hungry program and opt for staples such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips and swedes.

In the same vein, why not plant a fruit tree primarily for the hungry. Even a dwarf variety will offer some produce for those in need.

Join, or start, a community garden with the aim to produce fruit and vegetables for the poor and needy. Most local governments would be only to happy to give land for this purpose.

Such an insurmountable problem such as world hunger can now easily be challenged by the simplest of means – edible landscaping. It’s not rocket science just a shift in our thinking that could harness our expertise and make the world a better place for those who need help.

If you’ve been involved with gardening to solve hunger in your area let us know what you did and your experiences. It may give all us gardeners to shove along we need.

This post came from Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas – Gardening tips and advice.

WHW Gardening News – Has Edible Landscaping Gone Greedy? – MD VA DC is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...

Starting a New Garden

Skip ahead ten years and the garden is far from done.

While the trees have grown and garden beds have filled out they’ve created a dimension to my garden that I didn’t expect. The trees, mostly citrus or fruiting, have changed the landscape so much that plants that would once enjoy perfect solar orientation now suffer in permanent shade.

And the garden beds have become an eclectic mix of some plants that grew well, self-seeded and now dominate while the strugglers are still trying to compete for recognition – and nutrients.

But the greatest lesson that I’ve learned is that year upon year the soil improves. We started with a leaching, sandy soil and a decade later the loam is rife with worms, humus and a structure that’s unrecognizable from its former self.

While some of the plants have changed over the years – ok, most of the plants have changed over the years – the one constant has been the ammending of the soil. Compost, worm castings and animal manures have completely altered the soil in which we had to start.

And, after a decade of gardening here I admit my garden’s not much closer to finishing. But, the soil now allows me to grow almost anything I want.

This post came from Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas – Gardening tips and advice.

WHW Gardening News – Why A Garden Takes a Lifetime to Grow- MD VA DC is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...

Where Does Sugar Cane Mulch Come From?

For those who have no idea what sugar cane mulch is allow me to explain. When sugar cane is processed it leaves behind the cut canes – extracted of all its sugary goodness. These canes are then usually burnt as a waste product polutting the atmosphere with gases and smoke.

In fact, before the sugar cane is even harvested it has been common practice for farmers to burn the crop to remove debris plant litter aiding the harvest process. This practice now has its days numbered meaning than more of the leaf litter becomes a waste product at the mill end

With the growing amount of waste it means the environment isn’t adversely affected but it creates a huge dilemma for mill operators. Limited pre-burning and post-burning means that something must be done to eradicate this waste product.

Like most problems in life, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. With limited options to dispose of this waste product it seemed “natural” to start using it as an organic mulch. And why not? Sugar cane mulch has so many benefits that it seems absurd that we haven’t been using it in the past.

What Are The Benefits of Sugar Cane Mulch

One of the most preferred mulches used by home gardeners has been pea straw, or lucerne hay. It has been used ever since mulching became fashionable and has offered gardeners a versatile, and relatively cheap, mulch. However, the one major downfall of these mulches is that they need to be completely weed-free yet seldom are thereby introducing more weeds into our gardens.

Sugar cane mulch doesn’t carry weeds, or their seed.

In other settings gardeners have opted for more aesthetic and durable mulches to cover their garden beds. Organic mulches such as; tree barks – waste products from timber mills, recycled green waste and other mulched items have been preferred because they last quite a long time and add to the visual appeal of the garden.

This is where sugar cane mulch comes into its own as well. Because of its fine strands it doesn’t break down as quick and won’t bleach in the sun meaning that it looks as good 12 months later than it did the day it was used to cover the garden beds.

Finally, sometimes gardeners opt for feeding mulches. These mulches offer gardeners the ability to feed their beds with a single approach. The mulch will usually consist of animal manures, trace elements and other organic fertilizers (worm castings etc.) that help nurture plants. The only downside to this is that one-size doesn’t usually fit all and one feeding mulch can’t aid native plants, plus exotics, plus fruit and vegetables.

And this might be where sugar cane mulch comes into its own. From the moment it has been used to cover the earth around your plants, and then watered in, you can almost smell the goodness of its effect. Being an organic mulch that breaks down slowly it allows the micro-organic world to flourish beneath its cover. If you need extra fertilisers for your plants then you can introduce these before the sugar cane mulch is applied and then supplement your plants with a liquid spray on a regular basis, as needed.

The Problems With Sugar Cane Mulch

There aren’t any problems associated with sugar cane mulch although the price is a little dearer than most conventional mulches. For instance, a bale of pea straw might set you back between $7-11 per bale (depending on quality) while a bale of sugar cane mulch will set you back about $16.

I’m not sure why it’s more expensive as one might expect that a waste product than can be processed on-site would be far more economical than hay harvested in the field. Hopefully, in time, the novelty factor will fail to appeal and we might be able to obtain this wonderful mulch for a more practical price.

This post came from Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas – Gardening tips and advice.

WHW Gardening News – Sugarcane Mulch – MD VA DC is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...

While its main usage is designed for pruning trees and shrubs this dynamo pocket-rocket can handle a myriad of tasks. Powered by a 10.8V Li-Ion battery and weighing just over 1 kilogram, finding applications for this nifty gadget will be a source of pleasure.

Using the Bosch Keo

So, let’s start with its primary function – pruning.

Pruning with the Bosch Keo

One of the Keo’s many helpful functions is the fact that thisis just that – cordless. It allows you to drift around the garden without having to ensure you’re within reach of an external power point or that you’re not extending the limits of your electrical cord.

While that may be reason enough for any gardener to contemplate rushing out and buying one the “icing on the cake” is the helpful “A-grip” that attaches/detaches from the main body as desired. This device aids the saw from vibrating off a branch while you’re in the process of cutting its limb. Its teeth-like grip holds onto the branch ensuring your safety and making sure that the unsupported limb doesn’t bounce the saw away from the initial cut. If you’ve ever had trouble with this while using a hand-held pruning saw you can imagine how difficult the task might be with a power tool – hence the “A-grip”.

Here are some gardening tips on when is the best time to prune your trees and shrubs.

Safety Issues With This

Another advantage of this cordless saw is its ease to add and adjust the blade. Its SDS System ensures that you don’t need to play around with spanners, screwdrivers or any other tool to adjust a blade. It’s as easy as “plug and play” – maybe even easier. The blade just slots into the rotating mechanism and once in place allows the saw to operate as expected.

Now you may be forgiven for considering that surely safety hasn’t been considered if it’s as easy to attach/detach a blade from alike this. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The Keo doesn’t engage until both the trigger and a safety switch are pressed synchronously – hats off to anyone (including a child) who can do that accidentally!

Other Uses for the Keo Garden Saw

The benefit of the detachable “A-grip” and blade means that the Keo can be used for a raft of other projects. Replacing the standard wood blade with a metal blade allows you to cut through metal sheet, tubing and other metal products. With another quick change the plaster blade allows you to slice through Gyprock™, plasterboard and even thin wall sheeting.

It truly is the multi-purpose tool for any garden that will make many of your current power tools, and even a few hand tools, superfluous from now on.

Is the Bosch Keo Worth a Place In The Garden Shed?

First, it’s a Bosch so you know it’s a quality tool.

Second, because it runs on a Li-Ion battery (no need for discharging meaning its life is increased) it offers unparalleled benefits for using in the garden.

And finally, because it has the ability to replace many of those fading tools in your shed this has got to be one multi-purpose garden saw that demands further inspection – at least.

This post came from Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas – Gardening tips and advice.

If you’re looking for a garden tool for the gardener who has everything then look no further. Visit Potomac Garden Center in North Potomac & Urbana for Garden Equipment Maryland & Garden Tools Supplies MD

DC VA MD – Bosch KEO | Cordless Garden Saw – WHW Gardening News is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...

rework your media center for a larger tv

Problem: you want a bigger television set but your custom media center is too small.
Solution: get it widened by a professional - and improve its looks at the same time.

Built-in media centers are a great focal point for a polished centerpiece for your family room but if technology changes and you’ve got your eye on a bigger television then you’re stuck – or are you? You can get a woodworker to make a few adjustments and it will be even better than before.

Here’s what had to be changed:

• Center box that holds the tv and upper speaker
• Moulding along top had to be redone.
• Fix the split in the middle from widening it
• Add interest around the fireplace as there was new unfinished space to the left and right

Media Center Makeover to Accommodate a Bigger TV is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...

Johnson’s Landscaping installed this lifelike artificial grass and gave it a natural, undulating border of dry stack walls and soil border for bedding plants to further enhance the illusion. Watch the installation video to see the amazing transformation and the lovely outcome – inviting landscape design for a lucky backyard in NW Washington DC. Contact Johnson’s Landscaping and talk to them about your yard makeover with easy-care outdoor-living ideas brought to fruition with professional landscape design.

Artificial Turf and Dry Stack Walls Fool Mother Nature is a post from: WHW says on Welcome Home Washington...