Outdoor Accessories for Yard and Garden

Adding outdoor accessories is a great way to add ambiance to your yard and garden.  While your flowers add color and fragrance the garden accessories will add appealing interest as they are a focal area to your outdoor space.

 

Right now my summer flowers have bloomed and we are waiting for the end of summer flower buds to bloom.  So the garden accessories, solar peacock, flamingo, patio fountain, wind spinner, and garden flags that I bought at Amazon. Zazzle and Big Lots look really nice.

When you add decorations like the ones that I mentioned you will find that they are not only pleasing to the eye but also that they are also relaxing. A great way to unwind at the end of the day is to sit outdoors at night enjoying the soft solar lights and listening to the water in your patio fountain.

 

I decorated my yard with a garden fountain and crackle glass pathway lights that are solar-powered and look beautiful at night as well as during the day.  Both lights generate power from the sun so you will have to set them up in an area that gets direct sun.  I also added a few metal art solar-powered lights and spinners that look beautiful set up in the gardens.

 

All photos viewed in this post are of the accessories in my gardens.

Tree Service / Trimming Pruning and Costs

 Last week I had 5 mature Oak Trees trimmed. All of the trees were over 30 feet in height and the tree service had to use a bucket to get to the branches that needed to be cut back.

When you get your trees trimmed it will improve the health of trees as they will get more sunlight and the trimming will make your property appear more pleasing to the eye.

My side yard, trees growing too close, need to be thinned out

The tree service that we hired, did not remove the new growth, instead, they concentrated on the dead branches and the overhang branches that covered our driveway and also inhibited the sunlight.  Many of the smaller fruit-bearing trees, and flowers were not getting enough sun and they were all dying.

Maple tree growing too close to service lines

Know that costs do vary but for 5 mature trees over 30 feet in height we paid $1K.  Online research indicated that the average costs range from $1K to $2K and I guess that depends on your location and how easy it is to get to your trees.

Normally tree trimming is done in the spring and summer and pruning is done in late fall and winter (November – March)  

Pruning is when they remove unnecessary branches, that have died and need to be cut off.  The cooler season makes the trees less susceptible to insects and disease.

The tree service will access your trees to determine if tree branches are growing too close to power lines, your house or other buildings.  Pruning keeps your trees looking neat and discourages branches from growing in the wrong direction.

Growing Tips for Lemongrass

  

While shopping at the garden center I passed an ornamental grass-looking plant that had a refreshing lemon scent. The plant was in a container and the ticket said no need to transplant, this plant is easy to grow, and was hand-selected by Bonnie plants to grow in a container. 

Lemongrass is grown in a container

We enjoy the lemon scent and that it repels mosquitos 

This ornamental grass is eye appealing, has movement, and has a fresh scent.  I loved it and I bought the lemongrass and set it in the center of my patio table.

You can grow it in a container or you can plant lemongrass in the ground in the spring after frost has passed The lemongrass likes it hot so a sunny location is best.  

The plant is very easy to grow in a container or in the ground. 

If you reside in USDA zone 8, 8b, and 9 then this plant will not die. You may want to plant in well-drained soil in a sunny location (needs a minimum of 6 hours of sun daily).  Space grass 24 inches apart.  For all other locations where it gets cold, you will need to bring your lemongrass indoors as cold weather will cause the plant to die.

In North America, the growing zone 8, 8b, and  9 are the warmest growing zones in the United States, including much of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Arizona, California, and coastal Oregon and Washington

Keep your lemongrass hydrated by watering when the soil feels dry.   A container causes the soil to dry out quickly especially when the weather is hot.  Where I reside the weather is extremely hot so I water the lemongrass that is grown in a container in the morning, then mist the leaves in the afternoon. If you grow lemongrass in the ground then water every other day or when the soil is dry.

 The fresh lemony scent from the oil in the leaves will repel mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas.

 

Harvest your lemongrass for tea, see the recipe for a fresh leaf tea here https://www.tarladalal.com/lemon-grass-tea-4989r