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Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2005
by tamara on July 06, 2005 07:55 PM
Dh and I poured a ten by ten square foot patio block the other day. By the way, if you ever plan this please rent a cement mixer, we poured it by hand mixing in a wheelbarrow [nutz] . My arme are still sore.

My question is that now I don't know what to do to finish it. Any ideas? I wanted something that doesn't cost a fortune. We thought of a pergola but they want $40 for a 6 by 6 inch post and I need 6 of them not counting all the lumber for rafters and beams. Probably a $500 job at the least.

My patio set already has an umbrella, so I don't have to worry about shade, maybe some kind of fencing around it? Please throw some ideas my way.

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Tamara's Photos
Thinking Spring, Thinking Spring...Nope, doesn't work.lol
by JV on July 06, 2005 08:43 PM
[wayey] tamara you sure don't take the easy way out do you no wonder your arms are sore. [Big Grin] Did you mix the color into the concrete as you mixed it or are you going to paint it later? Did you think about lattice work as a fence around this. It can be done real pretty and is fairly cheap. also you can plant Roses' around it making kind of a Rose arbor. I would use several colors of bush type Roses'. But then I love Roses' and Hibiscus as well as coleus. You could also get other types of shrubs like Holley or juniper shrubs. If it were mine I would put ether Roses' or Rose of Sharon which can be pruned into a shrub or left to grow as a tree. You ask for idea's these are mine. good Luck. [thumb]
Jimmy

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Meet Clyde my Male Sugar Glider. Clyde says.
Keep it organic
GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.
Pray for our Troops!

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by 4Ruddy on July 07, 2005 01:28 AM
I'm with JV, lattice would be nice...and a good place for morning glories or ivy! [thumb] They now have that pre-painted lattice and a vinyl lattice that doean't need painting! Even if you omly did 2 side of the patio....would be pretty.

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Happiness, like a dessert so sweet.
May life give you more than you can ever eat...
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by LMT on July 07, 2005 01:32 AM
I'm boring, give me boxwood hedges.

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Currently listening to: Vince Guaraldi Trio -- A Charlie Brown Christmas. Adult and contemporary but evocative of youth and innocence, a must own CD.
by 4Ruddy on July 07, 2005 01:43 AM
Maybe we can get G~Mom over here...she is the BEST at coming up with stuff............Oh G~Mom...where are you????????

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Happiness, like a dessert so sweet.
May life give you more than you can ever eat...
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by hisgal2 on July 07, 2005 01:48 AM
You could make large flower boxes on 2 of the sides....or 3...depends on if the slab is next to your house or not. [Big Grin] ...and how you want people traffic to be diverted. Anyways, I'd build flower boxes that are 2-3 feet tall and put a nice lattice on one part of it so that you can have something that climbs. Then I'd just plant your favorite flowers in the rest of the boxes. I would have one continuous box going around it, but you could do a box at each corner and then on the sides that you'd want something, put another box...like 2'x2' in the middle of the length of slab. You could eventually connect the boxes with a nice wooden bench. They aren't hard to make. I believe I have plans for bench seats that are built using 1x3's or 1x5's....or something around that size. So...that's my idea.

I just love using other people's yards for ideas!! [Big Grin]

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by pcgrav on July 07, 2005 04:39 AM
garden projects & ideas... [wayey]

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/category.jhtml?categoryid=/templatedata/bhg/category/data/t_43.xml

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 - Each day is a new beginning...What you begin is your choice.
 - The pleasure you receive from life is equal only to the attitude you put into it.
by phoenix on July 07, 2005 04:42 AM
[thumb] cool site pc that will come in handy thanks for posting it [Wink]

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http://photobucket.com/albums/y203/lilpuppolo/
"If you want to talk bollocks and discuss the meaning of life,you're better off downing a bottle of whiskey.That way you're drunk by the time you start to take yourself seriously"
by pcgrav on July 07, 2005 04:44 AM
[thumb]

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 - Each day is a new beginning...What you begin is your choice.
 - The pleasure you receive from life is equal only to the attitude you put into it.
by Merme on July 07, 2005 04:59 AM
I like JV's idea, especially if you added wisteria to it!

[thumb]

Merme

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"In the midst of winter, I learned there lives in me an invincible summer" Camus (maybe a paraphrase)
by pcgrav on July 07, 2005 05:02 AM
Ooooooh Merme-- I like that -wish I'da thought of it... I love Wisteria!!!

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 - Each day is a new beginning...What you begin is your choice.
 - The pleasure you receive from life is equal only to the attitude you put into it.
by tamara on July 07, 2005 06:30 PM
Thanks guys, Merme I love wisteria also but I'm in Zone 4, Well really close to zone 3 so not alot overwinters here. Oh by the way the concrete is just plain concrete grey, that's the same color as the trim on my house. The slab is at the corner of my acre and a half, I'm not worried about privacy.

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Tamara's Photos
Thinking Spring, Thinking Spring...Nope, doesn't work.lol
by weezie13 on July 07, 2005 07:47 PM
Tamara,
There was one idea I liked under Pergola's,
the first one you come acrossed and it had
planter boxes built into the legs of the unit..

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2

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http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by tkhooper on July 07, 2005 07:53 PM
If you have any wild vines that you can get. The old growth works great for bentwood projects. And it creates a very natural looking lattice(sp) style. It's sort of like what Bill did with the hummer house down in Wild Willy. That way you could have your pergoda and come in under budget.

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