Bamboo-stic: Gardening Structures

Showing posts with label Gardening Structures. Show all posts

Sensory Garden Plants, Flowers, Style and Planting Ideas

Growing your own plants can be a very rewarding experience. It can also be challenging and time-consuming. But with the right amount of time, effort and knowledge, you can grow an amazing sensory garden in your backyard.

Sensory Garden Plants - Style and Planting Ideas

Creating a sensory garden allows your child to experiment with different textures, such as soil, rocks, water, mud, seeds, new sprouts, leaves, roots, and even weeds.

It also teaches children perseverance and patience.

There are different plants that evoke each of the five senses.

In this video, you'll see the different design styles, plants and planting ideas that you need to create a stunning sensory garden for your children.

What is a sensory garden?

A sensory garden is an outdoor space that includes plants with textures, colours, shapes and smells that stimulate all of the senses.

It is a garden for all children but even more so for those with autism spectrum disorder, learning challenges, and behaviour difficulties.

This garden gives children the opportunity to explore the world and learn about plants. They can enjoy it without any distractions, just them and their senses.

Uses of bamboo sticks with pictures

Bamboo is an eco-friendly material, you can use it to make a variety of home and garden DIY bamboo projects.

What are the things you can make out of bamboo?

In this article, we take a look at 5 things you can make from bamboo sticks by using simple hand tools. Use the pictures and video for clarity.

Bamboo sticks for plants

Bamboo sticks in use in pots and patio

Many gardeners and homeowners are using bamboo sticks as stakes because they are tall, strong and blend incredibly well with other plants in the garden.

There are many fantastic uses of the sticks. One that stands out is staking indoor and outdoor plants.

The bamboo sticks provide a strong support system for small shrubs, tomatoes, beans, soft fruit and vines.

You can cut the sticks to length and tie plants along them to provide the support they need to grow.

Take a look at this article - Uses of Bamboo Sticks DIY projects.

Bamboo uses

The garden bamboo plants are popular in the UK recently due to their evergreen foliage and hardiness, less prone to disease.

Bamboos are a tough group of plants.

They are used extensively in the Asia and South Pacific regions for many purposes, from cooking food to building materials and arts and crafts.

The uses are limitless! The bamboos are durable, tough and tolerant to bug infestations.

They are also flexible materials that you can cut, shape and bend to your liking.

These characteristics are fantastic for DIY arts and craft projects.

So, use bamboo to create stunning objects for use at home or in the garden.

Video of uses of bamboo sticks

Watch this video to see how we use bamboo sticks in the garden. The bamboo sticks are from our bamboo grove.

Each link takes you to the page with detailed intructions and pictures to help you build you own or give you an idea about how to make yours.

How to make large wooden planter box

In this article, you'll find out how to re-use pallet timbers and build large planter boxes for the garden, patio or any outside space.

The idea is simple, yet it works every time. You’ll need pallet timbers to make a garden planter box like the one in the video.

Steps for making Large Planter Box

There are many ways to build large planter boxes. In some garden DIY projects, you may use the whole pallet, whereas others require removing the nails prior to using the timbers.

The best tool for removing nails from pallets without spoiling the timbers is a claw bar. (See the list of tools and material you'll need for this project at the end of this article.)

1. Collect the materials you’ll need for the project.
2. Set the dimensions (L, W & D).
3. Cut the corner posts and timbers to length.
4. Dig x4 holes big enough for two posts on each corner.
5. Build the 4 corners. Put two treated posts at the right angle to each other at each corner. Nail them together.

6. Build the sides of the planter box. Use a hammer to nail the pallet timbers to the corner posts. You can use 2, 3 or 4 pallet timbers – this will set the depth (D) of the planter box.
7. Fill the large planter box with garden soil or compost. That’s it!

Your brand-new large planter box for the garden is ready.

Best technique for DIY Garden Planter Boxes

This is a little-known secret used in many planter boxes and DIY projects. It is called the ‘right-angled’ boxed technique.

The idea is about putting two timbers at a right-angle (90 degrees) to each other, where you can build the sidewalls of the box as shown in the image.

It is an effective technique for building strong boxes, raised beds, fences or any garden projects with corners.

how to build a wooden planter box for garden

Each corner with x2 posts at a right angle (90 degrees)

Make large planter boxes using a DIY technique

Using the right-angle technique is ideal for large planter boxes and raised beds. It makes the sides strong and stable. You can use the garden boxes for a long time.

We use the technique to build these two garden boxes.

In fact, we have been using the garden planter box on the right for over 6 years. And this year, we re-use the same pallet timbers to make the new planter box shown in the images above.

That's how long planter boxes like these last in the garden.

how to make large planter wooden box for outside

Small Planter Pox, elevated (L) and Raised Garden Box (R)

To make the Small Planter Box for the patio, you’ll need pallet timbers, nails and a hammer.

Firstly, build 4 stands for each corner. (Use 8 pallet timbers to make the stand for the corners by applying the right-angle technique mentioned earlier)
After that, hammer in the side timber, starting from the top. (Nail in 2, 3 or 4 pallet timbers on each side, leaving 5 – 10 cm space at the bottom.)
Then, complete the other sides.
Fill the Small Planter Box for the patio with soil.

That’s it! Your new garden planter box for the patio is ready for planting.

Make Raised Garden Box for outside

You can use the same idea to build the raised garden box, which is much simpler than the elevated patio box because its bottom simply rests on the ground. And, requires less work.

You only have to build the x4 corners (using the right-angle technique) and the sides.

Working with wooden pallet timbers is challenging. It is difficult to remove the timbers from the jawed nails.

A wrecking claw bar with a chisel is a perfect hand tool for removing nails without destroying the timbers.

Simple garden DIY ideas that work

In many cases, you do not have to spend money to build new garden boxes and raised beds. You can re-use what you have to create something that you want.

Learning to use gardening techniques like these can help you build strong planter boxes and raised garden beds. They can be adapted to other wooden garden projects too.

We shared two skills that DIY gardeners will find useful: the Right-angled technique and bamboo pegging. We’ve used it in many projects. They are simple ideas but work every time.

Get more ideas about the Home and Garden DIY projects via the links.

Materials for garden box

x12 pallet timbers or old weatherboards
x8 treated posts (or 4-inch by 2-inch timbers)
a packet of nails

Tools required

handsaw
hammer
shovel
road pin/crowbar
claw bar