How to Paint on Bamboo Surface

Bamboo is one versatile material used around the garden. Whether used whole as a bamboo tube or split into bamboo strips, it's generally sturdy and lasts long. It's especially useful for staking plants as well as for creating trellises for vines.

The simplest way to prolong the life of bamboo and make it attractive is to apply oil-based paints on its surface. An oil-based paint, such as the regular quick-dry enamel, dries to a tough shiny finish after drying. Two coats of this, one dried thoroughly after the other, goes a long way in terms of attractiveness and durability for your garden's use.

Build a Container Trellis out of Bamboo

The first part of this article discussed the background and considerations for building a sturdy standalone container trellis. This part discusses the entire assembly of the garden trellis.

The assembly of the container trellis will be two-step. The first step will be to modify the garden pot so that the trellis holders can be permanently affixed inside the container. The second step will be to assemble the bamboo trellis for the vine. The trellis structure can be attached or detached anytime from the container.

Sturdy DIY Bamboo Trellis in a Container

Here's a beautiful bamboo and steel wire trellis that you can easily build for your container or garden pot. Other than a pair of pliers with a wire cutter, you won't need any special tools.

Originally, all I wanted was a garden pot to cover a concrete patch in the middle of the grass lawn. This is a 1 foot square concrete slab that serves as a cover for a catch basin. You see, the slab's color sticks out amidst the lush green color of the lawn and so I wanted to hide it.

But I also had some flowering garden vine seedlings that needed transplanting and so a garden pot with its own standalone trellis was worth considering.

Seedling Propagation of Thunbergia Grandiflora

Propagating Thunbergia grandiflora (Skyflower, Bengal Clock Vine or Blue Trumpet Vine) from cuttings is much more difficult than we thought. With the cuttings that we took from a nearby source, survival rate was a disappointing 0%. It is for this reason that we decided to head for the hinterlands of Mt. Makiling.

Since one of our daughters is studying at UPLB, DH already noticed the vines among the trees in our many visits to the campus via the UPLB shortcut. And yes, they were quite floriferous with the lavender-blue blooms. Unlike DH, I generally don't notice these things. Somehow, DH has this keen ability to hone in to surrounding flora wherever she goes.

Cheap Cover for the Improvised Lawn Aerator

In a previous entry, I explained how you can assemble a homemade manual lawn aerator. Essentially, the lawn aerator uses spikes to create holes in the ground. Putting away and storing the garden aerator, however, may pose some problems.

The exposed pointed and sharp nails (spikes) can become very sharp even after continued use. There have been times when the spikes scratched my fingers and hands when I reached for this garden tool in the storage rack. So there has to be a way to store the garden tool without causing accidents.

Cutting and Disposing Thorny Plant Branches - Part 2

(This is the continuation from Part 1)

Procedure for Disposing Cut Branches:

1. Lay out a couple of lengths of plastic yarn on the ground, parallel to each other at around 1 foot distance.
   

Cutting and Disposing Thorny Plant Branches

Have you ever had problems bundling your pruned thorny bushes for disposal? I have. Handling these thorny plant stems and branches can be a real pain when they're not bundled properly.

Worse, there have been instances when garbage collectors become hesitant to take your "green" garbage made of thorns. I've heard a garbage guy grumble more than once upon seeing the familiar spiky branches.