4 Easy DIY Ideas to Brighten Your Backyard
June 17, 2017
Your yard is an extension of your house. Adding colorful planters and flowers will make your yard the envy of the neighborhood. Here are just a few ideas to enhance your summer enjoyment of your yard.
Planter Pots
Look around your house, at swap meets, or even antique stores for unusual things that can be turned into planters. Old toy trucks, cooking pots, watering cans, and pretty pails make great containers for small plants.
Since there isn’t much room for dirt in some of these containers, it’s better to use plants with small root growth, like succulents. For larger plants, try an old wheelbarrow, a bird feeder, or a Flyer wagon.
Garden Wall
Consider using cinder blocks as a garden wall around a flower bed. You can even turn a block on its side, put soil in the two holes, and add several small plants. Paint the blocks a bright shade to add even more vibrant color to your garden.
Rain Barrel
Mom Prepares has instructions on how to make a rain barrel for under $30. The trick is to get your drum from a factory or plant that uses the containers to transport large quantities of liquid, like a soup factory or beverage bottling company. They may give you a drum for free, which would limit your cost to the necessary hardware, and a stand to elevate the barrel so you can put a bucket under the spout. You can use wood or bricks to make a stand. Or if you have an old end table or coffee table, paint it a bright color and use it as a stand.
Bug Repellent
Do you have a nice looking garden that suddenly isn’t looking so nice because bugs are eating the leaves? Here’s a simple recipe for an organic repellent to rid yourself of those pesky bugs—without using chemical pesticides.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups water
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or any hot pepper)
- ¼ bar grated soap (organic is best, if possible)
Directions:
- Place water, onion, garlic, and cayenne pepper in a pan and bring to a boil.
- Add grated soap.
- Cook for about 2 minutes or until the bubbles start to rise.
- Remove the pan from the stove and cover with a lid for about 20 minutes.
- Once cooled, strain into a large spray bottle.
Spray this concoction onto your plants about once a week.
