DIY Life

Don't have anything lined up for Mother's Day yet? Feel bad 'cause your tight budget won't stretch to that mega-bunch of roses? Well, here's a suggestion: if your mom's into gardening, run out this weekend and pick up a yard-related gift. Wrap it up nice and pretty and give her that, alone, or pair it with a nice little box of chocolates or a few fresh flowers. She'll love it...and it won't break the bank!

Here are my top ten budget Mother's Day gift ideas for gardening moms. All of my suggestions are $20 or less--making them perfect for kids, grandkids, or big kids on a budget! Although it may be too late to have these items shipped, your local stores carry variations of nearly all of these items. Oh, and if you're open to slightly pricier ideas, check out last week's gift ideas post!

1. LL Bean Go-Anywhere Flexible Tote, $16.50
This soft, yet very sturdy, LLBean tote comes in a range of fabulous colors, including perfect-for-Mother's-Day bright pink. Also available in more practical hues, like dark green. Use it for anything outdoors-related: mix soil in it, haul tools or clippings in it, etc. This 11-gallon tote is built to last: it is UV-resistant and has reinforced handles.

City dwellers and those who want to compost year-round can still compost food items, however. You just need some little critters to help the process along. I'm talking about composting with worms.

Worms? Really?

When you provide worms with an appropriate home, they'll work their way through your food scraps and create a dark, rich, moist material that your garden will love. I'll talk more about what types of worms to use and how to build a home for them after the break.

You may not know it, but there could be a tea garden growing in your very own yard. Many weeds make excellent herbal tea, and they are medicinal to boot.

In my yard, I have a variety of chocolate mint that is my favorite tea, but I also have rosemary and sage that come up every year. Oh, and the plethora of dandelions, but I suppose I shouldn't admit that.

Country Living has some fresh plant blending ideas that you can use to make your own herbal teas. They include weeds, herbs and even edible flowers. They also include an extensive list of edible -- and drinkable -- plants, some of which may surprise you. I've never thought of steeping young birch leaves or pine needles, but according to Country Living, they'd make some great tea.

So, whether for medicinal or culinary purposes, fresh plants can make delicious tea. Now, who is baking the cookies to go with this delicious fresh tea?

(via Lifehacker)

I have a huge perennial garden in my backyard. Being somewhat persnickety, I have a grid diagram of my garden showing where each plant is and when its flowers are due to bloom. But this year I'm going to have to make some major changes.

Several of my plants have grown to enormous proportions so they need to be split and relocated. Others just aren't performing well, so I need to put out feelers and see if any family or friends are interested in them. Because so much work needs to be done anyway, I've decided this is a perfect year for a garden redesign.

BBC Lifestyle has a virtual garden design tool -- an easy way to envision how your garden may look. The tool is simple to use. You'll enter the dimensions of your garden and select the plants. The selection of plants is somewhat limited, so you may have to choose some that are roughly comparable to what you really want. Next is the fun part -- the tool will render a 3D image of your virtual garden. Enjoy!

After this past week here in New England, I can't imagine talk of a drought. The creek that runs through our backyard is a raging river and I don't remember what the sun looks like.

Yet the rain inspires me to write about some fun rain projects you can do around your yard and with your kids to pass the time on rainy days.

Since we have gotten so much rain, I thought it would be fun to measure the amount of rainfall that has graced us. It is so easy to make a rain gauge ruler, from an old olive or peanut butter jar and this printable rain ruler. You can graph the daily rainfall with your kids -- or your science-minded husband! -- and make it something to look forward to on rainy days.

Mother's Day invariably means an avalanche of mundane gift ideas for mom. If your mom is into gardening big-time, why not get something she can use and/or enjoy year-round--unlike, say, that $60 bunch of flowers or (yawn) potted herb garden you were about to order. Read on for ten gifts that real gardening moms would love to receive this Mother's Day!

Oh and by the way: all of the following gift ideas are available on the Web, which is cool because it means you don't have to schlep to the mall or your local blue- or orange-hued home and garden superstore. The down side: prices do not include tax or shipping. But, hey, if you can avoid a trip to the mall on Saturday it's worth it, right?

1. Japanese hand shears, $25-$48
Renowned for their beauty and durability are these Japanese hand tools. The secret? They are constructed from carbon steel (as opposed to stainless steel). Elegant rolled steel handles give them an unusual and distinctive appearance. In order to prevent rusting, these tools must always be dried after use and oiled occasionally. Aficionados swear it's worth the effort.

I live north of Atlanta, Georgia, an area currently under homeowner outdoor watering restrictions. Not much is allowed because of a lingering drought. In addition to trying to do my part to conserve water, I want to be able to water my plants, without waiting for Mother Nature to send the rain. I liked Dan Chilton's article on rain barrels, but I wanted to do something a bit different. I built my barrel in about two hours and it's now the repository for all my recycled water and rainfall, such as it is.

Peruse the gallery, follow the construction steps, and you can be the proud owner of your very own rain barrel and, might I say, the envy of your neighbors.

When I was a kid, my dad would routinely get out his pruning tools and ruthlessly cut back our lovely wisteria. This would always upset me greatly because the vine was so very beautiful when it bloomed in Spring. Would it ever come back and flower again? Yes, it always did. Always.

What I understand now is that wisteria is one tough and relentless vine once established. The form of wisteria I'm talking about is Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinesis), which actually belongs to the pea family. This big, sprawling deciduous vine has fast-growing branches that twine up and around anything it can get a hold on.

Wisteria was introduced to the US from China by gardening enthusiasts back in the early 1800s. If those folks were around today to see what they had wrought they'd probably say, "oops." That's because W. sinesis has become an invasive pest, wrapping it's vine-y arms around roadsides and woods up and down the east coast. As it spreads, wisteria chokes out native shrubs and trees with ease, and is known to climb as high as 65-feet. That's one powerful vine!

Now that the weather is improving we've got a window of opportunity. That two month or so period between the cold and the absolutely scorching is the right time to get that serious landscaping done. And like any other DIY endeavor, the key is having your tools in tip-top shape.

What's on your plate for adding a little curb appeal to your property? Putting in a pond? Adding a new flower bed? Putting in a new patio? Whatever your aspirations, you'll be wise to inventory your tools. More than likely, some will need maintenance and some will need to be replaced.

Start with the basics
The tool most used (hopefully not abused) is the lawnmower. At a minimum you'll need to:

• Sharpen the blade.
• Change the oil; go with a synthetic and you'll only have to do it once a year.
• Clean or replace the air filter.
• Clean or replace the spark plug.
• Check for frayed or broken cables.
  

Spring has sprung, and for that I am thrilled beyond words. Like Anna, though, I detest bugs swarming around me, ruining a good outside moment.

Anna's fly trap is a good start, but if the flies, mosquitoes and ticks still want a piece of you, making your own all-natural insect repellent with essential oils is easy to do.

You may have on hand many essential oils that will work, and after the break we will discuss those and give some recipes that are bug-specific, but we'll also learn about some essential oils that are proven to deter mosquitoes better than DEET.

Make spring cleaning a little less onerous this year by tossing out the harsh chemicals you usually use and cleaning up with essential oils instead. Find recipes for bathroom cleanser, dish soap, glass cleaner, and more.

Many people like to celebrate Earth Day each year by planting seeds and flowers in the yard. Before you haul out the hoe and shovel, consider making seed bombs. Let 'er rip!

Have you pledged to your family and your wallet to cut down on fuel consumption and pedal around on your bike instead? Pull that forlorn bicycle out from the corner of the garage, dust it off, and then use these handy tips to give it a tune-up.

Weed killer and other pesticides can be bad for the environment and terrible for your health. Try this approach that uses a common household ingredient that you probably have leftover from Easter.

Eco-friendly. Go green. Environmentally aware. Call it whatever you want, we love it when the DIY tips we give you are also good for the environment. As we celebrate Earth Day today, let's take a look at some of the ideas we've shared in in the past that can help you get green.

Nothing says "I'm helping save the Earth" more than a compost pile filled with leftover food scraps and grass clippings. Here's everything you need to know to start your own compost heap, including what kind of organic materials you can toss in (egg shells) and what you can't (meat scraps).

This long list of ideas on how to make your home eco-friendly covers everything from programmable thermostats to spark igniter pilot light systems. Even if you already practice green living, you might find one or two ideas on here that you never thought of.

Are you trying to decide what to do with that empty flower garden this season? Why not consider creating a certified wildlife habitat? Drawing wildlife to your backyard can be fun, relaxing, and an excellent educational opportunity for kids and adults alike.

The National Wildlife Foundation has created a program to help homeowners create habitat areas out of native, appropriate foods, plants, and shelters. Unlike sticking a bird feeder in your backyard, which is not always safe for birds, a wildlife habitat provides food and shelter in a natural setting.

Animals are naturally drawn to your yard because it provides them a safe place to eat, breed, and to protect themselves from weather and predators. For instance, a toad house is a great way encourage a healthy toad population, while nesting boxes will draw in certain kinds of birds.

Organic furniture is all the rage. Tree stump benches and natural outdoor spaces fill the pages of the most popular home decorating magazines.

How far would you take this? Consider building an outdoor seating area complete with a grass arm-chair and couch. Styleo points us to a tutorial in the print version of Ready Made magazine, which outlines the steps. Working together with nature to create these inspired pieces of organic furniture is the perfect way to reunite your green thumb with your inner diva.

Basically, you pot soil into a chair frame, then plant the grass seed. After about 10 days, the grass will start to grow. When it reaches about 10cm long, you're ready to cut it down and reveal the chair design. You'll have to maintain it regularly if you want to avoid sitting in an overgrown mess. Remember, with all the maintenance, consider using a non-pollutant mower, and minimize your water usage.

There has been a comment that the tutorial is not easy to follow. I think this basic concept would lend itself to any number of design modification, so use it as inspiration, and see where it takes you.

Sleek, stylish, and environmentally progressive, you will definitely be the talk of the town (either as "Check out their cool lawn couch!" or "Who is that nut down the road with a chair made out of grass?").

Spring has finally arrived and preparations for the spring planting season have begun. While you're cleaning out your flower beds or preparing your vegetable garden this year, why not commit a few hours to creating a compost pile in your backyard?

Why compost?

Some experts estimate that food waste accounts for 20 to 30 percent of garbage in landfills. Each time you scrape your plate into the wastebasket or garbage disposal, you're throwing valuable nutrients away, nutrients your outdoor plants need.

Composting creates a dark brown, crumbly material. Your garden loves compost for several reason -- it's full of food your plants desire, it's chemical-free, and helps the soil retain moisture. Though it can take years for soil to rebuild lost nutrients on its own, amending the soil with compost speeds up that process.

Get started on your own compost bin after the break.