Patio Shop Tallahassee 850-383-0663
Fountains, Birdbaths, Statues, Benches, Stepping Stones, Planters and more!
It has been so extremely hot here in Florida this summer and you know if you’re feeling it, so are the birds and other wildlife in the area! Keep those birdbaths and fountains full of fresh, clean water for our friends in nature! And don’t forget to check out our HOW TO on cleaning birdbaths/fountains in a safe way for our furry friends 🙂
Stay cool, friends!
It’s almost that time again! Hot cocoa, reading books cozy on the couch, family time.
But what about the garden? The place where you spend so much time during the Spring and Summer months tending and beautifying? It needs your help to keep it protected through the harsh weather so that it may replenish once again after the ice melts! Here is a short and sweet blog with a few tips for keeping your concrete items safe from cracks and freezing.
If you have any concrete fountains in your yard, you will probably want to completely DRAIN the water for the season. Standing water will freeze in the concrete and cause cracking and decay. Clean the fountain as described HERE. Waiting until Spring will just create more work for you. Once the water is drained, clean out the pump and store that until the weather warms up again.
Many home improvement stores sell bird bath heaters that allow you to enjoy the wildlife year-round! They come in different shapes and sizes, and they keep the water from freezing up to offer water to birds in the winter, as they can become dehydrated just like us if there aren’t flowing water sources in your area.
To protect statues, planters, and other concrete items, you may want to put on a coat or two of clear polyurethane or exterior paint. This can keep rain and snow from melting into pots or cracks that already exist in your items to prevent further damage.
We hope that this bit of information helps you prepare for this season! If you have anything to add, please feel free to comment below!
If you haven’t seen these fantastic DIY concrete planters on Pinterest or one of the many garden and home shows on cable, you’re missing out on one of the most simple yet fruitful activities you can do at home. You only need the space and a few materials to get started:
Veggie Oil
Gloves
5 gallon bucket(or mop bucket, etc.)
Quickcrete
A couple heavy stones or weights
Molds – This is where you can get creative. I went to the dollar store and bought plastic cups, bowls and baskets (it was around Easter!) anything that has the shape of what size planter you wish to make. I’ll explain in more detail later, but you’ll need something big and something small for the inside where the actual plant will sit.
1. The first thing you’ll want to do is oil up your molds. Completely wet the inside of the larger mold, then oil the outside of the smaller mold. Make sure every inch of the surface is covered with the veggie oil so that you have a seamless edge when you pull it apart. When choosing your molds, get creative! You don’t have to stick to bowls or buckets. Go check out your local thrift store or dollar store and look at every container, glassware, light fixtures, etc.
2. The second step will be to mix up your Quickcrete. There are a few different types that you can buy, so just follow the directions on your bag. Make sure to use gloves because the concrete mixture will dry out your hands and cause a rash or very rarely, burns.You don’t want the mixture to be too runny. Once you mix enough up, fill up the larger container about 1/2 to 3/4. Take your smaller mold and place inside the concrete mixture, leaving at least a 1 inch layer on the bottom. Fill up the bottom mold if you need to, and flatten down the top rim. If you bought the mix with rocks in it, DON’T WORRY! When it dries, you won’t see the rocks if you shake it out enough.
3. Step 3 is probably the hardest one (it was for me!) You have to kind of shake the pots to get air bubbles out. You can do this by tapping it on a table or the ground, or maybe putting it on top of a very powerful bass amp (!!!!) There are probably easier ways to do this all over the internet, but this is what I did and it worked. You basically want to release all the trapped air pockets so the finished product isn’t pocked. You can also use a pencil or other tool to poke down into the mixture to release any extra air bubbles.
4. Play the waiting game! Some mixtures dry in a couple hours, some take a few days. When the concrete has set, remove the inner and outer molds. You can purchase a file from any hardware store to get the top rim of your new planter flat. I like to leave it because it gives a rustic look. Grab some paint (any paint) and decorate the outside. I recommend buying Rust-O-Leum 2x clear coat spray paint to finish it off if you’re going to put the planter outdoors in the weather.
If you’ve ever done this before, or plan on trying it, send us photos! Go click “like” on our Facebook Page and tag us in your photos. We’d love to see some cool DIY planters!! Do you have some tips for someone creating DIY planters for the first time? Just comment here or fill out this form and we’ll leave a testimonial linked to your blog or website!
Moss has many benefits for your garden aside from just looking absolutely fantastic. We’re talking about the green, ground covering mosses, not that grey hairy stuff found in all the trees around here. (Spanish Moss) These mosses retain moisture and release nutrients into surrounding areas without using anything from the soil it grows on. It mostly just needs a stable surface (no rocks in the dirt, no fine grain sand, mulch or leaf litter, etc.) and water.
There are different ways to create “moss graffiti” or a moss garden all over the internet, and I’ve collected the ones that seem to work the best. Remember, anything worth doing will sometimes be difficult, time consuming or frustrating, but always know that in the end it will look FANTASTIC! So don’t give up! Keep trying different methods, and if you find a way that worked for you, post about it here! Let us and the rest of the world know!
(Click on the images in this post to discover many other moss-related blogs and articles!)
1. Find Some Moss! – Look around your yard for shady, moist areas and you’re sure to find at least one type of moss. Take a walk around your neighborhood or check out some parks in your area and you’re sure to find one strain of moss that appeals to you. Take a handful or so and make sure you get the whole growth and not just the green on top.
2. Mix It Up & Apply! – All you need is a blended mixture of moss and something like buttermilk, yogurt (non flavoured) or condensed milk. You’ll need water and a little bit of sugar as well. The exact measurements depend on the size of the object, wall, etc. that you would like to grow your moss. Typically you’ll need a handful of moss, 2 cups water (or beer!), 2 cups buttermilk (yogurt or condensed milk will work) and if you’d like the mixture not to drip, in the case of painting on a vertical area, you will need also need corn syrup. Add everything EXCEPT the corn syrup to your blender until smooth, then add the syrup until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
3. Get Creative! – Grab a paintbrush and get to it! If adding a moss feature to a wall or other flat surface, you’ll find your life much easier if you draw out your plan with chalk or pastels first. Get your brushes out and paint the desired area. You can refrigerate the leftover mixture so that you may add to your design once the moss begins to cultivate. Your patience will be tried but believe me, it’s worth it to see living, breathing art! For the next couple of weeks, you’ll want to spray the moss with water and keep applying the mixture. You can choose alternate days but I would spray the moss a little every day, and apply the mixture every couple of days until it really starts to grow.
4. Enjoy! – I think this is one of the most exciting new trends I’ve seen lately with homeowners and ambitious, creative minds. Not only is this an environmentally friendly, oxygen producing activity healthy but it can be lots of fun, especially if you enlist the help of friends and family (especially little ones!)
If you’ve tried this before, share your photos with us! Hop on over to our FACEBOOK PAGE and give us a like! You can also link to this blog or post a photo in the comments! You may have tried this and found a process that works better than the others, so let us know! We like to hear input from our friends and customers! Thanks for reading 🙂
If you’re a new gardener, or have tried before in the past to make this work, let’s start with spacial requirements. Why not start with ONE planter, let’s say a 12in. square, and plant 2 different types of vegetables next to each other. (Now I’m no expert on which veggies will grow together without creating some kind of mutant pepper-carrot monster, but the blogs HERE and HERE can help you out a little more!) Now that you’ve got an idea of what you want to plant, traverse out to your local nurseries or home improvement stores and pick up a nice planter. Now on to step 2…
There are so many different materials to choose from when shopping for a planter, and as with most other things we always say quality over quantity. We sell concrete for a reason: it’s durable, long lasting and has a classic aesthetic. That being said, concrete will dry out your soil faster than other options, so you must take care to water a little more often to compensate (for beauty!) It is also fairly heavy so take into consideration where exactly you’d like to have your plants and veggies in the yard. Clay is very similar to concrete in that it will dry out faster than plastic or resin, but it is more lightweight. Plastic or Resin is the lightest materials to use, and is recommended for first time planters or finicky gardeners who will want to move it around to find the perfect space. (This would be me!) The upside to plastic will be that once you realize that magnificent green thumb you’ve had all along, you can place the resin container INSIDE OF a beautiful, classy, concrete planter! Then you don’t have to worry about drying out your soil!
Gardening isn’t an immediate-reward system. This is something that you’ll have to hone your patient, tolerant, unassuming side for. And believe me, I was not any one of these things before I grew my very first tomato from a seed. That thing turned yellow, brown, and grew sideways before perking up and eventually taking over my entire side yard. I had to buy tomato stakes to keep this wild thing tamed! The point is, plants and vegetables are living, breathing things that need nurture and patience to grow up and be strong, just like you and I. Just wait and don’t get frustrated, keep trying and trying and when you think you want to give up, DON’T! You can do this. There are onion plants that grow against my fence and the neighborhood yard guys mow them down every two weeks. They grow back ON THEIR OWN! These things want to live, and will try their hardest, they just need a little push from you!
I hope you’ve got a couple of hints, laughs and maybe epiphanies from reading through this quick blog! Give me some feedback! Leave a comment or send a message and tell us your story, we love to hear from our readers and customers!
I think we’ve all seen an old concrete fountain or birdbath that has grown algae or collected mineral deposits. Stagnant water in birdbaths can create red or green growth, as well as cloudy water and sometimes a not-so-nice odor. There is also the problem with mosquito larva, which only take 24 hours to hatch. Female mosquitoes can lay 100-200 eggs at a time, which can cause problems if you turn your fountain off over night. Another creature that you may encounter with outdoor water features is the blood-worm. These aren’t necessarily bad, but it can freak some people out. Blood-worms are tiny red worms that hang out in clean water and ponds, and are also sold in stores as fish bait. You can get rid of them if you’d like, you’ll just have to clean out your pumps more frequently. There are many ways to clean concrete items in your garden, some safer or easier than others. Below we’ve listed a few of the methods we have tried in the past. Of course, if you use another method not listed here, LET US KNOW! We absolutely love learning new things, and can link to your blog as well!
1. The Bleach Method – You can use a cap or two full of bleach in a gallon sized bucket or sprayer (that you can get from Lowe’s or Home Depot) to apply to the concrete surface. We recommend removing all water from birdbaths before adding the solution. Take a small scrub brush and scrub all sides with the solution and leave for an hour or so. If cleaning a birdbath or feeder, something that can retain water that animals drink or eat from, you have to be very careful not to leave bleach in the birdbath when refilling. This can be very harmful for wildlife. Make sure to rinse the birdbath or feeder several times with water, refill, and you’re good to go! This is usually the easiest method because most households have bleach and scrubbies on hand at all times. Side Note: Bleach can ruin filters and pumps if cycled through them, and there are many other ways to get rid of residue!
2. Dish Soap – This is what people usually use for fountain maintenance as an alternative for buying expensive pond and fountain tablets and gadgets. If you’re cleaning a large fountain, this method will work best for you! Drain or siphon off all water and unplug pump(s). Use a little dish soap and water to scrub the walls and basin of the fountain, and rinse when done making sure no suds remain. You don’t want to turn on the fountain and get bubbles! This could destroy your pump!
To clean your pump, first remove the pump cover and take out any leaves or debris you can with your hands. Then soak in a mixture or 50/50 water and distilled vinegar to remove inside mineral deposits and algae. Rinse with water and place in fountain, replace the plug and then refill with water. To prevent mineral build up you can fill with distilled water, but sometimes this can be difficult to keep up with as usually fountains are outside and collect rain water.
3. Vinegar – Vinegar works well as a natural, less abrasive anti-fungal/bacterial solution. Drain all water out of your fountain, then add a mix of half-n-half white vinegar and water. Use a bristled dish brush to scrub away algae, and buildup. Before you re-fill your fountain, be sure to rinse the vinegar out completely.
4. Buy Chlorine Tabs – (and/or solvents from a home improvement store.) Simple as that! If you’ve got the money to spend, or just want to do an “overhaul” on your concrete garden decor, this is the simplest solution. The solvents sold for cleaning fountains are generally easy on water pumps and won’t erode the concrete. After this deep cleaning, your fountain can be easy to maintain with steps 1 or 2! Or, you know, just keep purchasing already made solvents to make your life so much easier!
I hope these answers help! There are many things that can bring you happiness, and that’s all we want for our customers! If you’ve purchased an item from us, or would like to in the future, don’t hesitate to ASK QUESTIONS! That’s what we’re here for! We’ve been in the concrete business for more than 17 years and love to see people happy with their new concrete garden items.
Also, if you know of a technique that has worked for you that isn’t listed, comment below or use our Contact Form and we will add it to our list and link to your blog or website!
Patio Shop Tallahassee 850-383-0663 
You must be logged in to post a comment.