Refresh Your Nest Link-Up: Garden and Outdoor Living Ideas

As much as I want to deny the truth, July flew by in a blur and amazingly it’s time again for the Refresh Your Nest Link-Up {Summer Edition}!  This month’s theme is Gardening and Outdoor Living Ideas.  As someone who has very little time to play in the dirt, I have four easy ideas to indulge your inner gardening goddess– and bonus, all four will give you a big bang for your buck.

I’ve always had a thing for succulents.  Now they are back in style, big time!  This bird bath was only $14 at Tuesday Morning.  I filled the bottom layer with soil, planted two succulents, and added stones on top.  Voila!  My own pretty outdoor succulent garden.  {I’ve got two more going on indoors, hope to post about those soon…}

I’m dreaming of the day I can plant a raised garden bed and fill it with veggies.  That day will come when my kids are a bit older, in a different season perhaps.  Until then, I make do with about a dozen varieties of herbs on my deck to use in all my recipes.  You’ve seen the ones on the trellis, but I also have some in planters.  Here’s a few tips:

• Use organic soil.  You are going to be eating these herbs, so be sure what you are planting them in isn’t full of chemicals.

• Plant mint in pots of their own.  It’ll come back year after year, PLUS it takes over if you don’t corral it somehow.  Even if you plant mint in your garden, isolating it in a pot is a good idea so it doesn’t become a weed.

• Group plants by water needs.  Certain herbs are water hogs and love frequent watering.  Be sure to plant them together so you can maintain consistent watering… and the water haters won’t be overwhelmed because they’ll be chilling in a planter of their own.

Right before Bee entered our lives, we refinished the deck and stained it dark brown.  We thought we had a pretty nice outdoor living space until the Snowtoberfest Incident of 2011 put a damper on things (pour one out for the glass deck table!)  We had to get rid of the shattered table, umbrella, and outdoor rug.  That’s when we started from scratch.

First up came this dark brown outdoor dining table, which I L-O-V-E!

Then we added the blue umbrella, which glows with loveliness.

What really makes it feel like an outdoor room are the rugs.  One was purchased last year at Home Depot and this one from Joss & Main.

On the other side of the deck sits our outdoor living room (and the trellis wall) created with an  inexpensive patio set and accessories. Here it is again, just as a refresher:

We adore our outdoor living space, and my husband especially has been lounging on that loveseat.  Silly husband, that space was supposed to be for mommy!  😉

They also have a great modern white ceramic planter version that I use on the trellis by my front door.  However, those planters don’t have drainage holes like the metal buckets.  Truthfully, both seem to work well as planters as long as you monitor the watering.  The white ones give a cool modern vibe, and can be labeled with vinyl house numbers or your last name if you want:

People are also curious about how the herbs and plants do, hanging vertically and all.  The answer?  Amazingly well!  It helps to keep a watchful eye on which ones need to be watered, and also don’t overwater.  The petunias, sage, lavender, rosemary and sedum all did very well.  I’m actually shocked at how well they grew and prospered; this sedum started as an inch long tiny piece I found in the planters from last year!

For some reason, I was never able to keep the lemon thyme or oregano looking as good as the others.  Which is a shame, I love those herbs.  It was probably a water balance that I was never able to achieve.  So sad.

I’d hate to leave you with a photo of a dried up plant, so here’s some flowers that have been doing great on there:

Now it’s your turn.  Remember, this party involves TWO parts.  The first one is garden and outdoor living themed, and the second is where you link up everything else– DIY, crafts, decor, recipes, organizing, etc.

As I learned at Haven, it’s important when you host a link party that everyone links back– otherwise, Google gets cranky.  And we don’t want to make Google cranky.  So I’m not requiring a link back but will only feature/ publicize posts do.  You don’t even need to include my button, just a simple text link letting people know that you got your party on over at Making Lemonade!

Ready?  Let’s do this thang!

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