LAFAYETTE and MONTICELLO, Ind. (WLFI) – It was out with the snow and in with the warm weather this weekend, which means you might be thinking about those home improvement projects.

Spring fever is in full swing in and this weekend, thousands of home-owners and do-it-your-selfers were at the Builders Association of Greater Lafayette Home Building and Remodeling show at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds, as well as the Lakes Area Home and Garden Show in Monticello.

We got some quick tips on how you can spruce up your home this spring.

“The biggest thing for do-it-your-selfers is get out there, get the walls clean with bright and shiny neutral tones, a little bit of white and a bright color as decor splash just for creating interest. And, keep it simple,” Residential realtor Aimee Ness said.

Ness says a quick coat of paint can freshen up any home. And this year’s hot color: emerald. But she warns a bold color like that is best used as an accent color.

Ness says the two easiest rooms to do a quick remodel in your home are the bathroom and kitchen.

She says a quick and inexpensive trip to the hardware store can freshen up a room.

“Any type of ceramic is big,” Ness said. “This year they’re moving toward brass for knobs and poles. A lot of the colors are still neutral. We’re looking at sandstone and things like that. A little bit of lighter gray if you went on the cool tones.”

And with the changing weather don’t forget about the most important part of your home: the foundation.

Crawlspace Remediation owner Sam Goode says melting snow and spring showers could impact your foundation and crawlspace.

“As a building gets older, concrete breaks down. It’s a porous substance, so water can get in there and really cause a lot of damage over time,” Goode said. “Unfortunately it’s unlike your roof though. You see your roof every day. You look up there you see a tree branch; you think about it. Your crawlspace though is out of sight, out of mind.”

Goode says if you plan on doing any repairs yourself, make sure you have all the proper tools and hydraulic jacks.
And last, but certainly not least, Goode says flowers also make saying goodbye to those long winter days a little easier.

The Hopkinton and Ashland garden clubs will hold a joint event March 19, 7 p.m., in the Faith Community Church at 146 East Main Street, Hopkinton.

The clubs will present Suzanne Mahler, who will show attendees a “dazzling photographic display” called Perennial Color, Spring through Fall. The program will focus on new perennials, as well as “tried and true” flowers, plus advice on how to make this spring “your best gardening season ever.” Detailed handouts are expected.

Mahler Gardens was formerly designated as a National Display Garden for the American Daylily Society, and is open to the public, according to the garden club press release. Mahler also writes a weekly gardening column called “green Thumbs Up” that prints in Gatehouse Media newspapers.

For more information, please contact the Ashland Garden Club at: info@AshlandGardenClub.org.

Gary Porter

Elaborate displays welcomed visitors to the 2011 Home and Garden Show.

• Tweet
• 
• Email
• Print

If you’re searching for tips on landscaping, cooking, remodeling, and even how to host a “DIY Party,” all the information you need is corralled in one place: The 2013 Realtor’s Home Garden Show at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis.

This year, Waukesha native Carmen De La Paz of HGTV fame stars at the show, bringing years of her carpentry, design and catering experience. She’ll even share advice on how to create the perfect “DIY Party” from meal portions to recipes.

To heal the Milwaukee winter blues, the show offers visions of spring gardening, with ideas on how to plant and water fresh landscaping projects.

Experts will also reveal “The Power of Painting” along with other remodeling secrets at show seminars

The event runs from March 15 through 24; the event is closed March 18 and 19. Admission is $8 for adults, free for active military personnel and children 12 and younger. For more information, including daily admission hours, call (414) 778-4929 or visit mkehgs.com.

© 2013, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.

Get Daily discounts and offers on sporting events, plays, concerts, museums and other events around town

By
Monty Don

PUBLISHED:

17:34 EST, 8 March 2013

|

UPDATED:

17:34 EST, 8 March 2013

There is a corner of my garden that has gradually become a problem.

This is because 15 years ago I planted Portuguese laurels, Prunus lusitanica, then just 1.2m (4ft) tall, in the centre of each of the four L-shaped box-edged beds that surround a central paved area with a table. Now the biggest is about 6m (20ft) high and almost completely shades its bed.

In summer, this means the area is pleasantly shady, with the evening light especially slanting in underneath the branches.

Plant elegant, shade-loving ferns in the shade, says Monty Don

But the roots take up most of the moisture and goodness, and it is in almost total shade from October through till late April. For the past few years everything I have planted in the beds has struggled to survive – let alone thrive.

Yet it is right outside the house and an important part of the garden. It has to look good.

ASK MONTY…

Q. I’ve grown a satsuma tree from a pip and it’s now 30cm (12in) high. How can I keep it in tip-top condition?
Len Brown, Bridlington, E. Yorks

A. Satsumas are Citrus unshiu, a Japanese mandarin. Slow growers, they’re fairly hardy and more tolerant of cold than many citrus. They need maximum sunshine, winter and summer, and protection from all but light frost. Use a rich, well-drained compost and feed weekly from spring to autumn with liquid seaweed. Water weekly in summer, and monthly in winter.

Q. I have three apple trees, all with  grey-green mould on the bark – many smaller branches have died back. Shall I spray them?
John Lancaster, Newmarket, Suffolk

A. Although I strongly discourage posting diseased material, you have sent me some of the beautiful lichen from your trees. Lichen is harmless, attractive and a tribute to the clean air in your garden! The die-back is probably canker, due to recent wet weather.

Q. I have a 60-year-old ‘conker’ that I’d like to plant. Is there any chance that it would germinate and grow into a tree?
Dennis Winton, Bognor Regis, W. Sussex

A. Conkers (horse chestnut seeds) are viable for only a short time. Once they start to dry, the chances of germination diminish. Best to wait until next autumn and plant a fresh conker in a pot. It should germinate within weeks.

However, I visited Seville in Spain a few weeks ago and was really taken with the way they used ferns as a kind of bedding. They planted them en masse within tightly clipped hedged beds, and their soft fronds contrasted really well with the neatness of the clipped myrtle hedges.

My hedges are of box, but the effect would be just the same and many ferns will be completely happy in the dry shade of these beds. If your garden is shaded by neighbouring trees or large buildings, or is just too small to get sun for much of the day, it could well be that ferns will love growing there and you might well grow to love them.

For my borders, which I shall be mass planting, I have chosen two types of dryopteris, both of which are herbaceous, so will go brown and die back in winter, then grow new fronds in May.

The male or Buckler fern, Dryopteris felix-mas, will grow almost anywhere given protection from wind, sending up croziers (unfurled fronds) 1m (3ft) tall that smell of freshly cut hay.

It is one of the few plants that will be perfectly happy planted hard against the walls of a building, which is against all the normal rules of planting.

I am growing a variety called ‘Barnesii’, which is extra tall and has rather narrow fronds. The other is its golden-green relative, Dryopteris affinis, another very tall garden fern using two subspecies called ‘Polydactyla Mapplebeck’ and D. affinis x complexa ‘Stableri’, both of which are tall and – I hope – will waft elegantly rather than flop.

It is a sheltered corner, so should not be too bashed by winds and these ferns are good and hardy, so they cope with cold gardens.

The polypody, Polypodium vulgare, will grow in dry shade, although it is most often seen growing straight out of the trunk of old moss-covered trees in a wood.

The soft shield fern, Polystichum setiferum, will grow luxuriantly in the corner of a dry, dark yard untended and come back year after year. I have one in the dry, north-facing  corner of two walls and it seems to be very  comfortable in this position.

Most ferns for dry shade will grow in any kind of soil, but they do like good drainage. A shady bank of some kind is ideal for this. Plant them in a slight depression so that the soil does not get washed away from their roots.

Overfeeding will result in lush frond growth but weak roots, and consequently they will suffer badly in windy or dry conditions. Nearly all ferns do perfectly well with an annual mulch of leaf mould (not compost), or a feed of weak liquid seaweed solution once a month in the growing season. This latter is particularly suitable for ferns in containers.

• 
  ‘Prepare for all-out war’: Kim Jong Un vows to attack South…
  
• 
  Pushed too far too young? The heartbreaking downfall of NBA…
  
• 
  How typical of the Left to idolise a despot who gloried in…
  
• 
  Police seek arrest warrant for tennis champ Jennifer…
  
• 
  I love you mum! Mother’s Day in the animal kingdom for…
  
• 
  Married host of TV show A Rifleman’s Journal ‘is shot dead…
  
• 
  Giant posters depicting female genitals go on display at…
  
• 
  Return to Amityville: Eldest son of family terrorized by…
  
• 
  Naughty party photos, a business thousands in debt and…
  
• 
  Manhattan nanny ‘who stabbed two children to death in their…
  
• 
  Sean Penn, Ahmadinejad and Jesse Jackson bid farewell to…
  
• 
  Playing house: The $10.5million mansion that comes with…
  

Share this article:

When to hire a pro and when to let that grandiose idea die

My job as senior editor at the magazine means wearing a lot of hats, and diving into dozens of different subjects and disciplines. For example, last Thursday I spoke about San Diego’s online dating community on SD 6, and on Sunday, I moderated a panel discussion at the Spring Home/Garden Show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

I don’t even own a home, much less a yard, but I picked up a lot of file-that-away advice from the architect, landscape architect, and interior designer I was questioning. It was very interesting! Here’s what I learned:

1. Don’t redo your kitchen or bathroom just for resale value—living through a renovation is such a pain, and no one is going to have your exact taste in weird kitchen tile.

2. Your frontyard is the first thing people see. Your landscaping accounts for about 10 percent of your home’s value.

3. Adding on a room should take the entire house into consideration. It’s about flow.

4. Hire a professional! A professional knows about permit laws and housing codes that change constantly, the best contractors, what’s not worth the time and effort, etc.

5. Be honest with yourself—don’t ask for a giant kitchen if you don’t already entertain often and won’t be planning that many dinner parties.

6. If you can’t afford to change everything, make a wish list, prioritize, and plan five or ten years out. You can have it all—eventually.

For this month’s home feature—a cute Cardiff condo from interior designer and owner of Bixby Ball—click here.

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to San Diego Magazine »

HGTV stars such as the Kitchen Cousins and Meg Caswell offer kitchen design tips to transform this essential room into a beautiful and functional place.

The HGTV stars gathered to offer their best kitchen design tips for HGTV Magazine. From cabinets to lighting, they have amazing ideas to transform this room into an attractive and operational space. Design leaders such as the Kitchen Cousins, Meg Caswell and Casey Noble shared their wisdom to help fans beautify their own kitchens.

HGTV Star Sarah Richard of “Sarah’s House” Offers Kitchen Tips

Sarah Richardson, host and designer on HGTV’s “Sarah’s House,” has lead her own design firm for over a decade. She has worked on a variety of residential and commercial projects. Sarah was named one of Canada’s leading style-makers by Canadian House Home Magazine. On the weekends, Sarah shared a solar-powered cottage with her husband and daughters.

Sarah offered a few great tips for updating kitchens on a budget. She feels not every kitchen redo involves a gut job and stated, “Love what you have and make it look new!” For example, she updated drab wood cabinets with paint and gave the room a retro diner vibe. Sarah also advises people to know their financial and functional limits. An example is when she replaced an existing linoleum floor with marbled-finish Marmoleum tiles. Changing to stone would have raised the height of the floor, creeping into the baseboard, and would have doubled the cost.

HGTV Star Meg Caswell of “Meg’s Great Rooms” Shares Kitchen Ideas

“Design Star” Meg Caswell is the host of her own HGTV television show, “Meg’s Great Rooms.” During the holidays, fans watched her decorate celebrity homes such as Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. After deciding she did not want to go to law school, Meg embarked on a career in design. She owns a home décor store and design firm in Chicago, her hometown.

Meg talked about counters in the kitchen and felt Carrera marble has an elegant look that goes with everything. She also feels the fact marble absorbs stains adds to its pretty patina. When it comes to custom cabinetry, she specializes it with rollout devices and dividers as well as backsplash organizers. With regard to colors, Meg said, “I like kitchens to have a sophisticated feel.” Colors such as rich gray with red are a great combination with a butcher-block island to calm down the vibrant palette.

HGTV “Kitchen Cousins” Share Their Wisdom

Many female fans speculate whether HGTV “Kitchen Cousins” or HGTV “Property Brothers” are more handsome and talented. It a tough call. Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri are the “Kitchen Cousins” and currently have a new HGTV show, “Cousins on Call.” Anthony and John are real-life cousins. In 2004, Anthony and his dad Alfonso co-founded Brunelleschi Construction. John worked for his uncle’s company, Prismatic Development before devoting himself to Brunelleschi Construction. Anthony lives in Jersey City in New Jersey and John resides in Hoboken with his family.

When it comes to kitchen appliances, they tell clients to look for counter-depth refrigerators for a more custom look. They also added, “And anything Energy Star helps with the bills.” A go-for item for these cousins is recessed high-hats. They said they light up the kitchen but add a warm look. The HGTV Kitchen Cousins also advise fans to use black grout on a backsplash that never looks dirty, like white grout can.

Casey Noble of HGTV “Design on a Dime” Offers Kitchen Expertise

Casey Noble is the host of HGTV “Design on a Dime.” She started her career as a graphics artist in Washington, DC them moved to California to study interior design. She worked in the creative world of hospitality then founded her own design firm with two colleagues in 2009. Casey was also a former HGTV “Design Star.” She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

According to Casey, “Some rooms should feel like calm retreats. But a kitchen is filled with life and energy, so you can make bold choices.” A great way to resuscitate original tile counter tops and backsplashes is adding a thick enamel coating, similar to a bathtub, for a consistent finish with any demo. She also feels black and white linoleum tiles are a cheap and classic flooring choice for all types of kitchens.

The spring is a perfect time to assess your kitchen. Few people can afford the amazing kitchen in the HGTV Dream Home 2013, but you can revamp what you have. Another great idea is to start a kitchen garden so you have fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs to add to your recipes.

Image Source: Facebook

Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.

0 comments

Login Now

Subscribe

• 
  1
  
  Print Subscribers Free AccessNo additional cost.
  

  Print Subscribers who get free access to paywalled content.

Need an account? Create one now.

• 
  Discuss

• Print
  
  

SPRINGVILLE — During this time of year, I get antsy to do some gardening. Unfortunately, the ground is frozen and it is still too early to start seeds, inside.

The solution? Make a mini greenhouse and you can start hardy annual seeds right now – outside!

I will share this tip and 44 others, during a talk called “45 Gardening Tips in 45 Minutes,” scheduled for Friday, March 23 at 2 p.m., during Plantasia, a garden and landscape show. This event will be held at the Hamburg Fairgrounds event center and exposition hall, located at 5820 South Park Ave. in Hamburg.

Plantasia will begin with a preview night, from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m., on Wednesday, March 20.

The event will continue from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m., Thursday – Saturday, March 21 – 23, and from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 24.

Seminars about gardening and landscaping will be given, every hour, from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Thursday; from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Sunday. All of the talks are included, with the price of admission.

General admission is $9. Discount coupons for $8 admission are available, on the Plantasia website.

Look for the flower show, presented by District 8 Federated Clubs of New York state.

Kids will enjoy the Aurora Waldorf School Children’s Garden. Vendors will offer new gardening products and services.

While you are waiting for Plantasia to begin, make a mini greenhouse from a milk jug. This idea came from Horticulturist David Clark of Hamburg. It is so simple and it works!

Utilize seeds from cold-hardy annuals, which are tolerant of colder temperatures and are capable of reseeding in most gardens. Use plants that might sprout up on their own, in your compost pile.

Vegetables include tomatoes, squash and cantaloupe. Flowers include alyssum, cosmos, cornflower, larkspur or delphinium, lupine, marigold and zinnia.

Start with a 1-gallon plastic milk jug. Rinse it out and throw away the cap.

Poke holes in the bottom, for drainage, if you would like. I didn’t, and my plants did well, but we had a dry spring, last year.

Using a sharp knife or box cutter, make a horizontal cut, almost all the way around the jug. The uncut part will act as a hinge.

Poke two small holes in the jug, opposite the hinge: one hole in the top half and one hole in the bottom half. I used a tiny screwdriver, to poke the holes.

Fill the bottom with your potting medium. Clark recommended using a soil-less potting mix. I used potting soil. Moisten your medium.

Plant your seeds.

Use a twist-tie to close the two halves. I twisted two ties together, to make one long tie.

Use a permanent marker, to label your mini greenhouse with the name of what you planted.

Place your greenhouse outside, in a sheltered spot. When the weather gets warm enough, your seeds will start to sprout. They will know when it is time to grow.

Enough rain or snow should get in, through the open top, to keep the potting mixture moist. The milk jug will keep your seedlings protected from rabbits, deer and other critters.

When the seedlings are large enough, transplant them into your garden.

Make this mini greenhouse now, to get your plants started for spring. Then, come to Plantasia, to see everything that is new for spring, in gardening.

Connie Oswald Stofko is the publisher of Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, the online gardening magazine for Western New York. Email Connie@BuffaloNiagaraGardening.com.

Just login with Facebook.