Home Improvement

When it comes to gardening, there are some additional benefits to just having your own fruits and vegetables. Not only can you be a “green” thumb, but you can be a  contributor to the “green” living movement by recycling common household “garbage” items into useful, and helpful, garden utensils.

Take the common soup can. By removing the top AND bottom lids, this cylinder becomes a useful starting pot. Removing the top and bottom lids will help aid in the removal of your plant start with greater ease. Now, don’t throw away those lids! The lids can be placed at the base of light loving plants, such as tomatoes! The lids will reflect sunlight, thus providing extra light. In addition, the reflected light has been shown to repel plant eating insects and aphids. To deter birds from your fruits trees, punch holes in the lids and hang them from tree branches. Apparently the reflected light and movement scares these rascals away.

Another “green” thought for recycled starting pots are used, washed, individual jello or pudding containers! They are just the perfect size to start individual plants! It is also wise and frugal to wash and reuse any and all previously bought vegetable or plant containers. It is vital to wash the containers out, and even use a mild bleach solution, to kill any bacteria or pest that may have hitched a ride with the previous “owner”.

Styrofoam or plastic trays from pre-packaged meats make brilliant holders for peat pots or pellets. They are also practical holders for your individual plant starts and help prevent water from getting on your window sill or potting bench. Pre-packaged dinners, such as lasagna, come in perfect containers in which you can convert to a medium for starting various herbs or vegetables.

One gallon plastic milk jugs have a variety of uses. The milk jug can be either used as an individual miniature green house, or, by just using the top 2/3rds of the jug, you can make your own “hot” caps for tomatoes or peppers. I have also used the extra plastic to make plant markers. With a “sharpie” and a plastic marker, I have a winning combination…all water resistant so I don’t forget what I planted and where!

Popsicle sticks are another brilliant choice for garden stakes or plant markers. I even keep the plant markers from the previous garden season.  I just simply reuse them if it is the same type of plant or I turn the marker over and write on the back the new vegetable I am growing!

Instead of going to the land fill, raked leaves, lawn clippings, spoiled hay, etc., can and should be used for mulching around individual plants and on garden pathways. Please see my article, “Have The Most Successful and Productive Backyard Garden Ever!  Plant These Mulching Tips”, for a much more detailed description of the benefits and advantages of mulching.

As you can see, there are many practical, useful, and helpful applications that can be employed in your backyard garden from “recycled” items.  By employing these “green” tips in your garden, you will not only improve the environment, but you will greatly enhance your “green” thumb!

Gauging your success

How does one gauge the success of a do it yourself home improvement project? What level of expectations should we have upon their completion?

For a excellent many people, evaluation of a DIY home improvement project is out of the question. There is a general misconception that once a DIY project is done, it’s done. No need to further evaluate whether the project was really a success or not. The need to evaluate the success of a DIY project has two main goals:

• Establish whether the project had been executed according to plot.

• Establish whether you’re improving as compared to previous different projects that you have done before.

The criteria

1. Cost- how does one evaluate the right cost of a DIY project? Start with the basic raw materials. A central blueprint for any DIY project should have a list of the materials for the completion of a project. If the cost of the finished product and the projected cost of the project do not match, then this should be avoided in the future. A disparity of 25% from the actual cost can be acceptable.

The point of a DIY home improvement project is to basically save money. Saving money entails sticking to a budget- which has already been computed to be cheaper than really hiring or buying finished goods.

In some rare instances, central plans have incorrect computations- this is fine, as long as effort is given to remedy this problem in the future.

2. Finished product- whether you’re replacing floor boards or making a rocking chair, one particular consideration would be the finished product itself. Simply place, does it look excellent?

Of course, do not expect that a hand-made cabinet made with spare wood found in the garage can look as attractive as the ones you buy from a furniture store or a factory outlet. But at least, the finished product should look decent, in combination with other pieces of furniture in your home.

This criterion is especially vital when you plot to make large-scale DIY home improvement projects, such as replacing walls or parts of the roof. Once you’re done, indeed, you’re done.

3. Timeframe- one thing should be made clear when we talk about DIY home improvement project timeframe: time does count. This issu can be discounted if you have a lot of free time in your hand: for instance, summer vacation or the like. But if you’re doing the DIY project on weekends, you have to make sure that you’re completing the phases of the project on time.

The reason for this criterion is that time is money when you reckon about it. If you spend three months making a cabinet no larger than a child’s table, then there is certainly something incorrect with the project. Laziness should be eliminated in the picture- you can’t simply reason that you’ve been bone idle. What would be the function of timeframe then?

Timeframe can vary from project to project. Try your best by sticking to a limited timeframe; indeed this will have its reward in later DIY projects. You can call it GOAL Setting.