Steppingstone Path
Steppingstone paths offer many of the advantages of
concrete sidewalks and paver stone but without all the work, expense and mess.
You can save wear and tear on your lawn in heavily used routes or take a trip
to the garden without getting your feet wet from the morning dew. Since you
only remove enough sod to place the stones, you can lay this path without
tearing up your lawn. And if you pile the dirt and sod on a tarp as you work,
cleanup can be easy too.
Almost any type of flat stones will work as long as
they’re about 2 in. thick. We picked these limestone steppingstones from
a pile at the local landscape supply center for about $2 each. You’ll
also need a 60-lb. bag of playground sand for every 10
stones.
1. Space the steppingstones along the path to match
your stride. Using the stones as patterns, cut through the sod around each
stone with a drywall saw or a bread knife.
2. Move the stone to the side and dig out the sod
with a trowel. Dig the hole 1 in. deeper than the thickness of the stone to
allow for the sand base.
3. Roughly level a 1-in. layer of sand in the hole.
Set the stone on the sand and wiggle it until it’s flush with the
surrounding sod. Add or remove sand as necessary.
Dog-Proof Your Shrubs
Our
dog loves to get out of the hot sun by relaxing in a nice, big, cool hole
he’s dug under the shrubs along the house. And, of course, one hole just
isn’t enough. I read somewhere that chicken wire laid over the ground
would solve the problem, and sure enough, dogs hate getting their nails caught
in the mesh. But if you want the wire to stay put, you have to take time to
carefully bury all the edges and put in plenty of stakes.
Chicken wire, also called poultry netting, is available at
home centers and hardware stores in widths from 24 in. to 4 or 5 ft. Measure
your bed and, if possible, buy a piece wide enough to cover it without a seam.
We bought metal landscape fabric stakes from a landscape supply center and used
them to hold the chicken wire in place. Bent coat hangers or other stiff wire
also would work.
1. Cut chicken wire with a tin
snips to fit around bushes and other plants. Dig a 3-in. deep trench under the
edges and bend the chicken wire down into the trench. Push stakes into the
ground 12 in. apart in every direction.
2. Fill the trenches with soil
and pack it down to anchor the edges of the chicken wire. Then cover the
chicken wire with mulch or a thin layer of soil.
Click image to enlarge.
Compost Sifter
Sifting compost through a coarse screen of 1/4-in.
hardware cloth removes sticks and other large chunks, and leaves you with a
wheelbarrow full of rich, fluffy compost. Return the large stuff to the compost
pile, where it will continue to break down. Size the sifter to fit over your
wheelbarrow or just prop one end up and sift right onto the
ground.
You’ll need about 10 ft. of 1x6 lumber for the sides
and another 10 ft. of 1x2 to clamp the screen to the bottom for the bottom
screen molding. The lumber species doesn’t matter, but cedar will last
longer than untreated pine. Buy a 24-in. x 36-in. piece of 1/4-in. hardware
cloth and cut it with a tin snips to cover the bottom of the completed
frame.
Click image to enlarge.
1. Cut two 36-in. lengths and
two 22-1/2 in. lengths of 1x6 pine. Drill 5/32-in. clearance holes 3/8 in. from
the ends of the 36-in. boards and screw the corners together with 2-in. deck
screws to form the sifter frame. Cut a piece of 1/4-in. hardware cloth to fit
and staple it to the bottom of the box. Cut two 37-in. pieces and two 22-in.
pieces of 1x2. Drill clearance holes and screw them to the bottom. Overhang the
1x2s 1/2 in. to cover any sharp edges of screen that may be sticking
out.
