The General Gardening and Home Project Advice Thread - General

Hello and welcome. :) You may be wondering why you should be taking advice from me. First off, I'm a very creative tree hugger. No, seriously. There's a place on my campus where there's all these beautiful trees and I just go stand on them and sit in them and pretend to be a tree. But really, I've had lots of experience gardening and doing various artistic projects that aren't necessarily considered art in the traditional sense(I can elaborate if that's not clear). I grew up in my mother's art studio and with my hippy grandmother guiding me, so I've had plenty of practice and I know what looks nice and works nice (and what doesn't). Of course anyone can jump in and offer advice about something they've had experience with, and that's what I'm encouraging. Really, this should be a place to post questions that may not need an entire thread. Let's all help each other. Oh, but to be clear: this isn't for chatting, it's for smaller problems or questions and for genuine advice. Absolutely any DIY/Gardening questions or comments are appropriate and wanted, from what color scheme you should use for your petunias or what the best gloss for your finished puzzle is. :D Let's all learn new things here.

For a workbench: What is the perfect hight (table top level, in reference to one's self) Best workbench sitting thing (chair, stool, hover board)

I think that, if you're going to be making them yourself, you should make them relate to each other. Make the stool (a firm stool is the best) so that you can stand at the table (taller table than a normal table) yet also sit at it because of the extra height of the stool. By being able to both stand and sit, you'll get the most out of your table. And a stool with rolling and locking wheels is the best. A chair is too bulky and a stool doesn't limit your arms. I wouldn't recommend having a rotating stool at that height for work.

I'm planning on replacing the wood on my house's floor Right now I have some oak, but I'm not sure what wood to replace it with

[QUOTE=PILLS HERE!;28354981]I'm planning on replacing the wood on my house's floor Right now I have some oak, but I'm not sure what wood to replace it with[/QUOTE] Are you looking for a particular coloration or grain style?

Oh yah ConvolutedLogic [QUOTE=Garry;28273844]This forum is for all your DIY projects. This could range from building a box to renovating an entire house. [b]No real rules yet, but an we try to make a new thread for each of our projects and post updates in that rather than having one big 'chat' style thread that everyone posts in.[/b][/quote] I'm sure that Garry would let this one slide though, we're using it pretty well.

[QUOTE=GWMCOCD;28354229]For a workbench: What is the perfect hight (table top level, in reference to one's self) Best workbench sitting thing (chair, stool, hover board)[/QUOTE] About waist to elbow height. For sitting, I would use a tall stool but I don't think it matters. I usually don't sit down at a workbench.

[QUOTE=GWMCOCD;28357870]Oh yah ConvolutedLogic I'm sure that Garry would let this one slide though, we're using it pretty well.[/QUOTE] I clearly specified that this doesn't meet that description. This isn't for pointless gibber jabber. Maybe you don't need to make an entire thread for a project, yet you still have a question. You could post your question here to get feedback. It would be quite useful, especially if you just don't have enough information to really make a thread.

[QUOTE=Fariun;28355072]Are you looking for a particular coloration or grain style?[/QUOTE] I'm aiming for a yellow tone But a red tone would be so much better

Alright well each type of wood tends to come in varieties. You'll see Red and Yellow Cedars etc. If you want Yellow toned- I would suggest Pine, Lighter cedars, White Oak. It's not entirely expensive like some woods (Teak for example). For a darker wood I would suggest Walnut. In the end the varnish you use can change the color to darker tones. So even if you use a slightly lighter wood you can darken it with the varnish/finish. (Exception to this is Oil Based Urethane's. They will yellow with age)

I was thinking of buying this [url]http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring-Hardwood-Flooring-Solid-Hardwood/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbejw/R-202064609/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053[/url] or [url]http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring-Hardwood-Flooring-Solid-Hardwood/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbejw/R-202064603/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053[/url] or [url]http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring-Hardwood-Flooring-Solid-Hardwood/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbejw/R-202501069/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053[/url] but this one's nice too [url]http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring-Hardwood-Flooring-Solid-Hardwood/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbejw/R-202103109/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053[/url]

I'm the only one that thinks it's kinda cute that we have a forum for gardening [editline]5th March 2011[/editline] I mean "am I"

Of course not. This is one of my favorite places. :3:

Except it's too slow. Maybe more will happen in the spring.

I bought an electric planer today. Looking for excuses to use it :x

Used my planer today. It was awesome.

What'd you end up using it on?

[QUOTE=garry;28461934]Used my planer today. It was awesome.[/QUOTE] Your shouldn't have bought one :) Just rent one, they are cheaper to rent or you can go to most utility stores and pay like.. i think 2$ per piece of wood and then they will do it for you. Atleast they do here, then again, you are doing your whole house... sooo yea..

It often depends on if you only need it for one piece, and how much it would cost to go to a store and have them to the work for you. We did some landscaping last summer and instead of renting a trencher and tractor over weekends ( at 420 bucks at the only local renter for the trencher, tractors were even more ). It was more economical to pay the local contractor to grade the driveway and purchase a used tractor for use - and we are still using it as a general work horse to haul wood in the bucket, move vehicle engines, move dirt, move pavers - we've saved money in the long run by simply purchasing the tractor instead of renting it. If it costs 10 bucks in fuel to get the hardware store and back and you do five pieces of wood because that is all you can haul without having to pay for shipping, that's 20 bucks a trip. A decent router would cost less after six or seven trips. So if you have a bunch of moulding to do, or pieces to cut it can be more economical to buy the tool and then resell it later to recoup some of your expenses if you don't want to keep it forever.

I'm dieing to design my own room, however my family is still waiting to move house. My current room is a black and white simplistic design. I can't do anything to it because of the fact that were selling. MUST MOVE HOUSE AAAR

Anyone know how long it takes before poppies (papaver somniferum) begins to flower?

[QUOTE=Dierag;29555635]I'm dieing to design my own room, however my family is still waiting to move house. My current room is a black and white simplistic design. I can't do anything to it because of the fact that were selling. MUST MOVE HOUSE AAAR[/QUOTE] Yeah, same sort of thing where I am too. Just moved into a new house, but we have to get electrical work done plus have the windows replaced. So we can not do any decorating because workers are tearing up the walls. All out things are still in boxes. :(

Planted 5 trees this weekend! It was pretty easy... Hoping they all do well. This is the first time I have tried planting trees. [IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/kd6d1i.png[/IMG]

Recently I've been thinking about setting up some solar panels but the main thing stopping me is lack of DIY experience. So how would I go about making frame to house the panels? I'd like to make it out of wood seeing as it's something I'm more confortable working with. Oh and the panels I'm looking at buying. [url]http://shop.knowyourplanet.com/solar_cells/solar_cell_kits/36_grade_3x6_solar_cell_kit_for_diy_solar_panel[/url]

I like the idea of trees that have fruit

Have a pear tree myself, but it's quite dead from the last winter, if it bears fruit I will be mega happy.

We have a very old plum tree in our back yard - it was here when we moved in. I think this may be its last year since it has developed some kind of fungus. :smith: I am going to try to take cuttings from it in the fall to graft onto a new tree.

we have a double-lot and one of the lots was previously covered in vines and pine trees, recently we cleared ALOT of vines and planted some bamboo. any tips for what to plant in this sandy/high pH type soil and also how to keep th evines from coming back?

So far in searching the net, I have found that beets, brocolli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, legumes and turnips like alkaline soil (high ph). Also certain succulents and lilacs like alkaline soil. Succulents might do well if it is alkaline and sandy, depending on what you're looking for. What sorts of vines did you have? Ivy? Berries? Ivy and some berries can be almost impossible to get rid of forever. You just have to keep cutting it back every year.

I've been looking for a Venus fly trap where could I buy one?