Arches with Lights

We have been slowly getting into the outdoor lighting for Christmas.


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Super Arch

Now this one I think is a beaut. You have to think 'recycle'.
I picked up a old trampoline from our city spring clean up. The metal was to good to just throw away. I thought about it for a while playing with arrangement of the pieces. If you have ever looked at a trampoline it is made of sections that fit inside of each other.
My wife had mentioned years ago it would be cool to have a arch across the entrance to our patio.
It was a serendipitous moment when I folded and reversed the the pieces. They fit together beautifully. I never had to cut anything and only had four short pieces left over.
There are holes drilled in the bottom of the pipes, long anchor bolts attached and embeded in cement. The next step was to buy some heavy duty cedar lattice, cut it the correct width. It is wired to the frame through holes that were used to hold the springs for the trampoline. We are going to plant some vines, a Minnesota hearty grape is my choice, next spring.
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Wedding Arch

This arch I built 4 years ago. My wife wanted a new arch for our youngest son's wedding. His was the third wedding we have had in our gardens. Being half Dane and half Norwegian, I couldn't resist carving something that showed our heritage.
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North Dakota Arch

My wife had gone to North Dakota and on the way back she stoped in a little garden shop for a break. Sure enough she found a arch 'she had to have' t wouldn't fit in the small car with everything else. So they were going to send it to her. We get a call one day it can not be shipped for some reason. But it turns out the lady was going to Minneapolis on a trip. She brough it with her and we meet at a Dairy Queen just off the interstate.
It turned out well don't you think.
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The first arch

We have gotten to like arches over the years. This arch is made from our son's recycled skate board ramp. Plus a little additional wood. There are benches built in on both sides, that open to store, whatever. it is placed as a divider to the vegetable garden
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The not so helpful earthworm

This is effecting northern Minnesota also
Scientists are concerned that people, from fishermen to landscapers, are inadvertently accelerating a 350-year-old earthworm invasion in the forests of New England and the northern United States. It may be good for your backyard garden but they are helping destroy the forests.
source: The Boston Globe

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Digging The Garden

I thought this was good, I couldn't resist
Digging the Garden
An old man lived alone in Minnesota. He wanted to spade his potato garden,but it was very hard work.His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation:
Dear Son,

I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden, because your mother always loved planting time. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over.I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren't in prison.

Love, Dad

Shortly, the old man received this telegram:

For Heaven's sake, Dad,don't dig up the garden!! That's where I buried the GUNS!!

At 4a.m the next morning, a dozen police officers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns. Confused,the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asked him what to do next.

His son's reply was: "Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad.. It's the best I could do for you from here."
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Deicing vs Plants

pWinter is technically here. The snow will be coming. Along with that comes deicing salt for the roads that will work it's way up onto the boulevards. This is not a good thing for plants. Salt spray from a busy highway can coat trees as far as 60 feet away. Trees that are susceptible to salt damage, such as red or sugar maples. Around here we don't have busy highways to worry about it , so the distance wouldn't be quite so extreme. It is said the “the best” salt-tolerant tree species for Minnesota are Japanese tree lilac and Ohio buckeye. We have two Japanese lilac trees in our front yard about 10 feet from the road. They have been doing fine for about 12 years. For a list of salt-tolerant trees and shrubs and tips on preventing damage from deicing salt, look for deicing at the U. of Mn. Extension Web site
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Dehydrated carrots

By way of 'Iowa Farmer Today' has a article on a unique product coming out of Fossston, Mn. In a article by Dale Hidebrant The majority are a foot long or more with a diameter of around two inches. And the dried carrots that leave this Fosston, Minn., facility aren't your usual dehydrated carrot. Instead, they are a unique “puffed” product that makes them ideal for many of today's quick-fix food products. The specialty cuts are “infusion puffed,” which gives the dehydrated carrots the ability to re-hydrate themselves at a much faster rate, which is a very desirable characteristic in products such as micro-wave foods.
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Don't cut everything to the ground

A good article in the Startribune by Nancy Rose, about why not cut everything to the ground but what and why leave some of the plants for winter.
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Get rid of garden mosquitos

I had posted before about being on the light side of mosquito population in our garden last summer but you may want to check out this site on planting different kinds of plants like Rosemary and Marigolds that will help discourage them. Lots of good ideas.

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Public Gardens in Minnesota

Here is a cool site from the University of Minnesota that has the state split into sections to make finding public gardens in different parts of the Minnesota a lot easier.


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Sunken Garden Exhibit

The Sunken Garden Exhibit at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park will play host to "Bouquets: An Evening of Wine and Flowers" from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday. Guests will get a sneak peek at the Sunken Garden Holiday Flower Show, which opens to the public Dec. 2.
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Goldfish & Mosquitoes

You would think you would have a lot of issues with mossi'es as my wife's English uncle calls them. But we didn't have a problem because we introduced goldfish. Which the larva supplied food for. It's amazing how colorful the goldfish get when they are fed a summers meal of bugs.

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Water Garden Mosquitoes

Water Garden Mosquitoes Problems Water garden is one of the nicest things you can have in your garden or backyard, anyone that has planned adding a water garden to a house knows that this is not a simple task, there is a lot of thinking and planning to be done when considering this wonderful addition to the house.

As summer nears many water garden owners realize that there is a significant problem with some water gardens, this is a problem that is not evident and sometimes doesn't even show itself before the early days of the summer.

One major thing with any large body of water that is physically located in the vicinity of any house is the mosquitoes and diseases potential problems. Mosquitoes need water to live and breed, and this makes it very clear that as a water garden owner you will need to find solutions for this problem, mosquitoes can not only cause you real discomfort, they have the potential ability to transmit diseases, some of those diseases are extremely dangerous to humans.

The good thing is that by implementing a few, relatively simple tips you can prevent mosquitoes from breeding in your water garden and decrease the risk of disease significantly. One simple fact is that mosquitoes will only use a passive body of water to lay eggs and avoid laying eggs in running water, if you create a situation in which the water garden has constantly moving water the female mosquitoes will not be able to lay the eggs and you have stopped the problem before it has even begun.

Using a device that will move the water around your water garden will not only help you fight the potential danger of mosquitoes, it is also recommended for general water quality and the overall performance of your water garden. Another thing you can use to fight mosquitoes is getting fish that eat these flying problem makers, in fact there are a few kinds of fish that are enemies of the mosquitoes, and therefore your friends.

Most water garden owners love having fish in their ponds and water, it is one very special aspect of having a water garden and if you have not tried having fish in your water garden yet this may be a good time to try and enjoy this aspect of water gardens, not only you will have a fish helping you fight mosquitoes you can also discover the joy of keeping fish pets.

Another, much more serious solution to the mosquitoe problem is B.t.i. Briquettes, these floating small floating two-inch rings contain bacillus thuringiensis, which is consumed by mosquito larvae and kills them, this is the professional and most efficient way to eliminate the risk of mosquitoes, and B.t.i has been used successfully in many cities in the world already, so this is the best scientific solution for a water garden risk of mosquitoes. The B.t.i. will not cause harm to fish or plants in your water garden so you have no reason to worry about the health of your water garden.

If nothing of the above advice is to your liking, you can always try and find a toad that will rule your water garden and feast on the mosquitoes, whatever you decide you should be aware of the danger in having mosquitoes breed in your backyard and you would do good to research as much as you on preventing this potential danger to you, your family members and neighbors. Article Source:

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Hi welcome to my version of Minnesota Gardens