Q. Can you give me some tips on weatherproofing wicker furniture?
A. Wicker - the inner stem, or reed, rattan plant - looks great outdoors, but susceptible to heat and sun, which dried natural fibers and make wicker brittle. After drying, matting may be a mess. Rain and dew are also taking casualties.
To answer your question, I consulted David Feuer at Yorkville Caning, New York City company that does wonderful restoration work on the matting. Feuer recommends painting wicker furniture once every three years with good quality paint: Spray or brush on two coats, letting each coat dry completely, then with a layer of marine varnish (available at paint stores).
If you like the look of unfinished wicker, you can use marine varnish alone. A good, valuable piece of painted wicker, however, should not be painted - its value will be destroyed. Open wicker will oxidize and change colors - an effect that can also be interesting - but you should be more diligent about routine maintenance.
To keep the wicker from drying out, mist it every three weeks. This does not mean that the heavy rains. Purpose spray bottle about three feet from the sheet, spray and let the mist settle. Dust and vacuum wicker regularly to keep dirt from accumulating in the crevices. After one season, clean the furniture with a soft brush and Murphy's Oil Soap and water to remove mold. This, says Feuer, is the most important thing you can do.
Good wicker is not intended to be exposed to the elements over long periods of time. If you use it outdoors, cover it when not in use, or bring it inside.
Q. How do you grow strawberries?
A. Strawberries are at their peak in June, which means that it was a little late to plant a bed of them this year. But the good news is that a good time to plant a strawberry pot, which will provide a good introduction to these plants - and also a simple fruit harvest.
A large glass of strawberry pots or unglazed terra cotta planter with several openings scattered throughout the side. Designed to allow strawberry plants' vine-like runners to cascade out of this hole, it is a beautiful decoration on the patio or terrace. Look for strawberry pots at garden centers and nurseries.
Always carry a strawberry plant, the most productive in June and August but bear some fruit throughout the summer, usually the best choice for strawberry pots. Use basic pots containing a mixture of soil, sand and vermiculite. A few hours or days before planting, moisten the pot mix: Cut a corner of the bag, pour in the water, work the bag with your hands to distribute the water, then let it stand. Cover the pan's bottom drainage hole with broken crockery, and then add a few inches of gravel.
If you want, you can insert a length of perforated PVC pipe - it must be along the high pot - into the pot to make watering easier. To do this, stand pipes in the gravel, resting the bottom of the glass pipe in the pot to act as a plug. When you water the plants, the holes in the pipe will allow water to be distributed to the roots.
Add the ground mixture to the pot-pot lowest opening. Place one or more plants in each of the lowest openings, and anchor the roots in wet soil. That's a good idea to line the opening with a black collar and white papers to help prevent soil and plants from washing out when the water in the pan - the paper will eventually decrease.
Press down the soil, and fill the pot with more soil until the next opening. Add more plants, and repeat the process until pan is full. Plant two or three plants in the pot. Water to wet the entire soil. Place the pot in a sunny place, the water often and fertilize after six weeks. If all sides of the pan does not receive several hours of sun, turn the pot every few days so that the ripe fruit evenly.
If you want to start planting the larger, made up the bed this fall, because the plants must go into the ground like in the early spring as possible. Select a plot, weeds well, until the compost and check the pH. Strawberries like full sun, with a pH of 6,0-6,5 and well-drained soil rich in organic material. Besides the plants have given birth, you can choose June-bearing plants that produce an early crop of summer, or day-neutral plants, which produce all summer.
source: www.detnews.com
A. Wicker - the inner stem, or reed, rattan plant - looks great outdoors, but susceptible to heat and sun, which dried natural fibers and make wicker brittle. After drying, matting may be a mess. Rain and dew are also taking casualties.
To answer your question, I consulted David Feuer at Yorkville Caning, New York City company that does wonderful restoration work on the matting. Feuer recommends painting wicker furniture once every three years with good quality paint: Spray or brush on two coats, letting each coat dry completely, then with a layer of marine varnish (available at paint stores).
If you like the look of unfinished wicker, you can use marine varnish alone. A good, valuable piece of painted wicker, however, should not be painted - its value will be destroyed. Open wicker will oxidize and change colors - an effect that can also be interesting - but you should be more diligent about routine maintenance.
To keep the wicker from drying out, mist it every three weeks. This does not mean that the heavy rains. Purpose spray bottle about three feet from the sheet, spray and let the mist settle. Dust and vacuum wicker regularly to keep dirt from accumulating in the crevices. After one season, clean the furniture with a soft brush and Murphy's Oil Soap and water to remove mold. This, says Feuer, is the most important thing you can do.
Good wicker is not intended to be exposed to the elements over long periods of time. If you use it outdoors, cover it when not in use, or bring it inside.
Q. How do you grow strawberries?
A. Strawberries are at their peak in June, which means that it was a little late to plant a bed of them this year. But the good news is that a good time to plant a strawberry pot, which will provide a good introduction to these plants - and also a simple fruit harvest.
A large glass of strawberry pots or unglazed terra cotta planter with several openings scattered throughout the side. Designed to allow strawberry plants' vine-like runners to cascade out of this hole, it is a beautiful decoration on the patio or terrace. Look for strawberry pots at garden centers and nurseries.
Always carry a strawberry plant, the most productive in June and August but bear some fruit throughout the summer, usually the best choice for strawberry pots. Use basic pots containing a mixture of soil, sand and vermiculite. A few hours or days before planting, moisten the pot mix: Cut a corner of the bag, pour in the water, work the bag with your hands to distribute the water, then let it stand. Cover the pan's bottom drainage hole with broken crockery, and then add a few inches of gravel.
If you want, you can insert a length of perforated PVC pipe - it must be along the high pot - into the pot to make watering easier. To do this, stand pipes in the gravel, resting the bottom of the glass pipe in the pot to act as a plug. When you water the plants, the holes in the pipe will allow water to be distributed to the roots.
Add the ground mixture to the pot-pot lowest opening. Place one or more plants in each of the lowest openings, and anchor the roots in wet soil. That's a good idea to line the opening with a black collar and white papers to help prevent soil and plants from washing out when the water in the pan - the paper will eventually decrease.
Press down the soil, and fill the pot with more soil until the next opening. Add more plants, and repeat the process until pan is full. Plant two or three plants in the pot. Water to wet the entire soil. Place the pot in a sunny place, the water often and fertilize after six weeks. If all sides of the pan does not receive several hours of sun, turn the pot every few days so that the ripe fruit evenly.
If you want to start planting the larger, made up the bed this fall, because the plants must go into the ground like in the early spring as possible. Select a plot, weeds well, until the compost and check the pH. Strawberries like full sun, with a pH of 6,0-6,5 and well-drained soil rich in organic material. Besides the plants have given birth, you can choose June-bearing plants that produce an early crop of summer, or day-neutral plants, which produce all summer.
source: www.detnews.com
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