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Bird Boxes

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The bird box has always been something I’ve queried. I don’t know why. I just feel/ felt that they would always be better off making their own. Is that fair to say….? Either or, I wanted two in the garden just for the craic of it. You know, to see would they come.

These two bird boxes were made some weeks ago from an old timber wine box and given a lick of whatever colour was nearest/ lying around paint.

Fairly simple to make, they are also another variation of if I got these as a gift would I be impressed ? You better believe it. I’ve seen sites selling these for upwards of €30 each.

My Total Costs. €0.00

If you fancy having a go making them yourself… bear in mind, the bird really doesn’t care if you have not been meticulous in your efforts and from your aesthetic perspective, depending on your skills, a lick of paint will hide everything a lot.

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The only things I really need to be careful of is that the box itself isn’t south facing. Logic applies here so you don’t cook the birds. Other than that its keep it about 2-3 metres off the ground and although there are site suggestions of when you should put them up…. I’m not going to pay any attention to that. If the winter guys wanna nest in them, it’s there for the taking. If not they’ll be there for the summer fella’s.

The only note I will make is not to tighten the screws too much so you can flip them over and tip out the previous years unwanted nest.

I could give instructions on how these were made, but the photos say it all pretty much.

More birds to help me eat my raspberries next year 😀

note: Highly recommendthe birdwatch Ireland fact sheet

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The [Un]usual Planter

Here, you have that. You might be able to do something with it….

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That’s quite a regular statement I hear actually. Surprised ? I wasn’t. It’s not the most unusual object I’ve ever been handed. I like the odd challenge and this one was a doddle.

Yesterday I filled the container with some pebble. More to weight it down. It also looks really good. I also had a few hand fulls of pebble in my workshop, so it suited. It also saves on compost and in this case I didn’t have enough 😉

Helen had given me some spider plant babies a while ago that had come on really well…. and I had a spot inside where I felt it would look really good.

Total cost. €0.00

Personally, I’d be over the moon if someone gave me that as a gift.

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Irish Daily Mail – Free Seeds Collection

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Friday just passed I got a most welcome press release in my post box. I’ve a lot to be doing at this moment, but I thought this a happy and deserved post.

From April 24th and for 6 days following readers of The Irish Dail Mail will receive a free packet of Suttons seeds. The selection includes pansies, poppies, snapdragons, sweet williams and cornflowers. The press release says they are worth about €20. I would have thought more to be honest.

Apparently some gardener called Gerry Daly 😆 [Hiya Gerry, gardeners banter eh!!] who I know loves to read this weblog….. will write a nice article to explain all the how to do’s. No point in me doing so then….  😉

Humour aside, it’s a great offer. A happy one and one of the best I’ve seen this year. Well done to The Irish [give me a job 😉 ] Daily Mail.

*thanks Deborah

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The Garden Groups First Adventure

war memorial gardenswar memorial gardens

It is official. The first ever outing for the Garden group has been organised is set up and ready to go.

The trip is to The National War Memorial Gardens [Dublin] and it will cost you absolutely nothing.

We will have a personal guided tour and if you have never been here before… the towers will be made open and available to us so if you had [or think you had] a relation in World War 1 we will be able to go in and get printed copies from the original books of the records. The fact that the entire gardens were built by hand…. is amazing just to look at and for the pure gardener there’s a collection of over 5,000 roses. There literally is something for everyone and this is not about ones ability to horticulture….

Date and Time: Sunday 7th February 2009 at 12pm midday. Depending on yourself this should take no more than 3 hours [at a max].

To Book Your Place: Places are limited to 18 people maximum. Whether you showed interest in the previous post – or not – this is the list I will use. If you would like to go enter your details and note: ‘ i’m in ‘ – or – ‘keep me on the shortlist’

Any Other Details: My suggestion is we bring some sandwiches and a flask and maybe have a bite to eat/ picnic there [weather permitting]. This can be organised through the comment section below.

Anyone who travel-wise can only get so far – note it below I’m sure some of us will be driving and would be more than happy to pick you up en route.

Location: South Circular Rd, Islandbridge. Opposite the army barracks Entrance from Con Colbert Rd. and South Circular Rd. (Phoenix Park end) enter via school gates and drive through to the car park

Bus Route(s): No’s. 51, 68 and 69 from Aston Quay.

* a note of thanks to Michael Herbert [and Margaret Gormley] and his team in the OPW park department – really so very much appreciated

put your name down...
put your name down...

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Get Your Garden [Group] Boots On….?

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UPDATE: 15th Jan ’09

names are now officially being taken for the first garden group gig.The list below was as an expression of interest…. please go to the post below and get yer name on 😉

http://blog.doneganlandscaping.com/2010/01/15/the-garden-groups-first-adventure/

So it was sometime last year that the suggestion came in to set a garden group up…. and I did… but not a whole lot happened with it for so many varying reasons… but thats another story and this is 2010.

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It’s a new year and it’s time I got things grooving in this department…..

With that in mind I am setting the date for our first gig on Saturday 30th January or the 6th February 2009. [recent email tells me to await confirmation from venue and for our guide/ host – however this will be more exact/ finite in the next day/s or so….. bear with me 😉 appreciated in advance]

I have a few places and people in mind as a first meeting…. but you reading this may have somewhere that the group could/ should visit – if so go ahead and make yourself famous.

Other than that it is a case of numbers…. If you are interested pop your name down below and watch this space for more info.

My thinking is that it is [for the moment] would entail a personalised tour of a grounds or gardens [that would be interesting!!!….] especially for us! Depending on the how the first goes and suggestions come in then maybe we can see if and how direction changes. Of course no money would be required and maybe if weather was good enough you may bring a packed lunch and we could have a picnic…. I’m waiting for confirmation at this moment in time but should have an answer back in the next few days….. again it’s a little of a numbers game as well…. slightly vague [?] but gardens made good craic is the idea….

As I said in the first post

are you interested in the greeny garden outdoors kinda thing but don’t want to fall asleep within the first 7 minutes seconds ….? ;)

what if we became the hippest bunch of jimmedy crickets ever to cross the green line ?

A bit like the Dublin Twook Club crossed with the photobloggers, but different-ish ;)

All of the great bits of green and horticulture – except in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt [if thats what you like to wear ;) ]

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