Tip of the Week
Sunflower hideaways, hand-made paths create great landscape
Create a sunflower hideaway

Sunflower Hideaway

It's easy and fun to help children create a summer hide-away with sunflowers.

The first thing to do is to throw out the idea that sunflowers need to be planted in rows.

For this project, the sunflowers will be planted round and round in a circle!

You'll need:

! a garden spot that gets at least six hours of sun each day

! seeds for tall and medium sunflowers

! seeds for a colorful, flowering annual

Then:

! outline the shape of the "house"; don't forget to mark a space for the door

! plant the tall sunflowers about a foot apart on the outline

! plant the medium sunflowers in between the tall sunflowers

! plant the annuals all around the outside of the house

To keep the weeds down in the middle of the house, use a thick layer of mulch; or flattened cardboard if your young residents want a "finished" floor.

Once the sunflowers are established, the house is ready for club meetings, tea parties, stargazing and sleepovers.

As the flowers begin to droop, the seeds can be harvested, and kept in a special container to build next year's hideaway.

Lynne Merryfield

Smith County Master

Gardener

Build path to success

Building a simple flagstone path can be a project accomplished in just a few hours and something that can last generations in your garden.

By following just a few steps, your path to success will be off and running.

First, excavate the path area to a depth of about nine inches, being sure to remove all unwanted grass, weeds, roots, and rocks.

Next, use a garden rake to rake the newly excavated area of the path level.

Then add a two inch layer of pea gravel or decomposed granite to the area and, using a tamper, tamp the gravel into the soil.

Then add a two inch layer of topsoil and repeat the process with the gravel and dirt until the desired height is reached.

Arrange the flagstone according to your design, fitting the pieces together in random order.

Finally, fill in the cracks between the flagstone pieces with sand. Rinse the area with a fine mist of water and let dry.

As a final touch, plant dwarf mondo grass or creeping herbs to complete the look.

John M. Woolverton, Smith County Master

Gardener