The-Artistic-Garden's Blog

This “Good Luck” Garden Gnome Kept a Huge Tree
From Toppling & Causing Damage

I’ve got an informative page on my website about garden gnomes that caught the attention of an artistic gardening friend, Bill. He was kind enough to share the following story and photos with all of you that read my blog (I told him of course we’d all be interested! ).

So here’s what Bill had to say:

Hi Claudia: We’ve had this garden gnome kicking around our family for a few generations. He sat in front of my Grandmother’s house on Long Island for decades and then my parents hosted him in their yard in Bucks County, PA for about 10 years before I took possession (responsibility?) in 1996.

A few weeks ago (end of August, 2009) we had a quick but very violent thunderstorm that brought down a 100+ year old hickory tree in my backyard. It fell laying on other trees hovering precariously just two feet or so over my neighbor’s garage.

The only portion of the rotted roots that didn’t pull from the earth are underneath where my lucky little guy stood.

Had it fallen any other direction it would have certainly hit my house or my neighbor’s house which could have been catastrophic. Nobody was hurt nor was there any damage.

Do I believe that gnomes are good luck? You bet I do!

Enjoy the pictures…

Best,

Bill

P.S. BTW – I have since moved my “good luck” gnome to a safer vantage point where he can keep watch as the experts remove the tree!

Thank you Bill, for this very intriguing garden gnome story.

Readers Comments Prompted Me To Find
Painted Ladybug Ideas

Liz and Krista left comments on my blog post how to paint bowling balls about bowling balls painted to look like ladybugs. Krista said she saw a project in a magazine, but couldn’t remember what magazine.

So, this nudged me into trying to help some more and see what I could find, and voila … here are two photos from the many examples I found by doing a Google search. Just enter “ladybug bowling balls” and you’ll get links to many articles, forum discussions and such. Or use Google’s image search to instantly see lots of painted ladybug examples.

This image had been scanned from Backyard Living Magazine – July/August 2006 issue:

And I found these little bowling ball ladybugs featured in an online article by April Johnson.

These two ideas should help inspire any of you who want to try your hand at making a ladybug bowling ball for your next garden art project. Have fun!

Not All Craft Glues Or Adhesives
Work For Every Type Of Project

I recevied an email from Jayne who asked:

Hi Claudia, I would like to know what type of adhesive is best for making ‘mosaic’ garden balls using bowling balls. I tried silicone but the mosaic pieces loosen after a while. I need an adhesive that will survive freeze/thaw cycles … I live in Ontario, Canada.

Any suggestions would be great. I currently subscribe to your newsletter which I enjoy very much. Your website is the best! Thanks! Jayne M.

My reply:

Hi Jayne:
OK, let’s talk about craft glues and adhesives. I do understand how your cold climate can make any glue or adhesive basically harden up and just not “work”. This is the reason why the silicone didn’t work – it was the wrong adhesive to use. Not just because of the cold temperature factor, but also because it just isn’t the right adhesive for your project. The surface of the bowling ball necessitates a different kind of product.

Let me say here too … I am not going to nick-pick about the dictionary terms for “craft glue” or “adhesives”. To most of us, when we’re doing a craft project we don’t care what the gooey stuff is called … just as long as it works and keeps things stuck onto our item for a loooooong time.

My suggestion would be to use one of the appropriate commercial grade glues/adhesives (there are many different kinds geared to specific materials and/or surfaces) from the “Liquid Nails” product line or better yet, “Rhino Glue”. I would think these products are available in Canada.

Read about Rhino Glue and make sure to click on their FAQ page. Click here to read about the Liquid Nails products.

I can buy these products at the big-box DIY stores … like Home Depot which I know you have there in Canada. Here in the USA Home Depot keeps the Liquid Nails products and the Rhino Glue in one of the paint department aisles. If these brand name products are not available in Canada, I am sure you’ll be able to find something similar that will do the job for you.

Now, here’s a product I recently learned about – Weldbond Universal Space Age Adhesive. Wowee! I think this stuff just might be the answer to many crafter’s dreams for the craft glue-to-end-all-glues!! I have read of mosaic artists raving about the stuff … so I will encourage you to contact these folks. I don’t know where it is available in stores in the USA or Canada. But they take online orders.

This information should help you be successful with your next bowling ball craft project. Oh! I should mention that I am sure you know that no matter what surface you want to use a craft glue on … that it has to be clean of all dirt and grease. With your bowling ball, you might want to scuff up the surface with some coarse sandpaper to make an even better surface for the glue to adhere to.

Good luck!

This Is One Creative Bird Chaser!

I came across this great photo of a very creative piece of garden yard art today and I thought “I’ve just got to share this with my visitors.”

Plus … for many of us, thoughts of what we are going to plant in our vegetable garden is looming in our minds. Warm weather is slowly starting to take hold. So I thought this yard art decor idea might prove helpful for you in the future.

Need an effective bird chaser? Well, I think this crazy bird chasin’ monster just might do the trick.

If you have young children, perhaps you’ve got one of their old rubber or plastic monster toys collecting dust that could be resurrected and placed out in your vegetable patch.

If you’re like most gardeners I know, myself included, birds can become quite a problem because they love to peck into things like tomatos and nibble, leaving lots of damaged fruits. Not that I mind our feathered friends getting to eat my organically grown ‘maters … but geez, they take two nibbles and then move on to another ripe beauty to sample. I don’t appreciate that – they ought to stick to just one and then I’d be more tolerant!!

For another idea – maybe a few aluminum pie plates tied onto this monster would be an added feature to scare away the birds. I don’t know how aggressive your birds might be.

Anyhoo … I just thought I’d share this whimsical garden yard art idea. If nothing else … I hope it puts a smile on your face today.

See ya later!