Proud Of My Pot .....

I took this picture after the broken boards were removed. This is a sharp curve in the road beside the culvert that takes the pond overflow into a drainage ditch. We put the fence there to draw attention to the steep drop, in hopes that drivers won't take that curve too sharp and end up in the ditch. Try though I might, I have yet to find something that will grow there and help with the erosion. My latest experiment is mint. Mint is very invasive and I have put several huge clumps there. Maybe next year it will get a good root system and cover that area.

Back to the broken boards. Just 2X4's. No, they did not rot over time and now have to be replaced. They were broken in two, all splintered when we discovered them. A camper had come into the office the evening before I saw them. "I just wanted you to know that I was taking a walk and I leaned on your fence and it suddenly broke. That's all I did. I just leaned on it while I was looking to see what was in the ditch. I did not hit it with my truck or anything. Really, I just leaned on it." Really. She must have a bionic arm and not be aware of her strength! Or, she could be telling the truth. Maybe someone hit it, got out and pulled the boards together so that they looked okay from a distance and she happened to be the one to knock the facade down.

Whatever, I still have to fix it. What I am truly wondering about is why anyone would want to look into a ditch?

I have had this old plastic pot for years. I leave it out in the weather and a few years ago part of the rim broke off. The plastic was pretty brittle, but I kept thinking I would find a way to fix it. I have tried lots of things. It fits nicely at the entrance to the building and I wanted to use it. Once I had the brilliant ( or so I thought at the time) idea of filling it with a few rocks and wadded newspaper, then fill the top with smaller individual pots of annuals, the mulch it. The broken area is about 5 inches deep, so that the mulch kept coming out of the pot every time I watered it. I tried duct tape, but the water and sun weakened it and it only lasted about a week. I tried One of those mesh bags that onions come in. I pulled the mulch out and carefully place the bag against the hole, and replaced the mulch. Next watering made the bag become dislodged ....

It was a vicious cycle. Cardboard was a temporary solution until we had a big rain. I spent so much effort on the hole in the pot, that I neglected the plants in the tiny pots and they withered and died. They were doomed in those tiny pots anyway. The broken pot was banished to back of my veggie garden, where all manner of broken tools reside.

The pot stayed there for a couple of years. It would get moved every time I had a huge fit of cleaning that area. It would land in the wheelbarrow destined for the dumpster and I would rescue it again and again. Never knowing why. Until this year. Garden hoses tend to take a beating here at the kampground. If I fail to move my irrigation set up when He Who mows is intent upon getting the lawn cut, he will either mow the hose into pieces, or go around it.

Like broken pots, pieces of hose end up with my other garden trinkets. Just in case. One never knows when inspiration will strike. Or when I will be stalking the ideas of others on Pinterest.

I grabbed the caulking gun, a tube of liquid nails and the hose and broken pot. The first attempt failed. Do not fill your pot with dirt and plants, then try to glue the hose to the pot. Gravity will rear it's ugly head and even gorilla glue will not save you.

The pot should be empty and upside down, making gravity your friend. If you wait over night and find that your hose still wants to slide down the pot ........... grab your drill and some screws. I screwed one layer of hose the the layer above, since the liquid nails had done a good job on the very first row. The hose fit snugly into the lip of the pot and the glue held it there. The bottom row was tricky and in frustration I pushed the screw right into the pot. I had hesitated to do this, fearing the brittle pot would form a crack and fall in half. It worked, though. I painted the whole thing green. Because the hose was already green and I am thrifty.