Books give tips for garden projects
The first time I heard of cairns, my son David was showing his niece and nephews how to build them in a stream while we were on a family vacation. The kids had so much fun balancing stacks of flat rocks to build tall towers that the adults soon joined in.
Cairns, it turns out, have a history dating back to ancient times. Best known as trail markers, they’ve also been used for marking burial sites and as landmarks. In his own yard, David built one as a garden accent in a dry stream. But before long, some neighborhood kids discovered there was nothing holding the rocks together and knocked David’s cairn down.
That won’t happen if you follow JoAnn Moser’s plan for building a faux rock cairn. In her new book “Garden Builder” (Cool Springs Press, 2018), Moser shows how to build a cairn out of fake rocks held together with a 2- or 3-foot long rebar stake.
Using plastic bags to hold cement together, she creates what she calls concrete “biscuits” of various sizes. After curing, she drills a hole for the rebar through each slab using a masonry bit, then adds a finishing “skim coat” made of a mixture of cement and sand. Sprayed with acrylic paint and slid onto the rebar stake, the faux rocks look like the real thing.
Moser’s book also has instructions for 34 other projects. Most are utilitarian and simple enough for a beginner like me. There’s a plant pot holder made of copper pipe, for example, and a critterproof modular garden. Or try the garden obelisk or bat hotel. One of my favorite projects from the book is the vertical corner garden. Made of cedar, it provides a structure for squeezing a few more outdoor plant pots into an otherwise unused space.
Another new book offers plans for 35 more garden projects, made from stone, brick or wood, and including a section on fountains and pools. Written by Penny Swift and Janek Szymanowski, it’s “Outdoor DIY Projects” (Creative Homeowner, 2018).
Many of us could make good use of this book’s plan for a rustic screen made with treated poles and straight, stripped saplings or cane. Simple but elegant, the screen makes an attractive way to hide trash cans, compost piles or anything else that detracts from the beauty of the landscape.
The illustrations demonstrate how to install brick or stone garden steps, make a millstone fountain, create a bog garden, build an arbor or make a bentwood arch, to name a few.
I also like the book’s plan for a traditional brick base for a sundial, as my own sundial always seems to be overshadowed by taller plants by the end of the growing season.
Write Jan Riggenbach at 2319 S. 105th Ave., Omaha, NE 68124. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you’d like a personal reply, or visit midwestgardening.com.