Rose Cottage Ltd

I wrote a post about the benefits of mulch early last year.

Here’s a not-great image of the mulch I used in 2010. It did an excellent job of laying a good base and in discouraging annoying and stubborn weeds. But I needed something more to tackle these areas near and around the house itself.

This year, I’m using a slightly different mulch and going back after those “tameable” areas of my 7 acres and I will be providing some better “before” and “after” photos.

I think you might be surprised at the improvement.

Today, the 12 yards of Pine Mini Nuggets mulch was delivered and placed exactly where I plan my base of operations! To get some idea of the actual size of this pile – my Mini Cooper is parked right behind it!

The mulch I chose this year was less fine than what I used prior. In fact, some of that mulch is still where I’m headed again this year. But the nugget mulch will have a better chance of staying where I put it – even in areas that tend to runoff towards the lake.

Here’s an up-close picture of the new mulch.

I am very lucky to have a company nearby that has mulch I can visit before I buy. Quite often this is the best thing to do before deciding what type of mulch is best for your landscaping efforts.

As I also mentioned in the prior post, having a large quantity of mulch delivered is the only practical and affordable way for me to plan and complete my landscaping project. I can’t carry more than a few bags of mulch from Lowe’s in a Mini Cooper and by the time I’ve loaded and unloaded them just to and from the car – I’m exhausted.

Tomorrow I will just head out and be able to start working.

From a cost standpoint, I estimate I will be saving somewhere around $700 by purchasing this mulch in bulk. $700 savings means maybe I can afford to add a new fountain or birdbath to the equation. Or I can just leave it as “savings” – not a word you hear too often in the world of landscaping.

Happy Weekend!

Add the soothing and tranquil benefits of moving water with these premium fountains. Enchanting and calming, these dramatic fountains are artistic water features where art meets function. The durable, high quality construction of these fountains will blend seamlessly with any decor or style.

Small Bedrock Indoor Water Fountain

~Requires no plumbing. Water re-circulates within the fountain.
~Plugs into any standard electrical outlet. Requires no special electrical hookups.
~Includes whisper quiet fountain pump and all necessary accessories.
~Ships via Fed Ex Ground.
~Includes lights, bulbs, and decorative polished river rocks.
~On/Off line switch.
~Height: 32 inches. Width: 14 inches.

Small Waterwall Indoor Fountain

~Natural slate, with polished river stones included.
~Lights and bulbs included. Indoor or tabletop use.
~On/off line switch.
~Shipping is only $39 to any address in the continental USA.
~Height: 32 inches. Width: 14 inches.
~This fountain weighs 48 pounds.

Small Carrature Indoor/Tabletop fountain

Hundreds of other fountains to choose from:

It’s a great time to get your Fall farm and garden gear with these – Tractor Supply Special Offers!

Don’t forget that Tractor Supply has a huge selection of clothes for Men, Women and Children. When you need a sturdy and warm jacket for Fall and Winter, here’s a great selection from Carhartt and Tractor Supply.

Carhartt Men’s Sherpa-Lined Sandstone Ridge Coat

A Carhartt Men’s Sherpa Lined Vest adds warmth while keeping arms free. Vests are great for working outdoors in the Fall…

My order will be here this afternoon! Look for a review next week!

Here are a few current specials from The Crab Place:

~ 34% Off Maryland Crab Feast Special. For A Limited Time, Buy Online

~ 24% Off All You Can Eat Crab Special. For A Limited Time, Buy Online

~ 16% Off Jumbo Lump Crabmeat Special. For A Limited Time, Buy Online

And a recipe to get you thinking…

Baked Crab Cakes Recipe: Courtesy, The Crab Place

1 lb. Jumbo Lump crab meat
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
½ tsp. fresh minced garlic
1/8 tsp. crushed dried tarragon
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
6 saltine crackers, crushed fine
1 large egg, beaten
¼ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
¾ tsp. Hungarian paprika

Toss the crab meat with the lemon juice and refrigerate.

Saute onion with butter and olive oil over medium heat until barely limp, about one minute. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.

Mix together Old Bay, garlic, tarragon, cayenne pepper, mayonnaise, crackers, and beaten egg. Add the onions and mix well. Fold gently into the crab meat. Divide into 6 portions.

Roll the crab mixture into 6 large balls and place in a buttered baking dish 2″ apart. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and flatten each ball a little. Sprinkle each one first with the cheese and then with paprika. Broil to toast the cheese a bit. Serve hot.

Buy your Jumbo Lump Crab Meat online.

Visit The Crab Place for all your crab meat needs…

It has been touch-and-go over the last few weeks as to whether the lake’s fountain would be sitting in enough water to still function.

I thought I would have to unplug it last week – then we got a blessed 1.5″ of rain. And the fountain kept working. We went another week without rain at the end of a horrible drought this year, and the fountain kept working. Finally, this morning, it’s raining – and based on radar, it looks like a day-long event.

If you don’t have a lake or pond you might wonder why I am going on about this fountain. A fair question.

The normally 4-acre lake is down to about 1/2 its size due to the drought. The lake is also fairly full of fish – that need oxygen to breathe. Right now they are living stacked in one or two of the deeper channels of the lake – since so much of their normal living zone has less than 1″ of water remaining.

The fountain is critical in providing aeration to the lake’s fish anytime – now it’s even more important. If I had to turn off the fountain, it might push the fish beyond their oxygen limits and I could be looking at a massive fishkill as I had here in 2007. I wrote a post about some of these lake and pond issues earlier.

This fountain normally sits and floats in about 3 feet of water. As you can see from the image, it is now resting on the basket that surrounds the motor just below the water – in about only 4″ of water. And it keeps running.

I have no problem telling you if something I buy or use doesn’t work as advertised – and I’m just as happy to tell you about a product that works, and in this case, surpasses expectations.

I bought this fountain from Fountain Mountain right after the drought experienced here in North Carolina in 2007. The model chosen was an F-Tech – in fact I think Fountain Mountain is still using one of my pictures as a display image – Cool!

For about $400 for the fountain and another $200 or so to set up the proper “electrics” – this pond is being saved from another loss of 7 or 8 dozen fish. The question or two we had to ask about installing the fountain were promptly answered by Fountain Mountain.

What about the fountain in Winter weather? Frozen ponds can be just as deadly for fish. The fountain kept an area open and aerated at a time when fish really needed it.

January 2011 – 22 degrees

There has been minimal maintenance since 2007. You can see algae build-up on the fountain and small particles do need to be cleaned from the motor area a few times each season. That’s it.

What more can you ask from a product?

Today I am surrounded by trees. In a few weeks I will be surrounded by the same trees, but all the green foliage will begin drying and dropping – everywhere!

For those contemplating a “leafy” yard in the coming weeks, here are a few items that will provide needed assistance…

Never Rake Leaves Again!

Finally, a sweeper that’s lightweight and easy to push! This 26-inch Push Lawn Sweeper makes quick work of just about any pickup task and do a thorough, efficient job the first time around. Poly construction is durable and lightweight.

Hopper Capacity: 6 cu ft
Sweeper clears a full 26″ swath
Hamper lifts out for fast dumping

Flowtron Leaf Shredder Plus Shreds As fast As You Can Load It!

Stop bagging and start recycling your waste. The Flowtron Leaf Shredder Plus keeps your curb free of the leaf mountains and eliminates laborious bagging. This unit and saves on disposal fees and trash bags while the unique hopper and funnel shape prevents material throwback.

For easier dumping, unit can be mounted on a standard garbage can, or a bag can be attached to the bottom with a bungee cord.

The Flowtron Leaf Mulcher Features: Lightweight and portable; weighs only 17 lbs 5.9 amp thermally protected universal motor with overload protection. Increases compost breakdown.

I bought two of these a couple years ago and at around $14 per – they are worth their weight in gold!

These Bosmere Cleanup sheets (84In X 84In) make clean up a snap!

Garden Collection Gather-up Sheet made of woven coated Polyethylene. It has four corner handles made out of Polypropylene webbing so that it can be easily gathered up when loaded.

~ Strong Handles Tough and Durable
~ Available in 2 Sizes
~ Ships Quickly!

The Leaf Collector Tripod Bag might prove more manageable for those working this job alone – which often seems to be the case!

I’ve seen these advertised and it might be time to “grab” a pair.

If I get them here before Halloween I can use them to terrorize some of the trick-or-treaters…just kidding…

These Hand Leaf Grabs (Pair) make leaf-pickup time go much faster.

Just slip hands into side handles making your hands much bigger for collection.

Made from strong plastic.

Order now for 10% and also get free shipping on ALL ORDERS over $99. No time to lose…Fall begins tomorrow!

Looking for the “Gutter Dogs?”

Official “Fall” is only 2 days away – time to think about planting bulbs now for spectacular garden color next year.

Nature Hills Nursery has thousands of selections – bulbs, plants, trees, and even Christmas trees and wreaths for advance holiday planning.

And no better way to mark the end of Summer 2011!

For a limited time only – 32% Off Maryland Hard Crabs & Maryland Crab Cakes Gift Pack. Buy Online

Or, order yourself some lump crab meat and then grab a copy of The Crab Cookbook. Get ready for holiday parties early.

And speaking of the upcoming holidays, gift certificates from The Crab Place are available. Give a gift no one will return!

CrabPlace.com sells 100% domestically harvested seafood. Visit for their succulent selection of fresh seafood.

And check back here soon for a “product” review!

If you could keep your body pH in the 7.0 to 7.4 range, do you know it would be almost impossible for you to be sick?

Here are some special savings from pHion to help you achieve this goal…

Read more about the importance of monitoring your blood pH levels and find out what you can do to improve your “pH” health.

See the pH chart here.

Buy one – get one free. Use code: ALKALIZE at checkout – Good through midnight, September 30, 2011.

Free Domestic Shipping on orders over $100 at pHion Balance

If you’ve followed any of the “Stucco Series” posts, you’ll have seen an image or two of some homemade patio stones. There has been a little break in the stucco project since working outdoors – with temperatures approaching 100 degrees a few days – was just not fun.

But now most of the heavy-duty aspects of the redesign of the backyard area are all but complete and it’s time to contemplate a pattern for the paver stones we’ve produced. Here’s what we’ve come up with so far:

This image also gives you a look at several of the stone molds from The Mold Store – filled with their “mixture.”

Defining “mixture”…

The easiest choice is Sakrete. For about $4 a bag this mix includes everything but the water.

The less-easy choice is still as easy as one-two-three…

~ One shovel of cement.
~ Two shovels of sand.
~ Three shovels of gravel.

Blend the mixture while still dry, add water, and stir.

Take your time adding water since you can’t take it out later if you use too much. The less water you use, the stronger your concrete will be. But, for our purposes we wanted a wetter mixture of concrete so it conforms to the mold completely – without gaps.

We’ve been really pleased with the Celtic Knot stones shown in a prior post but we haven’t decided for sure whether or not they will be incorporated into this section of the patio design.

More on patio and paver design coming soon! And a new post on stone color considerations. (November 2011)