Good morning /diy/
Next week is my spring break and during that time I'm planning to ginally take care of my garden.
Here is a pic of my garden currently.
First - Find wood pallets. Remove the planks and stain them a dark color. I'll drill them to the bottom part of the back wall up the bottom edge of the wall planters.
Second - I'll plant the top grey part of the wall a white color so it doesn't feel so enclosing.
Third - Paint a mural with spray paint. I'm working on the design right now.
Fourth - Those bricks at the bottom are sorta lined up to the area I want to turn into a garden against the wall. I also want to make some vertical plastic bottle planters to grow veggies and such.
My only concern is whether to make a small wall using cement, etc and make the wall a place to sit; or to save myself some time and money and just make it a decorative barrier.
Currently leaning towards the latter. I'll buy some of those big concrete blocks, dig a small ditch around the perimeter and partially bury them. Paint them later too.
Fifth - Make my own brick grill on the left wall in between the tiles and the rounded part of the proposed brick planter. This is probably the hardest part and final step before I have finished my garden. I've never done any brick or cement work in my life so I have to investigate how to do it properly. This last part might be left for next month or whenever I have the cash to finish it.
Things I have to keep in mind:
I live in the tropics at a high altitude (Bogota, Colombia).
Currently going through spells of drought, the sun hits hard at high altitude. But the normal weather here is rainy and a sudden torrent isn't at all uncommon.
I also live next to a naturally protected area. A swampy lake to be specific and humidity is often high.
What do you guys think? Any suggestions?
I hope to use this thread to show my yard progression as well as noting good ideas and helpful tips.
Can't wait to start /diy/!
If you look at the OP pic you can also see a red part of the wall.
Here is a close up and the stucco or whatever was in front of the brick started chipping due to humidty.
This is the only part of the wall though that seems to be affected by humidity.
If i want to board up part of this wall I guess I have to make sure the boards are water proofed to prevent rotting.
I also found this really old tub of paint. But it's solidified.
I feel like this could be perfect for painting the back garden wall. But I don't know if it can be saved.
Here is a reference for the first thing I want to do which is taking wood from wood pallets and nailing them against the wall.
>>962724
> First - Find wood pallets
> Paint a mural with spray paint
> vertical plastic bottle planters to grow veggies
>Make my own brick grill - I've never done any brick or cement work in my life
> Doesn't know if solidified paint can be saved
Boy are you in for some lessons learned the hard way.
>>962730
Well I've been looking for tutorials online etc.
But you don't get anywhere in life unless you take a risk and start doing something you don't know.
>>962731
Also, I'm going to be using stencils of my illustrations.
I actually know how to do this as I'm apprenticing for a street artist who's been teaching me stuff.
>>962730
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDbjZ9roEQ&list=PLSDvDyzredqrwTAzCCwol3itFz7j5Xgd9&index=1
-dried up paint is not going to be usable
-bottles are not great for growing, use 5 gallon buckets (not been used for chemicals/etc)
-instead of using brick, I'd look for a barrel to make into a grill....or look for a busted grill with the legs broken off that could still be incorporated into something with brick
![048[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/GXsUqPv.png "048[1].png")
>>962735
A 6+ minute "video" of photos to explain how to cut the bottom off soda bottles and stack them.
Here's 2 things wrong with that:
1) Roots don't like light. You'll need to do something to block out the light
2) Just what the fuck do you plan on planting in those tiny containers? Herbs? Because that's about all you're going to be able to grow in a container that small.
This is why you shouldn't take advise from youtube videos. You are better off drilling some holes in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket. With good soil I've grown 6' tall tomato plants in buckets.
And your friend isn't a street artist, he's a fucking vandal.
>>962741
/r/editor detected
even if you can get a small amount of paint, you can always thin it down for more of a whitewash
>>962751
(fortunately no)
it doesn't help my case, but shouldn't there be two d's...
Oh, by the way, I have this small house made out of MDF.
Is this fine for a birdhouse? I'm guessing I have to waterproof it.
>>962742
This, these, and that. All of them.
>>963726
Do what you like to it, no bird will ever live in it. Too open. Too unnatural.
>>963726
No, it is a terrible idea for a birdhouse
You arent going to be able to waterproof it
wtf do you have a concrete wall as a fence in your backyard?
Alright, I added water to the paint and it actually loosened up pretty nicely though it's still thick in this photo.
>>964317
It's an apartment conplex. At the other side of the wall there's another yard. Also a swamp and a school.
I started painting a bit last night. Glad it didn't rain.
>>964725
At this point its clear you won't be working with any sort of ideals here so guys commenting on the proper or best way to do this is pointless. So basically I say fuck it , those trendy meme ideas you have should act as more of a template and just take your time and use common sense i guess. You'll probably learn from it whether it turns out or not.
>>964727
I'm not trying to sound negative by the way.
>>964725
You're in an apt, or there is an apt on the other side?
>>964727
Yeah I'm just sorta winging it. Trial and error is a good way to learn.
Also, don't have a big budget so I'll work with what I have.
>>964764
The yard in the photo is mine. First floor of the apt. The left wall with the brick texture is anothe apartment. Behind the grey wall is a school. To the left of the school is be swampy area.
Done painting the wall. You can tell where I started running out of paint and had to add more water. Actually I prob made the paint way too thick.
MAKE SURE TO KEEP US UPDATED WITH PICTURES.
I WANT TO SEE THE FINISHED PRODUCT.
I just realized I forgot to post a previous picture.
Anyway, here's the wall all painted. Ran out of paint towards the end there so it was thinner and more watery to make it last. I still have some and I'll go over those patches tomorrow.
I've started digging around the perimeter of where I want to grow plants.
Tomorrow I'll find some bricks to place in the perimeter. I'm not sure if I should buy big grey concrete ones and paint them myself or to buy red bricks which look a lot nicer. I'll get them tomorrow.
>>964884
How much does that apartment and yard cost you per month?
>>964922
I live in Bogota, Colombia.
Prices are not comparable because real estate (and most things) are much cheaper for Americans. The Colombian Peso is way cheaper than USD so if you're making US cash then you can live like a king here.
Anyway, the apartment belongs to an aunt of mine so she's renting it out to my brother and I for a lot cheaper then what it's worth.
It's a 3 Bedroom Apartment with yard and the rent costs $500,000 Colombian Pesos which translates to 162.70 USD.
The Monthly bills which include Direct TV, Internet, gas, water, and electricity are $400,000 Colombian pesos which is $130.16 USD. So I pay almost $300 USD a month
The real price for this apartment is about $1,300,000 COP which is about $423 USD.
It's in a closed apartment complex right next to a mall and public transportation. So my aunt loves our family a lot is what I'm trying to say lol.
I really wish I had a job that paid in dollars. But my aforementioned Street Artist friend is actually my boss and he's from Australia and pays by the hour for designs. So I make way more than the average 25 year old at least. Not comparable to US pay though.
So yeah, move to Colombia. They love foreigners here and you'll find a job easy and get to enjoy upper class living as well as a hip and vibrant city. Traffic is 100% shit here though.
>>965121
>So yeah, move to Colombia.
I want to keep my life and body intact.
>>965177
There are plenty of foreigners living here. But if you wanna be a pussy.
Anyway, got those bricks and made a garden bed.
Next, I want to add some texture to the painted white wall.
I'll do this by finding some untreated pallet boards and nailing them to the wall. Or to make my life simpler I'll nail some posts and then nail the boards to the posts.
I think I'll do the latter idea because I want to grow ivy on the wall without damaging it. By having a bit of space between the wall and the boards I can't prevent any damage I think.
Another idea would be to build or buy one of these things and grow the ivy on there on the back of the garden bed.
>>962724
About the grill you want to build- don't mortar the joints. Dry lay your bricks. Because if you want to move it in a couple of years, you'll be able to. Also, build a dummy grill out of cardboard. Make it the same size and layout as the real one that you want to build. Paint the dummy so it looks sort of realistic. Then use the dummy to check how it'll look in different locations in your yard. Cardboard is a lot easier to move around than bricks.
Once you have a location worked out, take your existing bbq grill and set it up on that spot. Use it a couple of times. See where the smoke goes and make sure you're not going to burn down your house.
>>965351
oh come one man, fix that wiggle at the end, only straight lines are acceptable !
>>965390
Are you talking about the left side? I sorta wanted to do a rounded planter kinda thing/look.
I guess I shouldn't have made the line go in straight after the curve. I'll fix it later.
>>965374
Thanks for your suggestion! Really useful actually.
I'll probably get to the brick grill a couple months in. Wanna get to planting and painting my mural.
How exactly would I make a Dry lay BBQ? I guess it would have to be pretty small?
This is the left side of my yard. Those ropes are for hanging clothes. Aso, I found some wooden planks
I want to replace that ugly wire I use for hanging clothes with a couple of bars to put hangers.
I'm using this doohicky ( dubno name) which I'm going to nail to the top beams of the house thingie.
I saw there were some nails already driven through it. I assume the beam is hollow but it's hell to get through it. As you can see in the picture I've only made light surface marks with my drill
Got it in. Now to the other side.
Clothing line succesfully installed. I'll do two more of these bars as they're pretty multi purpose
