Things I Would Do Differently

Now that we’ve been in the house for almost 4 years, I’ve had time to think of things I would do differently. I would build the exact same layout I designed because it has really been perfect! I find other things I like, but I just still really like our layout. It suites our needs. 

1. The bathroom window
   I picked tombstone-shaped mirrors for the master bathroom and LOVE them! They are such a sophisticated shape and dress up the bathroom vanity area. What I would change is matching the shape of the mirrors on the window to the shower. The shower window has always looked plain to me, but I didn’t know how to dress it up. An arch top would be perfect. And actually, an arch top to the door, too! Once I saw this picture of Holly’s shower, I knew I should have added more arches. I didn’t think arches were my thing, but I like them in certain places.
   
   

   

   Current

   
   

   

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   inspiration - OurFauxFarmhouse

2. Sealed Brick
   I bought unsealed brick pavers for my flooring and I regret it. I love the flooring, but it is not at its full potential. Our installers quit on us while laying the brick floor. It was frustrating to them. If I had bought sealed brick, the grout process would have been easier. The grout would have cleanly wiped off the brick instead of having to avoid getting it on the brick. Had our installers read the box, they would have seen it said to seal the brick before you grout it, and then seal it again after your grout it. But if I had bought pre-sealed brick, it would have been one less step. Instead, I have dull brick that I have been sealing the heck out of. It is so pourous, that it took so many coats to seal it. That still didn’t make it shiny. To make the floor shiny, you have to wax it. I learned all this as I read the box THREE years later. I was going through the attic and read all the instructions. I have since waxed them and they look beautiful. I will now have to wax them once a year. You live and learn!
   
   

   


3. Not Dig Holes
   We learned a lot with landscaping our own yard. I would have had a more elaborate sprinkler system and French drain system installed from Day 1, but we have added to it, so it’s not bad, but recovering from the mess of an add on is temporarily unsightly. But the biggest thing we learned was to not dig holes for the plants. We dug them and then within six months, we dug every single plant back up and raised it above ground, then piled dirt around it and topped with mulch. Below is a diagram of what we did. If we would have done that, it would have saved us so much time not digging holes. It was a great workout, though. Oh, and I’d add good dirt on top of the clay before adding sod. And not trample on my newly laid sod until it was established.



4. Better placement of outside faucets
   What should have been the backyard faucet ended up being in the front yard because of where we put the fence. We ran the hose underneath the fence, but had to run to the front to turn it on and off. We later added faucets in the flowerbeds in the backyard.
   

   

    
5. More Showerheads in Master Shower
   Mr. JCrew requested two showerheads in the master shower and our plumber plumbed for two and I said, “No.” I thought it was excessive and didn’t need it. Now we are tearing down tile and adding shower heads! I realized how we use our shower, we need more showerheads. Mr. JCrew was right! And it would have cost less to do it then than it is costing to do it now.





6. Insulate Interior Walls
   With an open floorplan, things get loud. We insulated the walls of the laundry room and that was very helpful, but I wish I would have done all the walls and the space in between the first and second floor.

Maidenhair Ferns

I really love maiden hair ferns. I first learned about them when I was looking a wedding floral arrangements. I found a tiny potted fern used on the reception dinner tables that I loved.

I had never owned one until I found them at a local garden shop (The Greenery). It was not expensive, so I purchased it.

I never had my maidenhairs last more than a year. They’d get pretty frail looking and I didn’t have the knowledge to bring them back. And actually, I have discovered that by the time they show signs of distress, it is almost too late to correct it. These plants are finicky and need constant attention.

I’ve had some really large ones that have done well. 

A coworker of mine said that she only has luck with maidenhair’s when they are planted with something else. I haven’t tried that yet. I love them so much by themselves, but I also like them in groupings. But whatever they are grouped with needs to love water as much as they do.

I bought a maiden hair fern for my desk at work. I transported it home on the weekends.

During one of the transports, the fern fell over. Because of the frail stems, the majority of the stems snapped and died. So, I stopped transporting the fern home on the weekends and would give it a heavy water on Friday to help it last through the weekend. I have been working on getting new growth, but was having issues. I would see new growth start, but by the time it got 2-3 inches long, it would dry out, shrivel up and die (just the new growth). I took the maidenhair home to see what I could do. I watered it every day (a lot) and noticed the new growth lasting longer than before. My guess was that the weekends without water were drying up my new growth. But I’ve come to a new conclusion that it was also due to the lack of light. They were only getting fluorescent light and that was not enough.

Now, the pot I have my maiden hair fern in has no drainage holes. I heavily water the fern in the morning and then about lunchtime, I turn the plant, in its pot upside down, to drain the excess water out of the pot. These ferns love water, but they don’t like to sit in it.

I have not yet fertilized my ferns. I am too scared. One time, I repotted a fern and within 2 days it was dead. I attributed it to the new potting soil that already had fertilizer in it. Which could have been part of the case, but I think I just didn’t water the new soil well enough during those days with new soil. The new soil was dry and these ferns like to be surrounded with moisture. I actually kept the new fern in the original disposable pot it came in because I was fearful of exposing it to new soil and it dying. But when I was having trouble with the new growth, I decided to officially transplant it into a new pot and I made sure to get the new soil good and wet. The fern survived!

 

I have two maidenhair ferns in the house and they look completely different. One is fuller and has stems coming from all over the pot. Its color is a lighter green.

The one I keep at work is a darker green and the stems are coming from the center of the pot only. 

It use to not be as dark in color, but I think that is because of the lack of sun it gets at my desk. There are no windows at my desk. 

I have decided to keep my work fern at home and keep it in the windowsill. You can see the new growth coming in and staying!

I also have a different maidenhair. I was told it was a “Silver Dollar MaidenHair fern.” I found it by chance once and loved it. I don’t remember what happened to it, but I wanted another one. They are hard to find. 

It wasn’t until someone told me the Brooks and Collier (a local shop) had plants! I thought they were a furniture only store, but they have a beautiful greenhouse. It is where I found the rubber plants that I use at the clubhouse!  It was while I was browsing that I saw their huge assortment of ferns and saw the silver dollar maidenhair! I was in heaven. I bought one and Mom bought one. I placed mine on the piano, and hers stays in her room.

The silver dollar maiden hair requires the same care as the normal maidenhair. A maidenhair fern can handle watering every-other-day, but for its best performance, it needs it every day. 

I think I have finally found out how to take care of the maiden hair fern. It takes daily watering, good drainage and indirect light. Seriously, it likes to be wet. I just use the sink’s spray nozzle and water it every morning. For the ferns in other spots, I keep a water bottle in my vanity and use it to water the ferns. 

I also noticed that my maidenhairs do best in the breakfast nook of both of my houses. They like the light from all the windows. It also did well in my bathroom due to the moisture from showers. 

Best of luck to you in owning a maidenhair. They are diva's but they are so worth it!

Faux Plants

I love my plants, but they are work. I won’t turn away a plant, but I do have to remind myself to fight the urge to get a new one because it requires time.

To balance out my desire for all plants, I am mixed in some faux plants. I find nothing wrong with it. I look for realistic varieties and am not afraid to use them outside.

At our last house, I had poinsettias I put outside. They were so realistic looking. I got them at Old Time Pottery and haven’t seen them since, but I know I probably had people wondering how I kept them alive outside in the cold!

I have seen some fake plants used outside that fade or turn bright green and have this ugly unrealistic color. I steer clear of making that mistake.

Back when I had Mr. Pfitzer, my plants in the window box were neglected. They had to be watered every day. I was up for the task!

But I eventually gave up and bought faux plants. I made sure they were real looking.

Now I am keeping my eye out for them fading. Once they start, they will be replaced.

I mentioned that I tried to keep a maidenhair fern at my office desk, but it struggled until I brought him home. I then bought a faux plant from Pottery Barn and it is happy. I can tell it is not real, but I keep it half hidden from view, so hopefully no one stares too long and can tell. There is a lot of detail that makes it look real.

I also bought a faux maidenhair fern for the screened in porch.

I like a plant out there on the table, but the winters are harsh.

I also bought faux herbs to keep in tiny pots. I tried real herbs in those pots, but the holder requires small pots, and it being kept on the porch, they get no sun.

I also repurposed some liquor bottles for stems of faux plants. I used stems of lavender, peony and lambs ear. All looked realistic to me.

I have them sprinkled in multiple places to tie the spaces together.

I still have my real plants inside the house, but mixing in the faux ones has been a help in maintenance.
 

Jackson Vine 2018

At our old house, we planted a Jackson Vine on the back porch. It was the only porch we had. A Jackson Vine does not flower and is usually seen on porches of historical homes.

The Jackson Vine has a saying that goes with it. First Year, it's a sleeper. Second Year, it's a creeper. Third Year, it's a leaper!

We have a large front porch on the new house, so I planted three Jackson Vines. How I train my vines, is I attached a small chain just underneath the roof overhang that hangs all the way to the ground. Then I use a zip tie to attach the vine to the chain.

Once the vine creeps up the chain, I have to create something that runs horizontal to the porch roof for the vine to cling on. At the last house, I just used more chain. But at our new house I used curtain rods!

I noticed last Spring (2017) that the vine was really creeping up the chain. I hurried to order curtain rods from Ikea. They took forever to ship! I was watching my vine grow and it was getting faster!

If I had known it would have taken a long time to ship, I would have gone a different route. But the price was worth it! Once the rods came, I quickly hung them. It was easy.

Then I had to zip-tie the vine onto the curtain rod so it knew where to go.

I don't have to zip tie any more. The vine knows to grab onto the curtain rod.

Jackson Vine can be a nuisance to some. It will continue to shoot off "Babies" from the ground. When that happens, I will be glad to share. But if you don't take care of the babies (find them new homes or just pull them up), your Jackson Vine could get out of control fast!

2017 was a big growth year of the Jackson Vine, but 2018 was when it finally covered every curtain rod.

It has been so fun to see the vine grow. In a couple more years it will be really full. Then we will have to start watching for the birds laying nests in there. Hopefully I can keep them out of it. It's not a good spot for eggs! And I will have to keep it trimmed nicely so it doesn't get out of control.

Drip Irrigation

I fully acknowledge I am a plant lady. It’s the first idea Mr. JCrew comes up with for a gift for me. I won’t turn down a plant. You can never have too many. I love to care for plants and talk to them.

I especially love plants in pots. Containers give height to a garden and softens the structure of a porch. 

But with containers, means more attention. Because they don’t have the ground for their roots to spread in search of water, they have to be watered more often than plants in the ground.

My collection of potted plants outside kept growing. I loved the look of a mass of different sized pots. Watering became a chore. I’d refill several watering cans. 

In the window box outside of Mr. Pfitzer’s room, I left a watering can in his bathroom to use. We just took out one of the screens to access the pots. Watering through the screen did not work. 

But it was when I came home from giving birth to Mr. Pfitzer at the hospital that I knew I needed to do something to help water my plants. My short time away, the plants in the windowbox had died. I looked into getting a “Plant Sitter” but it did not work. 

The water was not leaving the reservoir and my plants were dry.

 

I then tried the plant sitter on a larger scale and bought apple juice in glass bottles (instead of buying empty glass bottles). Once we drank the apple juice, I’d fill the glass bottle with water and put a tube in it. The tubing was not long enough, but it also was just too slow.

I even tried braiding scrap fabric and stuck it in the dirt for the water to travel up and into the dirt. This also did not work.

I finally researched drip irrigation. One of my friends from church had explained how her husband hooked up a system to water her plants in her window box. It sounded so cool!

I started saving things to my Amazon Wish List. I started the planning/design process and calculating the cost of all that I would need.

I then looked at HomeDepot and saw that they carried a lot of what I needed. I bought my tubing and sprinkler heads from them.

I used many types of sprinkler heads. I had many different size pots that would be on the same system. My larger pots had two sprinkler heads in them, and the water would need to be on longer in order for them to receive enough water. But a smaller pot would be on the same amount of time as the larger one, but I could use a lower-flow sprinkler head to make sure it was not over-watered. 

The smaller pots use a drip sprinkler head. 

The larger pots use a fan sprinkler head. There are many types of fan heads.

There is one main line that runs from the faucet. But off the large tube, a smaller tube is connected that runs to the pot.

I use elbow connectors to get my large tubing to take corners.

I use T-shape connectors to split tubing to go two different directions. When the big tubing coming from the faucet reaches the ground, I have some of it go to the front porch and some of it go to the back porch.

I buried my tubing in flowerbeds. 

I tried to make it minimal what tubing was showing, but it's not bad. I have gotten use to it and don't notice the tubing.

I checked the connections of tubing and sprayed it with the flex seal stuff to seal any little holes.

The large tubing connects to the faucet using a fancy adapter.

I tried to get fancy and use a timer on my faucets, but I just couldn’t get those to work right. I’d love for it to run itself!

Right now, all I have to do is go outside; turn on two faucets; sit on the porch for ten minutes; then turn the water faucets off.

Watering is done!

Now, there is one change I wish could be made to the sprinkler heads. I wish they would rotate while spraying. They currently are stationary. The water then goes in the same spot. I’m not certain but I think water is wasted this way. I turn on my faucet for ten minutes, but within 3 minutes, I am already seeing a flood of water leaving the bottom of my pots. Once that little area where the tiny spot of water goes down, there is extra water just going right through the pot instead of reaching the spaces in between.

At first, I only had two sprinkler heads for the large pots. But like I mentioned, they don’t rotate, so some plants were not getting water. About once a week, I would take the hose out and give the pots a good watering. The drip irrigation was a time saver for in between the hose watering. I really wanted to make the drip irrigation work for me fully, so I bought more sprinkler heads and designated one sprinkler per plant. You can change the flow on the heads, so that helped. 

In my large pots out back, there are three plants per pot.

In my large pots up front, I have five plants per pot.

I was nervous to put too many heads on the line because it would impact the flow. Having one head per plant, the flow did not matter as much. But I am happy to report, adding more sprinklers, the impact to the flow was minimal.

It is a time saver and I’m so glad I did it. I turn on the faucet, sit on the porch for a couple minutes, then turn the faucet off. So easy! 

When I saw my new sprinkler controller had an option to handle drip irrigation, it got me considering connecting my drip irrigation as a new zone to my sprinkler system and letting the controller handle it! That research is ongoing and I will let you know when I tackle it!

Items I used:

bubbler

drip

thin tubing (1/4")

thick tubing (1/2")

elbow

T-joint

Tube Cutter

End Closure 

Your sprinkler head comes with a coupler attached, so you do not need to purchase those separately.