Simple garden hose guide & plant protector [Redux]

[With hot summer weather causing me to do a little more hand-watering than usual, I've realized that I need to make a few more of my DIY hose guides. Here's a "rerun" of the original post on my past garden project. Happy gardening!]

One of my greatest passions, and best forms of therapy, outside of work is my garden. Although the entire garden is most often watered by a timer- operated irrigation and drip system, occasionally there is a need to do extra watering using the garden hose. I always hate to be dragging the hose across the driveway, sidewalk or patio and have it attempt to decapitate plants in the garden.

I've looked at various hose guides at garden stores and I'm just too cheap to pay what is asked. I'd heard of people making the guides using lengths of pipe with ornamental lamp finials on top. Again, most lamp finials I like are too expensive for me to use in such a manner. A few weeks ago at Lowe's I found some aged bronze swirl drawer pulls on sale for $1.28 a piece - and I'd discovered my hose guide ornaments. So, with a 37-cent copper cap, a $1.42 piece of rebar, and about $1.00 worth of copper pipe, I had my hose guide materials for just over $4.00.

The materials needed for one hose guard (shown above) are:

• 1 piece of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 10 inches in length

• 1 copper cap for 1/2 inch pipe

• 1 piece of 3/8 inch rebar cut to 24 inches in length

• 1 ornamental brass or bronze drawer pull

• 1 metal screw (comes with drawer pull)

The tools needed include:

• a tape measure

• a handheld pipe cutter (available at the hardware store)

• a hacksaw (to cut the rebar and screw)

• an electric drill

• the necessary solder and soldering equipment

• steel wool, sandpaper or a tool made for roughing up the pipe surfaces to be joined

• a container of flux and the necessary brush for "painting" it on the copper tubing

• a pair of gloves with a non-skid palm surface for assistance in holding the pipe while it is being cut

The project process was actually fairly simple. The most effort was required in cutting the rebar and copper pipe to the proper lengths. It was also necessary to cut the screw that came with the drawer pull to about half of its length.

I used an electric drill to create a hole in the copper cap to screw on the drawer pull. Once the drawer pull was tightly screwed onto the cap, Ed soldered the screw in place within the cap to prevent movement (you could super glue the screw in place if desired). He then soldered the copper cap to the 10-inch length of copper pipe (again, you could super glue it on for ease).

I then stuck the piece of rebar into the ground, at the corner of the flower bed, until 10 inches of the rebar was left above the surface. The copper pipe fit over the rebar and my "designer" hose guide was in place. In a little less than an hour I had three custom hose guides completed and installed in my garden.

Note: You might also want to check out my flower pot umbrella stand and copper pipe garden trellis projects.

© 2012 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Simple garden hose guide and plant protector [Redux]

[With spring gardening in full swing, for those not currently under water or still covered with snow, I've had several requests for information about my hose guide project. Here's a "rerun" of the original post. Happy gardening!]

One of my greatest passions, and best forms of therapy, outside of work is my garden. Although the entire garden is most often watered by a timer- operated irrigation and drip system, occasionally there is a need to do extra watering using the garden hose. I always hate to be dragging the hose across the driveway, sidewalk or patio and have it attempt to decapitate plants in the garden.

I've looked at various hose guides at garden stores and I'm just too cheap to pay what is asked. I'd heard of people making the guides using lengths of pipe with ornamental lamp finials on top. Again, most lamp finials I like are too expensive for me to use in such a manner. A few weeks ago at Lowe's I found some aged bronze swirl drawer pulls on sale for $1.28 a piece - and I'd discovered my hose guide ornaments. So, with a 37-cent copper cap, a $1.42 piece of rebar, and about $1.00 worth of copper pipe, I had my hose guide materials for just over $4.00.

The materials needed for one hose guard (shown above) are:

• 1 piece of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 10 inches in length

• 1 copper cap for 1/2 inch pipe

• 1 piece of 3/8 inch rebar cut to 24 inches in length

• 1 ornamental brass or bronze drawer pull

• 1 metal screw (comes with drawer pull)

The tools needed include:

• a tape measure

• a handheld pipe cutter (available at the hardware store)

• a hacksaw (to cut the rebar and screw)

• an electric drill

• the necessary solder and soldering equipment

• steel wool, sandpaper or a tool made for roughing up the pipe surfaces to be joined

• a container of flux and the necessary brush for "painting" it on the copper tubing

• a pair of gloves with a non-skid palm surface for assistance in holding the pipe while it is being cut

The project process was actually fairly simple. The most effort was required in cutting the rebar and copper pipe to the proper lengths. It was also necessary to cut the screw that came with the drawer pull to about half of its length.

I used an electric drill to create a hole in the copper cap to screw on the drawer pull. Once the drawer pull was tightly screwed onto the cap, Ed soldered the screw in place within the cap to prevent movement (you could super glue the screw in place if desired). He then soldered the copper cap to the 10-inch length of copper pipe (again, you could super glue it on for ease).

I then stuck the piece of rebar into the ground, at the corner of the flower bed, until 10 inches of the rebar was left above the surface. The copper pipe fit over the rebar and my "designer" hose guide was in place. In a little less than an hour I had three custom hose guides completed and installed in my garden.

Note: You might also want to check out my flower pot umbrella stand and copper pipe garden trellis projects.

© 2011 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

A simple garden trellis project [Redux]

The renovation of our garden continues. When Joy Creek Nursery had to remove an old rhododendron from what will become an outdoor kitchen area, a beautiful purple clematis lost its natural trellis. The old rhody found a new home out in the Joy Creek gardens, after being the model for a pruning class. The clematis, and several other plants, sat above ground, basically bare root, for a couple months before finding new homes among the revised hardscape.

I couldn't find trellises that I liked for the clematis. Most cost several hundred dollars and had patterns I didn't really want incorporated into our gardenscape. I roughed out a design on my computer for a set of trellises to be made out of copper pipe. My partner, Ed, previously made an arbor in a similar manner several years ago when he was practicing his copper pipe work prior to re-plumbing our home.

The trellises were designed to be approximately five feet wide and stand a total of five feet above the surface of the garden bed.

The materials needed for one trellis are:

• 8 pieces of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 24 inch lengths (you will want to use the thickest 1/2 inch pipe for added strength)

• 8 pieces of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 20 inch lengths

• 2 pieces of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 12 inch lengths

• 2 copper corner joints for 1/2 inch pipe

• 10 copper "tee" joints for 1/2 pipe

• 2 pieces of 3/8 inch rebar cut to 4 foot lengths

• 1 piece 1/4 inch copper tubing 5 feet in length

• 2 small metal screws 1/2 to 5/8 inches in length

The tools needed include:

• a handheld pipe cutter (available at the hardware store)

• the necessary solder and soldering equipment

• steel wool, sandpaper or a tool made for roughing up the pipe surfaces to be joined

• a container of flux and the necessary brush for "painting" it on the copper tubing

• a pair of gloves with a non-skid palm surface for assistance in holding the pipe while it is being cut

I cut all the copper lengths. On the flat surface of my patio, I then prefit all the pieces together to make sure all were correct and my trellis was going to be square. Ed then help me rough up all services that were to be soldered, but flux on both surfaces to be joines and soldered the frame at each joint. (many home improvement websites and books have great detail about the soldering process.)

I then formed the 5 foot length of 1/4 copper tubing into a spiral shape to serve as the centerpiece design element of the trellis. Spirals and swirls are patterns that have been repeated throughout our home in light fixtures, switchplate covers, light fixtures, fabrics, glassware, eating/serving utensils, dishes, interior art, garden art and elsewhere. Where the tubing was to meet the frame, I crimped the tubing flat with plyers and then drilled a hole (just smaller than the selected screws) through the flattened tupping and the "tee" joint where the swirl would be joined to the frame. The swirl was then screwed tightly into place.

Two pieces of rebar were then stuck about 1 foot into the ground at the distance determined by the width of the finished trellis. The finished trellis end pieces, or legs, where then forced over the rebar and pushed down to ground level. The previously homeless clematis was then planted in front of the trellis and I wove the new growth through the copper trellis frame.

The process was then duplicated for a second matching trellis. The plants seem very happy with their new homes - and I have trellises that also serve as garden art. I was thrilled that the finished trellises cost about $50 a piece in materials - due in part to the fact we already had the soldering supplies in our personal tool library - and were only a project of a few hours.

Note: You might also want to check out my copper and bronze hose guard and flower pot patio umbrella stand projects.

© 2010 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

A simple garden hose guide and plant protector

One of my greatest passions, and best forms of therapy, outside of work is my garden. Although the entire garden is most often watered by a timer- operated irrigation and drip system, occasionally there is a need to do extra watering using the garden hose. I always hate to be dragging the hose across the driveway, sidewalk or patio and have it attempt to decapitate plants in the garden.

I've looked at various hose guides at garden stores and I'm just too cheap to pay what is asked. I'd heard of people making the guides using lengths of pipe with ornamental lamp finials on top. Again, most lamp finials I like are too expensive for me to use in such a manner. A few weeks ago at Lowe's I found some aged bronze swirl drawer pulls on sale for $1.28 a piece - and I'd discovered my hose guide ornaments. So, with a 37-cent copper cap, a $1.42 piece of rebar, and about $1.00 worth of copper pipe, I had my hose guide materials for just over $4.00.

The materials needed for one hose guard (shown above) are:

• 1 piece of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 10 inches in length

• 1 copper cap for 1/2 inch pipe

• 1 piece of 3/8 inch rebar cut to 24 inches in length

• 1 ornamental brass or bronze drawer pull

• 1 metal screw (comes with drawer pull)

The tools needed include:

• a tape measure

• a handheld pipe cutter (available at the hardware store)

• a hacksaw (to cut the rebar and screw)

• an electric drill

• the necessary solder and soldering equipment

• steel wool, sandpaper or a tool made for roughing up the pipe surfaces to be joined

• a container of flux and the necessary brush for "painting" it on the copper tubing

• a pair of gloves with a non-skid palm surface for assistance in holding the pipe while it is being cut

The project process was actually fairly simple. The most effort was required in cutting the rebar and copper pipe to the proper lengths. It was also necessary to cut the screw that came with the drawer pull to about half of its length.

I used an electric drill to create a hole in the copper cap to screw on the drawer pull. Once the drawer pull was tightly screwed onto the cap, Ed soldered the screw in place within the cap to prevent movement (you could super glue the screw in place if desired). He then soldered the copper cap to the 10-inch length of copper pipe (again, you could super glue it on for ease).

I then stuck the piece of rebar into the ground, at the corner of the flower bed, until 10 inches of the rebar was left above the surface. The copper pipe fit over the rebar and my "designer" hose guide was in place. In a little less than an hour I had three custom hose guides completed and installed in my garden.

Note: You might also want to check out my copper garden trellis project.

© 2008 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Still time to enter Holli Conger's First Annual Pumpkin Junkin' Contest

Holli Conger has been one of my favorite illustrators for quite a few years now. I always enjoy getting her emails, as I never know what they may bring. Today I got a reminder message from her about the First Annual Pumpkin Junkin' Exhibit & Contest. The deadline of October 31st is fast approaching. Artists around the world are encouraged to use and abuse a pumpkin with found objects, creating a masterpiece to share in the 2007 Pumpkin Junkin' Gallery. All the rules are on the official site.

Worldwide exposure of your pumpkin creation is not the only benefit of participation. There's a grand prize of one of Holli's great original Junk A Doodles illustration pieces. She's even lined up illustrators Paige Pooler, Robyn Fabsits and Andi Butler as judges.

By the way, be sure to check out Holli's fun illustration work.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

An artsy message for door-to-door salespeople

I detest door-to-door salespeople. Well, not necessarily the people themselves. Not all of them. In fact, I kind of feel sorry for these individuals facing greater rejection than a graphic designer trying to get more than their foot in the door at a design firm in a major metropolitan area. What a horrible job. Still, for me, such an interruption at my front door is an invasion of my very private personal space.

No, I will not put vinyl windows on the 1929 Portland bungalow my partner and I are constantly improving. The same goes for vinyl siding. If you would just look around, you might notice that I don't have a lawn than needs any maintenance. I will not be allowing someone in my home to do an "inventory" of our existing security system to determine if their product is better. I don't want to talk politics on my front porch with anyone. I will not be buying steaks out of the back of a pickup truck.

If God, or Jesus, showed up to talk religion at my doorstep I would be interested in a discussion. However, those "selling" religion door-to-door annoy the hell out of me - especially when the church they are representing is somewhat vocal in opinions about my "lifestyle." I'll admit, I do get a bit of pleasure in seeing the looks on the faces of such proselytizers when I tell them, "I'm sorry; my husband and I wouldn't be interested." Funny, they seldom return to our house. We must get crossed of the great master list somewhere.

I do not make contributions to representatives of any nonprofits who come knocking on my door. I have my personal causes and they get more than enough of my time, energy and money. I'm certainly not handing over any money to someone at my door for a cause I know nothing about. The "representative" of a major environmental organization once came a-knockin' at our door. He immediately launched into his spiel. I had to interrupt his well-practiced performance twice to tell him I wasn't interested. He looked at me with shock and asked, "You mean you don't care about the environment?"

OK, that was enough. I was already annoyed - now I was also pissed off. I literally shut the door in his face, walked to my PowerBook to look up the cause and I reported the twit to the national organization. The next day I got a very nice email apologizing for their former representative's behavior.

Neighborhood kids are a different story - these are small people we actually know - selling candy, wrapping paper, magazine subscriptions, sponsorships for walks and runs, and more. Their art, sports and field trip programs actually need and deserve our support. I'm sure every parent on the street has trained their kids to always hit up Jeff and Ed first.

Every since we moved from the "salesperson barricade' of a secure downtown loft building I have looked for a decent "No Solicitors" sign to hang next to our door. Most were not created by graphic designers - and certainly not for the personal taste of a graphic designer looking to purchase such a product.

I've considered creating one of my own, in some tasteful typeface - certainly something other than Comic Sans or Papyrus - on a frosted glass panel; framed in copper or a rusted patina metal. Right, like I've had the time recently to design and create such a thing.

Thursday night we were at the home of our friends Shawn Jones and Greg Coyle (and their daughter Lily - there might be hell to pay if I didn't mention her!) for their weekly Thursday evening poolside "happy hour." Shawn informed me that while on a recent road trip to California they had discovered my "placeholder" birthday gift. (My "real" birthday gift, recognizing my May birthdate, has yet to be presented - among our friends we have something like a year to get such things accomplished.) Knowing my feelings about all I've ranted about in this blog entry, they found a rusted, artistic, wrought iron "Go Away" sign (photo above) for me at a store in Red Bluff, CA. It even has swirls on it - a design element that reoccurs in much of our garden art and home decor.

I love it! Now I need to figure out how to mount it to the outside of the house so someone doesn't steal the thing. Then we'll see how it works in making life a bit more peaceful at our aubergine front door.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

A great weekend in the Bay Area & Napa Valley

This past week my partner Ed and I treated ourselves to a long weekend and jetted down to Benicia, CA to spend a few days with my sister and her husband, AJ. The get-together was to celebrate Ed's April birthday, my May birthday, Sue's June 50th birthday, and Sue and AJ's recent wedding.

We always enjoy our visits to Benicia. We usually fly into Sacramento, and drive the 45-50 minutes to my sister's home, rather than flying into San Francisco and dealing with greater traffic. Benicia is a great small town, with lots of art galleries, excellent restaurants and artist studios. It's also just a short drive to the Napa and Sonoma wine areas.

On Friday evening, Sue and AJ took us out to dinner at the Pear Street Bistro in the nearby city of Pinole. They had previously eaten at the establishment after seeing it reviewed on an episode of the Check, Please! Bay Area television show. After having a very positive experience, Sue and AJ thought we would enjoy a meal at the restaurant - and they were right.

On Saturday the four of us had planned on spending the day in Napa, coming home for naps and then Ed was going to prepare a seven-course Italian feast for us all. Unfortunately, AJ got called into work at the last moment. Sue, Ed and I didn't let that stop us from heading up to Napa. Our first stop was for an incredible lunch on the grounds of the V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena. The Italian deli at the winery has over 200 different cheese, excellent cured meats, fresh bread and lots of other goodies. Lunch at a picnic table under a 200-year-old oak tree was a fun way to start our day.

After our meal, Sue suggested we stop by the Wine Country Inn to check things out. She and AJ got married on the grounds of the beautiful bed and breakfast this past April. While she and I were enjoying the view of the vineyards from the deck of the main building, Ed was pawing through the Inn's recipe files to see if he could find some items to make at a later date. We had a nice walk around the grounds and then it was time to head off to our primary destination.

My sister is a huge fan of the sparkling wines of the Schramsberg Vineyards. She's been to the winery, originally established by German immigrant Jacob Schram in 1862, on several occasions and always has a supply of their wines ready to be served at her home. We were on the schedule for a tour of the wine caves, carved from mountainside by Chinese laborers, and a tasting that afternoon.

If you didn't know where you were going you would probably drive right by the private road up to Schramsberg - and then the road is currently under construction making it a bit of a challenge to get up to the appointment- only winery. Rounding the final corner you immediately get a beautiful view of the Victorian home Jacob and Annie Schram had built by a ship builder (without the use of a single nail) in 1880. Being a gardener, I had an immediate appreciation for the grounds of the winery with its lush vegetation; pond with lily pads, frogs and koi; and the sculptures in the gardens.

In the visitors center we met Tom, who would be our guide for the tour of the winery and caves. He was soon giving us a fascinating Schramsberg history lesson, including the fact that Schramsberg sparkling wines have been served 72 times at the White House - most recently for the white tie dinner in honor of the state visit of Queen Elizabeth. Although I have visited many wineries, including others making sparkling wines, our guide's presentation on the classic méthode champenoise was very engaging and interesting. It's hard to believe that the earthquake-proof caves currently house 2.5 million bottles of sparkling Schramsberg (The large photo above is one of the walls of bottles of aging sparkling wine). The tour of the cool caves was especially enjoyable with the heat outdoors. The lessons in proper opening of a sparkling wine, and the proper serving temperature, were fun and educational.

The tastings, conducted by candlelight in the caves, were great. We were each given four good-sized flutes of the excellent selections of various Chardonnay-based Blanc de Blancs and Pinot Noir-based Reserve, Blanc de Noirs and Brut Rosé. Each was exceptional, and I now join my sister as a major fan of the Schramsberg Vineyards. Our experience at Schramsberg is one of the best I've had at any winery I've ever visited.

After the heat, the wine, and the long afternoon we decided it best to head back to Benicia for our naps before Ed needed to start preparing his seven course meal. When we arrived at the house, AJ had returned from work and he presented Ed a special gift bottle of Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon to be served with dinner - which had been delivered via FedEx earlier that morning.

We had a wonderful evening. Our meal began with an antipasti of Pizzeti con carciofi, salami and a selection of olives. The primi piatti was a Ribollita followed by Linguini al pesto. An amazing Chicken Parmigiana was our secondi, with a contorni of Spinachi con pinole e uva passa. The insalata mista prepared us for the final course. Our dolce was goat cheese turnovers with honey and pistachios - served with a properly chilled Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2001.

I do think it was the first time I had ever completed a dinner at 1:00 a.m.

(A few more photos of this trip are posted here)

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

I'll be speaking at the 20th annual PortlandCommunity College Art Beat on Thursday

Today, May 7, marks the start of Portland Community College's 20th annual Art Beat Week. I will be speaking about my 30-year graphic design career, and various aspects of identity design, Thursday, May 10 at 10:00 a.m. in the Little Theater on the Sylvania Campus - 1200 S.W. 49th Avenue, Portland, OR 97219.

The celebration of art, dance, music, literature and theater includes dozens of events at all three PCC campuses and the Southeast Center. All events are free, and all are welcome. Even parking is free during Art Beat Week. Schedules of activities may be found at the following venue links: Cascade • Rock Creek • Southeast Center • Sylvania.

In addition to the scheduled speakers and presentations, each year PCC acquires a piece of work from an area artist to add to the Art Beat collection. The paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, textiles and photography are usually dispersed among the PCC campuses and not always easy to view. This year, to celebrate Art Beat's twentieth anniversary, PCC has brought together the entire collection. The Art Beat exhibition opens at Rock Creek and will then travel to the Sylvania and Cascade campuses - check the venue links above for exhibition dates and locations.

I look forward to meeting any local graphic design professionals and students. Stop by and introduce yourself if you attend my presentation.

Poster design by Linnea Noreen Gruber

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

A simple garden trellis project

The renovation of our garden continues. When Joy Creek Nursery had to remove an old rhododendron from what will become an outdoor kitchen area, a beautiful purple clematis lost its natural trellis. The old rhody found a new home out in the Joy Creek gardens, after being the model for a pruning class. The clematis, and several other plants, sat above ground, basically bare root, for a couple months before finding new homes among the revised hardscape.

I couldn't find trellises that I liked for the clematis. Most cost several hundred dollars and had patterns I didn't really want incorporated into our gardenscape. I roughed out a design on my computer for a set of trellises to be made out of copper pipe. My partner, Ed, previously made an arbor in a similar manner several years ago when he was practicing his copper pipe work prior to re-plumbing our home.

The trellises were designed to be approximately five feet wide and stand a total of five feet above the surface of the garden bed.

The materials needed for one trellis are:

• 8 pieces of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 24 inch lengths (you will want to use the thickest 1/2 inch pipe for added strength)

• 8 pieces of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 20 inch lengths

• 2 pieces of 1/2 inch copper pipe cut to 12 inch lengths

• 2 copper corner joints for 1/2 inch pipe

• 10 copper "tee" joints for 1/2 pipe

• 2 pieces of 3/8 inch rebar cut to 4 foot lengths

• 1 piece 1/4 inch copper tubing 5 feet in length

• 2 small metal screws 1/2 to 5/8 inches in length

The tools needed include:

• a handheld pipe cutter (available at the hardware store)

• the necessary solder and soldering equipment

• steel wool, sandpaper or a tool made for roughing up the pipe surfaces to be joined

• a container of flux and the necessary brush for "painting" it on the copper tubing

• a pair of gloves with a non-skid palm surface for assistance in holding the pipe while it is being cut

I cut all the copper lengths. On the flat surface of my patio, I then prefit all the pieces together to make sure all were correct and my trellis was going to be square. Ed then help me rough up all services that were to be soldered, but flux on both surfaces to be joines and soldered the frame at each joint. (many home improvement websites and books have great detail about the soldering process.)

I then formed the 5 foot length of 1/4 copper tubing into a spiral shape to serve as the centerpiece design element of the trellis. Spirals and swirls are patterns that have been repeated throughout our home in light fixtures, switchplate covers, light fixtures, fabrics, glassware, eating/serving utensils, dishes, interior art, garden art and elsewhere. Where the tubing was to meet the frame, I crimped the tubing flat with plyers and then drilled a hole (just smaller than the selected screws) through the flattened tupping and the "tee" joint where the swirl would be joined to the frame. The swirl was then screwed tightly into place.

Two pieces of rebar were then stuck about 1 foot into the ground at the distance determined by the width of the finished trellis. The finished trellis end pieces, or legs, where then forced over the rebar and pushed down to ground level. The previously homeless clematis was then planted in front of the trellis and I wove the new growth through the copper trellis frame.

The process was then duplicated for a second matching trellis. The plants seem very happy with their new homes - and I have trellises that also serve as garden art. I was thrilled that the finished trellises cost about $50 a piece in materials - due in part to the fact we already had the soldering supplies in our personal tool library - and were only a project of a few hours.

Note: You might also want to check out my copper and bronze hose guard project.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives