Garden.

So we've all seen the cinderblock garden on Pinterest (originally from Apartment Therapy).  I have been unfathomably obsessed with this idea for one main reason: I have two children, with floppy ears, wagging tails and sloppy tongues (oh and did I mention GIANT paws) which love to destroy all things beautful, mediocre or ugly.  We nicknamed the younger of the two DOT (Destroyer of Things), and she lives up to her name with gusto.

Of course the root of this problem, as with all problems with dogs, started with us.  In our search for assets in our life, we discovered that Indiana was the most efficient weed puller.  We got to the point where all we had to do was wiggle each weed, and in seconds it was out of the ground and onto the pile, and we didn't even sweat a drop.  Unfortunately, the habit was much too fun to keep within the realm of garden chores, and suddenly every strip of pipe from the watering system was torn from the ground, every daisy was uprooted, and several beautiful bushes... aren't so beautiful anymore.   We doomed ourselves to having a horrid yard because we were lazy, and Indiana was just having so much fun!

So here I am, in a new house, in a much more urban area, with a cute little yard which I am entirely in charge of, and by all means, it will be able to welcome more than a Mars Rover when I am done with it.

Now that I've shared a little bit of background, I hope it becomes evident why the cinder block garden idea was the perfect project for me, and my only slightly ridiculous family issues.  First, it is the perfect garden for a small space!  It builds upwards, instead of outwards, and only requires a little bit of soil and water.   Second, the majority of the garden is off of the ground, and away from where my cute little Destroyers can reach it.  Third, the idea is entirely customizable.  If you can play Tetris, you can build this garden, and even better, if you love aerosol art, nothing couples that love better than plain cinder block.

So, here's the beginning of my project, obviously it has some major touching up, and planting that needs to go down, but you get the idea.

Finally we finished painting and stacking the blocks.  When you put the wall together, make sure to put Liquid Nails on the tops and bottoms of the blocks, but also the sides.  We didn't start out putting the glue between the touching sides of the blocks, and when we decided to use more glue it became ten times sturdier.  My husband keeps making sure I'm willing to leave this behind when we move someday, because it is a strong piece of thing!

On Apartment Therapy, they suggested to cut down block and use Liquid Nails to stop up the bottoms. Many other bloggers have said they just used wire mesh.  Because of the artwork we added to the idea, I wanted to be sure the dirt would not leak out the bottom and soil (no pun intended) the underlying bricks.  Cutting wood is easier, so we did that.  Just a couple of the scrap boards from Home Depot.  If you buy their culled wood it's only 51 cents a piece.

For the stenciling, I simply cut a few doilies out of paper, just like you would make a paper snow flake. I first sprayed down the blue, then used spray adhesive on the doily.  I stuck the doily onto the blue spot after the paint dried, then sprayed over it with red, making sure not to let the paint pool.  When stenciling, make sure to spray strait on, so you don't get mist under the stencil.  I got a little bit.

Here's the almost finished project, after the boards set in, the glue tried, I touched up some sections of paint, and filled the holes with soil!

Since I'm planting succulents, I'm debating on using some of the gravel from my yard, to ad that deserty feeling, and also to tie the planter into the already existing design.

Will post more photographs when I finally strap up the baby and go on a plant purchasing trip!