Tag Archives: Schnarr’s Hardware

Let’s Purge the Spurge! Part 1

August 25, 2017GardeningEuphorbia maculata, Prostrate Spurge, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, weed control, weedingchasenfratz

One of my frequent landscaping tasks in summer is weeding at clients’ properties. Many of the weeds can be hand-pulled, but on a recent occasion there was such an abundance of Prostrate Spurge (Euphorbia maculata) that it was hopeless to try to pull it in a reasonable amount of time.

Read about how we decided to deal with the Spurge on the Schnarr’s Hardware Blog!

At the left is a spurge-infested patch, and on the right is how it looks after the soil is turned over with a spade. Since we are not going to plant anything here, we don’t need to take the time to break up the clay chunks – nature will do the job over time.

Make Laundry Detergent From Soap Bar Scraps

August 10, 2017Conservation, Upcyclingborax, DIY, frugal, laundry soap, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, soap scraps, sustainablechasenfratz

When a bar of soap gets worn down and is near the end of its usefulness, it’s considerably less appealing than when it was new. The scent has faded, it’s brittle or soggy – time to throw it out, right? Do you have some soap bars you don’t like? Do you have a collection of little motel soaps that you don’t know what to do with? You could throw these soaps out, but I prefer to save up my soap scraps and make them into laundry soap.

Read about how to do it on the Schnarr’s Hardware Blog.

Help – My Pond is Full of Algae!

July 30, 2017Conservation, Gardeningaerobic bacteria, algae, algae removal, algaecide, aquatic plants, beneficial bacteria, biological filtration, fountain, hair algae, keeping ponds clean, lava rock, pond, pond algae, pond maintenance, pond water filtration, pond water quality, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, St. Louis Master Gardeners, water feature, water gardenchasenfratz

This is the time of year when small lakes, ponds and water gardens sometimes get green “pea soup” water or mats of algae floating on the surface. The limiting factors for algae growth are mainly food and sunlight. If you can reduce the amount of sunlight and nutrients getting into the water, you can reduce algae growth in your water feature.

Read more on the Schnarr’s blog! Help – My Pond is Full of Algae!

Handmade greeting cards with geometric designs

June 9, 2017Paper Crafts, Rubber Stamping@JoAnn, @TimHoltz, #handmadewithjoann, congratulations rubber stamp, greeting card, handmade congratulations cards, handmade greeting cards, JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts, paper crafting, paper crafts, rubber stamp, rubber stamping, Schnarr's Hardware, Schnarr's Ladue, vellum paperchasenfratz

Handmade greeting cards made with hexagon paper punches

To design these handmade cards, first from assorted paper scraps I punched out a whole bunch of hexagons in two sizes. I used a lot of geometric patterns and for extra interest some vellum paper printed with black and gold designs. Then I cut out some 1″ wide strips of paper and stamped on the the word “congratulations” from a rubber stamp set made by Tim Holtz.

To the front of my cards, I added other paper accents then glued everything down with glue sticks. I’m pleased with how a touch of translucency here and there from the vellum paper helps add some depth and interest to the simple card designs.

The cards you see here are currently offered for sale in the shipping department at Schnarr’s Hardware in Ladue, MO.

Aquatic Macro Invertebrates at Litzinger Road Ecology Center

June 3, 2017Conservation, Gardening, Outdoor Funaquatic insects, aquatic invertebrates, backyard wildlife, crawdads, crawfish, crayfish, Deer Creek, Litzinger Road Ecology Center, LREC, Master Gardener Program, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Stream Team, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, St. Louis Master Gardenerschasenfratz

Mother crawdad with babies — I used my childhood crawdad catching skills to hand-catch the most “Macro” invertebrate of the day – a large mother crawdad with tiny babies clinging to the underside of her tail. We released all the animals back into the water after we had a look at them.

Aquatic Macro Invertebrates are animals without a backbone that live in water and can be seen with the naked eye. I’ve had an interest in these creatures ever since I can remember. When I was young I caught a variety of water invertebrates such as water beetles, clams, crawdads and snails and attempted to maintain them in my aquariums. I was thrilled when my brother’s aquarium started to grow hydra even though they predate on tiny fish, because I’d read about them but never thought I’d see any. I currently have small colonies of freshwater shrimp in three of my aquariums. Many aquatic invertebrates are insects that live part of their life cycles in water but have an adult flying stage.

When the Litzinger Road Ecology Center offered a training workshop for volunteers on how Aquatic Macro Invertebrates are used to monitor water quality, of course I had to attend. Master Naturalist and Stream Team member Cliff Parmer taught us some Aquatic Entomology facts then we went outside to Deer Creek to learn how to take a scientific sample of water invertebrates.

Read more on the Schnarr’s Blog: Aquatic Macro Invertebrates at Litzinger Road Ecology Center

Bringing color into a shady spot

June 3, 2017Gardeningannuals for shade, colorful shade plants, foliage plants for shade, gardening in shade, perennials for shade, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, shade garden design, shade gardening, spring ephemeralschasenfratz

Columbines with Liriope and “Gold” Creeping Jenny groundcover.

I recently had a client ask me how to get more color into his shady yard. If you have a lot of shade in your garden and want a lot of color, that’s a challenge. Most flowering shade plants don’t bloom as heavily as plants for sun. Here are some ideas to help you get some color even with this limitation.

Read more on the Schnarr’s blog: Bringing color into a shady spot

MSD’s Project Clear and Our Local Water Issues

May 19, 2017Conservationdownspout, flood damage, flood prevention, gray water, green infrastructure, greenscaping, lowering sewer bills, managing runoff, Metropolitan Sewer District, MSD, Project Clear, rain garden, rainscaping, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, sewage, sewers, St. Louis, St. Louis County, St. Louis Missouri, wastewater management, water damage, water qualitychasenfratz

The Metropolitan Sewer District has been working hard on outreach to inform the public about Project Clear. In their own words, Project Clear is the “planning, design and construction of MSD’s initiative to improve water quality and alleviate many wastewater concerns in the St. Louis region.” MSD operates in both St. Louis City and County.

What are some examples of wastewater concerns in our region? Flooding, erosion, water pollution and sewer backups are some issues that affect many of our neighbors if not ourselves. MSD deals with both stormwater, which is intended to discharge directly into the natural environment, and wastewater, which needs to be treated at a wastewater treatment plant before release. MSD is undertaking large scale projects right now that are estimated to take 23 years to complete.

Read more on the Schnarr’s blog: schnarrsblog.com

Do you have discarded woody plant material? Try making a Bonsai!

May 19, 2017Gardening, Upcyclingbonsai trees, container plants, growing bonsai, Japanese gardening styles, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardwarechasenfratz

This sad-looking bush would a make a nice bonsai!

Sometimes plants that don’t look right for their intended purpose can be suitable for Bonsai. For example, this Privet bush (Ligustrum vulgare ‘Cheyenne’) was removed and replaced because it didn’t look right in the hedge where it had been growing.

Read more on the Schnarr’s blog: schnarrsblog.com

How to Raise Mealworms For Your Backyard Birds

March 15, 2017Conservation, Gardening, Tutorialsbackyard bird feeding, backyard birds, backyard wildlife, beetle larvae, dried mealworms, Eastern Bluebird, how to raise mealworms, insect life stages, larvae, live food for birds, mealworm beetles, mealworms, pupae, raise your own bird food, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardwarechasenfratz

Life stages of the mealworm beetle in my hand – one larva, two pupae and one adult

Late winter and early spring are good seasons to attract desirable bird species to your yard. Birds are not brooding eggs yet because they need to wait until later in spring when there is enough insect food to feed their young. However, they are now engaged in, well, getting engaged! In other words many birds are scouting out nest sites and selecting mates if they haven’t done that already. Some of the most sought-after backyard bird species are heavy insect eaters. Raising live mealworms is so easy, I started by accident!

Read more on the Schnarr’s Hardware blog:
How to Raise Mealworms For Your Backyard Birds

How to recycle candle scraps and stubs

March 11, 2017Home Decor, Tutorials, Upcyclingbug repelling candles, candle making, Gulf Wax, how to melt wax, insect repelling candles, melting wax, outdoor candles, outdoor living space, patio candles, refilling votive candles, reusing scrap candles, scented candles, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, votive candles, wax candleschasenfratz

Votive candles made from scraps of old candles

To learn how to make interesting candles out of old candle scraps and stubs, read my new article on the Schnarr’s Hardware blog – Make Old Wax Candles Into New Candles

Carolyn Hasenfratz Design

Living the creative life with art, design, crafts, gardening, home decor and more!