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Do You Have a Swing on Your Property?

CasaSugar — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:30:00 -0700

Lately I am loving swings hung indoors, like the one in Padma Lakshmi's home. But really nothing beats an old swing hung from a sturdy tree outside. I love the idle oscillation of a heavy wooden bench. It's a great place to read or chat with a friend. Do you have one?

Name This Tree

CasaSugar — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:30:00 -0700

I spotted this tree, which had been trained along a fence to grow low and long, instead of tall and bushy, at the Sunset magazine kitchen garden. This tree yields delicious Mediterranean fruit, and doesn't grow in colder climates. Can you guess what it is?

How-To: Dispose of Your Christmas Tree

CasaSugar — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:00:18 -0800

Unless you have an artificial Christmas tree or none at all, you'll need to safely dispose of your live tree after the holidays. First things first: Don't burn it in your fireplace! This can contribute to creosote buildup in your chimney, and most Christmas trees will dangerously pop and spark in a fire.

You have several ways to recycle your tree, which I wrote about here.

Beyond that, you have several other options. Most towns offer curbside tree pickup for a few weeks following Christmas. Call or Google your municipal office for info. Many nonprofits, such as the Boy Scouts, offer pickup services for a small donation, like $5. Look out for fliers around town for these services or search for them online. Or, drive your tree to a dropoff recycling center; most counties have several locations. Next year, considering getting a live, rooted tree, which you can then plant in your yard after Christmas!
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Midday Muse: Alternative Christmas Trees

CasaSugar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:00:35 -0800

I simply adore this alternative two-dimensional Christmas tree made by All the Luck in the World out of useless but pretty objects she's collected over the years. It's a work of pure genius, absolutely beautiful . . . not to mention mind-bogglingly precise and free of pesky needles to vacuum. As much as I adore this unusual creation, it's got me thinking about how much I'd miss having a live tree if an alterna-tree were all I had. The smell of the needles, the glow of Christmas lights, the tradition of hanging ornaments, though not necessarily a work of art, are all part of the experience that makes me look forward to Christmas. What are your thoughts? Do you have an alterna-tree?
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Guess What Type of Tree This Is?

CasaSugar — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:00:17 -0800

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is eight tons and 72 feet tall. Can you tell me what type of evergreen it is?

Have You Decorated Your Tree Yet?

CasaSugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:00:57 -0800

Some families head out to the tree farm or the neighborhood tree lot the day after Thanksgiving. We usually wait for the first weekend of December to find our perfect tannenbaum. Have you, like 30 Rock's Tracy Jordan, found your tree and decked it out yet? Or are you still biding your time? Photo courtesy of NBC

Fall Garden: Scarlet Jewell Maple

CasaSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:30:00 -0700

If, like me, one of your favorite parts of Fall is taking in the gorgeous colors of leaves, you might want to consider purchasing trees for your yard that are known for their Fall colors. For instance, if you love brilliant, fiery red tones, you might want to check out the Scarlet Jewell, a variety of maple tree that gives you bright red color typically two weeks ahead of other maple trees. Growing to a height of 70 feet and a width of 30 feet, its leaves are dark green in the Summer, and it grows in zones 3-7, preferring moist, slightly acidic soil.

To find out more about this maple, read more.

And as an added bonus, the Scarlet Jewell also showcases tiny, bright red flowers each Spring. This gorgeous tree was selected in northern Minnesota by Terry Schwartz of Bailey Nurseries, and is grown exclusively by that nursery as well. It's only available at independent garden centers across the country, so check mom and pop operations in your neighborhood for this tree. If you have garden catalog lust, you can also check out the Bailey Nurseries catalog here, and save a tree!

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Midday Muse: Rogue Knitters Strike Again

CasaSugar — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:00:18 -0700

Remember when I told you about the woman who knitted sweaters for trees? Seems like someone in my neighborhood was inspired by her work. I found this well-bundled tree outside of a cafe in Berkeley. I love this type of guerrilla art; it's so much more, well, cozy than tagging, don't you think?

Steal of the Day: Gump's Branch Lamp

CasaSugar — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:15:43 -0700

For those of you who, like me, don't mind a little of the forest setting up shop in your living room, then this Gump's Branch Lamp (normally $495, on sale for $294.99) is a find indeed. Exclusive to the store, this floor lamp adds a hint of nature to your home without screaming trendy. This delicate sapling of a lamp is hand cast from brass with realistic bark detailing and a dark bronze finish. I'm loving it's subtle earthiness. How about you?

Artist of the Day: Carol Hummel

CasaSugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:00:45 -0700

An overt sign that the growing crochet trend has been taken to new heights, literally, is artist Carol Hummel's Tree Cozy. As part of a two-year exhibition of eight works by sculptors in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Hummel crocheted a cozy with brightly colored nylon and synthetic material for a tree in front of Cleveland Heights City Hall, which wouldn't impede "the growth of the tree or [harm] wildlife." In her artist statement, Hummel refers to the tree cozy as "an emphatically handmade blanket representing femininity and comfort" which covers "a natural object representing masculinity and strength," a piece that personifies the tree "keeping it cozy and colorful throughout the year, enhancing the beauty of nature," and evokes "memories of bygone times and places when life was good," as well as "softens the strong tree form while also emphasizing it." She says, "The cozy covering the tree fluctuates between comforting blanket and suffocating cover-up; it conceals as much as it protects; it hides as much as it reveals." Tree Cozy was on display from 2005 through 2008, and landed Hummel an award as the winner of the Heights Public Art Competition. There's more to learn and see about this project, so read more.

Hummel has also "cozied" a companion tree in India to the one in Ohio, bound another tree in India with rope, was commissioned to crochet a tree in Orlando, Florida, macraméd a mountain in Utah, and has also been known to dress trees in underwear. Hummel's Cleveland Heights Tree Cozy, which took her 500 hours and the use of a hydraulic lift, recently spawned a tree crochet movement in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which has become a community art project and conversation piece, "made up of panels of yarn knitted individually by residents and visitors alike."

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