If you are new here, welcome! I’ve got creative and frugal home and garden ideas for you.
Please, dig in and have a look around.
My Garden
Here’s the Scoop—
I am Melissa J. Will, also known as the Empress of Dirt ♛, and I share creative and frugal home and (mostly) garden DIY projects and ideas, with an emphasis on the organic and thrifty help I needed when I was starting out.
For plant and growing information, I rely on facts and scientific research, not the ever popular myths and wives’ tales that spread online like a virus.
For projects and DIY, I like it creative, useful, and thrify.
If you are interested in my own rocky start as a new gardener,you can read more here.
What You Will Discover
I focus on three main things:
Grow
GROW | Organic growing tips and tricks
MAKE | Easy DIY projects using unwanted or thrifty household stuff
IDEAS | Galleries of ideas to get your creativity flowing
Looking for Something?
There is a magnifying glass at the top of every page for searching the site, or you can dive in right here:
Idea Bank
Got some random old thing you want to make into garden art? The Idea Bank lets you search by item, listing available project instructions.
Whether it’s a rusty watering can, scraps of wood, burlap, or beer cans, there’s always a nice life for old stuff.
T-Shirts for Gardeners
Want to Join Me on this Creative Journey?
I’d love to have you along for the ride.
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Want Detailed Instructions?
ebook topics include garden art making, hand-dyeing fabrics, hand-painting shoes, and growing salads.
Love Checklists?
Free printables include handy checklists for garden tasks and home organization.
It’s time to get creative!
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
Love all the good info and good helpful advise,Having a hard time about info about clematis,do you wait till the flowers get brown before you snip them off, to get new growth?
Hi Violet,
Good question! Every type of clematis is different. Some are never pruned. You’ll need to know which type you have to decide the best care. This may help: https://empressofdirt.net/clematis-101-easy-care-guide-really/
Hello Melissa!
I am a new Master Gardener, and our local group is publishing a small book describing flowers that grow well in our area (East Tennessee near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park). I am writing a brief article about Clematis and have found your website very helpful. May I mention its name and address in the article? Thanks!
Yes, a mention with a credit link is always welcome. Glad you found it helpful. Thanks!
I have a pond how do you cleanup the water without chemicals?
Hi Nancy, This is how I do it. It works for small ponds (under 1000 gallons): https://empressofdirt.net/clean-murky-pond-water/
Hi, I’m new to your blog, and I’m enjoying everything about it. From the awesome name, to the gardens, garden art and the adorable pictures of the Empress of Dirt. So happy I subscribed. Thank you.
Lovely to have you here! Thank you, Roxanne. 🙂
Where do u get your bowling balls from
Hi Doris,
1. Call bowling alleys and ask if they give old ones away or sell them.
2. Check thrift shops.
3. Check yard sales. I look at the online listings, searching specifically for bowling balls.
4. Check auctions.
5. Ask friends or neighbours if they have any they do not need.
Good luck!
Can I plant sunflower seeds in mid June in Phoenix? Planting in really large pots? Please suggest type and where to purchase? These pots are planted the rest of the year with various florals! I often wonder why we do not see sunflowers everywhere here? I have approx. 30 large container pots! Thanks in advance for your help!
Hi Patti, I have no advice for gardening in Phoenix (I’m in Canada with a completely different climate). Always best to ask at a local garden nursery or garden club or ask a neighbour who has a garden you admire and ask their advice. Good luck!
Just planted a City of Leon clematis bulb and wondering if it will grow enough to to bloom this year. Can’t find it on any of your lists so really have no info. Picture is beautiful. Thanks for any info you can provide.
Hi Lynne, I don’t know that one. Perhaps you will find info about it here: https://garden.org/plants/group/clematis/
I did large round bowls with the glass babbles. It was a nightmare. I used the glue E6000. The babbles drifted everywhere. I then had to tape them down. I can’t wait to find out how you do it. Marcy
Hi Marcy, I have great results with the adhesive and method shown here: https://empressofdirt.net/gardenballs/
2011 to now you have done quite a bit to make it look good. I too started this in 2011 and have a six acre garden that her Majesty would love. I have enjoyed rambling through your dig in pages. Always out for new ideas . Some stature in Roman Gods decorate my garden pool but here winter is so hard it killed all my roses. Summer is so hot it is completely upside down. Gardening on the edge is hard work and skill to know what to expect and how to avoid it helps. Came over from England where National Trust had more than a hand in my home being taken off me. 1000 years in my family with gardens Royal designed in 1679. Hard pill to take but there we are house and gardens in Latvia now
What a sad story, but glad you are one to look for the positive. We never know what lies ahead…so just enbrace life as it comes! Keep your helmet on whilst you roll into your next adventure of building your own new and unique future, making it your very own! All the best! Pray as you grow!
Hello Melissa , I love you post, all of them ! I’ve been following you for over year now ! Can’t wait til this summer to try your ideals 😊 thank you so much for what you do .
Very kind of you, thank you, Billie!
Hello Melissa, I just joined and am so excited to start looking around, and seeing things I might be able to try. I am, by the way, the Queen of dirt. lol I really enjoyed your story about the gnome. I have a similar story,(kind of). I came home from work one day, and found a little man (gnome) near my pond. Well, I was hooked. My dad had left it , along with a beautiful piece of driftwood. Along one side of my home, is a row of pine trees. The branches are about 3 feet from the ground. That is my gnome village.Something is added every year. Wish you could see it.It includes a (homemade) pond,mushrooms,gnome houses,gnomes climbing the pine trees,a gnome in a hammock.My father gave me a gnome size door with windows that light at night(solar). Of course, lots of flowers.It’s my greatest pleasure next to my pond, and my “fairy room” I’m not very good with the computer and photos, but I will get my daughter to help me take a pic this summer if you would like to see it. Seems like we are kindred spirits. Thank you for this site, and I can’t wait to see all your creations. I’m so excited.
Lovely to have you here, Dudie. Happy gardening!
Dear Empress,
Last summer 2016, I used the batting method you suggested and my pond has never been more clear! I’ve had my pond for over 8 years and used quite a few chemicals, helpful hints and gadgets, but this was the best, simplest and very inexpensive!! I will continue to use it. Thank you!!
That’s fabulous, Lou Ann. Thank you for letting me know.
Lots of wonderful, doable ideas!
Very cool
Please enter my in your contest to win the books!