Ask This Old House

Kevin: On "Ask This Old House," our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house.

Today, our crew earns a badge in gardening when they share everything they know about raised garden beds... Jenn: Aww!

I love it!

Kevin: ...Tom gives me a crash test in geometry as we create a one-of-a-kind herb planter.

Girl Scouts.

This is why you need to stay in school.

Plus, Jenn and Nathan work with a few smart cookies, refreshing the garden beds of a local Girl Scout troop.

That's all coming up next on "Ask This Old House."

Nathan: I got into Boy Scouts at a really young age, starting with Cub Scouts.

I was a Scout pretty much my entire childhood.

Cub Scouts is more focused on just kind of, like, the beginning skills, kind of getting an idea of how to cook safely, how to be around fires, how to handle knives, um, you know, some basic first-aid skills.

As a Boy Scout, that's when you really get into the merit badges.

There are certain required ones, and then there's certain kind of elective ones that are more for fun.

The required ones, those focus more, like, how does the government work, first aid, swimming, lifesaving.

Eagle Scout is the highest rank in Boy Scouts.

For my Eagle Scout project, I took a catalog of veterans in a certain cemetery in my town, and it was all just on paper, and I turned that into a digital file.

And so once I typed all those names in, where they were located, we gave the digital file over to the American Legion.

They have a copy of it.

I have a copy of it.

And then also we picked up the old markers that needed to be replaced and put down new markers.

So when you go up to the stone, you can see, okay, this guy was a veteran -- new marker, new flag.

And every year, the Boy Scout troop swaps out the flags.

So, going through Boy Scouts, you learn a lot about everything.

And a lot of that does carry on with you later in life.

First one definitely be leadership.

That's really what they want you to learn.

They want -- They want you to be a leader in some form.

Self-sufficiency was a really big thing that I learned in the Boy Scouts, and that's something that without a doubt has gone with me for the rest of my life -- how to handle situations, how to control situations.

It's the leadership.

It's the self-sufficiency.

It's how to talk to people.

You know, when you're a kid, when you're a Boy Scout, you have to talk to adults, and it's not easy to, but, you know, you try.

And then when you get into the Navy, you have to go up the chain of command.

And when you've been in long enough, you have to go down the chain of command.

You know, those are all little life lessons that I picked up in Boy Scouts that have helped me a lot over the years.

I think when my daughters are old enough I'll definitely introduce them to Scouts.

Hopefully I have a great troop in town that I can bring them over to and get them introduced and let them see what they think of it.

So, I do have some family still in Scouts.

My dad's still the troop leader, and also a couple towns away, my niece Audrey is in a Girl Scout troop and she's a Brownie.

And then my sister also helps out with that troop as a leader.

I think my niece is really enjoying it.

You know, she is a very hands-on person, loves to learn, loves to read, loves to get her hands dirty.

You know, she's really a well-rounded kid.

And I think that, you know, Girl Scouts is perfect for her.

Things that I hope, you know, Audrey takes away from the Scouts would just be, you know, leadership, confidence, you know, thinking outside the box.

Hopefully she takes some good communication skills away from it.

You know, just solid, simple things.

I just want people to know that Scouts is still out there.

You know, there's still a lot of lessons to be learned and a lot of fun to be had.

And it doesn't hurt to seek out a local troop and see if you can join.

[ Indistinct conversation ] Tom: I'm trying to think.

Kevin: You don't know, do you?

Nathan: Good morning, guys.

Jenn: Oh.

Good morning.

Kevin: How are you?

Nathan: So, I got a really cool video from my sister.

My niece is a Girl Scout in a Brownie troop, and they sent over this video, and I think you guys want to take a look at this.

Kevin: Okay.

Tom: Okay.

Kevin: Everyone in the family is the Scouts.

Tom: Look at that.

Scouts: Hi, "Ask This Old House"!

Audrey: Hi, Uncle Nate!

Jenn: Aww!

Tom: That's great.

Scout 1: These are our garden beds.

Scout 2: We built them a few years ago.

Tom: Oh.

Jenn: [ Laughs ] Scout 3: They are in very rough shape.

Kevin: Yes, they are.

Tom: A few weeds there, too.

Jenn: Yeah, just a couple.

Scout 4: They're growing weeds like crazy.

Scout 5: The wood's getting all splintery.

Scouts: Can you help us?!

Tom: Oh, yeah.

Kevin: Unbelievable.

Jenn: Okay, if there's a cry of help, that's one of 'em.

Kevin: Yeah.

What's cuter than a bunch of Brownies, huh?

We got to help them out there.

Jenn, it's gardening, so it's kind of your thing.

Jenn: Well, I think that there could be new raised planter beds, maybe new wood.

Maybe they stay in the same footprint but just dress it up a little bit.

And looked like there were some perennials amongst the weeds, so maybe we could reuse some of them or give the rest away to people.

But I think it needs something, like an accent piece.

Kevin: Something we could build?

And when I say "we"... Jenn: That's why I'm kind of like, "Something."

Kevin: When I say "we," I mean, you know... Jenn: Something, like, maybe for an herb garden.

Tom: I'll think about it.

Yeah.

Jenn: You up for it?

Tom: Yeah, absolutely.

Kevin: So if you guys handle kind of what's there, get the materials for what you need, maybe we think about something new?

Does that work?

Jenn: Deal.

Kevin: Alright.

Good.

Tom: Works for me.

Kevin: They're gonna pay in cookies, right?

Jenn: I hope so.

Tom: I love Girl Scout cookies.

Kevin: Alright, Tommy.

An herb garden.

What is the maestro thinking?

Tom: Alright, well, I'm thinking a little different.

Something like a hexagon... Kevin: Hm.

Tom: ...with a hexagon inside it.

Kevin: Hmm!

Tom: And then little planters around the exterior of the center hexagon.

Kevin: That's funny 'cause I was thinking square.

[ Laughs ] But okay.

It's for the Girl Scouts.

Let's jazz it up a little bit.

Tom: Yeah, exactly.

Let's start with a circle.

Now, a hexagon has six equal sides.

So, if I take the radius of the circle and space it out six equal times around the circle, I'll get my hexagon.

So these are equilateral triangles.

Kevin: Equilateral.

All three sides of a triangle are equal.

Tom: Exactly.

Kevin: That's an equilateral triangle.

Tom: Exactly.

Kevin: So if we want to make a planter that is this diameter, what are you thinking in terms of total size?

Tom: Alright.

So, let's say 40 inches.

Kevin: Okay.

Tom: Diameter is 40".

Half of that is 20".

Kevin: Gotcha.

Tom: So that means we have 20", 20"... Kevin: Ohh!

There's our outside cut.

Tom: That's our outside cut.

Kevin: So now we need one, two, three, four, five, six pieces.

About 20 inches.

We just have to figure out the miter.

Tom: Okay.

The miter.

Now, inside the circle -- 360 degrees, 6 equal parts.

That's 60 degrees.

60 degrees is right here.

Kevin: Every one of those inside is 60.

Tom: Every one of these are 60 degrees.

Okay?

Now, because of the way the miter saw cuts angles, if you want to make a 60-degree angle on a board, you need to set the saw at 30 degrees to make that cut.

Kevin: Right, because zero degrees on a miter saw is actually at a 90-degree angle to the piece.

Tom: Correct.

Kevin: So you're going to have six pieces cut at 20 inches long with two 30-degree angles on the outside?

Tom: Exactly.

Kevin: Girl Scouts, this is why you need to stay in school.

I have an MBA, and that's -- my head's melting.

[Laughs] How do you know -- Tom: This is fun stuff.

Kevin: Let's do it.

Tom: Alright.

Alright.

So... set my saw at 30 degrees.

I'm using cedar because it's rot-resistant.

I don't want to use pressure-treated because the chemicals will leach into the soil and get absorbed by the herbs.

Okay.

So now we flip it over.

I'll make it 20 and 1/8".

Long to long.

[ Saw buzzing ] Kevin: Alright.

Tom: Now, we could turn these miters, and they'd go the other way, but I'm going to do a lapped miter, basically.

That way, it'll be easier to join the boards together with screws.

Want to pre-drill those holes.

Less chance of splitting the wood.

Kevin: Hey.

Alright.

So, we've got ourselves one hexagon down.

That looks pretty cool.

Tom: Yeah.

Alright.

Now, that's the first one.

Now we have to build another one to fit inside.

Kevin: Oh, gosh.

Tom: It's a little bit tricky.

We have to think about it.

The hexagon inside has to be basically shorter than this piece.

From the long point here to the long point here, 20 and 1/8".

Kevin: Got it.

Tom: I now have to measure this side piece on the diagonal -- 1 and 3/4".

We take the 1 and 3/4" off the 20 and 1/8".

Kevin: 20 and 1/8 minus an 1 and 3/4 is... 18 and 3/8?

Tom: 3/8.

Kevin: Is that right?

Tom: 18 and 3/8, and that will be from long to long for this piece, this piece, that piece, and so on.

And that will give us our -- Kevin: That's why we have to cut them.

Tom: Right.

Now, another way you can figure it is... for this hexagon... is 3'4", or 40 inches.

Kevin: That was our diameter.

Tom: It's actually 40 and 1/4".

So that's our length.

Kevin: We cut that in half.

Tom: Right.

Kevin: 40 and 1/4.

20 and 1/8.

Tom: So to get the length for the inside ones, I would make a circle.

And this way, that is 36 and 3/4".

Divide that in half.

It's 18 and 3/8".

Kevin: I cannot wait for a Girl Scout cookie.

Let's just cut.

Tom: Alright.

Let's get them cut.

Kevin: Honestly, Tommy, I got very little -- Tom: No faith?

Kevin: No, I have all the faith in the world, but... the math and the geometry test you put me through here.

Tom: I always loved the challenge.

When I framed roofs and stuff like that, it was always fun.

Gazebos.

All kinds of stupid things.

Kevin: You know what I don't frame?

Tom: What?

Kevin: Roofs.

Tom: [ Laughs ] Kevin: Because of this.

Tom: Eh, it's nice.

It's fun.

Kevin: Oh, moment of truth.

Will it fit?

Tom: Oh, it's gonna fit.

Kevin: Oh, my gosh.

Tom: Look at that.

Kevin: Pythagoras Pops.

Tom: Pythagoras Pops.

Kevin: That really tightened it up.

Tom: Perfect.

Kevin: Alright.

Let's take a look.

There you go.

Wow!

Wow, Pops!

That looks terrific!

Cannot wait for the Girl Scouts to see this.

Tom: Now we just need Nathan to pick it up.

Kevin: Beautiful.

Well done.

Tom: Fun project.

Nathan: Tommy's planter looks incredible.

It's really going to be the centerpiece of this garden.

Jenn: It looks beautiful.

Nathan: Came out great.

So what's all this stuff in the back of the truck?

Jenn: Oh, that stuff.

So, I brought plants for different themes, for different garden beds.

Since there's going to be four different beds, I thought it'd be fun to have a theme for each of them.

So one -- butterfly plants.

Plants that attract butterflies.

Another one, I got a bunch of herbs so we could maybe put them in Tommy's planter.

I don't know.

We'll let the girls decide, yeah?

Nathan: Yeah.

That'll look great.

Jenn: Yeah, and then also got landscape fabric, which is a weed barrier we'll put at the bottom of the planters to deter weeds from coming up at the bottom.

And then also brought bags of -- It's a mixture of soil, compost, and fertilizer, all organic.

But just to get anything started, from whether it's vegetables, herbs, or cut flowers.

Nathan: So all these plants are really going to take off once we get them in the ground.

Jenn: Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Nathan: Perfect.

Well, I just spoke to my sister.

They're out there in front of the town hall.

They're waiting for us.

My niece is there.

All of the Girl Scouts, the leaders.

I think we just got to show up and get started.

Jenn: Your niece is there?

I cannot wait to meet her.

If she's anything like you.

You know.

Um...

But, yeah, their energy is going to be fantastic, and I really can't wait to work with them.

Nathan: It's going to be great.

Jenn: Yeah.

Nathan: Hi, Andrea.

Andrea: Hey, Nate.

Hey, Jenn.

Jenn: How are you?

Andrea: Good to see you.

Jenn: Good to see you.

Andrea: These are troop leaders, Jill and Tara.

Tara: Hi.

How are you?

Nathan: We got your awesome video, and we're very excited to be here.

Jenn: Yeah.

Loved it.

Why don't we walk through, check out the beds that you have?

Tell us what you want to change and what you want to do maybe.

Andrea: These are our garden beds.

They were built about 10 years ago by another troop.

Tara: We took them over about three years ago, and as you can see, the weeds have since taken over and the wood is extremely splintered.

Jenn: Well, what I see, there's a lot of good perennials, and I'm thinking we excavate them all out.

We could divide them, split them up, or give some away.

And then what do you think?

Nathan: I think we get a fresh start.

I brought some red cedar with me.

We'll reframe the beds and make them our own.

Jenn: So are the girls ready to work?

Andrea: They are!

Jenn: Alright.

Let's get the girls and the tools and do it.

Okay, girls, let's go start with this planter up front.

Scout: Okay.

What weeds are we supposed to pick?

Jenn: Well, we're going to pick everything out of here, but we'll take the weeds in one batch and then the perennials in the other batch.

Scout: So which ones are the perennials and which ones are we saving?

Jenn: Very good question.

So, I see a lot of perennials in this bed, and these are called daylilies.

And what we'll do is dig around them and pop them up.

And then this one is a geranium, but it looks like all these weeds are right in between.

So we could either use our hands or use shovels, okay?

Scout: How do we pull it out with our hands?

Jenn: Well, see, the thing with the perennials, we definitely need a shovel for that 'cause you want to get a good -- you want to get all the roots that are underneath.

And then we pop it out and we put it to the side.

Scout: Do we pull from the bottom of those weeds or do we pull from the top of them?

Jenn: That is a very good question because with weeds you want to get the roots out.

Scout: So you want this from the bottom, right?

Jenn: Yes.

So, I'll demonstrate.

It's kind of therapeutic.

I think it's fun.

So you can just use your hands and then just... just pull, pull.

And you try to get all the roots system up.

Scout: Should we just start?

Jenn: Yes.

Go for it.

Scout: Why are weeds bad?

Jenn: They're not necessarily bad, but sometimes -- Scout: Sometimes they make the plants die.

Jenn: Yeah, sometimes they compete with all the nutrients in the soil, and then they start to choke the good plants.

So they kind of invade your garden.

Scout: I like growing strawberries and watermelons.

Jenn: Oh, that's fun.

Scout: Oh, my God!

We got it!

Jenn: Yes!

Look at you guys!

Awesome!

Careful...

Put it on the blue.

Yes!

Look at you guys!

Aww.

I love it.

Would you like that?

Scout: Yeah.

Nathan: Let's get started with this corner box right here.

What we're going to do is we're going to work it in there and we're just going to pry these away.

Now, there's going to be nails that are going to come out with these boards, so we want to be really careful.

Alright.

So that's one.

Let's work our way this way.

Jenn: Perfect.

[ Indistinct conversation ] [ Jenn laughs ] Nathan: Give it a pry.

There you go.

Good job.

Alright.

Watch out for those nails.

Nice job, Audrey.

Alright.

Want to grab this?

Alright.

Nice and safe.

Thank you.

Keep wiggling it like a tooth.

Keep wiggling, wiggling, wiggling.

It'll pop out.

Good job.

Jenn: Hold it and jump on both of it.

Yeah.

And then put your other foot there and then jump.

Scout: Like that?

Jenn: That's so good.

Nathan: Alright.

This side's already loose, so all you need to do is one side.

Keep pulling.

Keep pulling.

Jenn: Teamwork.

Nathan: Nice job.

There you go.

Perfect.

Good job.

Let's hammer out those old rusty nails so the boards can be disposed of safely.

More.

Big swing.

Big swing.

Big swing.

Jenn: Very good.

Scout: Okay.

Now... Jenn: One, two, three.

Rah!

Ooh, ooh!

Careful!

[ Laughs ] Nathan: We're gonna start putting these boxes together.

Now, I already cut everything to length and I pre-drilled everything.

What we're gonna do is make two boxes -- one big one and one little one.

We'll put the big one in first, then we'll stack it with the smaller one.

Alright.

We're going to use some 3-inch stainless-steel screws.

These screws are really good because they won't rust or rot.

Good.

[ Scouts humming ] Alright!

There we go!

Scout: Now we just need more dirt.

Nathan: So let's wiggle it around.

What we need to do is we need to check and make sure it's square.

So we have just under 9 feet.

So now you go to that corner.

Hop back for me.

Alright.

Alright.

So we're stronger than 9 feet.

So we know that this needs to shrink this way to make that side grow a little bit longer.

Alright.

Alright.

Little bit of a push.

We only need to pick up about 1/8".

Alright.

Now go the other way.

Other corner.

Alright.

9 feet.

That's it.

Now we're square.

Now go ahead and pull that.

Perfect.

Good job.

So we just want to level it out.

[ Drill whirring ] Yep.

Put it right around that corner.

Nice.

So what we'll do now is we'll secure it to those corners.

Jenn: Alright.

Now let's put Tommy and Kevin's beautiful planter in place.

That looks so good, Nathan.

Nathan: I love it.

Tommy did a great job.

Jenn: Yeah!

Andrea: Hi, Nathan.

Hi, Jenn.

Jenn: Hi!

Andrea: We are back with another group of Girl Scouts.

These are our Daisies.

Nathan: Hey, everyone.

Jenn: Hi, Daisies.

Nathan: What do you guys think?

Daisies: Good.

Nathan: Good?

We're not done yet, though.

Jenn: So, since there's four planters, I was thinking that we could have a theme for each one.

So I was thinking butterfly garden, herb garden, sunflower garden, and... Nathan: Random one.

Jenn: Rando.

Totally random.

You guys get to pick whichever plant that you want to put in it, okay?

Daisies: Yeah!

Nathan: Let's get started.

Jenn: To get started, we need to fill in the rest of the beds with garden soil.

Normally I'd put a layer of landscape fabric underneath, but since these existing beds already have landscape fabric, we can skip this step.

Doesn't that feel so good?

Girl: Yeah.

Nathan: So I'm going to pull this one out.

Jenn: And then -- So can I put this one right here?

Girl: Yeah.

Jenn: This is called a butterfly bush.

Nathan: Oh, that's perfect.

Jenn: You guys!

This is looking so good!

Nathan: See, no one else gets to eat theirs.

We get to eat ours.

Jenn: Perfect!

Girl: Yay!

I got it out!

Jenn: So these are mammoth sunflowers, and you're supposed to plant them one inch deep.

We'll put them all in, and at the end, we'll put the soil over the top.

Believe it or not, these tiny, tiny, little seeds are going to get huge!

Perfect.

Give that one a good, good soaking.

Nathan: Alright, girls.

What do you think?

Girls: Awesome!

Nathan: Well, thank you so much for everything today.

You guys were a huge help.

Jenn: And I really liked how you put everything and placed everything in the beds.

You did a great job planting.

Andrea: Jenn and Nate, we can't thank you enough for coming out and doing this for us.

And when you see Tommy and Kevin, can you say thank you for us, as well, for the herb garden?

Nathan: We will.

We will.

Jenn: Absolutely.

They did a beautiful job, as well.

So, if you've got questions, keep them coming because we'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, I'm Jenn Nawada... Nathan: And I'm Nathan Gilbert for "Ask This Old House."

Jenn: So who's in charge of watering?

Girls: Me!

Kevin: Next time on "Ask This Old House"... have you been trying to brighten up your outdoor space?

Heath installs a set of patio lights.

Heath: You want the honors?

Woman: Yes, please.

Heath: Top button's on, bottom button's off.

Woman: Looks great.

Heath.

Wow.

Looks great.

Gotta tell you.

I'm really happy with the way this turned out.

Simple, fun DIY project.

Kevin: Then Mauro helps a homeowner paint metal cabinets in her 1950s vintage kitchen.

Woman: It looks like a perfect match.

Kevin: All that on "Ask This Old House."