I want to share something with you all. I have been doing this for many years now and thought someone could benefit by my idea. So we have 6 pine trees about 60 feet tall, 3 on either side of my drive, where we don't drive. They are beautiful and supply shade near my living room. You can't park there or sit there because of all the sap that drops from them. It is a very big mess. I wanted to put a tent or something there but came up with a much cheaper and larger idea. The area under the trees is 24 x 24. We bought 2 gray parachutes on Ebay for 26 dollars. They were 12 x 24. I laid them out on the open grass and cut the baffles out. Eight hours later I could open it to double the size. Yes, it is 24 x 24 now. We got cord and tied it up between the 6 trees. Works great. When we take it down, we mark the sappy side and put it the same way the next year. So now this is what it looks like when we put it up. We really didn't know what we were doing but I just knew there was such a beautiful place under these trees that we could enjoy up the summer evenings breeze and even in the daytime. So our big question was....do parachutes hold water or will it rain right through this thing?????? Well, it wasn't too long that we found out.....it was very funny. we had fun that day...... It still worked. We just had to cut holds in it where the water could flow through. We were rolling on the floor that day. So now that the holes are in it, it works great.We put it up every year and fold it very neatly in the fall and put it in a large plastic garbage bag. Hope you enjoyed this little sharing time and maybe some of you could use the idea for something around your house. Maybe not so big though....
Gosh that is huge!! What a bargain and such a good idea for protecting everything (and everyone) from the dripping sap. I would love to have been there watching you (notice I didn't say participating )make the holes in the fabric. What a way to get a free shower and have lots of fun at the same time!! Now you have a lovely shady area to sit and enjoy every year.
Nothing like a bit of inventiveness to solve a problem. Thanks for sharing your story with us Barb and nice photos too!
Novel idea! Where I used to live, the street was lined with very large old pines. They were a blessing and a curse. They invited many different birds and critters to the area and grew together to meet in the middle of the street. But unless you could park in your garage, your car paid the price with sap damaged paint and dings from the crashing pine cones. And then you can always enjoy raking tons of pine needles and pollen. At least now you can use your nice shady yard.
Donna, This is a great party area..... we have had many of them under the parachute. Our whole house and property is great for parties. Wanna have one??
