Rock Garden Pictures & Design Ideas
Walk This Way
Creating a landscape to be gazed at from afar is all well and good. Presenting that sensational view from the street or from the house is one of the main goals of just about any yard transformation. But gardens are also meant to be enjoyed on a more personal level. Intricate leaf patterns, unusua...
Killer Looks For Concrete
Concrete. It’s cold, it’s grey, it’s boring. Hold onto those suppositions for just a moment. It’s been calculated that concrete is the second-most-consumed substance on earth, behind only water. Or think about it this way: there is almost one ton of concrete produced for every single human on the ...
Everything Zen - A Look at Japanese Zen Gardens
Searching for unique ideas on what to do with that small, secluded corner of your yard? Look to the East. Asian-themed gardens are prized for their simplicity, their meditative peacefulness, their effortless flow, and their exquisite balance of traditional elements. While designing a true Japanes...
Just Add Water
In the Biblical story of creation, water shows up on the universe’s very first to-do list on, like, the third day. So why is it that so many backyard landscapers forget to include it entirely?...
How Cool Is Your Pool?
There may not be a landscape feature that allows for more wild creativity, extreme customization, and personal expression than a swimming pool. It used to be that the only pools you saw were either above-ground circles or in-ground rectangles. There might have been a diving board or a big plastic ...
Drainage Dilemma
Drainage is a huge consideration when it comes to almost any landscaping project. One professional landscaper I know has told me that drainage is far and away the top item that he fields calls about. Seems like everyone thinks they have some sort of drainage problem… but do they really?...
Outdoor Kitchens: Cooking Up Some Ideas
So you’ve decided to take the plunge and create your own outdoor kitchen? Good for you. Let’s face it, wheeling out that dusty grill every time you want to fire up some dogs and burgers is pretty lame. Permanent, built-in structures dedicated to outdoor cooking are all the rage, and it’s not a fa...
Your Own Wild Kingdom
A lot of us look at our gorgeously-planted and perfectly-manicured yards and think, I could just about live out here.; Well, for many wild animals, your landscape really is their home. And inviting the local wildlife to hang out and share our outdoor spaces is just another way to get a lot of enjo...
How to Put In a Flower Bed
A bed line not only separates the lawn from your flower beds, a well designed bed line gives form to the yard. It shows that thought was put into the beds and landscaping, and that the shrubs weren’t planted just anywhere. It's a great way to turn a bare corner of the yard into a beautiful flower be...
Martini Bar? Ice Sculpture? 30.
I turned 30 a couple weeks ago, and decided to throw a birthday party for myself and 3 other good friends also turning 30 in April. The theme was..."We're Turning 30 and Sophisticated". Our friends know that is one of the most absurd statements we could possibly say about ourselves, but it does op...
Landscaping Styles
Have you ever walked into a backyard and paused because the landscaping is so uniquely breathtaking? It's like viewing a painting that grabs your attention and pulls you in. When a landscape is in harmony with the house and region, it can look like no other landscape design could ever fit in that s...
Entertaining Outdoors
Some of us create our outdoor spaces to suit our needs for a private sanctuary. While others, like myself, design our yards specifically for entertaining. If you entertain often, you might keep this in mind while constructing your yard or making improvements. ...
