"." yards, pictures, and ideas...
In Living Color
So you’re making some changes in your yard. What’s on your wish list? If you’re like most, “adding color” is a biggie. And if you’re like most, this is along the lines of what you have in mind......
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 planet… EVERY SINGLE YEAR....
Make the Most of Your Small Space
Letting your landscape creativity run wild is easy when you have a sprawling piece of property to work with: a big, blank canvas ready and waiting for whatever your imagination dreams up. But what about when space is at a real premium, as in: you don’t have any? If your “yard” is a high-rise balcony twenty stories off the ground, does that mean you’re simply out of luck when it comes to creating a garden to call your own? ...
Are You Water-Wise? A Look at Xeriscapes
There is no commodity more precious to us yard lovers than water. But with many areas around the country experiencing severe drought conditions in recent years, professional landscapers and backyard gardeners alike have had to find ways to make the absolute most out of every drop....
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 Japanese Zen garden can take years of study and a lifetime to execute to perfection, borrowing a few key elements to put in your own landscape will almost certainly make a dramatic statement....
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 slide… or maybe both, if the pool owner had gotten really wacky....
A Thousand (or slightly fewer) Points of Light
Unfortunately, many of us don't think about "lighting" in our landscapes except for the month of December, when we drape a few measly strings of half-twinkling bulbs over our evergreens or, at the other extreme, fire up an animatronic-reindeer display that would put Clark Griswold to shame. But your landscape doesn’t just stop when the sun goes down....
Mow, Blow, and Go
Most of us have an established yardwork routine. This is especially true for mowing. We start in the same spot every week, take the same paths, cut the same rows in the same order, and end in the same spot every time. Then maybe if you're up for it, you break out the trimmer and take down those scraggly weeds around the fenceposts or trees. Then you blow it clean and call it a day....
Quick Tips for Designing an Eco-Friendly Garden
What Makes a Garden Organic? - An organic garden is one in which you do not use synthetic products on the plants or soil. Synthetic products include things such as pesticides and fertilizers. Essentially, an organic garden is designed to replenish the resources it uses....
