"color" yards, pictures, and ideas...
How To Grow Exotic Air Plants
All they need is the air they breathe, bright light—but no direct sun—and a bath two to three times a week. Do not add soil; they’ll just hang out wherever you plop them down and in whatever container you plop them in....
Don't Just Admire Your Flowers – Eat Them
You grow your flowers for their beauty, of course. But did you know that quite a few of them are edible? No, no, don't look at this column as if YardShare had gone nuts. Think about it....
“Grandmother’s Garden” Hydrangeas: Today’s Fashion Flower
Hydrangeas are enjoying a renaissance in gardens throughout parts of the US. Although some of the old-fashioned varieties are not “zone friendly,” many can be successfully grown to zone 5, and a few even to zone 3....
Color Your Garden
Do you remember the “color wheel” you were introduced to back in your school art classes? If so, it will come in handy this spring when you’re designing a new, colorful garden spot or revamping a tired-looking border. If your memory needs a little prodding, here’s a short refresher course......
Beautiful, Easy-Care Ornamental Grasses
Name one garden plant that offers handsome—sometimes striking—foliage that takes on eye-catching color in the fall and interesting flowers that become showy seed heads which linger throughout the winter; a plant that offers visual delight in all seasons and demands only minimal upkeep in payment for these rewards. Grasses!...
A Yard With A View
If you want a picture perfect yard, you need to look at it through an artistic lens. Every window and door in your home is like a frame for a portion of your yard. As you develop your landscaping strategy, think about how your yard will look from each of these vantage points. ...
Pool Landscaping with Shapes and Colors
“Oasis”, “tropical resort”, “paradise” - pool owners tend to get a little carried away in describing their backyard. But some folks really do manage to create a poolside Shangri-La. How do they do it?...
Drought Resistant Plants
What with global warming and climate change and maybe full moons, it really seems as if drought is more widespread than it used to be. If you want to tread softly on the earth, you may be interested in using more drought-resistant plants in your landscaping....
Keeping the Kids in Mind
I grew up next door to a vacant lot. On any given weekend, it was a football/kickball/wiffle ball field, home to dawn-to-dusk “capture the flag” marathons, a BMX test track, an obstacle course, hide-and-seek homebase, or the site of our neighborhood Olympics. Maybe vacant lots are just rare these days… or maybe today’s kids demand more than an abandoned field to play in. Whatever the reason, more and more folks are dedicating parts of their yard to the smallest members of the family....
Don't Take Your Countertop for Granite
In many landscapes, the outdoor kitchen is the focal point, the centerpiece, the crowning touch of a painstakingly-designed and highly-anticipated entertainment space. And sometimes, it needs just that little extra something to make it really pop. More and more grilling stations and exterior bars are getting graced with granite as that final detail that puts it over the edge and takes it from so-so to sssssweeet! ...
