"door" yards, pictures, and 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, unusual foliage textures, and the detailed colors of blooms and flowers can only be fully appreciated from up close. ...
Landscaping with Trees
Ah, the trees. They bud out to let us know spring is coming, they shade us in the summer, they put on their own little fireworks show in fall, and even when they’re bare, they provide interest and structure in the dead of winter. But not all of us are blessed with tall mature trees in the landscape like WhackyWaco in Plano, TX. Check out those live oaks and tell me they’re not the focal point of that front yard......
Outdoor Kitchens: Steel Studs or Concrete Blocks?
Anyone who has ever contemplated constructing their own outdoor kitchen knows there is a long list of ingredients to consider. But while it’s easy to get caught up in the fun decisions like grill size, bun warmers, and beer taps, there’s a fundamental issue that has to be dealt with first: How will you build the darn thing???...
YardShare to the Rescue: Small Backyard Help
While over a thousand YardShare members have used this site to proudly post photos of their own landscape transformations in the hopes of inspiring others, many folks have come here looking for inspiration of their own. Surf around a while and you’ll run across a few yards like the one shown in this series of pictures from pamclark......
Got a Hobby? Take it Outside!
For most of us, our landscapes say a lot about who we are and what’s important to us. You can spot the yard of an avid gardener from a mile away. That backyard vegetable garden probably belongs to someone who’s concerned about where his family’s food is coming from. Take a look at this personal water park in Granite Bay, CA......
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? ...
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....
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....
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 fad that’s going anywhere anytime soon. So strike while the grill is hot!...
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 enjoyment out of a beautiful yard....
