Great ideas and projects to improve your backyard life

Free mulch and compost: Save money in your backyard!

If you’re an avid gardener, then you know how important the condition of your soil is to your plants. Poor soil grows poor plants. Good, nutrient-rich soil grows great plants. It’s that simple!

Every good gardener knows that the key to growing great vegetables and flowers is the quality of the soil in which they’re grown.

And, they know a secret. They know that they control the quality of their soil. They also know that good soil, even great soil, is free.

What good soil is

Good soil is:

Loose and crumbly. Soil that clumps together when undisturbed but, breaks apart easily. Soil like this allows plant roots, air and water to pass easily through it.

Full of beneficial bugs and microbes. Beneficial bugs are Ladybugs, Praying Mantis, Aphid Parasites, and Ground Beetles to name a few. Microbes include beneficial forms of bacteria, fungi and protozoa.

PH neutral. Soil pH is a number between 1.0 and 14.0, and is an indication of a soils acidity or alkalinity. Most plants prefer soil with a pH around 7.0, not too alkaline or acidic.

Fertile. Fertile soil is nutrient rich. It contains plenty of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Plants love this stuff as well as smaller amounts of calcium, magnesium, zinc and molybdenum. Plants feast on all these wonderful nutrients!

Soil that contains all these attributes is great gardening soil. It will grow wonderful, healthy plants with ease and substantially reduce your gardening effort and cost.

How to get great soil, free and naturally

Getting your soil in great shape is relatively easy and best of all, it can be done for free.

Here’s another secret; the great gardeners know that the best way to get great soil is to “feed” it with liberal amounts of organic matter. Organic matter is compost and mulch. That’s it! No fancy chemicals or synthetic products, just plain dead, decayed, and decaying organic stuff.

Compost is the end result of the decaying process of organic material. It is a natural process whereby material such as grass clippings, leaves, vegetable peelings, paper, straw, manure, sawdust and other organic material is allowed to decay and decompose, naturally.

This results in a loose textured, dark colored, soil-like material rich in the nutrients that plants love. It’s the perfect, natural fertilizer and pesticide.

Mulch, in many ways, is similar to compost. It is comprised of mostly shredded organic materials such as grass clippings, tree limbs and branches, leaves, pine needles, pine cones, tree bark and other materials. Mulch is organic matter that has not yet decayed or decomposed.

Some people will argue that compost is a form of mulch, others will argue the opposite. I don’t think it matters all that much, both are absolutely great for soil conditioning.

A free supply of compost and mulch, right in your own backyard

In addition to a garden of some kind, most backyards have at least one tree. They also have a lawn of some sort, and maybe a shrub, hedges or a flowering bush. From these things come broken branches and limbs, leaves, clippings from pruning and lawn mowing. All of which are free organic material for your garden.

Most backyards are extensions of a household and, within most households is a treasure trove of organic matter; newspaper, cardboard and vegetable peelings; as well as, old, outdated, over-ripe or even rotting fruit and vegetables, etc. These are more free organic materials for your garden.

All of these things are the same ingredients found in the bags of compost and mulch that you purchase at your local nursery or lawn and garden center. And, you probably pay a good price for them, I’m guessing!

I’ll bet that in addition to the compost and mulch that you’re buying, you are also buying fertilizer, pesticides and growth enhancers, organic or not. If you added up all of the money you spend on these products over a growing season, what do you think would be the total sum?

It’s probably quite a bit and more than you ever thought or realized. You could be saving that money to use for other things.

Making mulch and compost from your free organic materials

To be honest, the free organic material I’ve been talking about isn’t yet compost or mulch. In its current state, it is not usable as either. You will have to prepare and process it into a usable form.

This is done easily with a tree chipper or wood chipper. A tree or wood chipper is a machine that “chews” your small branches, twigs, leaves and other organic materials into small pieces.

This is necessary to speed up the natural decay and decomposition process. Large pieces of organic material take a long time to decay and decompose. Small pieces decay and decompose quickly.

Also, large pieces take up more space. By reducing your large pieces into smaller ones, you reduce the amount of space needed for further processing and storage.

You can borrow a wood chipper from a relative, friend or neighbor; rent one, or just go out and buy one. The money you spend for one will be returned to you in a very short time. A good tree chipper or wood chipper is a worthwhile investment.

Making your own free mulch and compost is a great way to save money, improve your gardening soil and clean-up your backyard landscape. Don’t waste any more of your time and money. Start making free mulch and compost today!

Your plants will love you for it, your landscape will look more attractive and you will get a bonus benefit from it…some healthy exercise.

litby

Filed Under gardening | 1 Comment

Add a pergola to your backyard landscape: A wise investment!

You may get some funny looks from your neighbors and friends these days if you are not considering buying or building a pergola for your backyard. It seems that adding some type of outdoor pergola to your home’s landscape is the current trend.

One reason for this trend is that a well-designed, well-built pergola is stylish and attractive. Another is that it makes a great place to relax with friends and family. And still another is that, it may give a nice boost to the future value of your home and landscape.

What is a pergola

A pergola is in essence, a garden arbor; a structure that, in times past, was usually found in and around gardens. That is what a pergola used to be, and how it was defined.

A pergola was a garden accessory, a feature that usually covered a walkway that led to the garden, or through the garden. It consisted of an open lattice-style roof structure supported by pillars of wood or stone, usually draped with some type of vine.

My grandmother had grape vines on hers. She called it a grape arbor, not a grape pergola. It provided some measure of shade from the sun, and was an attractive addition to the garden landscape. I played under it while she tended to her plants, but I remember it most for the great tasting grapes it grew.

In recent times, the definition of a pergola has morphed into meaning any attached or free-standing structure with an open lattice-style roof.

Replace the back porch roof with lattice and you have an attached pergola. Remove the roof from an old carport, add a few cross members and top them with lattice, and suddenly it becomes a pergola.

Stick four posts in the ground anywhere in your backyard, tie the tops together with supports and cross-members, top it with some lattice-work and…pergola!

If you’re sensing some sarcasm in my tone at this point, you’re right! I like calling things what they are, by their correct names. Some of the things I’ve seen called pergolas are at best, modified “bird cages” or poorly constructed “lean-tos.”

Well-designed, well-planned, well-built, and well-placed pergolas are genuine works of art. They add a unique and attractive quality to any backyard landscape.

Pergola designs and types

There are a number of pergola designs. They are usually named by their location or placement. For example, a deck pergola is designed to be built upon, or into a deck.

A garden pergola, or garden arbor as my grandmother called it, is designed to be built in or near a garden. This design sometimes incorporates a porch or bench swing into it’s structure. This makes an ideal place to take a break from gardening chores. People used to enjoy sitting near their gardens and watching their plants “grow.”

A patio pergola is designed to be built upon, what else but, a patio! Deck and patio pergolas are designed to cover either a portion of, or all of a deck or patio’s usable surface.

Generally, deck and patio pergolas are larger and make great places to entertain family, friends and guests.

There are basically two types of pergolas; attached and free-standing. Attached means that the pergola is attached to another structure such as your house. Patio designs are usually the attached type because patios are usually part of, attached to, or immediately adjacent to the foundation of the house. This makes it easy to attach the pergola to the house for support. In effect, the pergola becomes an extension of the house.

Free-standing pergolas, on the other hand, are self-supporting. They usually consist of four or more vertical posts or columns set in a square or rectangular pattern, with a lattice-work roof.

Pergola materials

Pergolas are constructed from a variety of materials. Ancient pergolas were built of stone. Modern, traditional pergolas are typically built of wood. Some are built of a combination of stone or brick, and wood.

More modern pergolas use metals such as steel or aluminum. Some are even made entirely of extruded vinyl or plastic components. In choosing the materials for your pergola, you should consider its function. For example, if its function is solely to enhance the attractiveness of your home or landscape, then any of your material choices will satisfy that purpose.

However, if you intend to hang a swing or other objects from the structure, you may want to evaluate your material choices more carefully.

You should also consider how your material choice “fits” with your home and landscape decor. Will it compliment your decor or, will it look out of place and detract from your decor.

As with all of your backyard ideas, your design and material choices need to blend with, and accent your overall landscape theme.

To buy or build

If you are not handy with tools, or knowledgeable in construction techniques and practices, I suggest you hire a professional contractor to design and build your pergola.

There are many reputable contractors that will do the job quickly and at a reasonable price. This is the most expensive way to acquire your pergola but, in the end, both you and your spouse will be happy with the result. At the very least, you’ll be happier (and more than a few dollars ahead) than if you had tried to build it on your own.

If you are somewhat handy with basic hand and power tools, you can purchase a pergola in kit form and hire someone to erect it for you or, you can erect it yourself.

There are some very attractive, well designed, pergola kits on the market that are fairly easy to assemble and are reasonably priced. Many of these kits have a number of options and accessories available that will give your pergola a unique and tailored, custom look.

If you are a die-hard, do-it-yourself pro, skilled with tools and have successfully completed several projects of this nature, then I say “go for it!” You probably have the skills and knowledge to do a great job.

This is probably the least expensive way to build your pergola, provided you have a good design and have given it more than a passing thought. There are a number of excellent, detailed pergola plans available that provide a list of materials needed, accurate drawings and step-by-step instructions.

These plans are well worth their modest cost. They will make the job easier and will almost insure a successful and satisfying result.

Where to place your pergola

Deciding where and how to place your pergola is always difficult. The most attractive placement depends on quite a few factors. Some of these are:

The size and shape of your backyard. Is it square, rectangular, triangular or irregularly shaped? Is it small or large?

The contour of your backyard. Is it flat or does it have a slope? A gentle slope or a steep slope?

What other structures are present in your backyard? Garden shed? Playhouse? Fence? Terraces? Swimming pool? Deck?

What other features are present in your backyard? Trees? Garden? Shrubs? Bushes?

These are just a few of the factors you need to consider in deciding where you should locate your pergola. There are several more. One of the more important ones deals with the function of your backyard pergola. What is it’s purpose? Is it ornamental, an accent piece? Or does it have a more defined purpose such as providing shade over a deck, a porch, or the swimming pool?

As you can see, deciding where to place your pergola presents quite a challenge.

Wherever you decide to place it, remember, to achieve the most attractive and greatest effect, it must fit in with the overall look of your backyard. The cost of advice from a professional landscape designer will seem a paltry sum in comparison to putting your pergola in the wrong place and having to live with it.

You don’t want to be in the position of having to figure out how to improve it. Or worse, how to disguise or hide it.

Adding a pergola to your backyard landscape can add beauty and value to your home. The realtors I know are obsessed with “curb appeal.” In my opinion, nothing speaks curb appeal like a well groomed and manicured landscape that contains a few attractive and unique features. Pergolas are both attractive and unique!

A well-designed, well-built pergola will also increase the use of your backyard. Sitting under your new pergola as the sun goes down, is a very refreshing and relaxing experience. It sure beats watching re-runs on the television. Add a pergola to your backyard and see for yourself. I can almost guarantee you’ll be glad you did. Then, be sure you use and enjoy it!

litby

Filed Under Projects | 2 Comments

Backyard Cucumbers – Fantastic Summer Food

I love cucumbers! I was just out in the garden and my cucumber vines are looking real good. That makes me really excited. I don’t have a green thumb and cucumbers are about the only thing that I can grow well. It looks like I’m going to have a great crop this year.

I like growing cucumbers, but I really love eating them. Cucumbers are one of the easiest vegetables to grow in your backyard garden and there are countless ways to prepare and eat them.

You can slice or dice raw cucumbers and put them in fresh green salads. You can cut them in half, quarter the halves and eat them with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. And, believe it or not, you can make a sandwich out of them.

My grandmother used to make me a cucumber sandwich for lunch when I was a kid. She would slice a fresh cucumber and place the slices between two buttered slices of homemade bread. Every now and then she would add a little sliced onion just for fun. If my memory serves me correctly, they were absolutely delicious!

Cucumbers are also great pickled. There are probably about as many ways to pickle cucumbers as there are ways of eating them. I prefer dill pickles on cold cut sandwiches. I like bread and butter pickles on hamburgers, and I especially enjoy a few sweet gherkins as a snack after dinner.

Cucumbers are a remarkable vegetable. They are very nutritious. They are also an excellent source of sulfur, chlorine potassium, sodium, magnesium, silicon and fluorine. These are all good things for maintaining your health.

You could get these same things from a vitamin tablet, but it probably won’t taste as good as a fresh picked, straight-from-the-vine, backyard grown cucumber.

Some people say that cucumbers have medicinal properties. I know people who tell me that cucumbers help with digestion problems and some say that cucumbers help to prevent constipation. Other people tell me that cucumbers also work well as a beauty aid. I don’t know if there is any truth in any of these claims, but when I was a teenager, my grandmother used to make a cucumber paste that worked wonders for my acne.

There are a variety of cucumbers available to grow in your backyard garden. I like the Straight 8’s because they are easy to grow and they taste great any way you eat them. I like the Boston Pickling cucumber for pickling, and I like the Sweet Slice Burpless for making Sour Creamed Cucumbers, one of my favorite summer side dishes.

Cucumbers are easy to grow, and if you’re not careful, growing them can turn into a fun and exciting summer hobby. You may find yourself bragging about your “cukes” to your neighbors. And, you may find yourself in the midst of a little neighborhood competition, which is always interesting and a lot of fun.

Cucumbers require a lot of sun. They are a subtropical plant and don’t do well in shaded areas. They grow on a vine, so they also need a little more growing room than other vegetable plants.

If your garden is short on space, you can grow them vertically by training the vines to a trellis or some other vertical support structure. I once planted some cucumber seeds around the bottom of my wife’s clothesline support posts and trained the vines up onto some ropes I tied between the posts. It wasn’t long before I had a cucumber “fence” which didn’t amuse my wife at all.

It all worked out though, she got a new clothes dryer and I got a really impressive, cucumber-generating clothesline that, by the way, was the talk of the neighborhood for the better part of the summer.

Cucumbers will grow in any soil, but they grow best in slightly acidic, sandy loam or soil. Cucumbers like soil that drains well. Cucumbers also like moderate temperatures. Cucumber vines will start producing approximately 60 days after you plant the seeds. So, time your planting for when the temperature will average around 70 degrees Fahrenheit for the growing period.

Use an organic fertilizer and place some organic compost around your cucumber plants. The organic fertilizer will help to make your plants more resistant to disease and garden pests.

Organic compost will give your plants necessary nutrients, help to balance the pH of your soil and improve your soil drainage. You can also place some mulch around your plants. Use organic mulch made from wood chips or bark. This will help to keep the weeds under control, add some nutrients and help keep the soil slightly moist.

Cucumbers generally don’t require a lot of attention. However, you need to keep a close watch on your vines when it nears time to start harvesting your cucumbers. Cucumbers ripen quickly.

If you are not paying close attention they can over-ripen and ruin. Cucumbers can also grow to be fairly large. Unless you’re trying to grow the biggest cucumbers in the neighborhood, harvest them before they become so large that they’re no good for eating.

Pick your cucumbers by cutting the vine approximately 1/2- inch from the end of the cucumber. A good pair of garden shears works well for this, but you can also use a sharp knife. Don’t twist your cucumbers to remove them from the vine as this action will damage the vine.

Large cucumbers lose their flavor and become quite bitter. Pick them before they get overly large. Cucumbers range in color from green to blue depending on the variety. Pick them when they are in this color range.

When they start to turn yellow, they are getting beyond ripe and will quickly become food for your compost pile instead of your stomach. Pick your cucumbers daily and watch for the hidden ones.

Cucumbers have a habit of hiding themselves in the vines. You’ll miss several tasty cucumbers if you don’t pay attention and look closely at your vines.

Growing cucumbers is interesting, fun to do and easy. Eating cucumbers is also interesting, fun to do and easy. I like to do both, and in my opinion, I do both very well. You can too!

If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to get going. Plant some cucumbers in preparation for eating them. On a hot summer afternoon, nothing tastes better than chilled, fresh cucumber slices. If you think about it, cucumber even sounds pretty cool!

Sour Creamed Cucumbers

In a bowl, mix equal parts of white vinegar and half & half cream. Add thinly sliced cucumber slices. Add several slices of onion. Stir well. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill in refrigerator before serving.

litby

Filed Under gardening | Leave a Comment

Landscape Magic For Small Yard Areas

Small yard areas or spaces are sometimes difficult to landscape. In these areas a focus on detail will produce magical results.

Many people mistakenly attempt to mask small spaces with a variety of plants. Unfortunately, this strategy has the opposite effect. A variety of plants jammed into a small area only magnifies the “smallness” of the area.

These small yard areas are spaces that are contained by borders, walkways, walls or some other designed structures. These areas tend to be “left-over” spaces. That is, they are spaces that are left-over or left-out of the overall landscape design. When viewing the overall yard design, these areas tend to seem out of place as small, cramped and uninteresting spaces.

Thoughtful choices in plant selection and planting arrangement will transform these small areas into “accent” areas that will compliment your overall yard design.

Landscaped correctly, these areas will look larger, more interesting, more appealing, and may even become the focal points of your entire yard.

Plant considerations

Creating interesting and appealing landscape designs for small areas requires that you pay particular attention to the plants that you choose for these areas. By focusing on the particular color, size, texture, and shape of various plants, you can create the illusion of a larger space.

Instead of a variety of different colored plants, use plants that vary in shades of one color. Pastel yellow colors mixed with darker, brighter yellows for example. Choose flowering plants with an abundance of green foliage. This will make your space appear larger. If you must choose different colored plants, limit your choices to two or three complimentary colors.

For an interesting effect, chose a few plant varieties and only two or three colors and group them together. Then plant in a pattern throughout your space.

For another interesting effect, plant smaller, darker-colored, rough-textured plants in front of larger, light-colored, fine-textured plants. This is a great way to add a sense of depth to your space.

Pay attention to background colors

Background color is a key landscaping design consideration, and is of particular importance regarding small spaces or areas. Light colored flowers or plants against a light colored background will give the appearance of larger space.

However, that larger appearance is a result of the plants blending with the background. Your space may look bigger, but it will also look dull and uninteresting. The same thing happens with dark colors against a dark colored background.

If you find yourself in a situation like this, consider changing the background color. If that’s not possible, try adding some contrasting colored plants between your background and your space.

This will provide a degree of separation between the two. The trick is to choose colors that look good against the background, blend well with it, and yet, stand out from it.

Pay attention to proportion

Keeping plants and spaces proportional to one another is also a key landscape design consideration. It is not necessary to use small plants just because your space is small.

A few well placed larger plants will have the effect of making a small space look bigger.

A small tree or shrub accented with a few flowering plants around its base is particularly effective. Small trees or shrubs also make good background plants.

Change lines and shape

If your small spaces and yard are like most, the lines are straight and form squares and rectangles. This pattern produces an effect that is, for lack of a better term, “boxy.”

Most yards are composed of small box areas within a larger box. Consider modifying your yard space with rounded edges and curving lines.

Rounded edges and curving lines add a feeling of motion. Motion creates a sense of flow, a sense of gradual transition. One area seems to unfold into another. This creates the illusion that everything is larger, including your small spaces.

Adding curved walkways, walls and borders will produce the effect of expanded space and introduce an element of visual interest to your yard. This is also an easy and interesting way to incorporate various complimentary materials and textures into your yard design.

Terraces, retaining walls, and other decorative landscaping projects are easy to construct. They are an excellent way to add the natural beauty of wood, rock and stone to your yard landscape.

Divide to expand

This is an interesting technique. It works on the illusion that “more is bigger.” Dividing your yard and small spaces into even more smaller spaces produces the illusion of a bigger overall space. You can do this in a number of ways.

One excellent way to do this is to create different levels in height. Adding terraces to a sloping yard is an example of creating different levels.

Terracing adds usable space thereby creating a larger yard. Raised gardening beds and muti-level decks are other examples. They are really just other methods of terracing.

Terracing creates a distinct separation between one level and another. This creates the illusion of more space.

Another excellent way to “increase” your yard space is to divide it into separate areas. Constructing trellises, arbors, pergolas, gazebos, bridged walkways and freestanding terraces is an easy and inexpensive way to divide your yard space to expand it.

These things break your yard space into smaller, individual areas and make it “appear” bigger.

Small spaces can be divided using special groupings of plants, borders of decorative rock, stone or wood, and various other materials manufactured for that purpose.

As an added bonus, dividing your yard space into smaller spaces provides you with the flexibility to create different “themes” for the various areas.

Dividing your yard spaces into “themed” areas adds interest and a unique quality to your yard. It also gives you a great sense of pride and accomplishment.

Decorate

Very small yards and spaces too small to divide can use yard decorations to create the illusion of more space. A birdbath surrounded by tall grasses and a few exotic plants creates an illusion of openness.

Decorative figures and figurines serve to divide your smaller spaces into separate areas creating the illusion of spaces bigger than they are in fact. Wind chimes, windmills, birdhouses and feeders produce the same effect.

Small yard spaces and areas can be problematic and troublesome to landscape and decorate. With a little thought and creativity they can be made into interesting and appealing features of your yard’s overall landscape design.

In fact, these areas can add a bit of “magic” to your yard’s appearance.

litby

Filed Under Landscaping Ideas | 1 Comment

The #1 Backyard Activity

Gardening is unquestionably the #1 backyard activity worldwide. More people grow things in their backyards than do anything else there. It is estimated that more than 50 million households will have a vegetable garden this year in the USA alone.

Add to that number, the flower gardeners, fruit and berry gardeners and the herb gardeners, and you have a staggering number of backyard gardeners. If you then consider all of the households that have at least one person who grows or tends to a houseplant or two on a regular basis, you could reasonably assume that nearly 100-percent of all households’ garden in some form or fashion.

Gardening is a very popular activity!

The three most popular types of gardening are:

1. Vegetable gardening – the growing of plants for food.

2. Flower gardening – the growing of plants for their beauty.

3. Ornamental gardening – the growing of plants for their aesthetic value to landscape and architecture.

Technically, flower gardening is a form of ornamental gardening, but I’m not going to argue with all of the people who believe there is a difference between the two of them.

All of the various types of gardening can be placed into two general categories; edible gardening and decorative gardening. Edible gardening includes all of the types of gardening that produce an edible result.

I also include in this category, gardening that produces a result which has medicinal value. Although some plants used for their medicinal value are not edible, they have chemical components that are used to make medicines that can be applied topically, ingested or injected into the body.

Decorative gardening includes all of the types of gardening that produce a result that is decorative in nature and used for that purpose. Examples are flowering plants, shrubs, bushes, grasses and trees.

Gardening is a great backyard activity. It gets you outdoors in fresh air, gets you some daily exercise and gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment. No wonder gardening is so popular with so many people!

Many gardeners take great pride in showing off their beautiful roses or long, straight cucumbers and big, red tomatoes. Fresh-cut backyard grown flowers smell better than purchased flowers and freshly picked vegetables taste better than store bought ones. They are healthier too!

The practice of gardening has a long and rich history. If you think about it, gardening is at the root of human civilization as we know it today. Learning to grow plants allowed our ancestors to transition from small bands of hunters and gatherers to large, settled communities.

Gardening is also at the root of commercial enterprise. Learning to grow plants gave our ancestors both a marketable skill and a marketable product. Therefore, gardening is also at the root of occupation specialization.

Those gardeners that learned to grow plants that eased pain, healed wounds and cured sickness became the first pharmacists and medical practitioners. Those that grew flowering plants became the first decorators and landscapers. And those that learned to grow edible plants became the first grocers and restaurateurs.

Growing plants for eating or decorating is an enjoyable activity. It’s fun to dig in soil, plant seeds or seedlings and tend to them while watching them grow. For some, it’s a great hobby!

For others it’s a source of extra income as you can sell your flowers and vegetables in a number of specialty markets.

The backyard is the perfect place for your garden. It’s quiet (usually), private, secure and secluded. Except for the occasional nosy neighbor and the kids or grand-kids, the backyard is a gardener’s paradise.

With a little knowledge, practice and a tiny bit of luck, you’ll turn both of your thumbs green in no time at all. Join the millions of other backyard gardeners and get growing!

litby

Filed Under General | Leave a Comment

Why You Need A Backyard Storage Shed

Adding a shed to your backyard should be one of the top priority projects on your backyard ideas list.

There are three very good reasons to have a backyard storage shed; they are: (1) tool and equipment storage; (2) accessories and supplies storage; and (3) a sheltered work area.

Tool and equipment storage

Your backyard requires periodic maintenance. If you perform some or all of this maintenance yourself you probably have an assortment of tools and equipment to make these chores easier and quicker.

You need a place to keep your tools and equipment organized and out of the weather. A backyard shed is ideal for this purpose.

Accessories and supplies storage

In addition to your tools and equipment, a backyard shed will provide a storage area for your miscellaneous supplies and backyard accessories. Fertilizers for both your lawn and garden need a dry place for storage. Flower pots, gardening supplies and bird feed also need a dry and secure storage area.

Your horseshoes, badminton set, croquet balls and clubs, and other things will last longer if they are kept out of the weather and in a common location. Your backyard shed will keep these things in good shape and ready for when you need them.

A supply of common nails and screws, twine, garden stakes, etc. should also be stored in your shed. Keeping things like these handy and available will make your backyard life easier and more enjoyable.

A sheltered work area

In addition to storage space, a backyard shed should include room for a small work area. A small, built-in, corner work bench or table is a necessity in this author’s opinion.

Nothing is more tiring or frustrating as having to run back and forth to the garage to sharpen or straighten a tool. A small workbench in your storage shed will eliminate most of these trips.

Incorporating a work area into your shed also provides you with a place to step out of the hot sun for a few minutes or do some preventative tool maintenance on rainy days.

If you are really creative, you can customize your shed and have a nice “hideout” for those times when you don’t want to be found. With a little thought and planning, you can find room for a small TV, radio or other entertainment equipment.

Creative placement of shelving and bins can free up a surprising amount of space. If you are not careful, before you know it your storage shed will become a small home away from home…right in your own backyard.

Whether you purchase one or build one, having a backyard storage shed will certainly make your backyard life a little easier and certainly, more enjoyable.

litby

Filed Under General | Leave a Comment

Plan Your Backyard Paradise (Part 2 of 2)

Having read Plan Your Backyard Paradise Part 1, you are now ready to move along with the planning process. If you’ve followed me this far, you should have a list of ideas and a rough sketch of your backyard.

Your list should include all of the wonderful ideas that you would like to implement to transform your current backyard space into your future backyard paradise.

Your sketch should show your existing backyard with some of the things now there, and some of the things that you want to put there. It should also show approximately where you want to put them.

Your sketch should include some approximate dimensions, particularly the width and length of your backyard space and the approximate dimensions of currently existing things such as your garden, storage shed, and maybe any unused open spaces.

If you have most of that done, you are ready to move forward; if not, take some time and finish gathering that information.

Research your ideas

Now, you are going to do some research. Some of it you may have already done. You need to go through your list of ideas and for each idea on that list, gather the following information:

Tools needed – list the tools needed to accomplish the tasks associated with implementing the idea. List tools you own, tools you can borrow or rent, and tools you will have to purchase. Get a cost estimate for all of the tools you will need to rent or purchase.

Materials needed – list the materials you will need. Get a cost estimate for these materials.

Skills needed – list the skills needed for each of the tasks required to accomplish implementing the idea. Do you have these skills or will you need to hire the services of someone who does? Estimate the cost of any hired help.

Effort needed – estimate the time needed to accomplish the tasks associated with the idea. Estimate in terms of hours or days required. List any neighbors, friends or relatives you can enlist to help. Get a cost estimate for any professional help or services you might need.

Estimated cost to implement – total all of your estimated costs to this point. Write that figure down. Now, get an estimate from a contractor to do the complete job. Write that down and compare the two estimates. It may be cheaper to hire someone to implement your idea, start to finish. If not, you will have an idea of what you will be saving by doing it yourself.

Benefits to you – list all the benefits of implementing this idea. There are both tangible and intangible benefits to implementing any one of your ideas. Tangible benefits might include saving money, saving time, or adding value to your home. Intangible benefits might include peace of mind, a sense of accomplishment, physical exercise, having a stress relieving environment, a happier you, etc. Carefully consider all of your received benefits, they are extremely important.

Cost-to-benefits ratio – this last bit of information is the make or break consideration for your idea. It is not a steadfast rule. It is, however, something that you should seriously consider when deciding which of your ideas are worth implementing and which are not. The cost-to-benefits ratio is simply a comparison between the value of the benefits you receive from implementing your idea and the cost of acquiring those benefits.

Let’s look at a quick example. Suppose that your backdoor empties onto a concrete patio. The patio has no shade; it is too hot to use or enjoy during the warm months of summer.

You decide that covering the patio with an attached pergola-type lattice structure would be a good idea. Less sun will get through, making your patio cooler and more pleasant. With a cooler patio, you believe that you will get more use from the patio and maybe spend more quality time outdoors with your family.

Additionally, your home and property value may appreciate slightly because of the improvement. Those are your benefits.

A contractor has quoted you $2500 to implement your idea. You decide that you can do it for $1500 with the help of your neighbor. You realize a savings of $1000 by doing the work yourself, but you will still incur a cost of $1500. Then, for a cost of $1500 you get added value to your home, more use out of your patio, and more quality time with your family.

Here’s why this consideration is important. The home or property appreciation benefit of this improvement only becomes real if you are going to put your house up for sale afterwards. If you don’t intend to sell now or any time soon, you can scratch that benefit!

Upon closer examination, you decide that you and your family don’t use the patio more than you do, because you and they are busy with other activities. So, even with a shaded and cooler patio, neither you nor your family will use it much more than you do now.

And if you won’t use it more, there will be no increase in family togetherness time because of it. Scratch those benefits! You are left with a cost of $1500 and little to no realized benefits for your cash outlay and effort.

On the other hand, if you will realize greater use of your patio and more time with your family because of the improvement, then you may decide that the $1500 cash outlay is a paltry sum to pay for the desired benefits.

That is why the benefits side of the cost-to-benefit ratio is so important. Consider the benefits carefully. Are they real, imagined or just wishful thinking? Be honest with yourself when listing the benefits of implementing your ideas.

Take those ideas that you are having second thoughts about and move them to the end of your list. Don’t write them off completely; just move them out of consideration for now.

Categorize your list

Now that you have gathered all the relevant information for each of your backyard ideas, you will want to organize that information. This is more easily done in a spreadsheet on your computer, but if you are not comfortable working with spreadsheets, paper and pencil will work just fine.

Create a spreadsheet with five columns, or draw five columns on your paper. List all of your ideas in the first column using one or two word descriptions, pond, rock garden, herb garden, etc.

In the second column, place the total estimated cost of implementing the idea.

In the third column, place your estimated time to complete. Use hours or days as the unit of measurement.

In the fourth column, rate the level of difficulty to implement. Use the terms easy, moderate or hard, to describe the level of difficulty. Use your own judgment and be honest.

In the fifth and final column, describe the benefits in terms of time. Use immediate, one month, July, or some other descriptive word that indicates approximately when you think you will start enjoying the benefits of your effort. Again, use your own judgment and be realistic.

With that done, you are going to put each idea into one of three categories, short-term, long-term and considering.

Short-term means now, you are going to complete the implementation of this idea before the end of this year

Long-term means in the near future, beyond this year. That could mean in the next one or two years, or it could mean within the next five years. I’ll leave that determination to you. Long-term projects are usually determined by cost and budget. In other words, you may need to start saving for these ideas.

Considering means you need more time to think about these ideas. Sometimes you need to study an idea further before you decide to take action. Ideas like that go into this category.

Filter your ideas

Look at the ideas that you have placed in the short-term category. Sort through these ideas for the ones that meet all of the following criteria:

Least expensive, and

Shortest time to implement or complete, and

Easiest to do, and

Has immediate benefits

These should be your candidates for further consideration. These are the ones to start and complete this year, provided your bank account or budget will allow it. We will talk about finances shortly.

But first, what if none of your ideas meet all of the above criteria?

Well, in that case, you are totally screwed! No, wait; don’t leave! You are not really screwed. I just threw that in to see if you were still with me.

If none of your ideas meet all of the criteria, list those that meet three of the criteria first, and then list those that meet two of the criteria.

Finally, list those that meet only one of the criteria. Your goal is to end up with a prioritized list of ideas that are the cheapest, easiest, can be done in the shortest time frame, and will provide you with immediate benefits.

There are three reasons for doing it this way: (a) these are the ideas that are the easiest on your wallet or purse, (b) these ideas are the easiest and quickest to complete and will build your confidence to tackle the tougher ones, and (c) completing these ideas will provide you with a sense of accomplishment and also provide you with the time to enjoy the results of your efforts.

There is no sense in creating your backyard paradise if it keeps you so busy that you never have time to enjoy it.

The final filter

Somehow, everything eventually comes down to money. Everything has a cost; nothing is free. So, like it or not, your idea list is going to depend on your available financial resources.

In simple terms, you won’t be able to implement any of your ideas without money. So, money is our final filter.

How much money can you afford to spend this year on your backyard? How much can you save or how much can you budget for your backyard ideas?

These are questions that only you can answer. Whatever the amount, plug that number into your prioritized list. Go to the estimated total cost column, and starting from the top, add the costs for each of your ideas. When the total reaches the amount you can afford to spend, stop!

The ideas above this point are the ideas you can afford to implement this year. This is your final list. These are the ideas to start with, and complete.

By chance, if only one of your ideas is on your final list, don’t be discouraged. It’s a start! With the information you have gathered, you will be able to set up a budget or savings plan that will ensure that you have money available to implement more of your list next year.

Get ready

You should now have a prioritized, final list. Get your sketch out and compare it to this list. Redraw it, if necessary, to get a picture of what your backyard will look like after you have implemented the ideas on your list. How do they look? Is the location correct; size, shape, orientation, etc.? Will you be happy with the results? If everything looks good, then you are almost finished.

Take your final list and your sketch, and put them in a file folder. This is your working file. As you begin implementing your ideas, you will be referring to your list and your sketch quite frequently. Also, you will want to place your future receipts and any related notes in this folder.

Take all of your other paperwork from this planning process and put it in a separate folder. Include all your previous lists, drawings, quotations, research, etc.

You will need to review all of this next year when you start over with this process. It will be simpler then, as you are now experienced at doing it.

Get set

Start purchasing or ordering materials, arranging and scheduling any help you may need, studying plans and blueprints, getting final measurements, etc. Gather any needed tools. Get everything organized. Then, take a deep breath and……..

Go!

Get started! Get Busy! Before you know it, you will have completed the first item on your list. Stand back and admire what you have accomplished, then start on the next item. You’re on your way. Good Luck!

litby

Filed Under General | Leave a Comment

Add Terraces To Your Backyard

Adding a terrace, or multiple terraces, to your backyard can be a fun project that will create more gardening space, divide or section your backyard, create a focal point and possibly increase the value of your home and property.

Terrace uses

If you have a sloping backyard, adding a terrace will give you more useable gardening space and help to control water run-off and soil erosion. On steep slopes, terracing can make planting a garden possible.

Adding terraces to sloping ground provides you with an opportunity to create several mini-gardens in your backyard. You can have flowers in one step and grow vegetables in another one.

Terraces will also help to prevent erosion by shortening a long slope into a series of shorter, more level steps. This allows heavy rains to soak into the soil rather than run off and cause erosion. Terracing saves soil, makes better use of water, and beautifies a landscape.

If your backyard is fairly flat and level, or even gently sloping, adding a terrace will create an interesting focal point or divide your backyard into sections. You can build a free standing terrace to separate your gardening area from an activity area.

You can also build a terrace near your vegetable garden to plant herbs or flowers and keep them separate from your regular garden, or use it for starter plants that you will transplant later to your vegetable garden.

Terrace design

Terraces can be built in a variety of shapes and sizes. The designs and uses of terraces are limited only by your imagination and creativity. An L-shaped terrace on flat or level ground can accent or focus attention on a corner of your backyard. An L-shaped terrace with diagonal terrace steps connecting the L’s is particularly effective as a corner focal point.

Although more difficult to build, its eye-catching effect is well worth the effort. Small free-standing, circular, square or octagonal terraced structures are particularly useful for planting strawberries or herbs. Besides being useful as garden space, they add a unique visual appeal to your backyard.

Terrace materials

A variety of materials can be used to build terraces in your backyard. Some of the more common materials used include treated wood, bricks, rocks or stones, concrete blocks and other similar masonry materials.

Of these, treated wood is the better choice (in my opinion). However, you may prefer something else. It’s your backyard, so use what appeals to you.

Treated wood has several advantages over other materials. It is often less expensive than the other materials, easier to work with, and it blends well with plants and yard décor.

There are many types of treated wood products that can be used to build terraces. From railroad ties to landscaping timbers and structural lumber, treated wood products are readily available for your terracing projects.

Treated wood will last for years and studies have concluded that it is not harmful to people or the environment when used as recommended.

Building terraces

Designing and constructing your terraces is not beyond your abilities or your skills. It does take some physical work, but the long-term rewards are well worth the short-term pain of aching muscles.

Because the types of terraces and the methods of construction are numerous and varied, it is beyond the scope of this article to describe any particular design or construction in detail.

In future articles I will describe, in detail, several terrace projects I have completed, that you can do yourself. For now, my intent is to get you to consider adding terraces to your backyard as just one of many ideas for improving your backyard space and creating your backyard paradise.

Visit your local library or lawn and garden center if you are in a hurry to get started. There are many good books, pamphlets, and plans that offer detailed drawings and step-by-step instructions for building terraces.

You should consider adding a terrace, or several depending on the size, shape and terrain of your landscape, to your backyard projects list. Terraces can be fun to build and they can create additional, useful space for gardening and add value to your home and property.

They are also environmentally friendly in that they help to prevent soil erosion, control water run-off from heavy rainfall or drainage problems, and add beauty to your landscape.

litby

Filed Under Projects | 1 Comment

Plan Your Backyard Paradise (Part 1 of 2)

Officially, spring arrives on the twentieth day of March this year. So if you haven’t thought about your backyard yet, it’s time to get started. Now is the time to start thinking about planning your backyard paradise.

The weather may still be too cold, too wet or too unpredictable to get outside, but in less time than you think, it will get nicer and you will be caught rushing to get things done.

While you are waiting on nicer weather, you need to sit down and think about your backyard plans for the coming months. What needs to be done? What projects would you like to incorporate into your backyard this year? What needs trimmed or pruned? Does the lawn need some work? What about the fence, the garden or the porch?

If you think about it, even for a short while, you can create a long list of ideas and things that you would like to do or need to do to improve your backyard. Make a long list; add all the ideas and projects that you can think of that you would like to do, need to do, or want to do to make your backyard a personal paradise.

Even if they are not in your budget or require skills you don’t have, write them down. You can modify this list later.

Next, you will need to make a sketch of your backyard. It doesn’t have to be professionally drawn, a freehand sketch showing the shape of your backyard will do for now.

If you can, add some dimensions to your sketch. The approximate length and width will suffice until you can get out and do some measuring. Also, indicate the approximate locations of things that are in your backyard.

Mark the location of your garden if you have one, the trees, swimming pool, barbeque grill, storage shed and even the dog house. This will help you later in deciding which of your ideas and projects will be easy and practical to implement and which will require more thought and effort.

If you get stuck at any point, look out the window or step out the backdoor and look at your backyard. How does what you see make you feel? What can you add to make it look better, cleaner, more presentable, more appealing or more livable? What can you remove? What can you move or position differently? Write down your ideas; add them to your list or mark them on your sketch.

When you get tired, run out of ideas or get frustrated, stop! This doesn’t have to be done in one sitting. Take a few days to think about it. Look through some magazines, visit the local library, or take a trip to your nearest lawn and garden center. Drive around the neighborhood and look at what others have done. You will find plenty of ideas to add to your list.

The purpose of this exercise is to get your creative juices flowing, to get your imagination in gear. When you think you are finished you should have two mental images in your mind.

One will be an image of what your backyard looks like now, and one will be an image of what it will look like at some future point in time, next month, by summer’s end, next year or the year after.

Remember, your backyard paradise is an ever-evolving work of art. Logical thinking will tell you that you won’t be able to implement all your ideas at once.

In the second part of this exercise, I’ll explain how you will use your list of ideas and your sketch to develop an action plan to begin transforming your backyard into your personal paradise.

Until then, keep writing down ideas and visualizing “the look and feel” of your backyard paradise.

litby

Filed Under General | Leave a Comment

The Backyard: A Personal Paradise

For most of us, the backyard is that area behind, or at the rear of our house or home. Some backyards are small and some are large. Some are open and some are enclosed by a fence or some other boundary structure.

Whether small or large, open or enclosed, our backyard is a safe haven; a personal paradise, limited only by our imagination. It is a private area, a sanctuary, where we can feel secure and in control of our lives.

It is a place where we feel we can be ourselves and pursue interesting hobbies, activities we enjoy, or just relax. It is a get-away place where we can escape from the stress of everyday life.

Our backyard is our domain. We can do what we want, when we want and how we want. We can be gardeners, porch politicians, environmentalists, or practicing star athletes. We can build birdhouses, rock gardens or decorative water ponds.

We can play horseshoes, badminton, volleyball or croquet. We can entertain friends, host parties and celebrate holidays, and we can do it all while enjoying the fresh air and sunshine (or moonlight) of our outdoor playground…our backyard.

Our backyard is never finished; it is always evolving and always changing. It is, at any moment, what we want it to be, an escape, a paradise, a masterpiece in the works.

So step outside, through the back door or through the gate, and imagine what your paradise will look like; then get to work and create it!

litby

Filed Under General | Leave a Comment

Sunglasses: A Backyard Necessity

Working in your backyard is a healthy activity. The sunshine, fresh air and exercise you receive from your backyard activities is beneficial to both your body and your mind.

However, you should be aware that there are also a few dangers associated with your backyard activities. One is damage to your eyes from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Overexposure to UV radiation can cause the development of potentially serious eye and vision problems.

What is UV radiation?

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is light, but it is not visible light. It is similar to visible light, except that it does not let us see things. The visible light spectrum is composed of the colors we see in a rainbow. The violet end of the rainbow is the upper limit of visible light. The UV light region begins just beyond the visible light spectrum, right after the violet end of the rainbow. That is why it is called ultraviolet light, or ultraviolet radiation. Sunlight is the greatest source of UV radiation.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is divided into three ranges. They are known as UV-A radiation, UV-B radiation, and UV-C radiation. UV-C radiation poses the maximum health risk to people. The sun emits UV-C radiation, but most of it is absorbed in the ozone layer of the atmosphere before it reaches the earth’s surface. Therefore, UV-C radiation from the sun does not affect your health to any measurable degree. People are most affected by UV-A and UV-B radiation since both pass through the earth’s atmosphere and do reach the surface.

Effects of UV radiation on the eyes

The eyes are particularly sensitive to UV radiation. Even a short exposure of a few seconds can result in painful, but temporary conditions such as photokeratitis and conjunctivitis. Photokeratitis is a painful condition caused by the inflammation of the cornea of the eye. The eye waters and vision is blurred. Conjunctivitis is the inflammation of the conjunctiva (the membrane that covers the inside of the eyelids and the sclera, the white part of the eyeball); which becomes swollen and produces a watery discharge. It causes discomfort rather than pain and does not usually affect vision.

“Flash burn”, “ground-glass eye ball”, “welder’s flash” and “snow blindness”, are other examples of eye disorders resulting from UV radiation exposure. The symptoms are pain, discomfort similar to the feeling of sand in the eye, and an aversion to bright light. Exposure of the eyes to UV light has also been shown to contribute to pterygium (an abnormal growth on the eye’s surface), macular degeneration and even cancer.

The eyes are most sensitive to UV-B and UV-C radiation. Maximum absorption by the eye’s cornea occurs at the border between their respective ranges. Since most of the UV-C radiation is absorbed in the earth’s atmosphere, UV-B radiation causes the most harm to the eye. UV-A radiation is not as harmful to the eyes as UV-B, in fact, it is relatively harmless except under some special circumstances. However, absorption of UV-A in the eye’s lens may be a factor in producing cataracts (clouding of the lens in the eye). The risk of eye damage from UV radiation is real and you should take precautionary measures to protect your eyes from it.

Protecting your eyes from UV radiation

Sunglasses with a protective UV lens coating are one of the best ways to protect your eyes from UV radiation. This special protective coating is applied to the lenses and blocks harmful ultraviolet light from reaching the eyes. Not all sunglasses have this coating so it is important that you specifically look for it when purchasing sunglasses. Look for sunglasses that effectively block 99 to 100 percent of UV light. Wearing sunglasses that do not have UV protective lenses or do not block at least 99 percent of UV light can actually cause more damage to your eyes than not wearing sunglasses.

Sunglasses without UV protection are just tinted or darkened lenses. They reduce the amount of light that reaches your eyes. When the light is reduced, the pupils of your eyes dilate (open up) to let more light into your eyes. Letting more light into your eyes also lets more harmful UV radiation into your eyes.

Necessary features of sunglasses

If you are like most people, you choose your sunglasses by style, current trend, and lens color or just because you like the way that you look when wearing them. Those considerations are all fine, but the sunglasses you choose should also include a UV protection rating of at least 99 percent. They should have a snug fit to prevent UV radiation from entering from above and from the sides.

Sunglasses with large lenses or wrap-around sunglasses are best for this purpose. Wrap-around style sunglasses are especially useful in that they will also help to keep dust, dirt and other foreign materials from entering your eyes. With that in mind, you should also consider sunglasses with shatterproof or impact-resistant lenses. You should choose your sunglasses for eye protection, not just for looks.

In conclusion, sunglasses should not be worn just to make a fashion statement. They are a necessary accessory for protecting your eyes and vision from UV radiation and other dangers when you are outdoors, and especially when you are working or playing in your backyard.

litby

Sources:

Bragg, S. (n.d.). Sunglasses… Are You Protected? Retrieved February 7, 2010, from http://beauty.about.com/cs/summerbeaut1/a/tintglasses.htm

Simpson, C. (2008). Where and When to Wear Sunglasses. Retrieved February 6, 2010, from http://www.articlesbase.com/fashion-articles/where-and-when-to-wear-sunglasses-311977.html

Ultraviolet Radiation. (2007). Retrieved February 6, 2010, from http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/ultravioletradiation.html

Filed Under Backyard Apparel | Leave a Comment