Backyard & Outdoor

Introduction Many people think backyard ideas without a pool are incomplete, but that is not always true. I used to think the same until I spent a summer staring at…

Introduction The backyard sat empty for two full summers before I admitted the problem was not the space. It was me. I kept waiting for some larger plan to come…

Introduction I spent $100 on plants for a space barely wider than a car, and I still hated it. The soil stayed wet near the wall, a few plants turned…

Introduction I thought buying nicer pieces would fix it. That summer I kept dragging things into the backyard one by one. A rattan set from one shop. Lights from another….

Introduction My neighbor spent $8,000 on a backyard renovation last spring. I spent $340 over three weekends and people at my summer barbecue kept asking who did my landscaping. Cheap…

Introduction I once spent an entire weekend staring at my backyard convinced the problem was that I needed more stuff in it. More furniture, more plants, more lights. What I…

Introduction Three summers ago I planted a row of arborvitae along my back fence and stood back feeling like I had solved everything. My neighbor was still fully visible through…

Introduction The first backyard I ever tried to “design” ended up with a plastic table shoved against a fence, a patch of dead grass in the middle, and absolutely nowhere…

Introduction Thirty-two square feet. That was my first backyard. Not a typo. Thirty-two square feet of cracked concrete behind a terraced rental with a fence so close I could touch…

Introduction I drew up my backyard design on a napkin, handed it to a landscaper, and spent six thousand dollars turning it into reality. Three months later I hated it….