Latest posts
21 Patio Decorating Ideas That Turn a Slab Into a Summer Room
My neighbor’s patio and mine were the same size, the same grey concrete, for two years. Same fence. Same position. Then she put down a jute rug, hung string lights, and moved her three pots from scattered positions into one corner. I asked her what she spent. Sixty dollars. That is what patio decorating ideas…
20 Patio Lighting Ideas That Transform Evenings Outside
The summer I put up solar string lights on the patio was the summer I started eating dinner outside four nights a week instead of one. Nothing else changed. Same furniture. Same patio. Same garden. Just warm amber light overhead instead of darkness after 9pm. Patio lighting ideas are what separate an outdoor space you…
7 Fairy Garden Crafts You Can Make in One Afternoon
I made my first fairy garden craft with my daughter on a rainy Saturday using materials we already had — a chipped teacup from a charity shop, some moss from the garden, three smooth pebbles, and a wooden craft stick door she painted herself. The whole thing cost about $2 and took one afternoon. It…
10 Best Flowers to Plant in Spring for a Spectacular Summer
April is when I realize which of my spring planting decisions from March were right and which ones I should have made differently. The pansies I put in too late. The sweet peas I started on time that are already climbing. The zinnias I have not sown yet that need to go in this weekend.…
12 Perennials That Bloom From Spring to Fall for Season-Long Color
My front border has had something flowering in it every week from late May through October for the past four years. I planted it once. I divide things occasionally. I deadhead when I remember. That is the complete maintenance record. Perennials that bloom from spring to fall are the plants that change a garden from…
12 Spring Bulbs to Plant in Fall for Spectacular Color
I planted a hundred tulip bulbs one October afternoon — about forty minutes of work — and forgot about them entirely. The following April the border I had planted them in looked like a photograph from a garden magazine. I had done nothing in between. That is the specific magic of spring bulbs to plant…
7 Drawer Planter Ideas That Turn Old Drawers Into Garden Features
I found a broken chest of drawers beside a skip three years ago. Kept four drawers. The rest went for firewood. One drawer became a herb garden beside the back door. One became a wall-mounted succulent display. Two are stacked at angles in the corner of the patio with trailing Lobelia cascading down between them.…
7 Spring Decorating Ideas That Cost Almost Nothing
I bought a $6 bunch of tulips on a Monday in March and put them in a glass on the kitchen windowsill. By Tuesday morning I had opened all the blinds in the house, swapped the dark throw on the sofa for a cream one, and moved three houseplants from the bedroom to the living…
12 Black Trellis Planter Ideas for Patios and Small Gardens
The first black trellis planter I put on a patio was for privacy. It was supposed to block a sightline from a neighboring window. Within two weeks jasmine had started climbing the lattice and within three months the whole structure was covered. It stopped being a privacy screen. It became the best thing on the…
7 Small Backyard Pond Ideas That Bring Water to Any Garden
I added a container pond to a patio three summers ago. Half barrel, one miniature water lily, a small solar pump. Cost about $70 including the plants. The first evening I sat beside it I realized I had been listening to traffic noise for two years and only noticed it had gone when the water…
