DIY Life

Your front yard doesn't have to be perfectly manicured or professionally landscaped to look good. It is, however, your public face -- of sorts. Plus, your neighbors are forced to look at whatever you put out there!

Be a good neighbor: banish the following items from your front yard.

1. Plastic foliage. I'm talking anything you got from a craft store. Like this, for example. Plastic ivy. Faux dried sunflowers. Silk chrysanthemums. Plastic wreaths. Fake autumn leaves strung into streamers. Shudder.

Plastic flowers are tacky in the garden. They're unnecessary. After all, you have Mother Nature at your disposal! Why choose fake flowers? Finally, they evoke the cemetery. Enough said.

Dreaming of a Mediterranean-style oasis in your own yard? Me too! Okay, let's get inspired!

So, what makes certain gardens "Mediterranean," anyway? Well, for starters, they're designed to withstand both lots of heat and irregular rainfall. The garden designs are visually appealing, true. But they're also low-care and eco-friendly. Because plants are selected for toughness, and lawns are absent or insignificant, there's less need for chemicals and watering.

1. It's all about contrast.
Mediterranean styling is pretty easy to imitate. The essential element? Contrast. That is, contrasting hard, structured surfaces with soft, unstructured foliage and blooms. Think tumbling vines atop high stone walls. Think paved walkways next to climbing roses. Think clipped hedges fronting tall, slender cypress trees. You get the picture.

This is Part I of a five part series detailing the rehabilitation of a "plain Jane" back yard into a really nice landscape. My son and his wife live in a cool little town adjacent to West Palm Beach, Florida. Their home is somewhat akin to a "shotgun" style, with a similarly shaped back yard.

Over the course of a week, I helped my son with the latter stages of the plan that he and his wife had begun to implement shortly after they moved into their home. The back yard is now a very welcoming part of their home, complete with paver patios and walkways, a water feature, new sod and plantings, and provisions for the future expansion of irrigation and landscape lighting.

For all things neat about your yard, don't miss Diane Rixon's Avant Yard, here on DIY Life. Additionally, if you want to consider something other than pavers, take a minute and look at my feature on some of the options.

Check out the gallery for the process involved in the initial stages of the construction and, after the jump, we'll get into the fun stuff.

What looks like a flat shovel but doesn't scoop? What resembles a rounded hoe? What reminds you of an ineffective ice chopper? If you said the edging tool, you'd be right!

Yes, it looks a bit odd, but the edging tool does one handy job: it makes the edges of your garden look nice and neat, it keeps the grass from encroaching into your garden, and it keeps the bark mulch from going onto your lawn.

It doesn't have to be hard work; in fact, quite the opposite. Peruse the gallery to see how simple it can be, then join me after the break for the steps involved in edging your garden using this tool.

Now that the weather is improving we've got a window of opportunity. That two month or so period between the cold and the absolutely scorching is the right time to get that serious landscaping done. And like any other DIY endeavor, the key is having your tools in tip-top shape.

What's on your plate for adding a little curb appeal to your property? Putting in a pond? Adding a new flower bed? Putting in a new patio? Whatever your aspirations, you'll be wise to inventory your tools. More than likely, some will need maintenance and some will need to be replaced.

Start with the basics
The tool most used (hopefully not abused) is the lawnmower. At a minimum you'll need to:

• Sharpen the blade.
• Change the oil; go with a synthetic and you'll only have to do it once a year.
• Clean or replace the air filter.
• Clean or replace the spark plug.
• Check for frayed or broken cables.
  

From observing successful gardeners at work, I've learned that one key to joyful gardening is this: stick with what grows. It's about choosing the path of least resistance--encouraging plants that stay lovely with little or no care. Equally important, however: good gardeners don't hesitate to relocate plants that aren't thriving.

Now, I've made my share of mistakes when choosing plant sites. I'm also dealing with a few bad choices made by previous owners of this property. In either case, relocation was the only way to save the plants involved. For example, I recently transplanted a dozen Japanese Holly Ferns from a dry, sunny spot in my front yard to a moist and shady location in back.

Those poor ferns had been struggling for survival. These shade- and moisture-loving plants were in a hellishly unsuitable locale, dotted around the bases of two pine trees on an exposed and drought-prone slope. Last summer's severe drought nearly spelled the end for them. One thing was clear: they would never thrive in such an unsuitable spot.

I promised myself that if they made it through the winter, I'd transplant them in spring. And so I did! I'm confident that the move will transform them from surviving to thriving. Read on to see how my relocation project went. Don't forget to check out my photo gallery, too!

Got a big ugly space in your yard that needs filling? Adding yet another evergreen shrub seem boring? Consider pampas grass! It's a big beauty of a plant, one that -- like all ornamental grasses -- is frequently overlooked by home landscapers.

Here are a few reasons why I love pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana):

1. It grows fairly fast, so is an ideal choice for filling in large, barren landscapes.

2. It grows nice and thick, creating an effective privacy screen, wind break or sound barrier.

3. Its long, graceful blades and delightfully fluffy pannicles (flower plumes) are beautiful.

4. Its vertical angles evoke the tropics, bringing an exotic feel to suburban yards and otherwise drab mall parking lots. Its long blades also create a dramatic and pleasing visual contrast with other garden shrubs and trees. Meanwhile, its rounded and slightly wild shape makes it an excellent softener of hard urban surfaces, like brick walls or metal signs. (See the photo above for a perfect example of this.)

Our fabulous sister site, Green Daily, has just launched an equally fabulous guide to green gardening. If you frequent Green Daily you will already know the site offers a wealth of info on everything green. From climate change to household conservation tips, from celebrity tidbits to technological innovations--they got it covered. And now -- ta-da -- green gardening, too!

Among the attractions are container gardening tips, book reviews, planting advice and soil preparation pointers. The Green Daily bloggers have also looked into a subject I'm trying to learn more about: landscaping with native plants. Last but not least, the Green Daily Gardening Guide offers up many colorful photo galleries for your viewing pleasure.

Finally, may I also say that green gardening advice is so very needed. We gardeners need to unlearn many environmentally harmful practices that we grew up with and never thought twice about. Like the routine use of herbicides and pesticides, to name just one thing that makes me go "grrr." Thanks, Green Daily, for helping spread the word.

So, fellow gardening enthusiasts, put down that shovel and kick off those dirt-encrusted boots. Put your feet up in front of the computer and enjoy this brand new blogging attraction!

Sow wildflowers the fun way with seed bombs! The "bombs" -- balloons stuffed with a mixture of wildflower seeds, fertilizer, potting soil, and water -- are an eco-friendly innovation designed to encourage the spread of wildflower gardens.

These gardens can be created right in your own yard. Some folks are also using them to "regreen" ugly and neglected urban landscapes such as roadsides. Sure beats a bunch of barren concrete, don't you think?

Here's what you'll need: wildflower seeds of your choice, 1 funnel, 1 pack of water balloons, fertilizer pellets or powder, peatmoss or peat-based potting soil, and water. Use the funnel to hold the neck of each balloon open while you stuff in the "ingredients." Add the dry items first, then make sure to add enough water to make the whole mixture nice and wet.

Happy St. Patrick's day! Why not have some fun in your garden this St. Paddy's Day and sow a clover lawn. "But why would I want a clover lawn?" I hear you ask.

Answer: to give your leprechaun a nice place to frolic, of course! Or think of it as your way to honor the famous saint of the Emerald Isles, whose emblem is -- as we all know -- the shamrock, or three-leaf clover.

According to WikiHow, the best kind of clover to grow here in the US is actually White Dutch Clover. (Don't worry, it still looks very Irish!) A good place to sow your seeds is anywhere that your pre-existing lawn was struggling due to unfavorable conditions, such as too much shade or poor drainage.

For even coverage, mix the clover seeds with soil and then spread that mixture around, raking it smooth as you go. Next, gently cover your seeds with a very thin (quarter inch) layer of soil. The last step is watering, which should be done every day until the seeds can be seen sprouting. Use only a very fine mist to water--anything more vigorous will disturb your baby seedlings.

Inspire passion in your beloved gardener! Give him/her a living plant this Valentine's Day. When planted and tended with care, it's a gift that keeps on giving, beautifying the landscape for years to come. Here are two Valentine's Day-appropriate suggestions: the willow tree and the rose bush.

The Willow tree: an unexpected Valentine's Day surprise
For a dramatic gesture, how about a willow tree? Willows were traditionally associated with fertility and reproduction. The ancient Greeks, for example, believed willows increased a woman's chances of becoming pregnant and would lay branches from those trees in the beds of infertile women. (Sounds really uncomfortable!) Some Native American tribes also associated willow trees with fertility, laying willow branches in the beds of newly married couples. (Ditto!) Read more here about the willow tree's symbolic value.

Yearning to renovate? Yearning to break free of a cumbersome renovation project? You need inspiration, my friend! In ye olden days, people in need of such inspiration turned to sources like books, radio or TV. Today, bloggers have been added to that list. One renovation-related blog that caught my eye recently is New York Renovator.

Billed as "a blog about home life and the challenges of renovating an 1855 home in Upstate, NY," New York Renovator is an enjoyable romp through all the ins and outs of home renovation. What's coolest is the blogger, who goes by the name Mrs. Mecomber, and freely admits she has a lot on her mind and a lot to say. She sure does cover a lot of ground here. I'm also liking Mrs. M's free and chatty manner, not to mention the fact that she doesn't mince words -- This Old House is "too big for its britches," she opines.

Looking for a loooong-term gardening project? Are you the patient sort? Check out this plan for growing a living garden chair using the technique known as arborsculpture. According to arborsculpture enthusiast (and author of a self-published book on the topic), Richard Reames, creating a work of arborsculpture may take years, however, "the truth is time is an illusion and the sooner one starts the sooner one will have a substantially large tree. Do children grow up fast? How fast has the last 10 years of your life gone by? You see it is all relative isn't it?"

Don't plan on moving anytime soon? Give the garden chair arborsculpture a try. Apart from the initial investment in the trees, there isn't a lot of equipment required. Start with ten long, thin, branchless tree saplings. The saplings should be around six to eight-feet tall. Next, get yourself two five-foot and three four-foot cold rolled, one-half-inch diameter metal bars. Follow these instructions on how to plant, then bend and twine the saplings together and gradually force them into the shape of a chair. The finished chair is perfectly functional -- you can sit in it just as you would a regular garden chair.

Personally, I'm a bit dubious of the whole concept. Somehow, the words "tree torture" spring to mind when I consider it. On the other hand, Reames is motivated in his work by his love for trees and their role in protecting the environment. Then there's the artistic value -- talk about a novel landscaping accent!