DIY Life

Anyone else think yard sculptures are cool? Here's a follow-up to yesterday's post, "30 uses for a dead tree."

Join me as I time travel back, way back...to 2005. I want to share with you an old article that I just stumbled upon. It's all about a 7-foot-tall statue of the Buddha, custom made for a front yard. Talk about the ultimate in yard art. This Buddha was commissioned by Dave and Gunda Hiebert of Lawrence, Kansas. The sculpture was created for them by local artist and wood-working guru, Dave Werdin-Kennicott. He carved the religious icon from the remains of a diseased black locust tree.

Werdin-Kennicott used as his model a standing Buddha sculpture that rests in the collection of Kansas University's Spencer Museum of Art. His tools for the job included all the standard wood-working gear: sanders, chisels, chainsaws, grinders and drills.

Dave Hiebert, owner of the sculpture, was quoted as saying that at first his only aim was to rid his yard of the tree, but he had soon hit upon the idea of having it transformed into a work of art. Said his wife, Gunda, the sculpture emerged so naturally from the old tree stump, it was almost as if the locust tree was expressing its inner Buddha. Hmm.

I'm sure the neighbors have a love/hate relationship with that thing. As much as I love quirky yard art, I'm not sure I'd have the guts to put a huge sculpture like that in my front yard. Namaste.

Each week, Diane Rixon brings you Avant Yard, a look at all your lawn and garden could be. Diane shows you how to give life to everything inside your fence. We promise that your yard will be the greener "other side" and the neighbor's envy to boot. Alright, we don't really promise, but you get the idea.

Is there a dead tree in your yard? Let it live on -- repurpose it! Here are a bunch of suggestions, with an emphasis on projects that are both easy and inexpensive.

LEAVE IT ALONE
1. Leave it standing. If it's not a danger to people or structures on your property, of course. Let it be a home for birds, bugs and assorted critters.
2. Leave it standing and turn it into yard art -- hang colored bottles from the branches or string it with colored lights that change with the season.

CUT IT UP
3. Use planks for fencing.
4. Build a big brush pile, which is a fantastic refuge for wildlife.
5. Use it for garden mulch. You will need to hire a mulching machine or mulching service for this, however.

I just discovered You Grow Girl and I love it! This fabulous blog is the creation of avid green-thumbed-girl Gayla Trail. The YGG motto is "gardening for the people." Unlike the stuffy and old-fashioned garden-society-type garden sites I'm used to seeing, this site is fresh and cool, hip and funky. It's aimed at a younger and more environmentally-conscious audience. People like myself, perhaps, who want to garden...but don't want gardens like their parents have, with neatly clipped lawns and stiffly symmetrical shrubbery.

For Gayla, gardening is about more than just growing stuff. It's about cherishing the environment. It's also about the art and creativity involved in gardening and the inspiration that a beautiful garden can provide. Gayla's gardening style is also about the basics that well-planned gardens can bestow on us -- like nutritious and delicious foods and all-natural products for health and beauty. She's enthusiastic, too, about all the crafts associated with life in the garden, like sewing aprons and converting old, junky items into eye-catching yard art and cool garden containers.

Ms. Trail even has a book: You Grow Girl: the Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening. You can buy the book through numerous vendors including Amazon. Have a story, photo or project you'd like to share with You Grow Girl? Post it to the ever-expanding forum page.

Say bye-bye to your boring, cookie-cutter front yard. Step one: add interest, diversity and texture with thoughtful landscaping. Step two: spice things up a bit (and express yourself too) with some fun yard art. Yes, you can buy yard art at hardware stores and plant nurseries. You can even buy high-priced yard art that is manufactured to look all rough-hewn and rustic, just like it was -- er -- homemade.

Suggestion: instead of parting with your precious cash, devote an afternoon this weekend to creating your very own yard art. I stumbled upon some terrific resources while surfing the Web today, in particular a site called Free Woodworking Plans. Here you'll find a bunch of easy DIY yard art ideas, complete with full instructions and patterns you can print out and trace onto whatever surface you're using.