Our Outdoor Living Space
Herb garden village! Very fun and cute idea! Great to help get kids involved with gardening and growing your own fruit, veg and herbs! Kids love to help their parents, and by helping in the garden, they can learn about ecology, about sustainable gardening (growing your own food), and just learn to enjoy nature more, instead of being on electronic devices so much.
The fire pit is a great way to spend time with friends and family, roast marshmallows, hot dogs, or just sit around it and enjoy the fire. This fire pit is a DIY project made from retaining wall blocks.
Image Source: RuggedThugLife.com
I have never made my own garden stones, but was recently reading about something called Hypertufa and am very excited to attempt working with it.
Have you ever seen planters that look very natural with little pebbles and such in them? They look like they could just blend right in to your landscaping as they are so earthy, rough and beautiful? That is probably Hypertufa. I am new to this, so you can read more about it on Wikipedia here. It is a mixture of Peat Moss, cement and perlite. Not only do garden sculptures and pots look really neat when made of Hypertufa, but plants supposedly grow better in them do to it being so porous.
I am going to try my hand at making some pots and garden stones this weekend if the weather stays nice!
Photo: hometalk.com
I picked up a rubber door mat at Ross for about $6 to attempt these great decorative stones shown above (be sure to visit the link above for a tutorial!). I think they will look very nice in my garden to create a path from my patio to my citrus trees. If I am successful, I am going to paint them with a natural patina look for added earth tones.
Wish me luck!
English garden foundation plants are commonly considered to be plants that can be grown in the back garden, used for foundation plantings or growing at the front of a house. Foundation plantings provide an attractive border around your home and hide unattractive areas such as paving, sheds etc. These will often consist mainly of herbaceous perennials, providing summer flowers and foliage effects with interest throughout the seasons. A number of small trees, shrubs and ornamental grasses can also be included in foundation plantings, providing seasonal foliage effects and year-round structure to the planting scheme.
A thyme lawn. Prettier than grass, needs no mowing or watering, (much less wasted water), purple blooms in the summer, and smells lovely when you walk on it.
I like to use thyme in my garden because it is so hardy, requires very little upkeep and makes a bold statement. What’s more, it’s purple flowers fill my yard with color all summer long and the perfume from the leaves keep pesky insects at bay. I’m allergic to grass pollen so having a thyme lawn is much more beneficial than having a grass lawn.
I love planting thyme in between my patio pavers or under the raised garden beds that I have for vegetables and flowers. It keeps the area neat, fills it with color and most importantly, smells fantastic! Most people think thyme is only good for cooking but I disagree. There are so many ways to use thyme in the landscape!
Landscape Fun, Here is a landscape design I executed on the home I sold last year. Home Exterior Design
This is a very basic design but it really brings out the best in this home and its location.
The front yard landscaping was designed with Green plants and bushes only. I wanted to keep the natural look of the home and not take away from its surroundings. The bushes were trimmed to create a nice border around the property. I also added some light colored bricks to create a border that would help bring out the green in the plants.
I was able to create a landscape that is both beautiful and easy to maintain. This is an ideal design for those who want a low-maintenance yard that still looks great.
Colorful border with Flowers Garden Love.. I’m in love with this border! How gorgeous!
I’m not sure what some of the flowers are, so I think I will take this picture to my local nursery and see if they can name them all. I would love to recreate this along my driveway!
A slate walkway is a walkway path paved with flat-cut, thin stone tiles called slate. Slate is a roofing material that has been in use since the Roman era and was used as an alternative to clay tile or wood shingle paths and roads.
Slate walkways are found in both residential and commercial settings. They are often installed on outdoor patios and around swimming pools for safety reasons.
Slate walkways are durable, slip-resistant surfaces that require only minimal upkeep using a broom or leaf blower to create a clean appearance.
This great look comes with a tutorial on how to do it from YoungHouseLove.com. Check it out!
Small water ponds are now very popular to have in the backyard. Small ponds are now being introduced as an element of landscaping design for both commercial and residential use. 
Before you start building your small water pond make sure that you know what type of small pond will look best in your backyard landscape design scheme, before you start digging up your yard area where the small water pool will sit. Small water ponds are very beautiful to look at and can be designed in so many ways. They come in different shapes, styles, and sizes. Small water ponds are not just for decoration but they are being used by families nowadays as well to keep fish inside their small ponds.
Native gardening – A gorgeous mix of Mediterranean and California native plants in a low water landscape, designed by Arleen Farrara of Satori Garden Design, looks like a watercolor painting I’d buy.
