How to Set Up an Outdoor Living Area

The patio or deck can be a natural extension of your home if you like to spend time outside. You can make the most of this outdoor living by creating a full outside living area. The degree of complexity is a personal decision, but a well designed outdoor living area will receive plenty of use.

Set Up Location

The first step in an outdoor living area is finding the right location for your seating. You may already have a large covered patio or gazebo. You may find that you’d like to lay a new section of patio or build a deck to accommodate your new outdoor living area. Arrange your location before moving ahead.

Set Up Seating

Once a location has been determined, preferably near the rest of the home, it is time purchase and arrange comfortable seating. Seating can be as simple as a patio table and chairs or it can be a collection of chairs, chaise lounges, benches, swings and cushions. The style of the seating as well as the number of seats is up to you.

Arrange the seating in a circular fashion for large groups, or in small clusters to encourage more intimate conversations. If you will be using an outdoor fireplace, be sure to place seating well away from the center where the fireplace will be located.

Set Up a Focus

If you would like a focus for your outdoor living area, arrange an outdoor fireplace, a table or other large item in the center of your seating to help bring the living area together. A table may limit seats, so you might create a small living area or multiple clusters if using a table. A large fire pit or fireplace can accommodate many seats, but be sure to keep seats well away from any blaze or sparks.

Accessorize

Finally, dress up your outdoor living area with potted plants, lawn decorations and special touches such as urns or wall fountains. Arrange plants and other accessories around the perimeter of the seating arrangement to make the outdoor living area feel cozy and contained.

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How to Set Stepping Stones

Stepping stones can make a perfect path through a backyard or garden. They can also take the place of unattractive concrete sidewalks and add a decorative element to a yard. Here’s how to set stepping stones.

Determine Your Stepping Stone Location

Your first task is to determine where the stepping stones should be located. Look for worn areas of your yard or pathways that you’ve already worn into the ground. Also consider stepping stones in boggy areas of the yard.

Measure

To measure the placement of the stepping stones, walk the pathway normally. Stepping stones should be set at the distance of a natural step, so drop a pebble, spray a bit of paint or use another means of marking the ground when you take a step. Then count up the number of stones you need.

Purchase Your Stepping Stones

Purchase stepping stones that suit your outdoor space and budget. Decorative stepping stones are beautiful and make a fun path, but basic concrete stepping stones may be easier on the budget.

Place the Stepping Stones

Dig a shallow hole slightly wider than the stone and not quite as deep. Layer the bottom of the hole with sand about ¼ of an inch thick. For tougher soils, such as clay, consider using additional sand. Place the stone into the hole and stand on it to set it in place. Wiggle around a bit and bounce to ensure it is firmly set. When it is completely set, pack the dirt back around the stone to set it in place. Complete the procedure with the remaining stones to create an entire stepping stone path.

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How to Make Your Own Compost

Compost is nature’s finest fertilizer and you can start your own compost pile easily in the backyard. By making your own compost, you’ll be taking care of your plants while properly disposing of household and backyard waste. If you’re ready to start your own compost pile and need composting tips, here’s enough to get you started.

Make a Compost Area

You must make your compost in a certain area, so section off a plot of land that is three feet square. You can make your compost heap larger, but smaller may prove tricky. Build a simple box if you’d like or you can purchase a compost box from your neighborhood gardening center.

Give Compost a Good Start

The best way to start a compost pile is by using someone else’s compost. Look for compost donations from neighbors or friends and make a small pile. You can also buy compost if you’d like. Make a small pile with your new compost and then you’re ready to start adding your own ingredients.

Adding Compost

Adding to the compost pile is simple. You’ll want to add twenty brown items for every green. The green items, such as fresh leaves, are wetter than dead, or brown, leaves. You’ll want to limit the amount of wet on your pile. Add a variety of items to your compost pile to avoid burying it with too many leaves and their carbon or making your compost too acidic with pine needles.

You can add both of those things in large amounts, but be sure your amounts are balanced. You can also add fresh manure from pets in the yard, but you would do well to let the manure age first as it may burn plants if used too soon as it is so rich while fresh. Go ahead and add household trash as well including shredded paper, eggshells, and food remains from plants, but not meats or fats.

Using Compost

Soon your compost pile will be a beautiful collection of leaves, pine needles, weeds, grass clippings, orange peels, old vegetables and more. Stir it once and a while to let it oxygenate, and then pull the richest compost from the bottom and middle to use on your garden and plants. Your plants will be thriving in no time.

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How to Light Your Yard

As night falls, your backyard can take on a certain gloom that may be too inviting to unwelcome guests. By lighting your yard, you can have the peace of mind that your property is protected, and with the right kind of lighting, you can also enjoy additional decorative elements.

Select The Yard Lights

There are many kinds of lighting options available. A flood light may make sense by a garage, but it might also be too harsh for nearby neighbors. If you do invest in a floodlight, hang it so that the glare is only directly visible on your property and the light isn’t shining into any windows.

If a floodlight is too much, or you’d rather have more decorative lighting, consider lights along pathways or in the landscaping. Path lights and accent lights give off a bit less light than a full spot light or flood light, but they will illuminate your yard enough to see while you walk outside after dark or if you’re curious about a noise.

You can install electric lights which may be less expensive, but more complicated to install. You can also install solar lights which derive power from solar energy and automatically light up after dark. These are simple to install and often require nothing more than placing them in the ground where you wish the accent lights to be, or mounting the light to the wall if you’re installing a solar flood light or spot light.

Install Lights

If you’ve selected solar lights, you have little to do but decide where to actually place the light. If you’ve selected electrical lights, you have a bit more work ahead. Turn off the power before working to install the lights. Carefully follow the instructions of the manufacturer. If at all unsure, consult with an electrician or have your lights professionally installed. This will keep you safe and ensure your lights are installed properly.

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How to Install a Sundial

There are many ways to install sundials – not just on a southern oriented wall. So long as your sundial receives light during the day, it can be installed almost anywhere suitable to the style of your particular sundial.

Installing Sundials Outside

If you’re installing your sundial outside in the garden or patio, you have a few different options. A horizontal or equatorial sundial can be placed where two paths intersect, in the heart of a flower bed or in the middle of the yard. Mount this kind of sundial on a column, but be sure to keep the column under four feet however.

A meridian sundial can be hung from a tree in the yard or on a pillar. It can also be hung from a gatepost assuming the gateposts are facing south. The sundial can be hung anywhere that receives sun in the midday and facing south (or north if you’re in the southern hemisphere.

Installing Sundials on the House

To install sundials on your home, you must first decide what use you will receiving from your sundial. If your dial is primarily decorative, you can hang it above the door as a show of hospitality. You can also hang the dial on any wall without regard to orientation if you are using it only as decoration.

If, however, you are going to actually read your sundial, you’ll want to install it with the correct cardinal direction. A vertical direct south sundial should be hung on a southern wall with the dial facing directly south. Even if the wall isn’t directly facing south, you can orient the sundial using pegs or other means of raising it a bit on one side or the other.

To hang a sundial for the sunrise or sunset, hang it on an east or west facing wall. This positioning works well for direct east, direct west or vertical declining sundial.

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How to Build a Garden Path

A well-designed garden path not only leads you through your garden, but keeps your feet dry and protects your plants from being damaged. Ideally, a path invites you into the garden, leading you under beautiful branches and around trickling fountains, and even over garden bridges. By following a few easy steps, you can build a garden path that does all of this and even more.

Plan Your Route

Whether your path is intended to lead from the driveway through the garden to the front door, or from the patio to a secluded bench, the first step is to plan your route. If your path is prone to heavy traffic and is more utilitarian than superfluous, a straight and wide path that gets the traveler where they want to go is best. This doesn’t mean your path will be boring.

Plant interesting foliage along the path and add garden ornaments to keep the path attractive. A secondary path that might branch off of the main path can be narrower, since it is not expecting the heavy traffic flow, and might twist and turn a bit more. Instead of twisting and turning at random, make your curves seem practical—bending the path around an existing tree or placing a boulder in the nook of the curve.

Choose a Material

When choosing a material, it is important to consider again the purpose of your path, as well as your budget. You can use materials from sand or mulch, which can be free, to relatively expensive cut stone or pavers. Keep safety in mind. For primary paths, use a surface material that will be safe whether it is wet or dry, and will not slip or become uneven. Also, consider the style of your house. The material you use for your path should blend in or complement the style of the existing house and other structures.

Install the Path

The exact method of installation will depend on the type of material you chose. Regardless of the material, however, you will need to ensure good drainage so you are not creating a swamp or bog instead of a path. Additionally, you’ll probably use a base and some edging to ensure a level path. Once you have your path, you’ll love to use it and you will take great pride in knowing you created it.

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How to Attract Butterflies

If your perfect garden comes complete with flittering butterflies, you must attract them using the proper collection of plants. Fortunately, these plants are easy enough to find in nurseries and do not require a great deal of work outside of your normal gardening routines. All butterfly attracting plants have a similar element, however – they all possess a great deal of nectar.

Plant a Butterfly Friendly Garden

When you plant your garden, design it with butterflies in mind. Include flowering plants that have been proven to attract butterflies with their nectar. Some of those plants include lilies, lavender, thistle, blanket flower, and rock cress. Additionally any other flower, even wildflowers, with high amounts of nectar can attract butterflies.

Plant a large variety of bright and colorful plants. Arrange plants in clusters so that you have bold splashes of color in various sections of the garden. Butterflies are attracted to large riotous splashes of color, so don’t be timid when it comes to planting flowering shrubs or even trees.

Give Them Mud

Balance these flowers with a small water garden. Growing irises around a pond beside your butterfly garden can create a variety as well as give butterflies a full habitat right in your backyard. The pond can also help create a mud patch. Butterflies love to frolic in the mud, and you can make yours even more appealing with a few pieces of fermenting fruit.

Experiment over Time

Each season, try new plants with different colors and blooms to see if you can attract more butterflies and their caterpillars. Over the years you’ll soon find the perfect recipe for attracting the butterflies native to your area.

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How to Attract Birds

If you’d like nothing better than to gaze out into your garden and see birds frolicking about, you’d do well to actively recruit them. Here’s how to attract birds to your garden.

Plant a Food Supply

If you want birds to stay in your garden without the help of bird feeders, you should plant a variety of shrubs, trees and flowers that actually provide food for birds year-round. Start with a good mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. Deciduous trees produce fruit and nuts while evergreens provide pinecones and berries. Both plant types offer a place for birds to nest and visit.

Reduce Lawn

You’ll want to reduce the amount of space the lawn takes up in your yard. Bare expanses of grass have little or no attraction for birds. Build up your garden with a collection of plants in close quarters. Consider a path and arbor through a variety of blooms and fruit trees. Give the bird something to hide and nest in.

Provide Water

You’ll also want to provide your feathered friends with a source of water. A bird bath makes an attractive addition to a garden or you can install a small pond or fountain for appeal as well as a location for birds to drink and bathe.

Bird Feeders

While waiting for your garden to grow, or if you’re simply unable to build the kind of garden to attract birds, you can also install a bird feeder in your backyard. Be sure the feeder is well stocked with birdseed on a daily basis and hung far enough away from the house and action that birds feel safe. Then, sit back and enjoy the birds that come by for a quick snack.

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How to Clean Algae from a Birdbath

Birdbaths can be a beautiful addition to your backyard. They may be primarily decorative, or they can be functional little spa resorts for your feathered friends. However, bath time can be cut short for your backyard birds if their bathtub is filled with algae. An otherwise lovely garden ornament can become a nuisance when this problem persists. Don’t despair! It is possible to be rid of this pesky growth and return your birdbath to its pristine freshwater condition.

Consider the Wildlife

Before you take a chance harming the wildlife in your backyard by pouring a slug of bleach directly into your birdbath, think again! Never use algae-reducing chemicals in your birdbath since this can harm the animals that come in contact with it. While you are cleaning your birdbath, take precautions to protect the animals as well as yourself.

Gather Your Materials

To clean your birdbath, you will need a garden hose attached to a water source, scrub brushes, bleach, latex gloves, and a bucket. Be sure to gather your materials before you begin so you can work more efficiently and quickly return your birdbath to working order.

Light Cleaning

Start by emptying the dirty water from your birdbath. You can do this by simply tipping your birdbath slightly until the dirty water drains over the side. Next, you’ll want to rinse any loose debris from the bowl of your birdbath by spraying it with your hose. Put a little more effort into your duty by going after that algae with the scrub brush.

Bring Out the Big Guns

Now that the easy algae is gone and the really determined stuff is still hanging on, it’s time to get tough. Make a bleach solution in your bucket by mixing three-fourths a cup of liquid bleach with a gallon of water. Again, be sure you are doing this somewhere where animals will not come in contact with the bleach. Also, protect yourself by wearing gloves, old clothes, and working in a well-ventilated area. Pour a little of the bleach solution into the birdbath and go after the remaining algae. When the water is soiled, repeat until you are satisfied with the state of your birdbath.

Out of Order

Now that the job seems like it is done, don’t endanger the birds by immediately putting the birdbath back into service. After you take the birdbath out of the yard, fill the birdbath with another round of bleach solution and cover it with wood or plastic. Allow the solution to work its magic for about fifteen minutes. Rinse thoroughly until no trace of bleach remains, then fill with fresh water and put your birdbath back to work.

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How to Weed a Flower Bed

When you spot unwanted plants appearing in your flowerbeds, you must take action to bring order back to your garden and keep your desired plants healthy. Weeding a garden is an ongoing process, but with careful treatment, the number of weeds you battle can be diminished over time.

Don Your Gloves

Before you weed a flowerbed, be sure you have well fitted gardening gloves. Many weeds have stickers or sharp leaves, and you’ll want your hands protected. While you’re donning your gloves, you may also want to grab a special kneeling pad to help keep your knees protected, too.

Weed From One End

Start at one end of your flower bed and comb through your plants looking for unwelcome growth. Pull weeds from the bottoms to remove the entire plant including the root. If you only break off the stem and leaves of a weed, the plant will simply continue to grow. Stubborn roots may require a trowel or small rake to loosen the soil before you’re able to remove the root system. As you finish a section, move along the flower bed from one end to the other to be sure you haven’t missed anything along the way.

Treat for Future Weeds

Once the weeds have been removed from the flowerbed, use a weed control product to help keep new weeds from growing. Treating for weeds and using chemicals on existing weeds can take time to work most effectively, but prevention efforts can pay off by completely removing all weeds in less than two years.

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