By Elton DeWese Aah yes, the backyard. So many events, gatherings, memories.
Do I hear the theme to the bridal march, birthday party horns,
something sizzling on the grill? So much activity went on here
over the years remembering them all would prove difficult. But
the backyard is much more than all of these things. It can
become a 'sanctuary' for you and your furry neighbors(of the four
-legged persuasion), as well as the feathered ones(two-legged
persuasion). A place to relax and get away from it all, hence the
word sanctuary in quotes. When last did you take a REALLY
GOOD LOOK at your backyard and said to yourself - "Egads!"
Just kidding... Maybe not. But seriously, have you ever seen
your backyard for what it really is or rather what it could
become? I'll bet you never once cast your wary eyes on this
most overlooked and under kept part of your domain and saw
the raw potential of all this real estate. It's my humble opinion that people, at least in this society -
Neglect Their Backyards! There, I said it. I feel better now. It's
what I've wanted to say from the very beginning. And this
phenomenon seems to transcend all cultural and monetary
boundaries, as well as other societal "classes" for lack of a
better word here. Rich or poor, young or old, blue or green,
people who like science fiction and people who don't(I harbor a
special animosity towards the last group). No one seems to be
immune. Are we all just a bunch of lazy dumb as@%#? Sorry,
I get a little passionate about things - from time to time. But
here's a good example of what I mean. Take the scene from
the movie The Godfather II. When papa Corlione is in the
garden and about to have a heart attack. Now, take a good
look around... I wonder if this garden had anything to do with
Mr. Corlione's demise. It seemed - well, sort of depressing.
The type of place you could 'die' in. By comparison the house
seemed lavish, luxurious. Fit for a king and his queen, very
well kept. You can spend just as much time, energy and money
designing and decorating this most humble part of your lair as
you would any room in the house. Think, interior decorating,
but in an exterior and outdoorsy kind of way. There are two
basic ways to go about it. 1. Pay someone to do it for you.
2. Do it yourself. This article will focus on the latter. There's no right or wrong
between the two. Different strokes for different folks. And it
doesn't have to be that time consuming or costly. It all comes
down to how much time and money 'you' want to put into it.
With thousands of items, designs, layouts and tools to choose
from to get the ball rolling, you can transform this nether region
into the 'place de rsistance' of your r&r dreams without breaking
the bank, or your back. A few points to remember in order to
make things go smoothly. 1. You should plan to do this with at least one other
person. You'll need an extra pair of eyes and hands to help
set things up like line levels, hole diggers(augers), etc.
more accurately, as well as lifting heavy items such as bags
of dirt or cement, bricks, blocks, lumber, glasses of iced
tea and so forth. You can even turn it into a family
project. Now the fun potential REALLY goes up a few notches
for everyone, including the dog! Especially the dog.
2. Plan ahead. Digital design software allows you to do
this in spades(more on these in a minute). Like anything
you do planning ahead can make the difference between a
garden that looks 'nice' or 'truly inspirational'. Take
time to carefully choose your design layout, items, budget
and 'colors'. Remember plants do come in many different
colors. My personal favorite, plaid. A little something I
put together myself with my 'Genetic Engineering For Dummies
Guide To Gene Splicing' manual and kit. I tell you it's
amazing what you can purchase on the internet these days.
Just kidding! Had you there for a moment didn't I?
3. Organize your design items carefully into groups to
better decide what goes where and what looks good next to
what. Trying to undo and reinstall items that were well
placed, especially heavy items such as fountains or benches
could add significant time, energy and possibly cost to your
project. Also, if you're a 'newbie' at this you should
start out simple. Just a few design items to get a feel for
how things will look in terms of placement and color scheme.
You can always add to it later. Just don't get carried away
and wind up with a garden that's hard to navigate because of
too many items strewn all over the place. Few things hurt a
garden more than 'garden clutter'. It ranks right up there
with dead plants and too much shade. There are many tools on the internet too numerous to list here
that can literally shave days if not weeks off your project time
and save you quite a bit of money in the process. The most
efficient time savers are digital design software. They're
extremely sophisticated and won't cost you a whole lot. The
really decent ones cost anywhere from $30 to $100. Best
bargains I've seen are on eBay and Amazon. The software
literally shows you what your grounds will look like when the
project is finished. This really helps in 3 major ways. 1. It saves you the cost of hiring a designer or landscape
artist.
2. It saves you the time and frustration of learning from trial
and error, which can become quite costly.
3. No surprises, which can also be quite costly. By being
able to see the finished project right on your monitor you'll
know what works and what doesn't. The image quality is
fantastic. Some have actual photos that are incorporated into
the software and others allow you to import your own. This
aspect of the project has more potential than any other to be
the most fun. Manipulating background photos, diagrams and entire layouts
and seeing them transform and take shape right on your
computer screen in 3-D imaging is pretty fascinating stuff.
Some of the more sophisticated software are actually easier
to use because of all the animation built into them. And as a
result will make you feel like a real pro or at least quite pleased
with yourself for putting together such a professional looking
design. Okay, here endeth' my plug for digital landscape design
software. The goal is to transform this Alice In Wonderland
into a... into a... well, into something it never really was before
but had the potential to be(whew). 'Exactly' what that is, I
wouldn't presume to know 'exactly'. But speaking in a general
sense, if your house is your castle then the space behind your
house should be - an 'oasis' behind the castle. A private resort
of sorts. A place that inspires you to relax and mellow out. This
is where personal taste comes in which is why I can't say exactly
what this oasis should look like. But again speaking generally it
should definitely inspire. Or else what would be the point. So, I believe I've made MY point. I've told you what the
problem is and gave you a solution, sort of. My solution
may seem a bit vague. It's lacking details on specific
techniques and items to correct this MAJOR societal flaw of
ours. To give you all these details would mean another
article all together. Check back here periodically, I'll be
putting together a follow up article on design techniques and
items you can use to help sculpt your 'perfect' backyard
garden and help bring your dream to fruition. Here's a tip.
Bird houses, benches and fountains would make excellent
items to start with. There are many others of course but I
chose these three because in my humble opinion I believe
them to be the cornerstones of any well thought out
backyard/landscaping design project. Another thing I would like to mention, so I will. A well
kept backyard especially a landscaped one WILL increase
the value of your property. The money you put into this
project will at least double when added to your total
property value, which opens up some pretty nice financial
portfolio options you'll most likely want to bring to the
attention of your financial advisor. You'll have a sense of great
satisfaction after completing your garden/landscaping project.
The knowledge gained from such a project is invaluable and
will come in handy again somewhere up the road. Now if
that's not enough motivation for you then allow me to try the
romantic approach with a quote. "The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the
five senses." - And that is all. NOTE: Summer will be here soon, the time for such a project
would not be until then but right away. We only have one more
change of season before the big meltdown(and I don't mean
global warming). So get ready and get organized! Elton DeWse - All Rights Reserved Elton DeWse is a freelance writer on many different topics,
who picks his subjects carefully and shows his passion for the
topics he chooses in his writing style and content. He is the
owner/operator of two e-commerce websites. With "over 3300
items" to choose from his gift store and many more from his
electronics store Elton DeWse manages one of the best sites online for Gifts, Collectibles and Home & Garden dcor items
(one of his passions). His other passion has driven him to become
the owner/operator of an online audio/video store specializing in
surround sound audio/video products.
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