gardening and landscape

Decorating Your Flower Beds

If I’m being honest, I’m perfectly ecstatic to celebrate that one-hour window where a small section of one of my flower beds is completely weed-free.

I haven’t even reached the point in my feeble attempts at outdoor beautification to consider decorating my flower beds. Every time I turn around, another weed pops up. Then I give up and drink a…lemonade.

Some people are in a different league.

They don’t call them Master Gardeners for nothing!

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They create a custom stone bench and then style it with ceramic frogs and an old pail filled with blooming flowers.

Of course, they do.

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And you know each and every one of those stones in that retaining wall was carefully selected and placed just so.

A beautiful retaining wall would have been a fine stopping point. But if you are going to decorate your flowerbeds, you’ll need to step it up a bit.  A metal crane and  another frog create the perfect balance of beauty and whimsy.

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If you don’t live on a river, the next best thing is to create a 100-ft riverbed that water from your downspout drains into. I totally would have thought of that…after I saw this picture.

Now, I’ll probably get in trouble for sharing this picture because it shows an unfinished portion of the yard where grass will eventually be on the right side of the riverbed. But since I’m the favorite eldest daughter and I hopped on a plane and flew 3,000 miles away after I took this picture, I’ll take my chances.

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Now, if you’re really clever, you’ll fill an old birdcage with potted flowers and somehow it will look purposeful, not junky.

Some people have a green thumb AND a decorating hand.

These are the people you need to cozy up to. Trust me. They have cool decorating cast-offs. Plus, they can’t help themselves and will pull up weeds they see – even if they aren’t in their own yards. Come on over to my house! It’s fun over here!

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Here we have a weathered watering can and these two rusty birds.

I can think of a dozen different places in my house that I could use these treasures.

Outside? Not so much.

In this yard, however, they look like they are meant to be.

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You’ll know a Master Gardener really has his or her work cut out for them when their landscaped areas literally run into non-landscaped areas like a field. Or in this case, 3 fields.

Now, one thing I can do well…provide a cute kid for a completely unstaged photo op. The horse just came to see what all the picture-taking was about and drew the attention of a certain 8-year-old.

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When I grew up here, my brothers and I were the happiest kids around because we had a huge pile of dirt in our backyard to dig in all day long.

Now, I’m the happiest grown-up around to see the dirt pile replaced with this beautiful backyard and its decorated flower beds.

The view from the yard is still spectacular. I’ve learned not to take it for granted when the best things stay the same.


Want to see some more pretty pictures? I know you do! Who can resist?

Riverter Tool Turned Hanging Flower Basket Holder

Living in Ireland: Spring Flowers in our Yard

Potting Shed Part 1 and Part 2

Pallet Flag Tip – I should have thought of this!

Sheet Metal Map – One of my favorite projects ever!

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