Spring is calling us outside into the yard and garden.
Jonquils and tulips are popping, not to mention the robins hopping along searching for worms.
Buds are swelling in anticipation of fresh leaves. The bluebirds and tree swallows are setting up house. The earth is beckoning to us.
Your Yard & Garden, A Haven
Spring also brings dreams to the homemaker who adores the fresh air and the glories of nature at her doorstep.
If you love the look of whimsy and enjoy the fresh air of nature, you can make your own yard and patio or porch a little Eden on earth – at least for the warm months of the year. Many a homemaker has tried to add such little touches to her yard and garden to bring a simple beauty there.
These simple and doable yard and garden ideas delight me, and I love to share them with you.
They needn’t be expensive or grandiose. Save your money. Recycle what you have already. A well-thought out plan can make a drab corner a bright spot.
I love this but would want to put it out of the weather when not in use
An outdoor shower is not something everyone wants or needs, but our (much simpler) outdoor shower has been a huge worksaver here on the farm during planting and harvest season.
(Source)
A ‘green’, practical, and inexpensive way to cut cooling costs in summer
A swing under a leafy green tree is a wonderful place to read!
Charming candlelight for evening cookouts on the patio~
Cattle panels give stability for hanging the shutters and also growing vines for privacy~
Make your own sleeping porch or shady restful get-away~
Very quaint, don’t you think?
Contentment working alongside your creativity is one of the sweetest ornaments you can bring to your home! We can transmit great joy to our children and teach them that “if Mom is content, I can be content.” A busy, peaceful heart is contagious!
I have a Part Two with some more fresh and clever ideas for your yard & little slice of Eden.
Check it out :~)
“For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.” ~Is. 51: 3
JES
I broke a beautiful tea pot lid last month, but after viewing picture number one, I have recovered! Great ideas!
Jacqueline
Oh, yay! I am so glad that you can use it now!!! How neat!
Rhonda Devine
Love these pics and I love adding whimsey to my garden too! I created broken china mulch–a great way to use up chipped dishes. I also created a wind chime from an old colander–so fun!!
Jacqueline
Rhonda, you are my kinda gal…so fun!
Deanna
This is so inspiring! Thanks for sharing all these lovely things….
Deanna
Sarah
I’m really not a gardener, but really want to be! I’m very much looking forward to your posts, especially if there are any on gardening on a budget. I find that money is one of the things that stops me from making my garden beautiful…Either I would prefer to spend the money on something to decorate the inside of the home or I feel it is a waste. Do you have any thoughts to remedy this thinking? I would love a beautiful English garden, but would have to start from scratch and the few things we have planted so far (around ten plants, including two trees) have cost us several hundred dollars. Help!
Jacqueline
Sarah,
I can relate to not wanting to spend money on something that will be wasted. I will put on my thinking cap and see if I can find some ideas of gardening on a shoestring. Trees do get costly, but I find evergreens like arborvitae are a good value if it sized right for the space… they just seem to live forever and have no maintenance.
Lana
If you know anyone with a heavily wooded property they would most likely love to have you come and dig up some seedling trees to move to your property. We have 2.5 acres that are heavily wooded and we are in a constsnt battle to keep the seedlings cleared away!
Jacqueline
Oh, Lana, You are a gal after my own heart! We have brought in trees to this property (they are still only 15-18′) and have a small (27″) tree mover. Both my husband and I love trees and have moved over 200 hundred out from under a taller canopy, some by hand as small as 18″ and some by machine as tall as 12′ with a trunk diameter of 2.5″. Some of those trees are now 45′ and 12′ diameter. I should do a post about it !!! it takes a tiny bit of insight, a canopy of big trees with babies, and lots of patience to wait to see them grow. We did most when we were in our 20s 🙂
Clint Baker
What great Ideas! I loved the teapot birdhouse and the old tire planters the best. Some people just have a better eye for that! You have a blessed Sunday and week for that matter!
[email protected]
Loved looking through these ideas! We’re about to landscape our backyard and so we’re looking around for inspiration. Thanks for sharing!
Barb S.
LOVE these ideas, Jackie! I have been looking at swing beds! And yes, I would love a tree from which to hang a swing OR…a big front porch with a double seated sled swing like we had when I was a kid! Thanks for sharing. “Pinning” this. 🙂
Your Gardening Friend (Holly)
Just found your site on a blog hop.
I LOVE these ideas! My favorites are the tea pot bird’s nest and the tire planters.
I never would have thought tires could look so tastefully done as planters, but you’ve done a GREAT job. You have a beautiful backdrop of the stained wood, and an absolutely beautiful flower/foliage arrangement. I’m truly inspired!!
Your Gardening Friend (Holly)
P.S. I hit the send button too soon.
I’m gonna share this link on my website Facebook page. Thanks!! They’ll love it.
Jacqueline
Holly, Thank you for your kind words and for sharing it. I love your site 🙂 I will be back!!
MIRIAM LUIZA
Lindos!São ótimas idéias, mas eu gostei mais do bule de bolinhas. Que criatividade! Eu tenho no meu pequeno quintal um cantinho verde que eu gosto muito, mas que dá para ficar mais lindo suas idéias. Abraços!
Beautiful! These re great ideas, but I liked the pot balls. What creativity! I have in my little corner of a backyard green that I really like, but you have more beautiful ideas. Hugs!
Pam Fields
Love the teapot idea. I have some stored that would be perfect. Lots of other great inspiration!
Gail @ The Imperfect Housewife
Would you like to come and decorate at my house? I don’t think I have a creative, decorative bone in my body! 😉
Arnalda
I love reading through your blog…TY for sharing with us. Very pretty ideas here.
Jacqueline
Hi, Susan 🙂 I actually found this on the FB page of Two Women and Hoe under photos. I have no way of knowing where they found it. Thank you for letting me know. In the morning I will link back to you or remove the pic. Blessings.
Sherree
I so love the teapot turned into a bird house. And the tires, they are the very thing that I want to put on the side of my metal shed when I get it painted. I want to paint it like the Texas flag. The tires with red, white and blue flowers would look so gorgeous. I just found your blog and must say that I have a considerable amount of time browsing. I love it. And the added scriptures, just add the flavor .
jilda hinton
Love your blog. I’m a country girl and love your decorating ideas. I do not have much gardening skills but just love admiring beautiful gardens and outdoor decorating ideas. I will definitely use your teapot birdhouse idea especially since there is a thrift store just down the road from me that has all kinds of dishes and I’m sure I can find used teapots and other such paraphernalia for the garden.
sharon myers
i just found this site and LOVE it!
patty yoder
I’d like to reuse my gramma’s old wood porch swing. Thinking it’s not safe to sit on but what are your thoughts about putting some pretty potted flowers on it? Maybe having some vine up the chains? I’d like to hang it right outside my kitchen window under the arbor.
Jacqueline
Patty,
I can’t tell you how pretty that sounds! I love arbors, anyway, and if it gives a bit of shade to the pots in the heat of summer, so much the better. Not so much watering to be done. Can you stabilize it to keep it from blowing and throwing out the plants in a windstorm?