Welcome to our Backyard Blog where we share our love of outdoor living, our newest Backyard Getaway projects, community events, “Re-purposed Backyard” art for the garden how-to instructions and product review and how-to videos. To make your visit a little easier we have divided our posts into three categories below or you can simply scroll down to read all our posts.
Backyard Ponderings:
[pon-der] verb to consider thoughtfully; meditate
Backyard Ponder-ing is all about sharing our love of outdoor living with you. Read about our newest Backyard Getaway projects, community events, caring for gardens, ponds and Koi, sustainability and how to enhance your life through outdoor living. Read our latest
Backyard Pondering blog post!
Re-Purposed Backyard:
The Re-purposed backyard blog is about making something new out of something old or discarded, creating art out of re-purposed, recycled or re-used items, something fun for your garden or useful for your outdoor living space. What you can create is only limited by what you can imagine. Our re-purposed backyard blog is where we share how-to instructions on what we are creating for our re-purposed backyard. Be sure to visit our Re-purposed Backyard Gallery to view just a few of the many items we have created and read our latest Re-Purposed Backyard blog posts.
Backyard Buzz
Have you seen the latest buzz? Visit our
Backyard Buzz page or check out the Backyard Buzz on the
Backyard Getaway YouTube channel. In each episode Dave tests and reviews the latest and tried & true garden, pet and pond products and shares how -to project instructions. Before you buy or build be sure to get the Buzz!
We hope you enjoy our blog and visit often to read our latest articles. If there is something you would like to see in an article contact us and let me know what you would like to read about. If you like what you read please share with your friends and like us on facebook. Backyard Getaway is now on Instagram.
No matter where you go, you hear people discussing the virtues of recycling. Personally, I am a huge fan of the “three R’s”; recycle, reduce & reuse, or should I say “four R’s”, have to add my favorite, re-purpose. The environmentally conscious tell us we should avoid purchasing items made with plastic like plastic water bottles or even the plastic
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A couple of weeks ago Dave was repairing a pond that a “professional” installed. We seem to see a lot of this type of service call these days, which got me to thinking. Don’t get me wrong, we appreciate the work and Dave loves a challenge, but, so many of these repairs can be avoided if the pond is installed
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Bend, twist, push, grunt… squat, reach, pull, grunt… That is my work out, no not at the gym but in my garden. Although you may not feel sexy working out in the garden wearing old sweats and covered in dirt but try changing your gym workout to a garden workout and watch the results both physically and mentally. Not to
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The US Department of Agriculture released the 2012 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, it is the first update provided by the USDA since 1990. According to the USDA website, “The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on
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Follow these tips in our Spring Pond Checklist to get your pond ready for warmer weather. 1. Add or transplant your Water lilies, fertilize & prune: A 9″ or larger shallow no-hole pot works best for lilies. If your lily is already in a large pot, you can re-use the pot just change out the old soil for new soil. Water
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Your outdoor living space should be a source of harmony and happiness. A place for you to relax after a long day at work. There are many ways to create a relaxing atmosphere in your garden. One of which is to use the principals of Feng Shui. Feng Shui is a Chinese design philosophy, if applied will help promote healing
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Neem oil comes from the seeds of the Neem Tree. The botanical name for Neem is Azadirachta indica, which translates to “The Free Tree of India”. For many centuries Neem has been used for its antibacterial, antifungal & healing properties. Although, it is fairly new to the western world, it is the most heavily researched remedy in India and is
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Did you know some of your favorite garden and landscape plants can be added to your water garden and that some of the most common water garden plants can be planted in your landscape? Here are a few of my favorite versatile plants for your pond and your garden: Papyrus (Cyperus): This is one of the easiest plants to grow
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It’s official, while the rest of the country has been suffering with cold weather for weeks, winter has finally arrived here in sunny Florida. The weatherman tells us there is a cold front on the way with temperatures dipping into the low 30’s. The first thing I thought of when I heard the forecast was I had better start
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Every fall we receive phone calls and emails from upset customers whom have lost fish to pond predators. We can sympathize and know first hand that terrible feeling they have when they realize their pond is now a sushi bar. Herons, Egrets and raccoons are the most popular culprits in our area but there are others to watch for too.
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[pon-der] verb to consider thoughtfully; meditate