Make your Back Yard Work For You!

Garden! Adding or improving a back yard garden is one the best ways you to make a back yard you actually love and want to be in. Many people have either not been taught the art of gardening or simply think it is beyond their skills. Put the doubts aside and dive in. Summer is a good time to start a garden and as long as there is not snow on the group there is almost always something you can try to grow! If you have children gardening can be a great addition to their lives and their diets. Kids who are picky to eat veggies tend to want to at least try what they have helped to grow in the family garden. My kids have tried way more things thanks to gardening than I ever expected and they even developed new tastes for veggies. Their excitement over growing plants and ripe veggies makes memories to say the least!

One of the new things we discovered this year gardening that can be used weather you have a large yard or a just concrete to garden on are raised beds. Normally raised beds involve costly wood but now with smartpots.com they are more affordable and more effective than most other container gardening. We started to use a large round one this spring and I have been holding back excitement to share here as I wanted to make sure I could for sure say that these are amazing and wonderful. I want the “proof is in the pudding” photos! I was shocked, the SmartPot out preformed my wooden raised garden beds and certain grew better plants than any I have ever tried in containers. Partially I think because the SmartPot helped make up for my possible over watering habit! As it turns out, while waiting for the perfect photo to post on my blog I missed the peeked time for this SmartPot garden! I can hardly believe it. The cucumber plants we planted grew up over 4 feet tall and after harvesting, we need to replant with something else! I did get at least a few photos though! You can find SmartPots in stores and SmartPots on Amazon.

 

In the bottom photos of the larger garden area can you see the purple SmartPot and how wonderfully the plants in it are growing? I really am kicking myself for some how missing the perfect time to take photos of those plants before that first harvest of them! My point being, even if you have no real yard, you can use SmartPots on a patio or driveway or balcony to grow some amazing plants!

Gardening is simply good for your health, both your body and your mind. I like to consider it cheap Therapy!

Create A Back Yard Space You Can Be Social In!

When company comes over I tend to love to sit outside and chat with them. It helps to have an outside space you love to do this in though. A fire pit is a great social peace and it makes a huge impact on your yard. You can of course make one or you can buy something. Make sure you have a place for people to set drinks down and make sure your fire area is safe for children. Fire pits you can buy at stores range a great deal in price from very affordable $40 to very costly. Making your back yard a place you love though is priceless!

 Enjoying outdoor spaces can be hard of you live in an area with a lot of bugs like mosquito’s.  Being outside can be darn right torture in the evenings if your not ready to battle the buzzing things. Normally people grab some bug spray or a bug zapper. This year we discovered something new and I think safer and more effective than bug spray chemicals on the skin. Backyard Torches by www.thermacell.com. It gives off a pleasant soft light and little to no odor and keeps the bugs away. The radius it about 15 feet around the torch so if you have a large area be sure to get a few of them. I found it a bit hard to get this very kind locally so buying them online might be the best option of you want to try them. The refill kits last many evenings and I think are worth the price for the comfort they bring.

 

A few things about the Thermacell Torches: a natural insecticide found in chrysanthemums is vaporized to create a 15×15 ft zone of protection. They have been tested and found effective against mosquito’s and black flies and the U.S. Department of Defense has used Thermacell for over a decade to keep sand flies at bay.

   Add a Pool!

On of the ways we are surviving a summer with a common heat index of over 100 is with water. The kids love to swim. As summer is well underway, pools tend to go on sale. They are not as costly to pill and keep up with as people think! They are well worth the price. Floating in your own back yard pool without all the public pool Germs is worth it!

There are many options in many price ranges. This metal frame pool is about $150 right now on Amazon.

 

  What ever you do, don’t let your back yard space go to waist! Find a way to love it!