With the changing times, children’s playgrounds have changed from just monkey bars to swing sets. Modern playgrounds have rock climbing walls, wave slides, crawl tunnels, as well as steering wheels and telescopes. Playground creators keep in mind each and every aspect and then design the playgrounds for entertaining and satisfying a child’s curiosity.

One of the most important things that playground sets offer to children is the developmental benefits. In playgrounds, children can play freely, which will help their mental as well as emotional development. When children are allowed free play in a structured environment like a playground, they are able to use their imagination and be spontaneous, which is an essential tool for developing a strong sense of well being.

Parents and adults should feel comfortable about the safety of the playground sets that are installed in playgrounds. Commercial playground sets are passed through a test of industry before being displayed in the market. The sets that are available in the market are mainly used of steel as well as wood in place of soft plastic, rubber, and nylon ropes. Plastic posts and decking can help keep the playground from rotting or splintering. These types of playground sets can be used for a longer duration of time and with less maintenance as compared to the older models of playground sets.

Some of the points that need to be considered, when you are purchasing the playground sets for your children are mentioned below:

·      How many children will be using the playground?

·      Where playground sets are to be installed in the playgrounds?

·      How old will the children be who are using the playground?

Along with this, you also have to ensure that your playground is in strict compliance with the guidelines of ADA accessibility. Apart from this, you need to measure off an area and make sure the ground is leveled properly as playgrounds vary greatly in size and number of components. You should also check that the playground sets are constructed as per the safety guidelines, ensuring safety of your children. To do this you can check on the internet or you can consult your nearest retailer.

All these points will surely help you in selecting the right outdoor playground equipment for you and your family or for your business.

 Design

Draw up a plan of your garden space that is available around your kit home.  Work out where any pathways or structures will go then build your garden around them. Make sure you include any fences as well as any established trees.  Look at the garden during different times of the day so that you know which are shady areas and which parts of your garden will get full sun.  You will need to know this when choosing your plants because there are plants and flowers that do better with full sun and others do better in part shade.  Also plan what plants, trees and flowers you want to put in and whether they will work well together.  Think about which flowering plants are best suited next to others, in terms of what colours will blend well together.  Cottage gardens often look like a jumble of plants all thrown in together but there is actually a lot of work behind them.  Know what season plants will flower and arrange your garden so that you don’t have large bare patches without colour during the year.

 Label

Keep the tags that come with your plants and flowers so you are able document all the information about the plant.  The tag will tell you how much sun or shade your plant needs, how much water and how far it should be planted away from other plants.  It will also tell you when to expect it to bloom and whether you should fertilize it and when.  To be really organised keep a  folder or you can buy specific gardening books and keep all the details of what you have put in your garden and when you need to do things like trim roses or dig up bulbs or when vegetables are ready to harvest.

 What plants

If you are putting in a cottage garden around your kit home you choose old fashioned plants to make it a more traditional cottage garden and incorporate lots of different flowering varieties.  Have a colour theme running through your garden in different seasons,  or have a wide variety of colour.  There are many beautiful old fashioned rose varieties available, which have beautiful blooms and are deliciously scented,  and there are plenty of climbing roses that grow well over pergolas and up verandas.  Choose bright and easy to grow plants and even trees that flower, and include a variety that will bring colour to your garden all year round and make your kit home look fantastic.

Garden
A garden will improve the look of a kit home and will also increase its value.  If you have built your new home on a vacant block  you can improve the look of your home with plants, trees and an area of lawn.  If you have children you might want to put in a play area with swings, a sand pit and a cubby house. Design your garden first, know what you want it to look like and draw up a detailed plan.  Look at what will grow best in your area, check the soil type and get help from your local nursery.

Paint
One of the last things you should do to the actual structure of your kit home is the painting.  You will need to do both the interior and the exterior of your kit home which is a big job.  To save money do it yourself as it is not difficult.  Choosing colours for your home is one of the fun jobs.  If you want to remain flexible with colour choices keep the colour of your paints fairly neutral and then you can change the colours in your rooms with accessories like pillows and furniture.  You can paint each room a different colour, perhaps a bright yellow or pretty blue for the kitchen, or even a light green.  Try soft blues or pinks for bedrooms and a deep red as a feature wall in the living room.

Water tanks
If your kit home has been built as a holiday home you could be out in the bush, or if you have built a new home because you are making a change to the country then it is unlikely that you will have access to town water.  If you have built your home on a rural block you will most likely need to install water tanks.  You might only need one or two tanks if you plan on only using the home during holidays and weekends.  If you are going to be living there full time then you will need to have big enough tanks to supply you with enough water for washing and drinking.

Outdoor area
Building an outdoor area gives you somewhere to entertain so plan for the construction of a patio area within your budget.  You can use this as your barbecue area and somewhere to sit in the shade when you are outside.

Photo: Suman Chakrabarti

When it comes to entertaining outdoors, the time of day becomes very important.  If you entertain during the day, you will want to highlight the home in one manner.  At night, the effects are completely different.  The following are ways you can showcase your home from the outside in both the day and the night.

Use Creative Lighting (night)

There are a number of options when it comes to lighting your yard for an outdoor gathering after dark. Here are a few ideas:

• Brown paper sacks with tea candles
• Tiki torches
• Citronella candles
• Strings of lights
• Mason jars with sand and candles
• Landscape lighting, especially spotlights focused on the house

Colorful Landscaping (day)

The landscaping around your home can help accent the overall aesthetic appeal of your house.  When houses are for sale, buyers often judge the inside of the home based on what they see outside.  The same can be said about your outdoor party.  If the guests see a well kept garden with bright flowers in the landscaping, and tastefully placed accents, they will assume that the inside is just as pleasant and orderly.  Make sure all of the weeds have been pulled, and the grass has been mowed.

Highlight personal style with furniture (day and night)

If you have a defining style within your home, there is no reason you can’t bring that personality into your backyard and onto your patio.  Check out the Kingsley Bate outdoor furniture collections and choose furniture that fits both your style and your seating needs.  If you purchase furniture that features cushions, you may also want to utilize deck storage benches.  These benches can act as extra seats, but they are also good places to store the cushions during colder times or when they are not in use.  Since the cushions will likely be in use during the party, you can use the storage space for guest’s bags and other personal items that they may want to keep close, but out of the way.

Just because you are hosting an outdoor party, you do not have to give up the idea of showcasing your home.  There are plenty of things you can do to enjoy the party and show off your house at the same time.

About the Author

Stan Horst is a former cabinet/furniture maker who now enjoys sharing his knowledge on that topic and many others with the masses.  He also enjoys all things outdoors including activities he can share with his wife and two teenagers.

Photo: MShades

The flower is commonly bright red, some varieties come in green, pink, orange, peach or white. The amazing colors are the prominent part of the plant and it is easy to label this the flower part of the plant. Then again, the colorful spathe surrounds an inflorescence. It is referred to as a stalk, or spadix. This is the part of the plant that does contain the actually flowers, but they look more like little bumps even under a magnifying glass. When they begin to bloom they will start to look like little fuzzy bumps on the spadix.

This tropical plant can come in a wide variety of species. Some Anthurium flowers are very large, bright and colorful. Greater varieties can be as big as a foot across, and produce flower stalks that grow to be about a foot long also. However, the smaller varieties may only reach about 6 inches of height and the spathe be an only inch in width.

Anthurium flowers may stand upright as they grow, or be more like a bush. Some can bear single leaves that grow just at the tip of the stalk. One variety is the trailing plant. These can be a beautiful plant when placed in a hanging basket. Also the flowers will bloom for an remarkably long time. The cut plants can stay healthy for around 5-6 weeks, as long as it is in a vase with plenty of water.

Although it is tropical and should not be grown outside in most of the states in North America, it can be grown inside as a house plant. It does wonderfully outdoors in more tropical areas such as Hawaii, South America and the Caribbean. Anthurium flowers don’t require a lot of maintenance and are simple and easy to grow. They do need to be watered consistently.

If you like flowers, and in particular exotic one, anthurium flowers are definitely the great option for you. They’re easy to manage and beautiful and also colorful. If you’d like more information about these intriguing flowers go to http://anthuriumhi.com/anthuriumflowers/.

There isn’t one single wood appropriate for every use. For instance, garden bench wood comes in a variety of types. One kind may be used for poolside benches, and another to make patio storage benches. Picnic tables will be fashioned from a lesser wood than the teak bench that is the centerpiece of your deck. What follows is a brief description of some of the most popular types of wood used to make outdoor furniture so that you can quickly find what best suits your needs.

Acacia

This sustainable wood comes from the Australian outback. An abundantly available timber, it is more affordable than some other varieties. It is rot resistant, though it will discolor when in prolonged contact with soggy ground. Its susceptibility to termite damage makes it ideal for the porch, patio or deck.

Cedar

Cedar is commonly used for casual, lightweight outdoor furniture. Of all the hardwoods, it is one of the softest, which means that it will show the dings and scratches inflicted by daily use. The light gold color fades to silvery-gray, unless the wood is stained or sealed. This process should be repeated yearly to extend the life of your furniture. Resins within the wood repel insects and prevent decay.

Honduran Mahogany

This is one of the few types of mahogany that is suitable for outdoor use. It is a strong wood with a beautiful, rich tone and it repels water, thanks to the presence of natural oils. It is long-lasting, resisting both rot and insects. The trees are grown on plantations, making the wood an environmentally conscious choice. The one drawback to this wood is the tendency toward checking, which is the cracking and splitting that occur when wood dries unevenly. Furniture created from Honduran mahogany might best be used on a covered porch.

Shorea

A tropical hardwood that has many of the same properties as teak, but that is slightly less expensive. The wood is quite strong and needs very little processing during the manufacturing process. When harvested using best practices, this wood becomes an environmentally friendly product.   The wood’s attributes that make it suitable for outdoor use are its durability, rot resistance, insect resistance, and low maintenance requirements. A yearly application of teak oil preserves the wood’s natural luster.

Teak

The Rolls Royce of wood, Teak’s tight grain prevents the shrinking and swelling that cause checking. Teak is a long-lived wood that naturally resists decay and insect damage. The wood ages well, retaining its golden patina with no more than an occasional application of teak oil. Because the wood is very dense, the resulting furniture is much heavier than if it were made of cedar or acacia. A beautiful garden bench made of teak may truly become the anchor and centerpiece of your landscaping. Although it is an expensive wood, its longevity makes it sensible investment.

Once you have determined how you will use your outdoor furniture – whether it is next to a flower garden or a pool, on an open patio or a covered porch – then you can review the attributes of the various types of wood in order to select the right material to suit your needs. You may find that as you begin the landscaping process, the right choice of wood outdoor furniture is the perfect place to start.

About the Author

Stan Horst is the editor of www.betterbenches.com. As a former furniture maker himself, he understands what goes into a quality bench. He lives in Virginia with his wife, two teenagers, and a highly energetic rat terrier named Toby Jax. In addition to enjoying the outdoors with his family (hiking, fishing, camping), he rents out mountain cabins for vacationers to enjoy the Blue Ridge Mountains (www.cabincreekwood.com).

Getting dressed in my work clothes and gathering up my tools instantly puts me into a state of peacefulness. I am no longer preoccupied with whatever has been stressing me throughout the day. I am now focused on the immediate tasks in front of me, the appreciation and improvement of my yard.

The first step to making your garden a special place is to envision what you want. After all, an architect can’t design a building without knowing what the finished project is supposed to look like. I’ve found that one of the best ways to figure out what I want my garden to be is to add a wooden garden bench. This provides a space where I can sit and relax with my garden, and let it tell me what I should do next.

Having connected with my yard in this way, I usually break down the tasks I have to do into the following three categories. Landscaping, planting, and weeding. This helps me organize my mind around what could otherwise look like a daunting task.

Establish your goals for the space. For example, most gardeners want to differentiate areas of the yard, add year-round color, and control weeds.

Landscaping tasks include creating walkways, defining the borders between lawns and beds, and creating a sense of balance between harder structures and softer plantings. Planting involves adding a variety of flowers that will bloom at different times to provide colors and adding shrubs and perennials to provide texture. Weeding is a continual process, and usually involves weeding by hand, treating weeds, and fertilizing the grass.

Remember that yard work is never done. You’ll always be discovering new ways to improve your space, and, in fact, that’s part of the fun. Walkways are a great example of this. You will often find yourself adding them at a later date depending on what parts of the garden receive the heaviest foot traffic. It’s rare that the most-used part of the garden is the part you expected to get the most use, and adding a sitting bench can drastically change which paths get used.  Walkways can be made with a variety of materials including wood chips, gravel, paving or concrete, depending entirely on the feeling that you are trying to create.

You have a choice when it comes to the borders between the different parts of your lawn. Some people use formal borders made of wood or plastic. Others, however, differentiate beds and lawns more naturally through the use of careful pruning and trimming. I even dead-head flowers regularly to keep things tidy. Sometimes the local fauna don’t agree with my choices, and I find myself having to clean up after a crow or a squirrel that decided that there was something worth digging for right next to my favorite flower bed!

Plant life can help hide some of that damage, and it also provides color and structure. Low-lying ground-cover plants keep down weeds, and cover fabric edges. I usually then work from the back to the front, using larger shrubs and perennials to create a backdrop for the more colorful beds of flowers I place in the foreground. Make sure to check with a local gardening supply store to figure out what your hardiness zone is before buying plants, and to assess whether your choices are giving plants enough light.

Weed control is one of a gardener’s constant tasks, but pulling small weeds between flowers is a simple task compared to many of the other jobs associated with your garden. Weeds will often proliferate nine months a year, but if you’re not fussy your grass can be kept in acceptable condition by cutting it regularly but leaving the length over three inches. Using fertilizer every couple of months will help keep weeds at bay, too.

I encourage people to be sparing with the use of weed killers. These can be a major problem when the runoff winds up in local waterways. Sometimes they’re unavoidable, however, because unless you are dealing with a small lawn, weed-pulling can become a massive task.

If pulling weeds isn’t your style, consider replacing some of your lawn with a low maintenance alternative like a play-area for children, an exercise space for pets, or maybe even a greenhouse for seed-growing. Sheds are also popular, but if your primary need is a place to store your tools, consider a patio storage bench, which can be much less of an eyesore. A third alternative is planting more trees and using mulch to reduce your grass area.

After you’ve done all of these tasks, don’t forget the most important job: pat yourself on the back for all your hard work, and treat yourself to the enjoyment of the space that you’ve created. Remember that a backyard isn’t a chore, it’s also a form of exercise. After all, where else can you be in touch with home, nature, and yourself, undisturbed by the rest of the world, while creating a lovely space for you and your family to appreciate?

About Stan Horst
Stan Horst is a former carpenter who shares his love of fine craftsmanship as the editor and publisher of BetterBenches.com. He lives in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains with his wife Deb and their two teenagers. His business renting vacation cabins allows him to share his love of camping, hiking, and the outdoors with people from around the world.

Photo: Carol Browne

When considering your outdoor plan, you need to reflect on what kind of effect you want to give your visitors. Is your inside traditional, modern, rustic? What colors predominate your kitchen and your living room? Especially if you have bay windows that display your yard prominently, you might want to match styles inside and outside. If your house is made of stone, switching that ugly iron wire fence to a nice stone wall will help a great deal. Match the material and choose complimentary colors.

If you prefer more modern interiors, you might like to have a well-kept, trimmed yard with a landscaped look instead of something that looks like controlled wilderness. Fountains in a backyard are great to project a sense of relaxation and serenity, and you can put outdoor furniture all around it to make it a natural gathering place. Speaking of outdoor furniture, today there are so many models and styles and are not limited to plastic or rattan anymore. Outdoor furniture today is sophisticated, comfortable and durable. You can easily harmonize it with your living room or kitchen furniture by repeating colors and patterns.

You can even equip your backyard with a full outdoor kitchen. Yes, there is cooking outside beyond the barbecue! These new products make summer so much more appealing. Instead of cooking in a hot kitchen, you can make your favourite stir-fry right outside and enjoy the cool summer evening air. You can use flatware that matches what you use inside your home, thus giving a nice sense of continuity between indoor and outdoor. Don’t forget the outdoor home theater, where you can watch your favourite movies under the stars! Your yard will be the favourite of the whole neighbourhood.

As you can see, matching your indoor and outdoor decors can be as easy as changing your fences and gates or as elaborate as planning a whole outdoor kitchen and living room. To bring a sense of harmony between inside and outside, think about matching colors, materials and styles so that people feel like they are still in the same space, whether under a roof or under the sun. There are even people who install complete outdoor offices in their backyard to help with their productivity and creativity! With the right materials and good ideas, you can move any indoor room into the outdoors.

Photo: georgeogoodman

1. How to landscape without doing anything at all

Start with a basic check on your property by asking yourself some very basic questions:

(a)  What do you want to keep? The things you really love are excellent landscape content. They’re meaningful parts of your idea. You can literally design your whole landscape around these priceless features. These highly valued things are also good quality control, and will assist in your landscape design concept.

(b)  What doesn’t need doing? This question alone will pay for your swimming pool. There’s a tendency to slash and burn in DIY landscaping, based on the theory that everything must be landscaped “on principle”. Wrong. A nice bit of lawn or a little tree can easily be incorporated into a good landscape design. The amount of unnecessary work also blows out your time frames, costs and patience, not always in that order.

Photo: KM&G-Morris

2. Planning your landscape concept

The classic mistake of home landscaping is to work without a real vision for the concept. This can lead to a lot of hard work and problems when landscaping ideas clash with each other. A fountain may be planned with no idea of how to ensure the water supply because there’s now a miniature forest planted where the pipes need to go.

The best option is to start with a general concept. What do you want to include in your landscape? You’ve already got the things you want to keep, so use them as a basis for your design.

For example:

• The beautiful tree you’re keeping needs a birdbath and a rockery with roses?
• How about a reflecting pool to go with the birdbath?
• A little round the garden path, following the features?

You’ve already got half your plan, and some leads for the rest.

3. The more thought, the better your design.

The key to the most beautiful landscapes is content, not masochism. The fabulous landscaping you see in the big lifestyle magazines is quality based design. Some of them are big places, but you’ll notice the landscapes are all simply and well laid out at their basic design levels.

4. The “How” factor

Always ask “how” you’re going to do your landscaping. If a feature looks costly or difficult, check your options before you spend a single cent. There’s always a way of achieving what you want, and it should be simple, cheap, and easy. If it’s not, keep looking.

Professional landscapers use the simplest, most cost-effective designs and construction methods. That’s why landscaping is one of the highest paid of all professions. It’s so good you can start picking your pool pump while you’re planning your own personal paradise.

Photo: UGArdener

Basic designs for outdoor spaces

A simple layout is usually the best, most reliable structure for any outdoor space. You shouldn’t even need to spend a lot of money, just add a few features and build on to your design.

For example:

• Verandas: These are good, all purpose structures which provide a semi-enclosed living space, and they’re easy to install. There are different designs of verandas, such as pergolas and gazebos, available in the market for you to choose the format that best suits your lifestyle and budget. You can add trellises with climbing roses, bougainvilleas, ivies, take your pick, and you’ve got a ready made outdoor comfort zone.
• Pot plants: The original no-fuss form of outdoor gardening, a few big pots with things like ornamental bamboo, ficus, pot roses or hanging baskets create a beautiful space instantly. These features also don’t compete with your garden bed plants, and can be used to create some great designs for patios. (Note: If you get the best self watering pots, these plants are also extremely low maintenance, and can be easily fed with some seaweed mulch extract, a bottle of which can last for years.)
• Raised garden beds: The gardener’s favorite no-fuss way of creating gardens can be constructed anywhere, almost immediately, without much, if any, cash outlay.
• Features: Many outdoor spaces have their own special features, and this is the area where you can get really creative. Small fountains, fish ponds, special trees, and other features are great fun.

Photo: daftgirly

Case study:

A medium back yard, no trees, just a fence and some lawn in reasonable condition.

The steps to creating a great rest and recreation area are easy:

• The owners install a wooden frame pergola with trestles on the sides.
• A sand bedded, tiled area is created in the pergola area.

• A simple raised garden bed is constructed on the two sides, using stone borders and good soil with mulch is added. (No digging involved, just prepare the ground with sand for drainage, add frames and add soil.)
• Climbing roses are planted on the trellis sides of the pergola.
• A few Chinese pines (one of the typical small Chinese landscape trees, very ornamental, with many shapes as it matures) are planted.
• A rockery is constructed using selected stones around the pines.
• Big roses like Queen Elizabeths are planted at strategic places around the middle of the back yard, and surrounded by stone.
• A few special pieces of cane furniture and some hardwood ornaments are added to the pergola.
• Hanging baskets of pot roses are placed around the front of the pergola, after deciding what’s needed.

This type of outdoor space, which is entirely based on personal taste, costs very little to create, even when you’re buying everything retail. There’s almost no limit to what you can add to this simple layout.