Born and raised in Az and after 55yrs my sis up and moves to Colonial Height’s, Va from Surprise, Az!!! Her back yard is now approx. 1/2 acre w/42 oak, maple, white pine and crepe myrtle all filled w/squirrel’s. She’s ready to start planting her garden; any idea’s how to keep them out of the tomatoes, ect.. thank’s!!!

My husband and I just bought our first home together in Monterrey Mexico. The back yard is extremely small, 20ft x 19ft. We want this small area to be a retreat for us, and an area for grilling and small parties. At the same time we would like a few flowers, maybe even a small shrub or tree. However we are not for sure if we can fit all of that into this yard, is it possible and any ideas on what we can do. Oh and the queen of my yard is my Weimaraner (large dog), so everything that goes in this yard will be access by her. Can it be done, and any ideas?

I have created a new area in my back yard and plan on putting a large Asian statue in the center of this area. I am working on an area behind where the statue will sit to plant bamboo in a controlled area. I am fixing a sort of tunnel and plan to put wisteria on it, to grow over the wire tunnel. I would like ideas on other plants to use in this area to enhance the statue and give an air or serenity. This will be a sort of *secret* garden, as you won’t be able to see it all until you go through the tunnel.

I have thought about some peonies, and plan to use white gravel and have black enamel benches in it. I would like to use reds mostly, to give more impact to the overall effect.

I am in zone 6

I am moving this weekend to a new house with a lovely back yard and I would like to make a little area for birds. I am going to make my own bird houses and bird feeders.. Any ideas on what else I should add?

You are designing a garden for your back yard. You want the garden to be made up of a rectangular flower bed surrounded by a border of uniform width to be covered with decorative stones. You have decided that the flower bed will be 22 feet by 15 feet, and your budget will allow for enough stone to cover 120 square feet. What should be the width of the border?

My aunt has this bamboo wind chime out back. there is a wood bee that has taken residence in it.
The little bugger goes inside the chime but he mainly just chills on the outside. We are both terrified of bugs and she doesnt have money to call an exterminator.

What would be the easiest most simple thing to do that would involve as little contact as possible with it?

It has already chased her, we can’t even go in the back yard (which is teeny)

Also, do they sting or bite? Ive been told they dont but that sounds hard to believe. Don’t all bees have stingers? and i’m sure they would bite if threatned. But i’m no expert. Please help. Anything is appreciated. Thanks

Also I know this will sound dumb but if there is a humane way to do it please say so but we are willing to kill it too.

Plan to have a sing along piano player, we have a statue of Liberty street lamp, will post "Staten Island Ferry" banner on boat lift. Have concrete back yard, will call it "Tavern on the Slab" Party for approximately 45-50 people; theme is a surprise for the bride and groom. Family very big NY Ranger fans. Party in Florida mid-March. Need more ideas for food, etc. Grooms birthday is day after wedding; plan to have a cake that looks like the Stanley Cup. Can use any and all helpful ideas you have

Winter is coming and my big lab has a dog house, but I dont want him out there in the Illinois winter. I cannot put him in the house because he is so destructive. Its not a good idea.
I though about building a pre designed garden shed with windows from a manufacturer, and putting him in there, but again, he chews and would destruct the shed, so now I think I will just put a doggie door in the back of the garage. How much do you think it would cost? Whats involved? I want a door that swings like saloon doors or something that.
Any ideas to help me decide what to do?
My back yard is fenced in around the side and the back of the garage, so the dog would be loose in his fenced in yard. The garage is made of wood and I do not plan to put a door in a door, but a door in the wall of the garage. The walls are 2×6′s I think and covered with wood. The siding is that old lap compressed siding they used in the 1970′s. I want the door to be about 2 ft tall and wide enough to squeeze a fat choco lab thru. The dog will have access to the garage this way because the doors will be down and the side door closed. What I would not do for my dog. Lord!!! I just installed K worth of chain link fence for him and now he has learned to dig. I keep a wheel barrel full of dirt to fill holes in about once a week.

We don’t have a big back yard at all and we are having some guests over for the 4th of July. Our 6×8 foot cement patio is very close ( like 2 feet away ) from some blue spruce pine trees which make might make it uncomfortable for someone. What is a good idea to make our patio look better long term? Add vinyl fencing, add a brick retainer wall…?

We recently removed a hot tub from our back yard and now there is a 8′x8′ dead spot in the grass…we were thinking about planting a small garden.

What types of plants/veggies would be sutitable for a small space such as that?
When should I start planting?
Any other tips would be helpful.

FYI- We live in PA
We want mostly veggies!

I want to create a nice patio area in my back yard, I don’t know if I should go the wooden deck route or the stone slab route. I am a beginner as far as doing this sort of thing.

I would like to keep it simple and use rocks, a low
maintenance style. Any resources and books that
can show me would be of great help.
I saw one in the june issue of Canadian Living.
The Checkerboard style looked very neat and I’d like
one in by small section of my back yard.

My wife and I were sitting outside, looking solemnly at our dog’s grave in the back yard.

It was a windless day, sunny. Peaceful, but of course, we weren’t at peace. A couple of friends were helping us bury him after I’d spent the morning digging the grave.

We have a metal pipe wind chime, and we both happened to be looking at it when the chime slowly tolled from one pipe to the other, back and forth, maybe four times, then stopped. Still no wind.

Fluke of nature? Or did our dog’s "soul" want us to know he’s still around?

i have 13 rows of 7 feet each in my back yard…ive never done this before and so im a little ignorant but eager to learn…ive barely broke up the soil and set the rows and now am wondering what step to take next

The back yard has a brick patio and what used to be green grass until I sprayed it with grass and weed killer. Now the grass and weeds are dead but how do I remove the dead grass and weeds from between the bricks? I tried it previously using an old pair of boots and just kicking the vegetation out of the ground but there has to be an easier way.