John Cox

Blogs · @wyome

Tagged backyard · everything

www.homedit.com

Not Roses, Not Hydrangeas: The Purple Plant That Turns Gardens Into Bee Magnets

This piece makes the case for lavender as a landscaping workhorse rather than just a fragrant herb, citing its ease of bee/butterfly attraction, tolerance for drought and poor soil, and year-round structural presence even after blooms fade. It runs through practical design applications—curved brick borders, gravel gardens, mass plantings, and pathway edging—to argue lavender belongs in mainstream landscape design, not just herb beds. Useful reference if you're weighing low-maintenance, pollinator-friendly plantings for a sunny garden area.

Permalink backyardlandscapinggardening

www.instructables.com

www.homedit.com

21 Courtyard Garden Ideas for 2026 That Use Enclosed Space as a Design Advantage

This is a roundup of 2026 courtyard design trends, arguing that enclosed outdoor spaces are being reimagined as deliberate, inward-facing "rooms" rather than leftover yard space—where walls, screens, and limited footprints are used as design tools to control light, movement, and planting rather than being seen as constraints. It's structured as a curated list of roughly twenty real examples (credited to specific architects/designers on Instagram) illustrating recurring strategies: perforated screens, raised planters doubling as seating, central axial paths, sunken fire pits, single anchor trees, and glass edges that blur indoor-outdoor boundaries. Worth keeping as a reference/moodboard for small-space landscaping ideas and the underlying principle that constraint breeds precision rather than reduction.

Permalink designminimalismbackyardlandscaping

www.homedit.com

20 Backyard Design Ideas for 2026 Where Simple Gravel Replaces Traditional Concrete Patios

A roundup of gravel-based backyard layouts arguing that loose stone, not concrete or pavers, is becoming the go-to ground material for flexible, low-cost outdoor design. It walks through roughly twenty real examples—circular dining patios, sunken lounges, fire pit zones, framed budget patios, and gravel paths through planting—showing how the material adapts to small spaces, drains well, and lets furniture and garden beds shift without permanent construction. Worth keeping as a reference/inspiration list for planning a patio redo without committing to hardscaping.

Permalink low-maintenancebackyardlandscapinggardening

forestcooperage.com

Cedar Soaking Tub

Product page for a Vancouver Island maker's cedar oval soaking tubs, spec'ing the clear vertical grain Western Red Cedar construction, stainless hoops, and 26"-deep single/two-person sizing, plus the choice between a wood-fired Chofu heater or 120V/240V electric packages with Gecko controls. Worth keeping as a reference for actual dimensions, heating options, and the caveat that electrical hookup and foundation prep are on the buyer, since tubs are built to order in Sooke, BC with variable lead times.

Permalink wellnessbackyardwoodhome

www.xgrass.com

XGrass | 51 Fun Backyard Landscaping Ideas

This is a promotional catalog from the Recreational Group showcasing 50+ backyard improvement projects featuring their brands' products—including VersaCourt game courts, Tour Greens putting greens, XGrass synthetic turf, and Swisstrax flooring tiles. The examples range from simple additions like bocce courts and shuffleboard to elaborate multi-sport facilities and custom golf courses, demonstrating how their modular systems can be adapted to various yard sizes and family interests. The underlying message is that these low-maintenance synthetic alternatives to traditional landscaping allow homeowners to create year-round recreational spaces suited to athletes, families, and pet owners alike.

Permalink low-maintenancebackyardlandscapinghome

www.gardendesign.com

Backyard Landscaping Ideas

This guide provides comprehensive advice on planning and designing a functional backyard as an extension of the home, covering essential steps like evaluating your site, considering how you'll use the space, and choosing appropriate plants and hardscape materials. It emphasizes practical design principles such as dividing yards into garden rooms, planning for privacy, choosing styles that complement your home, and considering maintenance requirements. The piece includes numerous real-world examples of transformed backyards—from small urban spaces to larger suburban properties—illustrating how techniques like layered plantings, vertical gardening, lighting, and strategic furniture placement can maximize enjoyment of outdoor areas regardless of size.

Permalink designbackyardlandscapinggardening

stylebyemilyhenderson.com

The 2021 #ShowEmYourDIY: 22 DIY Ideas to Transform Your Sad Backyard Into Your Favorite Place - Emily

This is a collection of 22 reader-submitted DIY backyard projects ranging from simple painted deck murals and stenciled patios to ambitious builds like greenhouses, pergolas, and custom outdoor furniture, with costs from under $100 to several thousand dollars. The posts showcase various skill levels and budgets, featuring before-and-afters alongside detailed instructions, material lists, and budget breakdowns so readers can replicate projects from painted faux marble floors and modern wall panels to stock tank pools and stucco sofas. The emphasis is on inspiring homeowners to tackle their own outdoor spaces using creativity and accessible materials, whether renting an apartment in Brooklyn or owning a home with significant yard space.

Permalink backyardlandscapinggardeningdiy

www.nytimes.com

I Saved More Than 2,000 Pounds of Food Waste From the Landfill With This Simple Composter

The author describes six years of effortless composting using a simple plastic bin that requires no turning, watering, or maintenance—just dumping kitchen scraps inside and occasionally harvesting the resulting material from a bottom hatch. Despite deliberately doing nothing to manage the pile and ignoring conventional composting wisdom, the bin's insulated black plastic sides and ventilation have successfully broken down roughly 1,900 pounds of organic matter (including substantial coffee grounds) without attracting rodents or producing odors. Even the imperfect final product, which still contains visible eggshells and plant fragments, qualifies as a usable soil amendment, proving that passive composting can work for the truly lazy gardener.

Permalink sustainabilitybackyardgardeninghome

www.apartmenttherapy.com

15 Fire Pits Perfect For Every Outdoor Lover at Every Budget

This is a shopping roundup rather than a reported piece: a Commerce SEO editor curates 15 fire pits spanning under-$100 wood-burning basics, portable Solo Stove and BioLite picks with fan-assisted airflow, smokeless Breeo designs, chimineas, propane fire tables, and glass-rock luxury options, with brief notes on materials, portability, and standout features for each. It's organized by budget and use case (camping, tabletop, patio centerpiece) rather than argument, making it a useful reference list to revisit when actually shopping rather than an analytical read.

Permalink campingbackyardshoppingbudget

mossandfog.com

Robot in Disguise

This piece walks through building an entertainment-ready backyard deck, blending practical guidance with the author's own renovation story. It covers layout planning, material choices like teak and composite decking, ambiance elements such as lighting and fire pits, built-in seating and outdoor kitchens, plus personal touches like string lights and multi-tiered designs for defining spaces. It's essentially a homeowner's how-to checklist for turning a plain deck into a functional, stylish gathering space, worth keeping for the concrete feature ideas rather than any technical construction detail.

Permalink backyardlandscapinglightingfire pit

www.gearpatrol.com

Solo Stove’s New Family-Friendly Fire Pit Is High on Vibes, Low on Hassle

Solo Stove, the brand that built its name on smokeless wood-burning fire pits after a breakout 2016 Kickstarter, has launched its first propane model, the Infinity Flame, priced at $600. It uses a dual-burner system and a perforated center disc to replicate the rise and swirl of a real wood fire rather than the flat, artificial look typical of gas fire pits, though it burns through a 20-pound propane tank in about five hours. Worth noting for anyone tracking the brand's expansion beyond fire pits into griddles, pizza ovens, and lifestyle acquisitions like Chubbies and Oru Kayak.

Permalink gearbackyardoutdoorfire pit

camillestyles.com

20 Ideas to Bring Your Dream Backyard to Life (and a Backyard Tour Video!)

This practical guide walks readers through creating a backyard they’ll actually use, starting with a simple formula to name top needs and wants and moving into actionable ideas for small spaces, budget-friendly upgrades, low-maintenance planting, and weekend DIY projects. It emphasizes defining zones, using vertical space, native and drought-tolerant plants, and hardscaping options, and suggests accessible upgrades like string lights, a fire pit, and outdoor seating. Tips cover container gardening, drip irrigation, and entertaining essentials—shade structures, lighting, serving stations—plus 2025 trends such as plunge pools, outdoor kitchens, and warm neutral palettes. Throughout the piece the author ties inspiration to visual prompts on [[Pinterest]] and weekend trips to [[Home Depot]] and invites readers to tour [[Camille's Backyard]] for ideas to adapt to any yard size. Practical product suggestions and step-by-step projects make it easy to start this weekend.

Permalink low-maintenancebackyardlandscapinggardening

Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World

Raised Garden Bed Options to Optimize Your Garden

The author tested seven raised garden bed options—including five commercial kits and a DIY alternative—by assembling them at a school and evaluating them on durability, ease of assembly, aesthetics, and soil depth capacity. The top pick is Gardener's Supply Company's Deep Root Cedar Raised Bed for its elegant cedar construction and straightforward assembly, though the article also recommends metal options like Vego Garden for longevity and elevated planters for accessibility, each with trade-offs depending on what plants you want to grow and how much you're willing to spend.

Permalink backyardgardeningdiyhome