Family-Oriented Garden : Landscaping : Home & Garden Television

Before: This small yard needs to work a little harder to please its busy owners and their two kids. They'd like distinct areas to entertain, play, grow vegetables and showcase a fairy garden.

After: New patio furniture along with a clever seating area that camouflages the air conditioning unit creates a welcoming entrance to the garden from the house.

Before: This area of the yard is undefined and even though it has a swing set, the kids don't find it inviting for play.

After: A raised vegetable garden bed takes advantage of the day's sun and keeps the plants safe from playing children.

Martine Henry's family loves to spend time in their backyard. Unfortunately, it lacks a coherent sense of style and fun. Henry has asked for help from host Susie Coelho and landscape designer Shirley Bovshow to bring in whimsical elements to make their backyard a special place for everyone in the family with separate areas to entertain, play and grow vegetables.

Before: The bare patio has no seating and little visual interest for the Henrys and guests.

After: A lattice arbor, corkscrew topiaries and comfortable patio furniture transform the space into a functional area for relaxing.

Shirley Bovshow's plan calls for bringing definition to the yard by consolidating the scattered vegetables into one area, adding patio furniture for entertaining and incorporating a whimsical fairy garden.

The unsightly air conditioning unit is hidden by a seating area fashioned from pieces of recycled broken concrete and sand. The patio has a rounded border that provides a guideline for stacking the concrete slabs in a semicircular pattern. Plants are added to the cracks in the concrete to finish off the spot.

Clematis is supported by a curved trellis made by winding medium-gauge plastic-coated wire back and forth between two tall, flexible support stakes, pulling the top ends of the stakes closer together. Once the stakes are in the ground and the vine is woven through the wire, it creates the illusion that the clematis is floating. A fairy at the end is the final fanciful touch.

Gardening Tips:

For a child-friendly yard, avoid delicate or thorny plants.
Jasmine and sweet pea vines are also good choices for a floating trellis.
A vitex tree is a nice ornamental accent at the edge of a patio. Its aroma attracts birds and butterflies, which Bovshow calls "nature's ornaments."
Trees with flowers or berries make great accents for any yard.

furniture, cushions (Pier 1)
chandelier (IKEA)
table accessories (The Great Indoors)
fairy garden accessories (Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH))
fairy queen statue, bird bath (Wild Birds, Etc.)

More flowering plants and grasses along with lavender and a red floribunda tree rose add color in the fairy garden to create a comfortable environment for concrete and handmade fairy accents.

The existing vegetables are carefully transplanted into a raised bed with lattice backing that provides a climbing support for vines. Curled copper wire and framed seed packets make unique garden markers.

Guests
Shirley Bovshow, Landscape Designer
Shirley Bovshow Garden Design and Decor
Phone: 818-598-8677
E-mail: shirleysgarden@aol.com
Website: www.shirleybovshow.com

Resources
decorative project materials

decorative project materials

decorative project materials

decorative project materials

decorative project materials

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