Make The Most Out Of Your Front Yard

 Architecture extends beyond the design of your home, it also applies to the outdoor landscape. Make the outside of your home as beautiful as the inside with inspiration from the following article.

Consider it a manifesto against foundation plantings, those familiar beds of rhododendron, yew, holly, and euonymus first used to cloak the high foundation walls of tall Victorian-era homes. "Foundation planting has become a safe cliche—it's time to move on," proclaims Gordon Hayward, who works nationwide as a garden designer and lecturer, and is the author of 10 books on landscape design. Hayward is a proponent of the entry garden, wide borders flanking a front walk that serves as the garden's spine. "I want you to walk through and experience the front garden rather than pass it by," he says. 

This Old House 

Take It Outside

 Before it gets too cold, host a dinner party outside. The beautiful Fall foliage will provide an awesome backdrop for your evening.

Fall is the ideal time of year for alfresco entertaining: It's cool enough to enjoy the outdoors comfortably, and changing leaves offer up a veritable kaleidoscope of color. This autumn, invite friends and family to an outdoor celebration of the season, complete with farm-to-table recipes, rustic DIY table decorations and step-by-step instructions to make your party shine.

HGTV 

Ombre Tree Skirts

 Whether you are ready for it or not, Christmas is right around the corner. Finishing Touch is proud to announce our light installation services, and we are offering a 10% discount before November 15th. Check out the following article for ways to make an ombre tree skirt.

Skip the sewing machine and opt for this no-sew, ruffled tree skirt in a rainbow of ombre. You'll need: 1 yard of fabric in 3-5 different colors and patterns; 1 yard of canvas; fabric scissors; hot glue gun; hot glue sticks.

HGTV 

Fun Halloween Games And Decorations

 Take advantaged of your outdoor living space by throwing an outdoor Halloween party this year. Bundle up those kids and play all of the following games for an amazing night.

Gather supplies; be sure to get enough white fabric to cover the size lantern you're using so it drapes nicely (Image 1). Assemble paper lantern, then drape fabric over it. Cut a slit in the top of the fabric to allow the lantern's metal hanging hook to pop through. Tie a piece of string or twine to the hook for hanging ghost. Trim fabric as needed along the bottom to create ghost shape.

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Flowers That Thrive In The Fall

 Your garden should represent your style, all throughout the year. You may think that you can't have the flowers you want year-around, but there are many blooms that actually thrive in the cold weather.

Some mahonias — leatherleaf mahonia (Mahonia bealei) and selected cultivars of M. x media — bloom in winter; these shrubs are hardy in USDA Zones (6)7 to 9. A close relative, Oregon grape holly (M. aquifolium) flowers in early spring and is hardy to USDA (4)5.

HGTV 

The Best Garden Makeovers

 As the weather changes, so does your garden. Follow the latest trends in landscape architecture for inspiration, and check out the following gallery for the best in garden design.

Country Living

Rounded and sword-shaped foliage populate thisPennsylania garden, adding interest to the front-yard border even when little is blooming. "The iris leaves act like exclamation points," the owner says.

Build A Wrapping Station Now

 Christmas is only two months away, so it isn't too soon to think of gift wrap. Or at least not too soon to consider building a wrapping station, with advice pieces on how to build them like the one below. Make sure to check out our Holiday Decoration specials, and get ahead of the game now.

Admit it: Your stash of gift wrap and ribbon is a jumble in the back of your closet. But if you've got a bookcase with removable shelves, you've got a place to wrangle rolls of paper, tape, and crafts supplies.

This Old House

Perfect Plants For The Fall

Are you looking for inspiration for your Fall garden? It helps to know which plants will fare best in the colder weather.

Sick of pansies that turn to mush with the first fall freeze and don’t bloom again until spring? I am. That’s why I’m planting the new Plentifall pansies available now in garden centers. These are among the first trailing pansies, each spreading 18 inches. Plant them in the ground to form solid sweeps, or let them cascade from containers. Plentiful pansies survive below-zero temps with little damage, so they should bloom for you from fall through spring.

Southern Living