DIY Network

Improving the View Maureen Gilmer begins beautifying the space outside a kitchen door. From "Weekend Gardening" episode WKG-405

Charm and beauty is the new order of the day for this backyard garden; host Maureen Gilmer creates an eye-catching garden that can be scaled up or down to fit any size yard.

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America's first gardens were on small plots near the kitchen doors of Colonial homes (figure A). These dooryard gardens were filled with plants used to make everything from teas and medicines to insecticides and dyes. Later, European styles began to influence American dooryard gardens. The rigid geometry of Dutch gardens (figure B) and the French art of topiary were incorporated while maintaining the more relaxed traditions of the English cottage garden.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

For this garden project, Maureen is working in a small backyard adjacent to a driveway. The back door leads directly to the kitchen, making it a perfect site for a dooryard garden. Her goal is to incorporate shrubs and cold-hardy perennials suited for the Northeastern part of the country into the garden, blending sophisticated and European elements with Yankee practicality (figure C).

This project, rated a level 3 for intermediate gardeners, takes 14 hours over the course of two days. As with most gardening projects, it is best to start with a design in mind. Maureen downloads a picture of the garden and, using landscape design software, clicks and drags images to create the perfect garden. Before starting the renovation, she saved time by picking up everything in advance.

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