A well-designed front yard landscape can transform your homes curb appeal. It can also provide a welcoming, versatile setting where you can relax and enjoy the view. Here are some of our favorite landscaping and gardening ideas for creating the best front yard on the block.

Take time to chill in this peaceful, Asian-inspired garden. Hardscape elements reinforce the styleand keep down the maintenanceof a garden. A restrained wooden fence with a minimalist detail at the top emphasizes the Asian influences in this garden.

Carefully selected varieties reinforce the clean lines of this garden. Bonus? Fewer plants also equal less daily tending of the garden. Mulch isnt finicky, retains water, and keeps down weeds, which reduces the need for upkeep. Once established, evergreens, including the midheight versions at the back of the fence and the dwarf varieties closer to the pathway, tend to need very little regular care.

In place of hard-to-please plants, garden ornaments like this graceful statue fill in gaps in a landscape and add visual interest.

Hardscaping and plant choices are equally as important when it comes to front yard design. See five secrets to a gorgeous landscape, as well as inspiration for your front yard landscaping project.

Shrubs and trees combine for striking, expansive back or front yard landscaping. A smattering of river rock provides an informal but distinct edging between the garden bed and lawn.

Gracefully arching shrubs such as willow and cryptomeria keep the garden distinctly low-key. Reliable shrubs and trees can provide more than just a basic green color palette; here, vibrant autumnal tones liven up the landscape. An investment in trees and shrubs pays off in more ways than just landscape interest: The two also offer visual interest during wintertime when perennials have died back.

Shrubs such as willow can be formally shaped, or left to grow at will, eliminating the need for constant trimming.

Vibrant colors disguise the ease of care behind the plants in this front yard landscaping. Ornamental grasses such as Japanese forest grass are steadfast when it comes to low-care front yard landscaping plants. They offer amazing foliage, need little hand-holding, and withstand harsh weather.

A flagstone pathwhich requires no care except a good sweepflows from one end to the other of the narrow side yard. To create a truly low-maintenance garden, limit plants to those that need little TLC and to those that can take the conditions of the spaces microclimate, such as these coral bells. After the first year or two, large deciduous trees, such as this maple, offer structure without demanding additional garden space.

Your front yard is the first thing people see as theyre driving by. Follow these five tips for your best front yard ever.

Carved out in a corner, this landscaping idea for a front yard garden showcases fuss-free plants and trees. Larger plants and trees occupy more space in a garden, effectively decreasing the number of plants needed to fill a space. Here, a white pine dominates against a wooden fence.

Transitioning between tall plants and groundcovers is essential for any landscape, and low-maintenance gardens are no different. A globe blue spruce bridges the divide between the path and the trees behind it. Choose accents that involve little effort, too, such as solar-powered landscape lighting. A mostly monochromatic color palette is soothing to the eye and easy to create for nearly any gardener.

Lungwort and ferns offer hardy growth patterns with little TLC.

A congenial grouping of perennials and annuals dresses up a narrow flower bed in this front yard. A no-maintenance garden doesnt mean the plantings have to be boring. You can make a distinct color impact by adding dahlias or other heat-resistant, summer-flowering bulbs. Annuals provide dashes of color during the summer without having to worry about prepping the plants for winter. Bachelors button and petunias both fit the bill in this narrower bed.

Structural plants such as ornamental grasses provide a play of color and maintain visual interest during autumn and fall. Maintenance is easier with garden beds that are accessible from both sides. Otherwise, add pavers through the bed at regular intervals to make weeding and deadheading easier. A defined edge that uses materials (even simple rubber tubing) to prevent grass and weeds from entering the garden bed can save hours of tending.

A front yard landscaping nook relies on a soothing and low-key setup. While the lines and shapes of plants offer visual interest, hardscape materials provide a decorative element, as evidenced by the curving edge of this gravel walk. Multiple materials supply varied layers in a landscape; try mixing a solid surface with loose gravel. In place of plants that overwhelm with color, two sleekly styled chairs and accent pillows create a focal point.

Striking leaves from canna and New Zealand flax stand out against the otherwise green plants. Plant and go: Thats one of the primary reasons to love ornamental grasses, including sedges; they grow vigorously in summer and maintain their shape during winter.

A front yard landscaping full of grass may seem like less effort than adding ornamental plantings, but this pretty yard proves otherwise. Research is important when it comes to plant selection; choose hardy varieties that wont mind being close to heavily trafficked areas, such as these daylilies lining the sidewalk.

Containers add bright notes of color, and, if the blooms fade, plants can easily be replaced with another round of annuals. A fence provides a tidy border between the single row of daylilies and more diverse plantings closer to the house. A lush, planted front yard requires less care over the long term than a lawn. No weekly mowing!

This landscaping idea for a front yard relies on no-fuss design and pretty plant accents. Dark gray pebbles surround paving stones for a no-mow, easy-care landscape accent. A series of irregularly placed, large-scale pavers offers a minimalist path.

Instead of depending on edging such as mulch that needs to be replaced every season, slim stones provide a solid boundary. Large swaths of a few carefully selected native plants such as coneflower, Liatris, and black-eyed susan, as well as ornamental grass, keep the planting uncomplicated.

Conifers at the back edge of the yard offer year-round color and visual interest.

Although they dont necessarily need to match, your front yard and backyard need to have some design thread running through them to feel intentional and stylized. Learn easy ways to create a cohesive look with your landscaping.

If you're looking for quicker ways to update your front yard look that are also easier on your budget, take the DIY route. Try simple projects like laying a narrow gravel path using affordable pea pebbles or forego that and cover with mulch instead; hanging baskets with unique flowers or greenery; decorating around your porch with topiaries or lining it with flower containers or window boxes. For an impactful yet little-to-no-effort swap, add benches, create an actual rock garden, or add a medium to big size rock featureyou can get the latter off the internet, customized with your house number or family last name; or find more generic, budget-friendly ones in garden or home stores.

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11 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas to Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal - Better Homes & Gardens

Update your front yard, porch, and entryway to welcome visitors with a beautiful first impression. Check out these simple, low-cost curb appeal ideas for improvements you can do in a day, a week, or a month. When your home looks good at first glance, everyone (including potential homebuyers) will want to see what's inside.

House numbers, the entry door lockset, a wall-mounted mailbox, and a light fixture are all elements that can add style and interest to your home's exterior curb appeal. However, if they're dingy or need to be updated, your home may not convey the aesthetic you think it does. These curb appeal ideas have the most impact when they function collectively rather than as mix-and-match pieces. Oiled-bronze finishes suit traditional homes, while brushed nickel suits more contemporary ones.

Window boxes are a curb appeal idea that offers a fast, easy way to bring color and charm to your home. Choose boxes made from copper or iron for a traditional look. For example, the lattice detail on this Better Homes & Gardens metal window box ($16, Walmart) adds texture to the display. Select painted wood for a cottage feel. Mix and match flowers and plants depending on whether you get full or partial sun and your home's color scheme.

Your home's front entry is the focal point of its curb appeal. Make a statement by giving your front door a coat of color with paint or by installing a custom wood door. Clean off dirty spots around the knob, and use metal polish on the door fixtures. Your entry should also reflect the home's interior, so choose a swag, flag, or wreath that reflects your style.

Symmetry is not only pleasing to the eye but also the most straightforward layout to arrange. Symmetrical compositions of light fixtures and front-door accents are curb appeal ideas that create welcoming entryways. Two sidelights flank this door. The lantern-style sconces safely guide visitors to the door and coordinate with the door hardware and urns.

Invite guests to pull up a chair and stay a while with welcoming porch furniture. Look for seating with skids to help prevent damage to your surfaces, like this woven chair from Better Homes & Gardens ($97, Walmart). Add the cozy feel of a living room with rugs, throw pillows, and end tables.

If you don't have space for a rocking chair or two, adding a small chair or bench on your porch can serve as a resting spot or a convenient place to slip off dirty shoes. Comfortable outdoor seating is a curb appeal idea that encourages everyone to engage with neighbors and participate in street-side activities.

Low-voltage landscape lighting significantly impacts your home's curb appeal while also providing safety and security. Add accent lighting to trees or the house or illuminate a walking path. For the best landscape lighting, plan to incorporate a variety of fixtures and lighting types. If you aren't able to use lights that require wiring, install solar fixtures. Solar outdoor lights (like these Better Homes & Gardens LED lights, $19, Walmart) are budget-friendly and easy to install.

Mailboxes should complement the home and express the homeowner's personality. If your mailbox is attached to the house, pick a style and finish that matches your home's trimmings. For a mailbox that sits closer to the road, surround your mailbox with a beautiful flowering garden to instantly make your front yard more welcoming and approachable. Consider painting the mailbox and post to coordinate with the home's color scheme, or personalize your mailbox with vinyl decals that list your address.

Get garden beds into shape by pruning growth, pulling weeds, and planting flowers. Add new mulch to restore color faded by sunlight and harsh weather. If stone or brick borders your bed, consider cleaning and resetting any soiled or dislodged pieces. If your border needs to be updated or more modern-looking, try upgrading to stone or a decorative cast-concrete edging system for improved curb appeal.

Container gardens are a curb appeal idea that adds a welcoming feel and color to any home exterior quickly and affordably. You can buy ready-made containers from garden centers or create your own with your favorite plants. Pots come in a variety of materials, such as terra-cotta, wood, and plastic. For durability, look for chip-resistant ceramic planters. A staggered, asymmetrical arrangement works best for most landscapes to create a dynamic setting.

Use these easy curb appeal ideas to take your landscape to the next level:

Even with a small budget, there are curb appeal ideas that will draw attention to your front door and entryway. Add a few well-chosen and nicely arranged plants on the front porch to create an inviting focal point. Molding is an architectural detail that adds definition when applied to the sides and top of the doorway. Notice how the white door casing makes this door stand out.

Add contrast and color to your home exterior with a new planting bed. Prime spots for improving curb appeal are at the front corners of the yard, along driveways or walkways, and immediately in front of the house. When creating a new garden, choose features that frame your home rather than obscure it. Opt for stone or precast concrete blocks to edge the bed. Include a mix of plant size, color, and texture for optimal results.

Shutters and trim are curb appeal ideas that add a welcoming layer of beauty to your home. Exterior shutters can be made of wood, aluminum, vinyl, composite, or fiberglass. New composite materials, such as PVC resins or polyurethane, make trim details durable and low maintenance.

If your home has an older gutter system, odds are it's also suffering from poor gutter maintenance. Peeling paint, rust spots, drooping, and other problems indicate repair or updating is needed. Replace old gutters and downspouts with a new gutter system.

If you're on a tight budget, vinyl gutter systems that you can install yourself may fit the bill. However, they become brittle and crack over time in cold weather. Copper systems, while pricier, convey an unmistakable look of quality and pretty curb appeal. For the best results, we recommend hiring a professional to install gutters.

Arbors, garden gates, and short sections of decorative fence panels are curb appeal ideas that will enhance your garden and increase the appeal of your home. These simple additions can become a backdrop for a bounty of blooms. They're available in easy-to-build kits or prefab sections that you simply connect. For best results, paint or stain these items with colors already on your house.

Give your yard a little whimsy and curb appeal by adding weather-resistant artwork. Choose pieces that complement your home's natural palette and exterior elements. Birdbaths, metal cutouts, sculptures, and wind chimes are good choices for outdoor decor. Water sculptures function as yard art; the gurgling is soothing and makes hot days feel cooler. Place fountains on level ground in optimum hearing and sound vantage points.

Planting colorful flowers is a surefire curb appeal idea to boost your home's beauty. Use bold, bright hues to create a big impact, even with limited space. Greet guests with a colorful garden in your parking strip (between the street and sidewalk). For an easy street-side garden plan, feature native plants such as Aster, Baptisia, and purple coneflower.

Porch and stoop railings can deteriorate quickly if not properly cared for. If your railings are past their prime, look for quality wood or metal components to replace the existing material and improve curb appeal. As with other improvements attached directly to the house, make sure the color, scale, design, details, and material are compatible with the home's main features. Porch railings supply an integral part of a home's exterior aesthetic, helping to reinforce a home's style.

An exterior update (new paint, siding, or trim details) automatically transforms the look of a home. Regular maintenance of exterior surfaces is the surest way to keep your house and its curb appeal looking great. Any apparent defects, such as cracked or rotting material, can downgrade the aesthetic and quickly turn away potential home buyers. Once weaknesses are repaired, look for ways to add personality with color, trim, or shingles.

Create a permanent welcome mat by upgrading your front steps. Installing tile, pouring new concrete steps, or painting a porch floor or front stoop are curb appeal ideas that can drastically change the look of your home. If you decide to go the tiling route, select a tile that's slip-resistant and rated for outdoor use. If installing tile on sealed concrete, you'll need to grind the surface down before starting so the thin-set mortar will bond.

If your driveway is cracked or stained or has vegetation sprouting, you can easily clean it up or upgrade the surface. First, repair the cracks and stains (and kill the weeds), then dress it up by staining the concrete or affixing flagstones. For more room to move your car or park, add stone, brick, or pavers to the sides of the driveway to widen it. Establishing a crisp, clear shift between paved and unpaved surfaces can help to set off a driveway and enhance curb appeal.

A well-designed walkway is a curb appeal idea that will make your home warm and inviting. For a dramatic improvement to a straight concrete path, replace it with a contoured walkway made of stone or brick. For a less labor-intensive upgrade, apply a colored concrete resurfacer to the old walkway, then edge it with brick or stone borders. Brick pavers offer traditional, classic beauty to the landscape of any home.

Nothing carries pedigree and permanence like stone. It's great for dressing up exterior features such as concrete foundations, column footings, and other masonry details. Natural and manufactured stone can be costly options for large expanses, but both are affordable and well-suited for use as an accent material. A faux stone patio is a long-lasting curb appeal idea for your home.

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23 Curb Appeal Ideas for the Best Front Yard on the Block - Better Homes & Gardens

Along with conserving water and helping the environment, the city of Sacramento is providing rebates to people who convert their lawns to drought-tolerant landscapes

SACRAMENTO, Calif. TheGreat American lawn, the setting for barbeques, wiffleball games, and picnics for generations, could be the next causality of the climate crisis in the west. In reality, experts say the lawn should never have existed in California in the first place.

"It's insane how much goes into keeping this carpet that really never belonged in California. It's just to fit this suburban sort of myth of the Great American lawn," said Haven Kiers, UC Davis associate professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design.

California's hot, dry summers, attributed to the Mediterranean climate, are not conducive to lush green lawns, and as the west gets hotter and drier due to climate change, states like Nevada are banning home lawns in an attempt to conserve water.

As the state's parched reservoirs reach record low levels and the land continues to subside due to overdrawn aquifers, many Californians continue to supply their lawns with water. With lawns covering 2% of the continental U.S., grass can be considered the largest irrigated crop by acres in the U.S., according toNASA.

Grass consumes large amounts of water, water that the west does not have to spare,according to Scientific American.About half of residential water use in a single-family home goes to outdoor watering, like grass, according to Carlos Eliason, spokesperson for the city of Sacramento. Meanwhile, drought-tolerant landscapes use about a third of the water as regular lawns.

New landscaping strategies under the name xeriscapes could assist in alleviating the stress on water systems. Xeri derives from the Greek prefix for dry, so xeriscape is a dry landscape.

However, this can be a bit misleading. Dry in this case refers to the amount of irrigation needed to sustain it. Xeriscapes rely almost solely on water supplied by the environment, meaning the plants selected are accustomed to our climate. In a word, the modern approach to California landscaping is xeriscaping, according toCalRecycle.

There's many misconceptions surrounding drought-tolerant landscapes as well. Many might picture a drought-tolerant landscape as a barren landscape of gravel with a few cacti sprinkled in, but that is not necessarily the case.

I think one of the myths of xeriscapes is that you can just cover your lawn or cover the front yard with gravel, and you know, maybe five plants, and that's good," said Kiers. "In terms of heat retention, the urban heat island, these front yards that are just all gravel or rocks are absorbing so much heat and they're radiating it all back.

By contrast, the city of Sacramento encourages river-friendly landscaping, which they describe as "an environmentally friendly, holistic approach to gardening that works with nature to reduce waste, prevent pollution, and support the integrity of one of Californias key ecosystems -- the Sacramento River Watershed. "

In a place with a great growing climate like Sacramento, there's infinitely many options. Professor Kiers recommends using plants native to California, such as salvias, sages and oaks to reconfigure your yard along with mulch to keep the soil cool and moist. Planting trees in cities and residential areas is key to reducing the urban heat island effect, which can raise city temps by up to 7 degrees, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Resources like the California State Water Resources Control Board's river-friendly landscape guidelines or Calscape.org can provide inspiration in designing your yard and selecting the right plants.

Professor Kiers also says that xeriscapes are far less work than a typical lawn.

"Once things are established, then it really is (less work). You cut it back every now and then and weeding is the only issue," Kiers said.

City-run initiatives and programs are available to encourage people to undertake lawn conversion as well. The city of Sacramento has a program that incentivizes people to rip up their lawns and convert their yards to xeriscapes.Currently, people can receive up to a $3,000 grass converter rebate for replacing their lawns and businesses can get $50,000.

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Why xeriscapes might be the next generation of home landscapes in California - ABC10.com KXTV

Andy Douglas| Press-Citizen opinion writer

Why do we always think we have more time?

More time to address climate change, more time to stop the coral reefs from bleaching?

Fred Meyer, Backyard Abundance director, thinks its because were in a perpetual state of denial. And yet deep down we know our actions are destabilizing the ecosystem to the point where it cannot recover.

You may know Backyard Abundance as a local organization helping people turn their yards into food landscapes. Founded in 2006, the group continues to evolve, especially when it comes to addressing the urgency of climate change.

Meyer and I sat on his back porch last month, overlooking his own abundant yard, musing about the Iowa prairie, a large ecosystem destroyed in the span of 80 years. Before founding Backyard Abundance, Meyer had gone through Master Gardener training, but wanted to do more.

My fascination was with growing food, specifically in ways that helps increase the resiliency of the land, he said.

He soon learned about permaculture, a concept coined in the 70s as a response to the industrialized way growing food was despoiling the planet.

Meyer decided to travel to California for a two-week certification course.

We learned techniques to actually increase the resiliency of land while growing food, he said.

Putting these techniques into practice in his own yard, he felt the joy of working in harmony with nature, especially every time a bee visited the beebalm, or robins communed with the anise hyssop.

I had this idea that people could enhance the environment by making small changes to the landscape. So I thought I should start a group to work on this local level, Meyer said.

He began meeting with people from environmental organizations, and met many folks who had done the work of enhancing their own yards, people who would go on to serve on Backyard Abundances board. As a first project, they created a yard tour to demonstrate what was possible. The first presentation: Meyers own backyard, on a sweltering July day.

One of the first mistakes I made was to have a yard tour in Iowa at noon in July, he laughed.

But 100 people showed up, as well as reporters from two radio stations, and several TV stations and newspapers, demonstrating the level of interest in this approach.

Backyard Abundance established itself as a nonprofit in 2009, and began offering classes. In 2011, it started to offer landscape design services. One of the first projects was the childrens discovery garden on the north side of the Iowa City Rec Center.

Next came the Wetherby Park edible forest. It was a fertile period, as the nonprofit developed a garden in McPherson Park, and an edible classroom also near the Rec Center.

Many people benefitted from this work. Im one of them, as BA consultants 15 years ago helped me start a vegetable garden, which is still going strong.

But Meyer was thinking ahead. Permaculture had taught him to look at the landscape and try to understand its gifts. And his concern about climate change was intensifying.

This carried him down a path of learning wilderness skills, going into resilient landscapes and learning how to thrive on the land.

Basically, observing a healthy ecosystem, he said, and trying to understand what was really going on.

He and I agree that the prevailing human story is too often one of domination, the idea that nature is this messy thing we need to control.

To evolve out of this, to create life-enhancing landscapes, we need a completely different way of thinking, one of cooperating with nature.

Backyard Abundance has recently been organizing wild harvesting workshops.

The first class was named meet our edible friends. Everything we do is about experience and immersion and helping people to learn and connect, Meyer said.

The nonprofitreworked its mission statement, with a focus on "wellness."Meyer sees the mental health crisis as related to our disconnection from the natural world.

Were offering classes around therapy in nature. After all, were a part of nature, he said.

Lately, he has been teaching edible forest gardening classes at the university and saidhis students have a level of awareness that he didn't have at their age. Theyve been handed a future, he said, that is laughable.

The Union of Concerned Scientists did a study and found that Iowa will eventually have the climate of Oklahoma, he noted. Well have the same amount of rainfall but with big deluges and big droughts. Were going to need to learn how to collect rainwater.

Why do we always think we have more time?

Andy Douglas is the author of"Redemption Songs: A Year in the Life of a Community Prison Choir" and"The Curve of the World: Into the Spiritual Heart of Yoga."

Excerpt from:
Opinion: Nonprofit shows we can take the time to help the climate - Iowa City Press-Citizen

Though we are still in summer, the cool days of fall are around the corner, which is the best time of the year to install plants in your landscape as they will not be as stressed due to the cooler temperatures. While planning for an attractive landscape for your enjoyment, consider including plants and other items that will attract wildlife to your yard. Remember that what you include in your design, such as plants, feeders, water features, etc., and where you place these items will affect the kinds of animals and other wildlife, like butterflies that will be attracted to your yard.

First, develop an overall landscape plan for your property. Be sure that your plan includes all the areas of your yard you want to plant. Keep your plan simple and try to avoid a cluttered look. Initially, dont worry about selecting specific plants, but concentrate more on grouping plants. You should decide during the initial planning stages where such items as an ornamental pond or bird feeder will be located. Think about the views that you will have from inside your house.

When deciding what to include in your design, remember the three basic needs of wildlife: food, cover and water. The needs are the same whether in the forest or your back yard.

Food: This is one of the easiest needs that you can provide. The greater the variety of food, the greater the diversity of wildlife you are likely to attract. Food can be provided naturally by the planting of grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees. You can supplement naturally grown food with various products that will attract birds and animals. Food is one of the most significant enticements for attracting wildlife onto your property. Many homeowners who dont have enough land to provide water and cover can enjoy some wildlife by feeding alone.

Water: Most homeowners are not fortunate enough to have a natural water source in their yard. In most cases, it must be provided. Ensuring access to water can be accomplished with something as simple as a birdbath or as elaborate as an ornamental pool or pond. In addition to its wildlife value, a water feature can be a focal point in the yard. Locate it so it can be easily viewed outside and inside the house.

Cover: Protection from the weather and places to rest and raise young are essential components of any wildlife sanctuary. Different animals have different cover requirements:

Rock piles or stonewalls for chipmunks and lizards

Dense shrubs for cottontails

Water for frogs and turtles

Try to locate cover close to the food and water; remember, many cover plants can also be food plants. Arrange plants so they are attractive to look at and two so they fit in with your overall landscape plan.

As your landscape matures and the wildlife habitat develops, it will become increasingly exciting. Your yard can become a stage where different species of wildlife are the stars, and the people are the audience.

Do you use the same password for all your online accounts? Change it nowbut not before you see these easy-to-guess passwords to avoid using, based on analysis by VPN provider Twingate. Click for more.

Timothy Daly is the Agricultural and Natural Resource agent with UGA Extension Henry. He can be contacted at 770-288-8421 or tdaly@uga.edu.

Originally posted here:
TIMOTHY DALY: Making your garden attractive to wildlife - Henry Herald

ANTONIO LANGHAM GLANCED across a crowded hotel ballroom in downtown Atlanta and noticed an older, white-haired gentleman slowly walking in his direction. Langham, a household name in Alabama football lore, was being honored that weekend as the Crimson Tide's "SEC Legend" on the eve of the 2009 SEC championship game. The older gentleman walking toward Langham was Roy Kramer, and Langham sheepishly admits that he didn't immediately recognize the former SEC commissioner.

But make no mistake: The pair will forever be linked.

It was 30 years ago that Langham's 27-yard interception return for a touchdown saved Alabama in the inaugural SEC championship game, a thrilling 28-21 victory over Florida. The unbeaten Crimson Tide went on to win their first national championship in the post-Bear Bryant era when they defeated Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl. Langham's memorable pick-six may have also saved Kramer, who came up with the creative (and controversial) idea of playing a conference championship game after the SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1992, not to mention setting in motion the model that still is at the center of determining the national champ.

"We were at the banquet the night before the game, and I'm just mingling after we're all up on the stage and see him coming toward me with his arms out," Langham said. "I look around and am thinking, 'Who's he walking over to hug?' I know it's bad to say, but I had no clue who Commissioner Kramer was. I mean, I had met him before, but I sort of stepped out of the way because I thought he was looking for somebody else."

But Kramer knew exactly who he was looking for, the guy who wore No. 43 for Alabama on that cold, rainy night in Birmingham's Legion Field in a game that shaped college football more than anybody could have known at the time.

"Antonio, I just want to hug your neck," Kramer told Langham with a hearty laugh. "You are my favorite athlete of all time."

IT WAS A HUGE GAMBLE by Kramer and the SEC to add a championship game in 1992. They were the first major conference to do so after finding a little-known NCAA bylaw that stipulated a conference with 12 teams could split into two divisions and play a championship game. The SEC had just added Arkansas and South Carolina as its 11th and 12th members.

"The bylaw was originally put in for Division III conferences, but it applied to everybody," Kramer said. "Once we hit 12 teams, we knew we could take advantage of it, and I knew it wouldn't be popular with everyone in the sport, even in our conference. But our teams having a chance to potentially play for two championships at the end of the season, the conference championship and the national championship, was something that gave a flair to our conference that was unique at the time."

So unique that then-Florida coach Steve Spurrier asked, "Is that even legal? Commissioner Kramer assured me that it was, and I guess a lot of the growth and changes we see today in college football goes back to that game." Spurrier was one of the few coaches in the SEC at the time who liked the idea.

"Oh, I loved it. There's nothing like a championship game," said Spurrier, who revels in telling the story about a charity golf tournament he played in around that time with then-North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith and then-Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams.

"Coach Smith asked, 'Are you guys going to get a playoff in football?'" Spurrier said. "I told him I didn't know, that everybody just sort of plays their season, then the bowls come in and pick the teams they want, and then after they play, they get a bunch of sportswriters together and they vote on who's national champion."

The Head Ball Coach then looked at his two Hall of Fame hoops counterparts and asked his own question: "How would you boys in basketball like it if you did it like that?"

Smith looked at Spurrier and quipped, "We wouldn't, because that's stupid."

In retrospect, Spurrier would wholeheartedly agree.

"Maybe that SEC championship game Commissioner Kramer came up with got the ball rolling," Spurrier said. "At least we've got a little bit of a playoff scheme now to determine the champ."

Most of the coaches in the SEC hated the idea of a conference championship game, and Alabama's Gene Stallings was especially upset. Their fear was that the SEC was putting itself at a decided disadvantage in the national championship race by playing an extra game.

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"We were 11-0 and hadn't won anything," recalled Stallings, now 87 and living on his farm in Paris, Texas. "I remember thinking how hard it was going to make it for the SEC to win another national title, but Roy knew what he was doing.

"I'd say it's worked out just fine because you're not going to find a better environment or a better showcase for college football than the SEC championship game each year."

And that 1992 title game paved the way for the SEC to win 16 of the next 30 national championships, with six schools winning titles.

It was such a novel concept at the time, though, that nobody around the sport knew what to make of it.

"I don't think any of us had really thought about it," former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said. "Give credit to Roy, though. He had a vision, and it's a game that carries a lot of marketing weight and a lot of financial weight. I think the SEC is very, very proud of their game. They were the first to have one, and it's part of their culture.

"It's probably as important to them as the Rose Bowl is to us."

The Big Ten began expansion conversations with Penn State in 1989, but the Nittany Lions didn't begin play in the conference until 1993. Delany said there wasn't a concerted effort to go from 11 to 12 just to add a conference playoff. In fact, the Big Ten didn't expand again until 2011, when Nebraska came aboard, and it started its conference championship game that season.

In 1996, the Big 12 was the next major conference after the SEC to add a championship game, following the merger of the Big Eight and four teams from the old Southwest Conference. More dominoes fell with the ACC adding Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College and playing its first conference championship game in 2005. The first Pac-12 conference championship game was played in 2011 after the league grew to 12 teams with the additions of Utah and Colorado.

"It's interesting that some of the most vocal opponents to some of these moves, even the long resistors, have their own championship game," said current SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who helped craft a 12-team College Football Playoff expansion proposal that was voted down in February by the short-lived Alliance (ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12). The CFP will remain at four teams through the end of its current contract, which runs through the 2025 season.

"When we first went down the conference championship game road, we felt our game would be a way for our teams to play their way into the national championship game," said Mark Womack, Kramer's right-hand man who remains the SEC's executive associate commissioner.

"Now, everything else that has happened in our sport, conferences getting bigger and bigger and having their own TV networks, I don't think we quite foresaw the unprecedented change in what we're seeing right now in college athletics. We thought our conference championship game might precipitate some change, but nothing like this."

THE ONLY THING on Kramer's mind that Dec. 5 night nearly three decades ago was that he might get run out of town if a three-loss Florida team managed to upset Alabama and ruin the Crimson Tide's national title hopes. The Gators got the ball back in the final minutes of a tie game with a chance to take the lead when Langham stepped in front of a pass by Florida's Shane Matthews and took it to the house.

"There was a lot of angst even before the game, a lot of angst, and I'm not sure what the future of the conference championship game would have been had Alabama lost that first one and been knocked out of the national championship," Kramer said. "Our goal was for that game to serve as a showcase for the SEC, and I think we accomplished that."

The inaugural SEC championship game was televised nationally by ABC with the legendary Keith Jackson on the call and earned a 9.8 rating, not to mention 83,091 fans packing Legion Field. The game moved to Atlanta in 1994 and has been one of college football's crown jewels ever since.

A year ago, the SEC championship game between Georgia and Alabama led all conference title games in viewers (15.3 million) and attendance (78,030). The 1992 game generated $6.1 million in total revenue, including TV money, while the 2021 game generated $26.6 million.

"It's been a great way to celebrate SEC football, fans from all over the conference there and the stadium sold out [for 26 consecutive years]," Womack said. "I would argue that it rivals the national championship game as the best game in college football."

And, yes, Kramer admits establishing the game was a bit of a gamble, but not the only gamble that night. Langham said he rolled the dice on Matthews' short pass route, and instead of giving ground and forcing the underneath throw like Alabama's coverage dictated on the play, he hid behind the Florida receiver and came from the outside to intercept the pass.

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"I was gambling, too, because Shane Matthews was a great quarterback and didn't make mistakes," said Langham, who is on the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame ballot. "Something just told me to sit on the route. I just wanted to make a play because the last thing you want is Steve Spurrier and those guys driving down the field at the end of the game."

Langham guesses he's been to about 90% of the SEC championship games since that first one. He's always amazed at the way it has grown and takes pride in the fact that the SEC was out front in helping the sport evolve and grow.

As Kramer surveys the current college football landscape, he's not sure how much credit or blame he deserves from what some labeled a "gimmick" 30 years ago.

Keep in mind that Kramer was also the chief architect of the BCS system, which was launched in 1998 and determined college football's national champion until the CFP took its place in 2014.

Mike Aresco, the American Athletic Conference commissioner, once described Kramer as "a guy who could always see the future."

That future continues to change, as conferences are now going away from divisions. The NCAA Division I council announced in May that it would relax its restrictions on conference championship games, paving the way for leagues to avoid title-game matchups determined by division winners and eliminating divisions altogether. The Pac-12 immediately announced its title game this season would pit the two teams with the highest winning percentages.

Even the SEC is focusing on a single-division model with either eight or nine conference games once Oklahoma and Texas join the league.

No matter what that scheduling format looks like or even how CFP expansion turns out, good luck in ever getting the SEC to give up its conference championship game.

"I don't even want to think about that, because it's a cultural event for our region, and based on viewership, I'd say for the country," said Sankey, noting that the SEC title game a year ago was the highest-rated college football game of the season.

"You think about our student-athletes, and they point to this game now. So we have to be careful as we think about change, and I tried to be with the last discussion on playoff expansion, to understand where there are real points of meaning -- and not just value that seems transactional -- but real meaning. And to me, the SEC championship game has great meaning, and we shouldn't forget that."

Kramer is not a big fan of a 12-team playoff because he thinks it would devalue the regular season, and he also said that 16 teams (which is where the SEC and Big Ten will be with this latest round of expansion) is about as big as a conference needs to be.

Delany, who retired as Big Ten commissioner in 2020, tends to agree.

"What Roy did was break through from 10 to 12 members and redefine what a large conference was," Delany said. "We all grew from there, from 10 to 12 to 14 and now 16. I hope that's enough. I think it's very hard to have a conference that's much larger than 16 because then it becomes a small association."

Kramer will leave it to others to navigate the future of college football. He's now 92 and lives on an East Tennessee golf course overlooking scenic Tellico Lake.

"I guess, to some degree, we started all this," Kramer said. "Some might think it's good, some not so good."

Read more from the original source:
How the 1992 SEC championship game altered the college football landscape forever - ESPN

I was listening to a podcast by Moxie LaBouche called Your Brain on Facts and she mentioned the U.S. School Garden Army. While "Victory Gardens" were well known, (Plant a row to feed the hungry) this program was totally new to me so I did some digging!

The School Garden Army was created in March 1918 by the U.S. Bureau of Education, funded by the War Department and blessed by President Woodrow Wilson. The motto was "A garden for every child, every child in a garden." Each "soldier of the soil" pledged to "Consecrate my head, heart, hand and health through food production and food conservation to help the World War and world peace." (Sound familiar, 4-H kids?)

This program enlisted boys and girls at school and at home into planting gardens to help in the fight in France during World War I. Many of our nations food supplies were used to feed our soldiers, and this program was a real and patriotic way for kids to be involved in feeding their own families and supporting the war efforts.

It was even suggested that they name their garden plot after someone they knew who was fighting abroad. The government estimated that there were 7 million children ages 9 to 16 who could help by growing vegetables, berries, fruits and poultry.

Government publications were sent to teachers. The courses included lessons on nature, preparing soil, sowing seed, caring for the soil and harvesting the crops. Food canning and preservation was also taught. Urban and suburban students learned how to garden and learned to experience the rural kids' way of life.

Teachers were provided with Spring and Fall Manuals of the United States School Garden Army, insignia or service badges for officers and privates, service flags for Garden Army Soldiers, Pied Piper posters and regional leaflets for supervisors and teachers. The teachers provided gardening experience and learning opportunities for lifelong skills.

Some of the lessons in the manuals include: how to plan your garden, calendar of planting and care, plants to grow, adding flowers and fortifying the soil. They also discussed using what we currently call cover crops by planting cowpeas, soybeans and vetch and crop rotation. Hot beds and cold frame building instructions were offered along with methods of extending the seasons to allow more food production. Maturity descriptions of when to pick produce were included along with how to store vegetables on pantry shelves, in the cellar and in an outdoor pit.

Another lesson stressed that it was a patriotic duty to sell excess produce as it provides food for others and an opportunity for household income or money to invest in War Savings Stamps. This important lesson also taught thrift and an introduction to a "business system" that includes marketing strategies.

In reading some of the publications, methods and chemicals have changed from what was taught over 100 years ago. We do not use the same kinds of pesticides for example: arsenate of lead, kerosene wash or emulsion and Paris green. I've also never had the opportunity to use a wheel hoe. Street sweepings are we talking "road apples" here? coal and wood ash aren't things that a lot of homes have on hand these days.

The Garden Army was run similar to a military unit; they had requirements for enlistment, companies, officers and insignias. The soil soldiers needed to keep their equipment clean, keep the garden orderly while being part of a patriotic effort.

If you have questions about your garden or landscape, contact a master gardener at the University of Illinois Extension office in Mattoon at 217-345-7034 or through our online hotline at forms.illinois.edu/sec/1523725. Be sure to visit U of I Extension's horticulture website, exteniosn.illinois.edu/ccdms, and like the Master Gardeners' Facebook page, @ColesCountyMasterGardeners.

From the Nov. 22, 1992, Journal Gazette, this photo of Cosmic Blue Comics in Mattoon; where I spent virtually every Saturday afternoon for about two years. That small back room you see just off to the right of the Coca-Cola sign was where they kept the many, and I mean many, long-boxes of back issues. I still own my bagged copy of "Tales of the Beanworld" issue No. 1 that I found back there. Sadly, this location is now just a "greenspace".

Pictured, Shelbyville's Bob Murray from the June 2, 1982, Journal Gazette, displaying his dominance over the TRON arcade game at the "Carousel Time" arcade at the Cross County Mall, later to be the Aladdin's Castle, soon thereafter to be not a thing anymore. I spent just about every Saturday at that arcade, perhaps with that exact same haircut. No overalls, though. I was more of an "Ocean Pacific" kind of kid.

Pictured, from the Nov. 28, 1988, Journal Gazette, Icenogle's grocery store. Being from Cooks Mills, we didn't often shop at Icenogle's...but when we did, even as a kid, I knew it was the way a grocery store is supposed to be in a perfect world, and that's not just because they had wood floors, comic books on the magazine rack, or plenty, and I mean plenty, of trading cards in wax packs.

I had long since moved away from Cooks Mills by the time this Showcase item about Adam's Groceries ran in the June 13, 1998, Journal Gazette, but there was a time when I very well could have been one of those kids in that photo; for if it was summer, and you had a bike, and you lived in Cooks Mills, that's where you ended up. At last report, they still had Tab in the Pepsi-branded cooler in the back. I'm seriously considering asking my money guy if I could afford to reopen this place.

Pictured, from the July 16, 1987, Journal Gazette, this ad for Mister Music, formerly located in the Cross County Mall. I wasn't buying records at that age, but I would eventually, and that's where it all went down. If you don't think it sounds "cool" to hang out at a record store with your buddies on a Friday night, a piping-hot driver's license fresh in your wallet, you'd be right. But it's the best a geek like me could do. Wherever you are today, owners of Mister Music, please know that a Minutemen album I found in your cheap bin changed my life.

Portrait of the author as a young man, about to throw a guitar through a target at that year's Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest, from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette. Check out my grunge-era hoodie, and yes...look carefully, those are Air Jordans you see on my feet. Addendum: despite what the cutline says, I did not win a guitar.

Pictured, clipped from the online archives at JG-TC.com, a photo from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette of Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest winner, and current JG-TC staff writer, Clint Walker.

Here today, gone tomorrow, Vette's Teen Club, from the June 20, 1991, Journal Gazette. I wasn't "cool" enough to hang out at Vette's back in it's "heyday," and by "cool enough" I mean, "not proficient enough in parking lot fights." If only I could get a crack at it now.

FutureGen: The end of the beginning, and eventually, the beginning of the end, from the Dec. 19, 2007, JG-TC. I wish I had been paying more attention at the time. I probably should have been reading the newspaper.

Illinois Extension leads public outreach for University of Illinois by translating research into action plans that allow Illinois families, businesses, and community leaders to solve problems, make informed decisions, and adapt to changes and opportunities.

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YARD AND GARDEN: A garden for every child, a child in every garden - Journal Gazette / Times-Courier

Home ownership has a middle name. Its called continuous work. For the past couple of years, Ive had work done on my house that has caused both my front and back yards to not get the care they needed.

When the steps to my bungalow almost collapsed last year, I had to have new steps poured and new side walls built. I was left with a bunch of old bricks that I preferred not to throw away. So I ended up lining the front of my house with those bricks. I also had some brick pavers. I ended up paving the little bit of yard between my front walkway and my neighbors gangway.

I will not miss having to mow that little piece of grass. I left about a foot of dirt so that I can still have a flower bed on that side. I planted about a hundred tulip bulbs, and this spring, it was absolutely enjoyable to watch all the different tulip colors slowly emerge from the ground. As the tulips died back, I had zinnia flower seeds, which I sowed, and now they have grown into a beautiful floral border for the sidewalk.

I laid in a bunch of grass seed and my front yard is green, although there is still a significant amount of weeds in it. I will be spending time using weed-and-feed to kill the unwanted green growth. But its looking very nice out front and the hard work I put into it is paying off.

I also decided that since the front yard was coming along so nicely, I should tackle the backyard. Years ago, I built a retaining wall. Its the perfect seating area should I have a large gathering, but its also difficult to get the lawn mower to cut the grass in front of it. So I decided to take on a new project. I decided that rocks in front of the wall would be my updated look.

At the same time, a friend who lives way south in Park Forest decided she no longer wanted the rocks that were in front of her house. She hired a man and he dug up 29 black bags of rocks. Id say each bag held over a hundred pounds of rock.

The man took 20 of the bags away, but left nine. And after repeatedly calling the man to get the final nine bags, my friend was frustrated because she just wanted them gone.

Since I needed rocks for my now redesigned backyard, I told her I would take the rocks. I took my own black bags and divided the rocks into second and third bags because they were so heavy. On my last trip home with the rocks, there was a young gentleman who stopped his car and asked if I needed help getting them out of the car and onto the back sidewalk. And I admitted I did. And he lifted those rocks like they were nothing. So to the young gentleman driving that Jeep, thank you so very much!

I ended up spending over two weeks cleaning those rocks because they were covered with dirt, dried grass clippings and other miscellaneous garbage. I dug up the dirt from in front of the wall, added a double layer of landscape fabric and slowly but surely added buckets of clean rocks to that area.

If you dont like doing yard work, rocks are a great way to decorate.

But be forewarned, it takes a lot of rocks to fill an area nicely.

View original post here:
Rocks: a great alternative to grass - Austin Weekly News

I made a little road trip this week. Really more of a long errand, but it felt like a visit to a foreign country. I drove to Roosevelt to pick up a $1,650 irrigation headgate from a supplier out there. Thats for the hardware; installation is on top of that. The State is trying to get a better grip on what is actually being used for irrigation, and as a result, Im installing 3 of these this summer. But whats ten grand among friends?

This one is being split with a neighbor. There was considerable debate on the appropriate size. The neighbor, who has an excavation business and has installed a lot of these, was certain that an 18 was plenty big. Ive had a lifetime of mucking them out when a beaver decides to clog them up, which is a real thing in my business. I thought the extra $300 to get a somewhat clog-proof 24 was money well spent. We are replacing a contraption made of railroad ties and 212 planks, so there was no real guide on size.

We resolved it in the manner that most engineering decisions are made.Rock-paper-scissors, with the winner choosing the size. It was healthy to get out of our local bubble and venture into the real world. When I travel, its generally to other places as disconnected from reality as we are.

First off, I was stunned by the prosperity evident on the farms and ranches. They are lower, and still irrigating. The hay seemed to be growing fast enough to see it happen from the truck. They are framing for purposes other than maintaining Greenbelt property tax status. Nothing like the right climate, water, and soil to make for good farm country. After a bit, it also occurred to me that having an oil well on the property probably alters the economics of farming significantly. In fact, looking from fence-line to fence-line, it was pretty obvious which ranchers owned the mineral rights and which were trying to make a living raising hay. Soil is everything in farming, especially the soil several thousand feet down.

Roosevelt is a nice little town with a nostalgic downtown with regular stores selling things that regular people actually need, with a lot of really ugly industrial stuff spread out in either direction from town. Theres no way to make the industrial facilities pretty, but I have to give them credit for trying. There are big pots of petunias packed all along the main drag, whether in front of historic storefronts or places that were repairing drilling rigs. It made a big difference, and proves that it doesnt cost a whole lot to care. I didnt make it to Vernal on this trip, but they have done the flower thing for decades. It really adds appeal to the place, especially in front of the iconic pink dinosaur at the entrance to town. Kamas is trying a bit of that this year, with only the Sinclair dinosaur. I think it is a volunteer effort and pretty as the planters are, there arent enough to make a Roosevelt-sized splash.

You cant make a road trip without eating at the local hot-spot and reading the local paper. The big news in Roosevelt this week seemed familiarthey want more pickleball courts. Other than that, the front pages of the local paper and ours might have been from different planets. There were only a couple of real estate ads.My guess is that nobody in Roosevelt gathers around the crystal-filled propane fire pit in their back yard to discuss the price of their house over brie and chardonnay. Nobody seems to be moving in or out. Or eating brie. If there is growth, its happening at a pace that didnt seem to be chaffing.

Nobody cares if you ride an e-bike on the trails around Altamont or Duchesne. There dont appear to be epic battles over short term rentals or violations of the taste provisions of the CC&Rs. The Arts & Culture District appears to be a completely acceptable County Fair. People were involved in making a living, and didnt seem to be paying much attention to what their neighbors were up to. There was a sense of functioning stability, with nobody rocking the boat. You could go away for a whole month and come home to things looking exactly as you left them.

Every time I make that drive, Im surprised by how quickly the landscape changes from the mountains around here to the rock cliffs and mesas that begin to show just east of Wolf Creek Pass. Its an entirely different geology by Duchesne.Much of it pretty in its own way, but definitely the high desert.

I made a bit of an excursion of the trip, taking a detour through Boneta and Altamont before looping back to Tabiona for the trip home. Interesting country, though there were no antique tractors for sale. There was an old combine in Talmage that was worth a stop.

The rest is here:
Tom Clyde: Adventures in the real world - The Park Record

We all know curb appeal matters, for both flippers and landlords. You're more likely to receive a higher offer from a buyer or hook a renter when the exterior of the property is well maintained. And in that vein, there are trends in the landscaping realm that can help. With heightened consciousness about sustainability and the increased desire to spend time outdoors during the pandemic, hardscaping has become a popular approach to landscaping. Learn what hardscaping is and if you should use it in your next project.

Hardscaping is a component of landscaping that uses permanent, nonliving features in the yard to improve function, create better outdoor accessibility, expand the living space, and reduce the environmental impact over a traditional landscape all while having the picture-perfect Better Homes and Gardens (NYSE: RLGY) look. It might involve a patio or deck, graveled or paved walkways, terraced xeriscape, outdoor living rooms or kitchens, firepit areas, or water features. Hardscaping features are usually blended with sustainable garden beds or softscaping for a landscape design that is both usable and low maintenance.

The cost varies widely for hardscaping because it depends on the size of the yard as well as what already exists and what you are adding. For a professional design, which is almost always necessary for hardscaping, a patio, gazebo, pathways, and the associated vegetation or xeriscaping will on average cost around $30,000. But this estimate should be taken with a grain of salt. A patio install can cost as little as $2,000, while a large deck could cost over $10,000. A gravel walkway costs $3-$6 per square foot, whereas flagstone is $10-$30 per square foot.

Essentially, hardscaping costs should be relative to the anticipated value of the house. Spending $30,000 on a small 2/1 frame house worth $140,000 probably doesn't make much sense, but spending that much or even a bit more on a home worth $300,000 house makes more sense. If, for example, the home is worth $320,000 and the hardscaping features boost the value by 12%, you could actually profit an extra $8,400 from a $30,000 hardscaping install, not to mention it will likely sell faster due to the increased curb appeal.

As an investor, your goal is to appeal to the masses whether you focus on residential or commercial, rehab, or rental. Creating an appealing outdoor area for residents of an existing or planned apartment complex can help compete in the marketplace while reducing ongoing maintenance costs for landscaping. Another on-trend component of hardscaping is the reduction in watering, mowing, and pesticide or herbicide use. So if you really want to keep things low budget, opt for a significant amount of area-appropriate low-maintenance softscaping with a few pathways to meander through the garden.

According to The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), hardscaping that includes outdoor entertaining areas and increased environmental awareness are two of the top four landscaping trends of 2021. Hardscaping is in demand. It can increase curb appeal, create more usable space, allow for easier maintenance than a traditional yard. Plus, it offers the opportunity to increase returns, making it a great design element to try on your next investment project.

Read more here:
What is Hardscaping and Should Real Estate Investors Do It? - MSN Money