6 ways to beautify your backyard

The great outdoors can be beautiful, but sometimes you need to store less than lovely things. It's also important to acquire nice-looking versions of things you need outside.

Build a handy potting table that doubles as a garbage can enclosure.

• The sides can be brick, masonry or treated wood; the top should be weather resistant and big enough to work on: 1 by 1.5 metres or so.
• Use the tabletop to prepare soil mixes and repot plants.
• The space below provides storage not only for garbage cans but also for pails, peat moss and other gardening supplies.

Accessorize your garden as you would your home; the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

• In addition to traditional ornaments, such as pots, statuary, birdbaths and sundials, you might use mirrored globes, wind chimes, abstract sculpture, baskets, whirligigs, grapevine wreaths or decorative wall plaques.

Match the ornament to the style of your garden.

• Classical statuary, for example, looks best in a formal garden, while a folk-art whirligig or whimsical birdhouse suits a cottage garden.

• A straw skep hive once used for beekeeping makes an ideal ornament in an herb garden.

Make sure it has no opening for bees to enter, or you may find a bee colony living in your garden.

• Make an ornament stand out by placing it in front of an evergreen backdrop.

Good choices are yew or boxwood hedges, bamboo, small conifers and ferns.

Ornamental urns seldom have drainage holes.

• To ensure proper drainage for a potted plant inside the urn, put it on an overturned pot or bricks.