photo by Jenny Hardgrave This has taken me awhile to figure out.  In fact, I could honestly say that understanding a better way to create an awesome looking yard has taken years and years.  Do you want to save some time? Then learn from my mistakes and leapfrog me. In short, I think a lot of us have the order of operations wrong in how we're creating a beautiful yard.  Oh, and I'm drinking a little more of that iced tea this morning.  Iced tea and lemonade to be exact. (Just google it - you won't believe me). Devise --> Focus --> Sustain That's it.  That is my new magical formula.  Let me explain it out. "Devise" is what I like to call the various ideas, thought, places like Houzz and Pinstagram (I love mashing them together like this). See what you like and would like in your yard. Your "Focus" is the one area that you really want to fix up now in the yard... your front flower bed, your back door, your mailbox, your one spot, your whatever-gets-you-some-attention-and-is-useful-to-your-focus, one place. Just one. Your "Sustain" is the ability to enjoy it because you or someone else can maintain it without destroying it.  It is having the confidence to build a low maintenance and fabulous, relaxing yard. So what I've come to learn boils down to something like this:

• Engage and devise the ideas I want and like
• Invest in the yard in phases, focus on the focal point, the one place
• Relax in the yard knowing the pieces will come together, let it be sustainable (clean, and low maintenance).

What doesn't work well is:

• Doing a little bit here and there with no rhyme or reason

Where we seem to get it wrong is by trying to push for over the top beauty, then budgeting. This keeps most people from taking action. Instead they're out looking for that one plant that wows them, which is fun, but it keeps us in the state of discontent with the yard. Make sense? That's my big giant lesson for this week. WANT TO LEARN MORE? Join me on May 18th at 9:30am in the Quad at the Ole Miss campus as we focus on "Clearing the Clutter" on pruning. Always planting to grow, Jeff P.S. What is working for you on moles? Email me your best solutions.