Things that Make a Yard Ugly

[Accolay]

I have two things that always make me go "yuck" when I see them in someone's yard.
-Cinder block retaining walls
-chain link fence

I tend to agree with function over form, but there are ways to make things aesthetically pleasing too.

What are yours?

[lisascenic]

When we were house hunting, our big joke was about getting a jackhammer as a housewarming present, because so many people in Oakland have just paved their yards.

Dog crap on concrete.

Few things less charming.

[lavender_bush]

Lisa?
I really want a 'like' button

[McCall]

In regard to the first post,



This is the side of my yard. I still have no clue what the PO were thinking.

[KristenS]

Paver walls of any kind drive me nuts! I'll be walking down a beautiful street with restored Victorians and A&C cottages. I'll be thinking about how much quieter horses were than cars. And how old the trees must be that I'm walking past. And then BAM I'm looking at a Home Depot special sale on interlocking pink pavestone!

I'm probably inadvertantly insulting the choices of a few Old House Forums posters. But seriously, there is nothing in the world uglier to me outside a beautiful old house.

Because really, when is this:


ever nicer looking than these:

[Accolay]

I forgot to add those interlocking pavers to my list!

[shazapple]

I'll go in a different direction: Vast empty mowed lawns. What a waste of gas and time. When I purchased our house the lawn was huge, and for what? I mowed it the first year, but this coming year I am going to cut back significantly.

If I really want a short lawn, I'll get a goat.

[Leslie Ap]

I, in contrast, love a big grass yard. One homeowner's "empty" is this home owner's "clean and useable." I grew up with a big yard, and Sunday morning family kickball tournaments, team post-season parties, or just running around with sisters and the dog were some of the best times.

What makes a yard ugly, to me, is over grown, unkept "gardens." And paper mache dinosaurs.

[jade mortimer]

i'm in the middle on the lawn thing...i too grew up playing in all the connecting yards with the neighborhood kids--very fond memories...i have a big country lawn--lots of weeds mixed in with lush grass--all i do is cut it, i never add lime or fertilizer (and NEVER use round-up!)...but...i mow about 2.5 acres...isn't that nuts? lots of fuel to cut it once a week through the summer...i love the way it looks--i have huge rocks with flowers, apple trees and blackberry bushes too...in the warmer months, a neighbor keeps her horse and donkey on my 3 acre field...

what i don't like--tires that are cut with pointy ends and used as garden corrals...bathtubs on end with religious figures...plastic flowers...20 junk cars (lots of them around me)...dogs chained up 24 hours a day all year...

[Igloochic]

A huge huge huge pile of dirt covered with broken bottles, old tires, old boots, etc....Like seven dump truck loads of it!

Sigh....I happen to know what this looks like and despite the fact that it's victorian trash, tires etc, it's still beyond ugly and it's taking up half of my yard! (The contents of the cistern). It's been hell trying to get someone to haul it away!

I hate stone walls made of black basalt (or lava maybe) stones that you see here in the pacific northwest. They are cheap, look fine anywhere else, but never would have edged the yard of this victorian home. I hate that wall...with a passion and yet it would cost a fortune to remove it and what a mess...someday I will but for now I'm covering it with flowers that drape as much as possible.

I'm redoing the back yard and it will be paved about half of the yard (normal city lot size...we sit on two). I'm using a mix of cobblestone and brick (not real brick but pavers made like bricks out of cement). it will not be cemented in, but instead filled with sand and then I'll let something herby grow in the cracks so hopefully I won't upset anyone with the pavers...the walls will NOT be done in interlocking blocks, which I have used here but only hidden and faced with other cobblestone pavers. I actually had to put some real effort into finding something for the wall that wasn't terrible because stone walls aren't common around here. I'm using a paving stone that is called "roman" which is not a horrible roman stone but instead looks like a large squarish warn out rock, hand hewed I guess...They cost a buck more than the interlocking hell of those pink things, and are worth every penny because they look like something you'd find in an english garden (we're modeling our back lot after a formal english garden with herb knots and a maze). I feel for those who have to clean up the messes of their PO's (as above...yuck) it's worse than if you just screw it up yourself LOL