My Great Outdoors: jen64's Suburban Oasis

Name: jen64
Location: Timonium, Maryland
Type of space: Garden, Deck & Pond
Tell us about your outdoor project and how you enjoy it: Six years ago, my husband and I purchased our home. The previous owner described it as the "best yard in the community". The "garden" consisted of a small rectangular patch of flowers in a large triangular sloping yard. One year later we added a pond, but we still had some unusable hills. We added a waterfall, a cedar deck, a cedar tree house for our then six year old boys. It is both child and adult friendly. We can entertain a large crowd easily, the kids have plenty of room to run around and can explore the pond. Our deck off our living room now opens to the yard. It's the perfect place to read a book, or have breakfast in the morning. It is now our suburban oasis...

How did you create it? The pond was made with the help of a local contractor. The treehouse was made by my husband from cedar purchased from 84 lumber. The floor of the treehouse is composite wood, splinter free for kids! The cedar was placed on the horizontal for a more modern look. Thanks to family and neighbors for lending helping hands! The deck with cable rails was made by American Deck using TimberTech composite wood in Teak. Perennials were chosen by myself, most are drought tolerant.

Recommended store, site, product or resource? Teak table is from Pottery Barn. Chairs and green cafe tables (painted by me) are from IKEA. Seating on upper deck is Thomasville Patio from Home Depot. Purchased last Fall at 50% off. Benches on deck are IKEA as well as tall planters. The bulk of plants are from Home Depot, others are from a local nursery.

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Comments (7)

You must do a lot of entertaining with so many tables. Really great spot!

posted by baileyb on June 22nd 2009 at 7:24pm
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love the railing

posted by Motschill on June 22nd 2009 at 7:43pm
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Corgi!!!

posted by SQ on June 22nd 2009 at 11:27pm
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what a gorgeous spot! also, love the corgi.

posted by amazonikon on June 23rd 2009 at 9:49am
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this is tempting me to move to the suburbs.

posted by nkr707 on June 23rd 2009 at 11:01am
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Very nice! I love those IKEA planters too. I bought a bunch of them in different shapes and sizes this season! Best modern style planters available and the price can't be beat.

posted by spanky on June 23rd 2009 at 11:13am
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I absolutely love the deck and the treehouse! Beautiful. Those are highlights of this year's Great Outdoors.

posted by nick0326 on July 29th 2009 at 11:33am
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