Its hard not to get discouraged when you watch TV about all the upgrades and changes people are making to their yards without getting a bit frustrated, especially if you dont have an unlimited budget. I was there until I decided to do something about it last year. I simply looked at what I could do within my budget and I have been able to do far more then I had ever thought.

Our culture is all about what you cant do or dont have. I decided to put together a list of what I could do, along with a list of what my friends could do as well. Between all of us there was a plethora of experience, knowledge and talent. I knew my friend may not have time to help me but they would be glad to lend me their knowledge and experience and a few tools, if needed.

My wife and I hen made a list of everything we would like to have or see in the yard. It included things like a greenhouse and storage shed but also had some things like raised beds, flowerbeds and a garden area for growing food and a nice sitting area where we could relax.

When I was growing up, we had a metal garden gate around our house. We had it for security, not decoration. It always looked uncomfortable and foreboding. I know that it should have made me feel safer, but it didn’t. Instead, it made me feel locked in as surely as the world was locked out.

I thought that all metal fences and gates were like this ” that all they did was make the world feel divided and uncomfortable. It took me a while to realize how much of a difference design makes. A wrought iron gate has a much different feel than a simple steel one.

The first time I saw a really nice wrought iron garden gate was actually at the local cemetery. I had a friend who used to like to go down there to get away from everything, and one day he took me along with him. From outside, the wrought iron garden gates were foreboding and intimidating, but from the inside they made us feel protected and peaceful. The cemetery was a restful place, a place of perpetual peace, and the wrought iron railing that surrounded marked it as separate from the rest of the world.