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5 Fast Yard Makeovers That You Can Do This Weekend, According to L.A.’s Coolest Nurseries

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fast yard makeovers outside bed

The thinnest of silver linings—make that green linings—to quarantine is that people are enjoying their outdoor home spaces like never before. “People who never even thought about their yards before are now becoming obsessed,” says Annette Gutierrez, owner of Atwater Village gardening boutique Potted. “We're hearing people say what a wonderful release it is to tend their plants.” And working in the yard, even if it’s just a fast yard makeover, helps balance feelings of isolation, adds Jaime Morrison at Greenwood Shop in Valley Village. “From balconies to patios to living rooms, people are adding plants everywhere. The act of caring for something seems to add a little structure to our days, and the plants each have a personality of their own so they almost seem like friends. We definitely talk to ours, and our customers say they do too.”

Laurie Resnick, co-founder of luxury plant and decor shop Rolling Greens, says the desire to grow plants—outdoors and in—has been accelerated by Covid-19. “Plants are the hottest thing on earth right now. Greg [Salmeri, her business partner] and I started in this business in the late '70s and early '80s, and over the past few years, it's been coming back. And now with Covid-19, people have nothing to do so they might as well garden, and they're saying to themselves ‘I'm going to be home, it might as well be pretty.’” And good news friends: Creating a beautiful, serene outdoor space doesn’t require a lot of effort. Here are five easy ways to spruce up your yard.

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fast yard makeover furniture
Fernmob

1. Spruce Up Your Outdoor Furniture

Gutierrez says her shop is selling lots of its colorful French outdoor furniture from Fernmob. “We had one customer come in early on in the whole Covid experience who spent about $6,000 on some beautiful lounging furniture. He said he would never have done this before but because he knew he wouldn’t be able to travel this year, so he was finally going to trick out his patio like a resort,” she says. Staycations are so in right now.

fast yard makeovers hanging plants
Greenwood Shop

2. Plant a Living Wall

Depending on your level of DIY prowess, you can create a living wall indoors or outdoors, says Morrison. He suggests using Wallygro planters or repurposing old pallets according to online tutorials. “Just make sure your location has plenty of light, whether indoors or out.”

3. Get Into Hanging Plants

The Jungalow esthetic is going strong in SoCal, with natural fibers and rustic hues of rope fastening hanging plants to the ceiling of a porch, the edge of a balcony or inside next to a window. “Macramé is back in a big way,” Morrison says. “We can barely keep jute and white macramé plant hangers in stock.”

4. Plant a Container Garden

Rolling Greens’s Salmeri recommends planting something edible; he says that the company’s strong sales of planter kits of herbs and vegetables speak to everyone’s need for reassurance. “It’s a control issue—if you have seen a tomato grow from a seedling to a tomato on your table, you have had a success,” he says.

fast yard makeovers fire pit
Facebook/Potted

5. Install a Fire Pit

Gutierrez says her store’s minimalist fire pits continue to be so popular, they’re difficult to keep in stock. That’s why she recommends ordering now for fall’s chilly evenings. “Some people are able to think ahead knowing that this hot weather is going to end and they want to be able to cozy up around their fire pits,” she laughs. “Plan ahead, people.” Duly noted.



dana dickey

Senior Editor

Dana Dickey is a PureWow Senior Editor, and during more than a decade in digital media, she has scoped out and tested top products and services across the lifestyle space...