How Landscape Magazines Can Inspire Anyone

One thing is for sure. I love going back to my parents' home. Spending time in their yard really makes me feel relaxed, like I'm in the middle of a flowing oasis each time I visit. My parents have always taken care of the yard themselves. I really have no idea how they ended up with such beautiful gardens, looking like they came out of one of those popular landscape magazines. It's no surprise that it looks that way though since they have been subscribers to many of the magazines for years.

They live on a low traffic street in a residential area. Whenever you think of backyards with professionally landscaped gardens you are more likely to picture a place tucked away in the country. More often than not when you browse the articles in landscape magazines this is what is pictured. They always seem to feature historic country homes with alot of land, and tremendous blooming gardens that look like they are straight out of a movie. I get the same effect when I view the pictures in these landscaping magazines. I try to picture the story behind the house, how it got to where it is, and what the family is like.

The funny thing about my parents is they are not real 'green thumbs' or people who were born to craft spectacular gardens. On the contrary they were never really in love with their land, but they did find something over the years that they could do together and enjoy. That thing is landscaping their yard and turning it into a masterpiece. They placing the right plants by a freshly painted bench, and planting just the right shade of flowers in their flower bed. They get alot of inspiration from the many articles and pictures in these landscape magazines. They know it takes alot of work, but they figure if someone else can do it than so can they. The end result is something that gives them peace and tranquility, even at the end of the most stressful day.

Most of the people featured in these landscape magazines are quite unlike my parents. From pondering each issue you would believe that you needed to be someone who is retired and dedicated to spending their life in their yard. That is not the case with my parents as they are both still working at least part-time. If one of these magazines were to do a story on my parents it would be a nice change since they balance many other things in their lives with their garden landscaping. Who knows. A story like that may give others inspiration to create their own dream yard. It is proof that you don't need to be a professional, nor do you need to spend 8 hours a day to build a landscaped yard to be proud of.