Decorate Your Yard for Autumn

By Mary M. Alward

Autumn is a beautiful time of year. The hot summer days fade away, the leaves begin to turn color and the fields are full of the bounty of the harvest. Pumpkins, squash and apples are ready to be harvested, along with other tasty vegetable varieties. Use the bounty of the harvest and other items of nature to bring your home alive with color and texture.

Create a Focal Point
Take a drive into the country and stop at a farm where they sell cornstalks, gourds, pumpkins and colored cobs of corn. If available, also buy a bale of straw. When you arrive home with these items, choose a place that will allow your focal point to be easily seen from inside the house and from the street. Stand the stalks of corn behind the bale of straw and place the gourds, pumpkins and corncobs strategically around it to make a colorful and beautifully textured autumn display.

If you have any corncobs left over, tie the husks together with binder twine of cord and hang them on your door. If desired, you may sit a scarecrow on the bale of straw or in a chair on your porch. A scarecrow is easy to make. Just stuff some old clothes with newspaper or grocery bags. Add a hat and a pair of old boots for effect.

Pumpkin Lane
Use pumpkins along the border of your driveway, beside the front walk and along the paths in your garden. Create a focal point in the front yard by stacking pumpkins in a pyramid and placing them on fence posts.

Pick up a child's old wooden wagon at a garage or yard sale, lay a bed of straw in it and top with pumpkins and colorful gourds. You can add leaves, pine branches and cones for effect. Make a welcome sign out of a piece of plywood, edge it with artificial autumn leaves and add it to the display. Along with the pumpkins that line your walk, this will make your yard one of the prettiest in town.

Flower Beds
Remove dead annuals from your flower beds and window boxes. Purchase a variety of pumpkins, cornstalks and straw to transform them into beautiful fall displays. Window boxes can be filled with straw and gourds and chrysanthemums can be added. Add a few pieces of evergreen or a garland of artificial leaves for color and texture.

Porch Railings
Buy pumpkins that range from very large to small and set them along your porch railing. Purchase a garland of artificial leaves or gather evergreen boughs to drape between them. Bring your porch railings alive with the bounty of the season. Acorns, teasel and other items can be gathered from nature to add life and color to your porch or deck.

Stairs
If your stairs are wide enough to do so without creating a safety hazard, set colorful chrysanthemums on the side of each step. For a different effect, place a rust-colored chrysanthemum on every other step and a pumpkin on the steps between. If the stairs have a railing, drape a garland of artificial leaves along it, or add a pine garland. You can also set cornstalks and pumpkins along the outer edge of the stairs to add texture and color.

Door Decoration
Collect leaves, flowers, teasel and other items from nature to make a unique door decoration. Soak items in glycerin solution for three days to strengthen and preserve them. Dilute the glycerin with two parts hot water to one part glycerin. Arrange the items in a cast iron pot or oak bucket for a rustic effect.

There are hundreds of ways to use items from nature to bring your yard and garden alive in the autumn months. Use your creativity and imagination to make your yard the talk of the neighborhood.

© Doityourself.com 2006