Landscaping How To & DIY
Improve the value of your home by discovering our landscaping step-by-step tips & ideas.
How to Manage Invasive Plants
Landscape contractor Lee Gilliam helps a homeowner reclaim a piece of his yard that’s overrun with invasive and aggressive species.
How to Landscape a Sloping Yard
Lee Gilliam, the newest member of the Ask This Old House family, teams up with landscaping contractor Jenn Nawada to help a homeowner whose yard has been going downhill.
How to Clear a Fallen Tree with a Portable Sawmill
Carpenter Nathan Gilbert’s Christmas tree farm suffered some damage from a fallen red oak. Rather than get rid of it, he’s going to turn it into usable slabs of wood for his projects.
How to Build a Stone Water Fountain
Landscape contractor Jenn Nawada and mason Mark McCullough team up to build a simple stone water feature that makes a big impact.
5 Gorgeous Rock Landscaping Ideas
Consider the various ways of using rocks in your landscape design—and the many benefits.
How to Grow Hebe Shrubs
These vibrant, versatile bushes can bring color and beauty to your garden all year long. Here’s what you need to know about planting, pruning, and propagating hebe shrubs.
How To Kill a Tree Stump
From home remedies to professional solutions, here’s everything you need to know about getting rid of a tree stump in your yard.
How to Install Outdoor Landscape Lighting
Heath Eastman demonstrates how to install landscape lighting along a garden path. Adding landscape lighting to a walkway or path can improve the look and experience of the area.
How to Anchor Hardscaping with Plants | This Old House: Live
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Jenn Nawada helps out a friend with some plantings that work well with a winding, brick walkway.
How to Build a Raised Garden Bed | This Old House: Live
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Jenn Nawada demonstrates how to build a raised garden bed in her backyard as part of This Old House: Live—an initiative providing daily programming and opportunities to connect with our experts during these challenging times.
How to Plant a Cherry Tree
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Jenn Nawada travels to Washington D.C. to help a homeowner select and plant a cherry tree for his house.
How to Upgrade to a Smart Irrigation System
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Jenn Nawada shares DIY Smarts tips when she travels to Orlando to upgrade an irrigation system.
How to Grow Grasses on the Prairie
Ask This Old House landscape designer Jenn Nawada partners with an ecologist in Cheyenne, Wyoming to learn about different types of prairie grasses and how to care for them
How to Create a Vertical Garden for Small Spaces
Ask This Old House landscape designer Jenn Nawada installs a vertical garden to maximize space for a homeowner
Build It | Fire Pit Cover
Ask This Old House general contractor Tom Silva works with host Kevin O’Connor to build a cover that can turn a store bought fire pit into a table when not in use.
Pruning a Crabapple Tree
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook helps a homeowner prune his crabapple tree
How to Create a Desert Landscape
Ask This Old House landscape designer Jenn Nawada heads to Phoenix to recreate the desert in a homeowner’s front yard
How to Prune Trees Using the Three Cut Method
Roger Cook explains the correct way to cut branches off a tree without harming it
How to Revitalize a Landscape for Free
Ask This Old House landscape designer Jenn Nawada updates a landscape by moving around, dividing, and pruning the current plants in the yard.
Pruning an Overgrown Hedge
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook saves a neglected, unkempt hedge.
How to Dispose of Fall Leaves
You found the rake—now do the right thing
How to Install a Water Feature that Reuses Rainwater
Ask This Old House landscape designer Jenn Nawada installs a water feature that collects and reuses rainwater.
How to Plant a Living Privacy Screen
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook helps a homeowner plant a living privacy screen.
Create a Dog-Friendly Landscape Plan
Dogscaping 101. Here's everything you need to know before you get started planning your yard
How to Create a Drainage Swale
The plant-populated channels can redirect storm water to specific locations
How to Maintain Fruit Trees
Pay attention to these four key areas and your trees will remain at a manageable height while producing abundant fruit. Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery, one of the largest growers of fruit trees in the country, helps gardeners get the most out of their trees by focusing on this checklist
How to Transform Your Landscape Using Existing Plants
Ask This Old House landscape designer Jenn Nawada uses a homeowner’s existing plants and a few additions to transform the look of a house’s foundation
Ask This Old House: Roger Cook’s Greatest Hits
Over the years, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook has shown countless homeowners how to care for their trees
How to Build a Pondless Waterfall
Jenn Nawada, landscape designer for Ask This Old House, helps install a pondless waterfall in a backyard.
A Suburban Lot Turns into Magical Garden Rooms
Here's how an ordinary suburban lot became a nature playground for kid and adults alike—with ideas anyone can use
How to Prune in Early Spring
Prune these specimens in the late winter or early spring for thicker foliage later on.
How to Install a Water-Saving Drip-Irrigation System
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook helps a homeowner install a drip-irrigation system