Yard How To & DIY
Improve the value of your home by discovering our yard step-by-step tips & ideas.
5 Ways to Attract Fireflies to Your Yard
Recapture the childhood excitement of seeing fireflies in the night sky.
How to Install a Dry Well for a Sump Pump
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shares a permanent way to collect and disperse sump-pump water
How to Choose and Use Birdfeeders
Feeding our feathered friends with This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook and Massachusetts Audubon Naturalist Tia Pinney
How to Frame a Shed
General contractor Tom Silva shows host Kevin O’Connor and mason Mark McCullough how to frame walls while rebuilding Mark’s chicken coop shed.
How to Run Electricity to a Shed
Electrician Scott Caron shows us how he powers an outbuilding—which takes wiring knowledge as well as lots of digging.
How to Build a Lemonade Stand
How to make a sturdy display table, with instructions for parents and kids
How to Choose and Plant Ground Cover
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shares tips for selecting, planting and growing low-maintenance ground cover.
How to Prep Your Lawn for Winter
The end of summer signals the best time to lay the groundwork for a lush field of grass come spring.
How to Build a Pergola
Building a classic shade arbor for the backyard
How to Get a Great-Looking Lawn
Ask This Old House landscaping contractor Roger Cook heads to Kentucky to help a homeowner revive his lawn.
Fall Lawn Treatment: 7 Musts for Your Yard
Take note of these helpful tips that your lawn needs before the onset of winter.
9 Steps to a Lush Lawn
Want to create a lusher lawn? Read these tips from This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook.
How to Install a Fence Gate
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook helps a homeowner install a new gate to fence in her pet dog
How to Choose and Use Lawn Sprinklers
Watering smartly with This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook.
How to Put Your Snow Blower to Bed
Here’s what to do now to ensure that your snow blower is ready for action next winter.
How to Install a Solar-Powered Fountain
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shows how to harness the sun's energy to power a backyard water feature.
How to Fix a Patchy, Weedy Lawn
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook resuscitates a dying lawn
How to Shovel and Salt Snow and Ice
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shares tips for clearing a concrete walkway after a snowstorm
How to Plant a Privacy Hedge
Learn how to a low-maintenance evergreen screen from tall arborvitae shrubs.
How to Build an Outdoor Bar Cart
Offer guests cocktails and brews by wheeling out this dedicated serving station.
How to Prevent Weeds From Growing
Tips on how to keep weeds out of the garden, add the right amount of mulch over weeds, and 6 mistakes to avoid to keep your garden weed-free.
3 Ways to Reduce Road Noise in Your Backyard
Here’s our best noise reduction tips to help you block out the sounds of busy street traffic and your neighbor’s lawn mower.
How to Clean a Grill
Cooking over open flames may be a chef’s delight, but now it’s time to clean your grill. Read on to learn how to properly clean and maintain your gas or charcoal grill.
8 Most Common Types of Weeds in Grass
How do you remove lawn weeds? Read on to identify the most common types and the worst ones.
How to Build a Cedar Ice Chest
Make a handsome cedar ice chest cooler to update a backyard essential.
How to Build a Garden Arbor Bench
Use sturdy, all-weather cedar to build a DIY arbor with bench for a cozy seating spot in your yard.
How to Build a Picnic Table and Benches
We asked TOH fans about picnic tables, and they asked us for an update to the park-variety A-frame. Here's our answer.
How to Trim Hedges
Five important tips to ensure your hedges are properly maintained and looking their best.
How to Build a Bird Feeder
For a fun family project, make a DIY bird feeder out of cedar wood and materials you can find at a home center and grocery store.
How to Drain a Hot Tub
Hot tubs are meant for relaxation, but there’s one aspect of owning one that may be stressing you out: draining the water to clean the tub. Read our guide to learn how to drain your hot tub.
How to Build a Compost Bin
Want to hide your scrap heap? Shelter it in a structure made from weather-resistant cedar wood.
Sprinkler Valve Leaking? Here’s How to Repair It
In this how-to video, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shows how to replace a worn-out valve diaphragm on an automatic lawn sprinkler system.