Making Practical Backyard Projects in Wood: Plans and Patterns for Better Outdoor Living

Create a welcoming backyard one DIY woodworking project at a time!

• Comprehensive guide for everyone who loves woodworking, from beginner to advanced
• 18 projects from practical birdhouses and fun games to your own Victorian toolshed
• Step-by-step instructions and photos, materials and tools lists, safety tips, and a woodworking tools overview
• Expert contributors including Alan and Gill Bridgewater, Paul Meisel, Chris Gleason, Mike McGrath, and Bill Hylton

Making Practical Backyard Projects in Wood collects the best tips from home DIY experts to leave you flush with woodworking ideas that will give you a complete backyard makeover!

Featuring contributions from a veritable all-star team of DIY experts, this collection of home woodworking ideas and backyard upgrades is the instant cure to cabin fever. Projects include:

• Stylish Birdhouse
• Bird Feeder
• Bat Box
• Japanese Birdbath
• Bug Hotel
• Backyard Dominoes
• Tic-Tac-Toe
• Gnome Door
• Lyrical Herb Box
• Plant Markers
• Potato Planter
• Cold Frame
• Rainwater Harvester
• Hammock Stand
• Victorian Toolshed
• Planter Bench
• Classic Arbor
• Adirondack Chair

Building a garden? Master the herb box and attract friendly wildlife with a birdhouse, bath, and feeder. More ambitious? Start big-time wood furniture projects from a planter bench and cold frame to a classic Adirondack chair. Whether you prefer crafting a tool shed, designing for gnomes, or anything in between, you'll find projects to fulfill your every DIY woodworking dream!

With contributions from renowned DIY experts Alan and Gill Bridgewater, master birdhouse pattern designer Paul Meisel, woodworker and homesteader Chris Gleason, former on-air host of PBS's You Bet Your Garden Mike McGrath, and woodworking instructor Bill Hylton, this book is an encyclopedic examination of everything wood can do to overhaul the look and feel of your outdoor living space.

Making Practical Backyard Projects in Wood doesn't stop there, either. Don't be surprised if you learn all sorts of fascinating outdoor DIY tidbits that make you want to maximize every inch of your yard!

Alan and Gill Bridgewater have gained an international reputation as promoters of the self-sufficient lifestyle. They produce gardening, woodworking, and DIY books on a range of subjects, including furniture-making, hand tool techniques, stone and brickwork, decks and decking, wood-carving and woodturning. They have written more than 50 highly successful books to date, including The Self-Sufficiency Specialist and The Wildlife Garden Specialist. Alan and Gill frequently contribute articles and designs to national magazines.

Mike McGrath is editor-at-large for Organic Gardening and is the former editor-in-chief. He writes a monthly column, "Mike McGrath's Tall Tales," and answers questions on the magazine's website. McGrath's "You Bet Your Garden" airs weekly on National Public Radio. He has made frequent guest appearances on NBC's Weekend Today and NPR's "All Things Considered".