We all love a good backyard renovation show, but when it comes to getting dirty and completing a project in your own yard the task gets a whole lot more difficult.

Personally, I know I’m an enormous fan of gardening shows. Born without the inbuilt green thumb, my humble back garden generally amounts to some patchy grass and a collection of dying herbs, plants – still seedlings and in their original plant pots – forgotten somewhere in the back corner.

Just like most reality television shows, these “real makeovers” are never really what you’d think. Is it really possible to conjure up landscaping ideas, add in 2 water features, create a planter box and distribute some carefully placed garden ornaments throughout the yard all in the space of 2 days?

And more to the point, if that insanely good looking “gardening expert” truly was carrying ceramic pots around all day, would her makeup still be that perfect? To me that token mud smear on the face seems a little too well-placed

If you, like me, don’t think you have the chance of a celeb re-vamp occurring in your garden in the near future, it may be time to take on the job yourself. And if, like me, you’ve been watching absolutely every gardening show on air for the past ten years, you’re bound to have unlimited garden design suggestions hidden up your sleeve.

Disappointingly for us, ponds and wrought iron outdoor fireplaces actually have to be paid for – and those babies don’t come cheap. While ceramic and terracotta pots may look spectacular on your favourite show, what they didn’t show you are both the price tag and the weight, so unless you have got a deep pocket and the muscles of Governor Schwarzenegger, it’s probably best to begin with a handful of potted plants to get you in the groove.

And just remember that unless you’ve got a team of workmen working backstage, getting all your pot plants and garden features in place is going to take more than just 48 hours.

Perhaps I’ll just stick to artificial plants and a bit of garden furniture.

To find plans for your own garden designs, check out the stockists of
designer homewares and garden features on dLook – Australia’s local online business index.