Garden Photo of the Day

Making a Garden Chessboard

Getting creative with leftover stone

I’ve seen a lot of people taking on new garden projects while socially distancing, but Dusanka Marusic sent in a project that is quite amazing and unique.

While socially distancing, catching up on garden projects has taken center stage. When I asked about how to make an outdoor chessboard, a friend suggested stone squares in grass. He had time to clear out his garage and found marble slabs that were never used. He cut them into 14½-inch squares and delivered them. Start to finish, the project did not take long.

The leftover marble slabs ready to be put to use.

Starting to lay out the chessboard.

garden chessboardWith the chessboard all laid out, it’s time to start setting the marble squares in the ground.

Measure twice, cut once!

A pruning saw came in handy to cut out the squares of turf.

After cutting, I dug down to set the marble.

The board is finished!

Oversized chess pieces are ready to go.

Ready for a game!

The final result.

(Want to see the rest of Dusanka’s garden? We’ve featured it before: Hurricanes Can’t Stop This Garden)

 

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

If you want to send photos in separate emails to the GPOD email box that is just fine.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

You don’t have to be a professional garden photographer – check out our garden photography tips!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.

View Comments

Comments

  1. User avater
    meander_michaele 05/01/2020

    What a fun project and done so well. You certainly have a great and helpful neighbor and I'm sure he is hugely pleased with seeing the finished masterpiece. I hope the two of have a spirited and competitive game with lots of laughter and a celebratory drink of some kind at the beginning, middle and end!

  2. Patchworkgardener 05/01/2020

    What a conversation piece! Well done. Where did you find the large chess pieces. Bet your garden is the talk of the neighborhood.

    1. Dusanka 05/01/2020

      On Amazon, so it was delivered!

  3. User avater
    treasuresmom 05/01/2020

    What a wonderful project especially for parties.

    1. Dusanka 05/01/2020

      Yes, and the lawn next to it is used for bocce. I’ll submit a party layout if we ever get back to normal. The croquette set doesn’t seem to get much use, sadly.

  4. cheryl_c 05/01/2020

    Great idea for a back yard! Thanks for sharing.

    1. Dusanka 05/01/2020

      Thanks but let say I saw it first at an Open Day garden in CT sponsored by the Garden Conservancy and put it on my bucket list. Hope it can inspire more copies.

  5. User avater
    simplesue 05/01/2020

    Makes playing chess a physical outdoors game instead of just a heady sedentary indoors game- love it!
    And..
    It's garden sculpture!

  6. User avater
    CAlexander 05/01/2020

    How heavy are the chess pieces? Would they blow over in heavy wind? Really cool concept!

    1. Dusanka 05/01/2020

      These are Hollow plastic. They were shipped in two parts that are screwed together . I added pebbles to base to help keep them stay stable in winds.
      I have seen them made in heavier plastic, but that was 4x more expensive. I see wooded prices for sale as well.

  7. btucker9675 05/01/2020

    What a fun and good looking project!

    1. Dusanka 05/01/2020

      Thanks

  8. Cenepk10 05/01/2020

    Awesome!!!!! Love it !!!!

Log in or create an account to post a comment.

Related Articles

The Latest