Backyard

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap — that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

When Howard County authorities said they found the badly decomposed remains of Christine Jarrett beneath a shed in her own backyard, they moved swiftly to charge her husband - long a suspect - with the murder. That discovery - two decades after her disappearance - is expected to become the focus of Robert Jarrett Jr.'s first-degree murder trial as it enters its second week. Though the body proved to be the tipping point for investigators in the field, it has also become a target for Jarrett's lawyers, who say it doesn't prove their client is guilty.

The Q: Kathleen Chance wants to put an above-ground pool in the back of her Baltimore home, but she says that utility lines droop dangerously low through her yard. "The electrical line has been this way for 40 years and has prevented us from doing anything with our backyard," Chance said. "We have tried over the years to get this wire moved, but have failed. And not only does that electrical line cross over the backyard to the utility pole, but we also have four other wires that cross our backyard to that same pole from our neighbors' yards."

Baltimore police on Monday identified the officer who shot a man police said was firing guns in the backyard of a house Thursday night. The officer is Steven Angelini, a seven-year veteran of the department. Police said officers were called to the 6700 block of Danville Avenue, which is off Dundalk Avenue, about 8:30 p.m. Thursday for reports of gunfire. Officers found a man in the backyard of a home shooting weapons, and Angelini shot the man. The man was taken to a hospital for his injuries, and no officers were hurt.

Before "The Nate Berkus Show" arranged for a dramatic makeover, M'Salla and Felicia Wilks and their two daughters were prisoners of their own backyard. "The grape arbor was the most terrible thing," says Felicia Wilks, who lives with her family in Northwest Baltimore. "We didn't really get when we were supposed to prune or how much, and after a couple of years, grapevines took over the whole back," she says. "We also have a trumpetvine with these beautiful, bell-like flowers, and it took over the whole front.

HADDONFIELD, N.J. - My next-door neighbor came over the other night and regaled me with stories about his vacation photographing grizzly bears in the Rockies. A few days later, a co-worker thrust a photograph in my face of himself and a toothsome white shark that he'd caught off the Great Barrier Reef. Indignant and duly humbled, I smiled appreciatively but secretly wondered why I'm not off on some exotic getaway. Glancing about, the answer is simple. The shingles on my house need tightening, the backyard garden is ever filled with voracious grubs that require disciplining and the blue jays that pester my dog require constant supervision.

Here we go again: Haven't these Move to Opportunity programs destroyed enough neighborhoods ("Closing Baltimore's achievement gap with housing policy," May 30)? It's a crime what the politicians did to Dundalk, Essex and the Patterson Park area, to name just a few. If you are so for this movement of people, move them into your neighborhoods, and those of the judges, lawyers and politicians who approve of this. Stop pushing them on working people. Martin, Fallston

The Maryland Department of Agriculture, with the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension's Home and Garden Information Center, has launched a campaign, "Take It From Maryland Farmers: Backyard Actions for a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay." The campaign offers easy backyard actions that homeowners can take to help the Chesapeake Bay. Tips for homeowners include: taking a soil test, reading a fertilizer bag, water conservation, grass-cycling, and proper mulching techniques for gardens and for trees, and integrated pest management.

Baltimore police shot a man Thursday night in a quiet neighborhood near the Baltimore County line after they found him firing weapons in the backyard of a house, police said. The man, whom police did not identify, was taken to a local hospital, and police had no information on his condition late Thursday night. No officers were hurt, police said. Sgt. Eric Kowalczyk, a police spokesman, said police were called to the 6700 block of Danville Avenue, which is off Dundalk Avenue, about 8:30 p.m. for reports of gunfire.

Picture yourself on an exotic tropical island. Living in paradise in your own little world. Relaxing, savoring the sun, sipping something tasty. You could have the life -- well, almost -- in your own backyard. Yes, your own lovely backyard. Home designer John Hardy, who has lived in Bali for the past 27 years, has created a backyard paradise for average folks. OK, not exactly average folks. But for homeowners who can afford to toss around $15,000. Hardy's creation is a Bale, an open-sided bamboo pavilion with grass-thatched roof, like ancient Hindu living quarters.

Baltimore police shot a man Thursday night in a quiet neighborhood near the Baltimore County line after they found him firing weapons in the backyard of a house, police said. The man, whom police did not identify, was taken to a local hospital, and police had no information on his condition late Thursday night. No officers were hurt, police said. Sgt. Eric Kowalczyk, a police spokesman, said police were called to the 6700 block of Danville Avenue, which is off Dundalk Avenue, about 8:30 p.m. for reports of gunfire.

Punk's Backyard Grill has closed at the Westfield Annapolis Mall. The restaurant, which opened in 2009, evoked an American backyard gathering. The kitchen was enclosed behind a structure that suggested the back of a suburban home, the dining room was filled with picnic tables and the ceiling was painted to resemble the open sky. The closing announcement was posted Sunday night on the restaurant's Facebook page: "We are sad to announce that today,...

The murder trial of a Howard County man whose wife's body was found buried in the backyard of his home 21 years after she was reported missing has been postponed until next year because one of his attorneys had a medical issue. Robert Jarrett, 58, appeared in court Monday for a pretrial motions hearing at which his attorney unsuccessfully argued that the remains identified by the state medical examiner as those of his wife, Christine, should be excluded as evidence because her body was cremated before the defense could conduct its own tests.

The champion is dead - long live the champion.  The grand American beech in Mary Azrael's backyard in Mount Washington was at least 160 years old and had reigned officially as the city's premier tree of that species for nearly two decades.  But time slowly took its toll, and Azrael reluctantly hired a tree expert to take it down Tuesday after being advised it was in such poor shape it could fall or drop a limb at any time, posing a safety hazard....

City police have identified the East Baltimore victim, who died of gunshot wounds at Johns Hopkins Hospital Monday afternoon. Anthony Keyser, 45, of the unit block of North Linwood Avenue near Patterson Park, was found in the back yard of his home at about 4 p.m. He died 30 minutes later. Witnesses said the victim had been sitting on his back steps, when something prompted him to open the gate in the fence. Neighbors reported hearing gunshot sounds that seemed to be coming from the alley.

The sign proclaiming his little urban yard a "wildlife habitat" became more than a label the day Dirk Geratz found the nest of baby rabbits. He'd hoped for robins and butterflies as he checked off the ground cover, the bird baths and the berry bushes on his certification paperwork and forked over $20 - plus extra for the sign. "I was amazed that a rabbit would want to raise her young right there in a side yard," Geratz said. "I would have thought they would have found it inhospitable.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- As Craig Fayak stood around waiting to kick, Penn State's freshman place-kicker pulled over holder Bill Spoor and yelled in his ear."Just like in the backyard," Fayak told Spoor.Fayak had made this kind of kick many times back home in Belle Vernon, Pa., where he has goalposts in the yard of his family's home.Last night, Fayak's backyard was the middle of Notre Dame Stadium, and there were over 59,000 angry neighbors yelling for him to miss his 34-yard field-goal attempt.

Creating the ambience of a campfire with a fire pit is one of the hottest trends in backyard recreation. Jim Jarvis of Weatherford, Texas, owner of an online fire-pit accessories company, says the trend was sparked by the clay chimeneas that started showing up in Mexican import stores a few years back. Alex Bandon, multimedia editor of This Old House magazine, helped show readers how to build a fire pit from cast-concrete stone for about $500 in the September issue. "People are turning their yards into outdoor rooms, and a fire pit is better than a barbecue because it's generally circular, which makes it very social."

Children's birthday parties at home with cake and games will never go out of style. But if you or your child would like to try something different this year, there's no shortage of specialty sites in Howard County eager to host your celebration. It doesn't matter if your child is an artist, an athlete, an outdoor enthusiast or all three -- there is a specialty party designed just for him or her. Here is a sampling of sites to check out in Howard County: Build-A-Bear Workshop The Mall in Columbia 10300 Little Patuxent Parkway Columbia 410-997-3505 www.buildabear.com Talk about a great party favor!

As excitement builds for this week's opening of the Summer Olympics, many an armchair athlete may yearn to hop a transcontinental flight to London. But if a trip overseas isn't in the cards right now, why not discover a taste of jolly olde England closer to home? The nation's capital offers its own brand of proper British attractions, dining and lodging, say experts, suitable for even the most discerning Anglophile. "There are actually quite a few similarities between Europe and Washington, D.C., and one can certainly discover elements of British culture close to home," says Georgia Johnson Kicklighter of American Express Travel.