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The Definitive List: Icons of the American Backyard, Ranked
As America turns 250, weâre celebrating our unofficial national parks: our beloved backyards. Part playground, part dining room, and part creative studio, theyâre where grass stains are earned, burgers are flipped, zucchinis are grown, and generations argue about who left the hose running. So letâs take a fun tour through the objects that define our nationâs little patches of green. Here, we count them down with an opinionated list of Americaâs top 25 yard icons. How many do you own? And do you agree with our picks?
25. Multi-Wick Bucket Citronella Candle
Donât even think about having a barbecue without one! This is many Americansâ favorite mosquito deterrent. Plus, the glow and the smell are pretty irresistible, too.
24. Compost Bin
Whether youâre a meticulous vermicomposter, municipal urban decayer, or a âtoss it in and see what happensâ household, the compost bin proves rot is hot. Itâs a gentle reminder that we can all do our part for sustainability and nurturing nature.
23. Stacking Plastic Chairs
You know them: They may cost less than $20 a pop, but these molded plastic seats are what everyone has waiting when Aunt Beth and her kids visit or your neighbors invite their neighbors to your cookout. Spill ketchup on them? No worries. Hose âem down, and theyâre good to go.
22. String Lights
No matter if you get the holiday-vibing twinkle lights or the restaurant-patio-style globes, this kind of illumination makes your night-time yard feel positively cinematic.
21. Bird Feeder
Almost 100 million Americans are birders, and weâd wager that a good number got their start monitoring the activity at their backyard bird feeder. Whether basic or a tactical squirrel-proof model, these are essential for enjoying avian life.
20. Slip âN Slide
Wet plastic plus velocity equals a summer legend. First dreamed up in the 1960s by a boat upholsterer who unrolled some Naugahyde down his driveway, the commercial Wham-O version has sold tens of millions of units and continues to turn a strip of suburbia into a joyous launchpad.
19. Rotary Clothesline
Granted, you may not have seen one of these time-honored contraptions since last time you visited your grandparents, but they serve a serious purpose. Did you know that research has shown that line-dried laundry smells better than what you pull out of your electric dryer?
18. Pink Plastic Flamingo
This hot-pink icon has been adding a delightfully tropical and slightly campy touch to yards since 1957. Thatâs when it made its debut in Massachusetts of all places. Designed by artist Don Featherstone, it marked one of the first major wins for this kind of mass-produced plastic lawn decoration.
17. Solar Garden Lights
By day, theyâre humble plastic mushrooms. By night, theyâre a runway for late-night scampers to stargaze or take out the trash. Credit improved LED tech, circa year 2000, for making them accessible to all.
16. The Shed
This tiny house creates order for our rakes, mowers, mulch, and seasonal décor. Or go ahead and transform it into a mancave or she-shed; all of us need a little space of our own sometimes.
15. Inflatable Kiddie Pool
Shallow, yes, but deeply symbolic. Itâs a rite of passage to give your kid (or furbaby) a place to splash around in the summer. Those 40 gallons feel like an ocean to water babies and have launched 1,000 favorite family pics.
14. Tiki Torches
In the 1950s, America was swept by a tiki craze, and having these Polynesian-style, bamboo-pole torches made an ordinary yard into an escapist tropical fantasy. It still does.
13. Trampoline
The trampoline was invented in the 1930s for gymnastics training, but it segued to backyard-fun icon in the 1970s. Kids beg to have one to bounce on; parents add the requisite safety nets and cross their fingers.
12. Wind Chimes
These suspended bits of glass or metal tubes turn summer breezes into backyard concerts. Weâll admit, theyâre polarizing. They can be deemed either enchanting or eerie, but it wouldnât feel like summer without them.
11. Doghouse
In the 1800s, the synergy of mass production and the animal welfare movement gave Fido his own canine castle out back. To this day, the doghouse â with its perfectly pitched roof â remains a backyard staple.
10. Garden Hose
Let us salute that ubiquitous yard workhorse, the garden hose, whether neatly coiled or hopelessly tangled. Either way, itâs the lifeline of summer, letting you spritz those parched plants with ease. Fun fact: Hoses originated when a 17th-century Dutch artist stitched leather into a tube.
9. Garden Gnome
How did we all agree to let a bearded folklore creature guard our turf? Well, they started appearing in Germany in the 18th century as good luck charms. Gnome means âearth dwellerâ in Latin which makes them perfectly at home in the garden. Thanks for keeping watch, you pointy-hatted fellas, over our dominion.
8. Swing Set
This started as a backyard staple in the 1970s and has evolved ever since, from basic tubular metal to sprawling castle-motif structures. No matter what the look, the thrill remains the same: Pump hard enough, and you might just kick the sky.
7. Fire Pit
The portable fire pit became trendy in the mid-2010âs, the pandemic kicked it into high gear, and now we have a $3-billion market. Letâs face it: We may have a kitchen and central air, but we crave that primal glow. A marshmallow only earns its stripes when toasted under open sky.
6. Oscillating Sprinkler
Tik, tik, tik, sprayyyyy: You know the sound, you know the rhythm. Itâs the metronome of summer, keeping time while kids and dogs sprint through its shimmering arc and it slakes our lawnsâ thirst.
5. Adirondack Chair
Legend has it that a visitor to the namesake mountains created this chair out of simple wood slats in 1903. It was soon adopted as the outdoor seat of choice from coast to coast: beautiful, slightly uncomfortable, yet still worth repainting every spring.
4. Vegetable Patch
What could be more all-American than handing out the overflow of home-grown tomatoes to neighbors? Certainly, weâre a nation of self-reliant folk, and, thanks to post-war victory gardens and pandemic-spurred backyard beds, more than four out of 10 of us grow our own food.
3. Hammock
Peak suburban solace achieved. While today itâs a ideal for midday dozing, Native Americans used the hammock for centuries of full-night sleeping. The oldest preserved specimen is over 4,000 years old!
2. Charcoal Grill
Thank you, post-WWII suburban housing boom for giving birth to the ubiquitous charcoal grill. The look, the crackle, the scent: Itâs an American classic. And it also launched a flood of Fatherâs Day gifts, emblazoned with various grill-master motifs.
1. Picket Fence
Originating from the French piquet ("to pierce"), picket fences historically referred to defensive stakes. But in post-war America, it rocketed to popularity as a sign of middle-class stability and living the dream. Itâs the thin white line between âour lawnâ and âtheir lawn,â and we like it that way.
Did we get the list right? Which icons did we miss? Let us know on Instagram @scottsmiraclegro.
About the Writer
Aliza Gans is a writer, artist, and plant lover living in Brooklyn. She can be found ambling through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with traffic-canceling headphones, or block printing for her brand, Gansa.