BuzzFeed lists 35 backyard DIYs

BuzzFeed’s new backyard piece is less a how-to manual and more a very recognizable spring internet genre — a shopping roundup dressed in DIY language. The promise is simple: your yard looks rough after winter, you don’t want a contractor, and you want visible progress by the weekend. So BuzzFeed filled a list with fast, low-skill upgrades that mostly start with buying one thing and applying it. ### What actually got published? The item making the rounds is BuzzFeed’s “35 Quick DIY Backyard Upgrades For Fast Learners,” written by Elizabeth Lilly and published last week. The newer companion piece is “36 *Actually* Simple Home Projects To Transform Your Backyard,” posted three days ago. Both live in BuzzFeed’s shopping/home vertical, and both pitch backyard improvement as something beginners can do quickly. ### Is this really DIY? Basically, yes — but in the lightest possible sense. This is not “build a deck” DIY. It’s more like patch the lawn, repaint a gate, refresh a planter, add lighting, fix worn surfaces, and make the space look intentional again. The projects are framed as approachable because they rely on simple materials and visible before-and-after results, not carpentry or landscaping expertise. ### What kinds of upgrades are in it? The clearest examples are cosmetic recovery jobs. BuzzFeed highlights grass seed and fertilizer for bare lawn spots, rust-stopping spray paint for outdoor furniture and structures, and concrete paint for tired surfaces. That tells you the real editorial angle — not invention, but rehab. You’re taking stuff that already exists in the yard and making it look less winter-beaten. ### Why frame it for “fast learners”? Because speed is the product. The headline is really saying: these are beginner-safe projects with a low chance of disaster. “Fast learner” sounds flattering, but the underlying pitch is convenience — buy one item, spend an afternoon, get an obvious payoff. That’s the same logic running through a lot of spring home coverage right now, where the goal is not mastery but momentum. ### Is the gardening-cheat-sheet angle part of this story? Not really. BuzzFeed does have older gardening chart and beginner-gardening posts floating around, including cheat-sheet style explainers and basics for new gardeners. But those are separate articles from different years. The backyard roundup itself is not a plant-diagnosis guide, and the research trail doesn’t support the claimed growth. ### So why is this getting attention? Because it hits a very specific spring nerve. People want their outdoor space usable again, but big renovations are expensive and slow. A roundup built around cheap-looking wins — greener grass, cleaner furniture, better lighting, fresher surfaces — lands well when the weather turns and everyone starts looking at the yard with fresh annoyance. Other home-and-garden outlets are pushing the same low-cost outdoor-upgrade logic right now. ### What’s the catch? The catch is that “DIY” can blur into “buy more stuff.” A real instructional guide would tell you more about technique, materials, failure points, and tradeoffs. BuzzFeed’s format is optimized for inspiration and impulse purchasing. That doesn’t make it useless — plenty of readers want exactly that — but it does mean the article is closer to curated shopping than hands-on education. ### Bottom line This story matters only if you read it for what it is. BuzzFeed didn’t break backyard news. It published a timely spring shopping roundup that packages easy outdoor touch-ups as DIY. If that’s the mood you’re in, it works. If you want actual build plans, it’s the wrong tool.