In the Yard for Friday, Aug. 31, 2012

We got some neat photographs from Denny North after we ran a photo of a toy aircraft carrier made into an oregano planter.

LSU graduates North, 44, and wife Sarah live in San Jose, Calif. North designs and markets oversize chess sets for children.

His flair for design manifested itself in some planters, one made from a gutted computer monitor, the other a golf club bag sprouting ivy.

“Most people don’t notice plants as they blend into the background,” he said. “But I learned that taking them out of their usual planters brought them right to the front.”

“There’s something conceptual about it, returning technology to nature which makes it ‘hortisculptural.’ ”

North just finished a term as president of the Bay Area Tigers, the Northern California chapter of the LSU Alumni Association.

Ed Cullen

Advocate staff writer