My name is Eric Bush, owner/founder of TheBetterBackyard.com.  Welcome to my website!  To me, there is nothing more enjoyable than relaxing comfortably outdoors, just absorbing the scenery and wildlife, with a cold beverage after tending to my garden, or working in the yard.  Therefore, my goal is to turn my passion into my livelihood, as many fellow Americans long to do.  Within these web pages you will find many affordable yard and garden products, bird houses and feeders, and my signature bat houses, designed with this purpose in mind... to enhance the enjoyment of your outdoor living space. 

TheBetterBackyard.com was created by me, a loving husband and father of one. From childhood I've had a fascination for nature and the whole outdoor experience. I recall days upon days spent in the woods of Michigan with my father and brother, nature books in hand, identifying anything and everything we came across.  My mother spent much of her time with me teaching the ways of the garden.

During my 22-year career in the Army, I'd kept my sanity by honing my outdoor skills and knowledge through various avenues, incuding the Master Gardener program in 2005.  Knowing retirement from the military at an early age was inevitable, "real" retirement was not really an option. Therefore, in 2008 when I hung-up the uniform for the last time, I had initially intended to open a plant nursery. Through extensive research, I found that it would end up being more than I could initially sustain by myself and incur more overhead than I was able to budget.  A change in plans had to be made.  I had always been pretty handy with woodworking, and partially gotten the idea of making bat houses from one of my neighbors, who had constructed and installed a couple of them on his property.  I did some research into the construction and designs of the bat houses, built a few, and took them to a local community flea market; needless to say, there was a lot of interest in them and they sold quickly.  Word started getting around in the neighborhood, and before I knew it, I'd discovered my working-retirement venture.  Another one of my neighbors commented that having the bat houses in the neighborhood sure made him enjoy his backyard more, and the light bulb went on for my overall theme. I also wanted to expand beyond the local community, so the internet was a no-brainer, and I couldn't see having a website with JUST bat houses.  So I found some suppliers for other products to fit my overall theme, got ahold of some simple birdhouse and butterfly house plans, made some adjustments, and soon added them to my inventory.  I've also propositioned my brother (an exceptional carpenter with 20 years experience), into making some things that he would like to "outlet" on my website to increase my product line. I'm eagarly awaiting to see what he comes up with; I'm sure it will be some quality work.

I am hoping you find some useful products in my website, and check back often as I'm constantly updating and adding new things.  My purpose for this site is to help you make your outdoor living space more enjoyable.  Please feel free to contact me if you have a question that is not answered in the FAQs, or you have a suggestion for a product I could add to my inventory.

Thank you so much for your time,

 - Eric Bush