There are cracks in the sidewalk at Bellagio

This is your Cleveland gardening correspondent reporting live from Las Vegas.

I’m on a little weekend get away to Las Vegas, and enjoying the 80F temps here. This evening I went with my husband to eat at the Bellagio. The food was excellent and the Bellagio is just gorgeous. But it seems that the Bellagio, for all its grandeur and luxury has a problem that I think many of us can relate to… cracks in the sidewalk… or patio… or driveway… or any hard surface in our yard where a total replacement to repair slight damage just does not make sense.

I love the way the Bellagio has decided to deal with this problem:

The paint is a bit worn off (this is a really high traffic area) but I think the effect is nice. As you can see, they have painted over the crack and added some leaves to make a nice vine effect. The painting isn’t even all that professional, but you have to admit that it looks a whole lot nicer than an ugly crack in the sidewalk.

With a little outdoor paint, a home gardener can do this too. In Cleveland, you are going to see cracks in solid surfaces at some point in time due to the extreme temps that we face. But as the Bellagio shows, you can turn something annoyingly unsightly into a cute little garden accent.