Are you feeling a little bored of the backyard? Embarrassed to host family barbecues? If so, it may be time to give your yard a boost and facelift by livening it up with landscape design. A balancing act between gardening and architecture, landscape design is a way to make your outdoor living space more inviting. While it is often advisable to hire professionals, you can get a few ideas here for what you might be interested in when it comes to your personal backyard oasis.
Pergolas
A romantic look that has been beloved by many, the pergola is an inviting way to transition through areas in your outdoor living space. Pergolas can be used to break up walls of green and create small shelters to cover benches or as a support for flowering vines. If you want to open from a walkway into a wider open backyard space, using a pergola can give the impression of a “gateway.”
Landscape Lighting
Whether or not you want to spend time out in your yard is all dependent on the ambiance it creates. By adding accent light, you can increase the appeal of the yard as well as the amount of time you are able to spend out in it. Consider lining walkways with solar lights, but go one step further and nestle small, lit fountains into your garden beds. The tinkling water and sparkling lights will be eye-catching and add an air of mystery to the darkened plant life after nightfall.
Seasonal Planting
Don’t make the mistake of planting flowers that only blossom in June. You may have a delicious month of flowers, but you will be sorely lacking the remainder of the year. Do your best to integrate evergreen with deciduous plants, as well as flowering with non-flowering. You want to have aspects of beauty that alight in your landscape throughout the year. For the most appeal, plant spring, summer and fall flowers.
Hardscape
While lights, pergolas and water features all fit in the category of hardscaping, you can do more with your land. Try integrating literal rock or concrete features in your garden beds to add texture and diversity to your view. Breaking up a densely planted bed with a large statue can create a field of interest for the eye and give your living space a more pleasing vibe.
Experiment
It is a misconception that once a plant is in the ground it can never be moved. Now that is not to say plants are furniture and can be moved incessantly, but if you are deeply unhappy with the location of a tree or new shrub, don’t wait for it to fully take root and develop completely. Try different arrangements in the yard and play with various visual elements that appeal to you. Make the exterior of your home just as appealing, if not more, than the interior.
