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Backyards should be part of your home, a separate space you can retreat to in the evenings, or where you entertain guests. Homeowners should spend as much time decorating and landscaping their backyards as they do with the interior of their home. A garden should be a reflection of your personal and family-style, with elements that make you happy.
When designing your backyard landscaping, try to pick details that will be timeless. Trends come and go, but you want some of these aspects that you select to work for years to come. Those are the landscaping ideas you want to make the focal points of your backyard, and then you can add different plants and unique touches as the years go by.
Here are a few backyard landscaping ideas that will make any homeowner happy.
Adding a water feature to your backyard brings a bit of tranquility to your private space. Ponds tend to be the most popular pick for a water feature. A backyard pond is calming, elegant, and perfect for most backyards, so long as space is large enough to handle one.
Ponds attract wildlife and allow homeowners to incorporate a variety of plants that offer different textures and heights. Tall, native grasses look great around ponds, especially if you add a waterfall feature. Try surrounding the sides of the waterfall with tall grass and bushes. Don’t forget that you can also put plants into your pond, as well as fish if you’re up for the additional upkeep.
Word of advice: Be careful with water features if you have small children. Drowning is a risk, so be cautious. Toddlers aren’t afraid to hop into a pond, so waiting until your child is older may be a great idea.
Landscaping can be beautiful and useful. Herbs can be used throughout your garden beds, lining pathways, and fill containers. Vegetable plants, such as peas, green beans, strawberries, and even zucchini, can grow up fencing. Runner beans are a great choice because they produce colorful flowers and delicious beans.
Don’t feel limited. A vegetable garden can fit into your backyard, or the plants can be integrated throughout your landscaping. Be a rebel and decide to do both!
Edible landscaping can also be added to containers and hanging baskets. Many edible plants also work as ornamental. For example, chives are a common herb that grows anywhere but offers colorful blossoms. Don’t forget herbs, such as calendula and lavender, that spread their aroma throughout the area.
Add some mystery and surprise to your backyard by creating a secret hideout – or two – to be discovered. The sanctuary can be a bench tucked inside of tall bushes, making the perfect spot to have a cup of coffee in the morning. Try adding a hammock under a tree, surrounded with tall grasses. Who wouldn’t want to take a nap in the quiet shade?
These little hideouts add interest to your backyard and make the space more livable. You have small spots in your home that are retreats, so why not create those quiet areas outside as well?
Height is all the rage nowadays, but you can use it in so many different ways. You can add a variety of small trees throughout your backyard. Dwarf fruit trees look lovely, and they produce fruit within three to five years!
Try adding bushes of varying heights throughout your landscaping and surrounding key features. For example, if you have a patio, be sure to include some plants around the patio that are short and tall.
You can even create steps leading up to a patio or a sitting area in your backyard. A play on heights adds a fun look to your backyard, also if it’s small. You might be limited width, but no one can limit the height. The sky is the limit – literally – so build upwards! Add trellis and tall planters. Have fun.
Lighting sets the mood. Stringing lights throughout your garden create a romantic atmosphere. You can walk throughout your backyard at night with the glow of the lights leading your way.
Many lights available are solar, and that includes strings of light. It makes it easier to be able to place lights wherever you want without the worry of needing an outlet.
Lights can change the feel of your backyard. Dim lights are calming and close, brighter lights or colored lights can be for parties. Be creative when selecting the type of lights you want to use.
When you were a child, did you ever skip along a path? Pathways are romantic and hold a sweet sentiment for children and adults. Place pathways throughout your landscaping. In fact, long winding walkways are a staple in designing a Japanese Zen Garden, which is the ultimate tranquil backyard paradise. According to WikiLawn, walkways should be designed to encourage contemplation. One might wander back to the bench tucked in the bushes, or another might trail throughout the garden beds so that you can pick the green beans tucked throughout the flowers.
The paths don’t have to be perfect. In fact, one landscaping trend is to just have randomly placed rocks with grass growing up between as a path leading throughout your backyard. Imagine a path that you might put in your fairy garden.
Create the backyard that’s perfect for you. Think about your plans for your garden. Do you like to host parties and backyard barbeques, or do you want a quiet retreat after a hard day at work? Do you have kids running around or pets that like to chase balls? All of these things matter and shape how you want to create your backyard.
