Backyard ideas: 26 inspiring looks for your outdoor space

back yard landscape design

Certain hardscape materials, furnishings, and plants are easier to maintain than others. If you have an elaborate landscape, you may want to hire outside help for mowing, weeding, or other garden chores. This screened-in backyard shed stands out thanks to stunning natural wood, and provides plenty of room for a relaxing seating area. A large table outside also gives the option of eating outdoors on the stone patio. To cut down on mowing, consider creating a patio area with gravel or small stones.

Use Plants to Soften Hard Edges

In addition to storing tools, sheds help protect investments in big items such as riding mowers, trimmers, snow blowers and leaf blowers. For an exotic look, don’t feel restricted in your plant choice – simply look for plants that have the characteristics of the tropics. In a border, aim for a mix of heights, with tall, towering plants like bamboo and bananas providing a protective canopy for lower-growing plants such as ferns and hostas. Dense planting will help create the feeling of a jungle, and flowers such as cannas, dahlias and crocosmia will give your border vibrancy.

Light Up the Night

You can always hire a landscape designer or architect to help your outdoor space realize its potential. If you’re after reasonably priced and low-maintenance landscaping ideas, concrete is also a winner. Likewise, stamped concrete—which is a tad pricier, but can be made to look like limestone, slate, and flagstone—is an attractive stand-in for a stone patio. What’s more, a stamped concreted patio is not only more durable, but it typically requires less maintenance than natural stone options.

Plant between steps for added greenery

back yard landscape design

’No matter how small your outdoor space, water features can make a simple and effective addition to it,’ says interior designer Kimberley Harrison. Divide your large backyard into distinct zones for various activities, such as a dining area, a play space, and a vegetable garden. Incorporating native plants can reduce maintenance while outdoor lighting can enhance the functionality and aesthetics of each zone.

Loaded with color and personality, this courtyard garden provides privacy while still letting in light. An artful design composition creates a beautiful orchestration of color and texture. If you need more room for guests to stay, turn a small shed or pool house into a functional guesthouse. This small guest room has a sliding door that opens right onto the pool, with blue and white wallpaper that matches the colors used in the pool design.

Accompanying your outdoor kitchen, a dining area with a sturdy table and comfortable chairs allows you to host dinners under the stars. Effective backyard design combines aesthetics, functionality, and harmony with your home’s overall landscape. For example, a grass lawn in a desert climate requires a lot of time and expense (if your HOA even allows it anymore). Instead, plant cacti and succulents that are happy in 100-plus-degree weather without rain for weeks at a time. If you must have a lawn, carve out an area to lay artificial turf, which has come a long way since Astroturf. You shouldn't have to work longer to maintain your backyard than you play or relax in it.

11 Garden Trends to Try in 2024, From Sensory Gardens to Food Forests - Martha Stewart

11 Garden Trends to Try in 2024, From Sensory Gardens to Food Forests.

Posted: Fri, 02 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

A backyard shed adds lots of room for storage, but in this design, it’s also a perfect place to attach string lights. Running the lights between the home and the shed allows them to cross over the dining area on the patio, creating a romantic atmosphere. Add a bar to your backyard on a budget by setting up an outdoor workbench with rolling shelves. This cheap backyard idea is dressed up by string lights and a white pergola, but everything on the bar is portable and easy to remove after entertaining.

Lush Lawn

When you consider the different types of seats you have indoors, it makes sense to add extra seating outside too. Incorporate different chairs for eating, lounging, reading, and more to get the most from your space. Rather than drag the same patio chair around the yard to enjoy or avoid the sun, having strategically placed patio furniture ensures you and your guests always have a comfortable place to relax.

Backyard Fountain Ideas to Elevate Your Outdoor Space

Build your own, or buy this enormous chicken coop, available at Etsy. Fill your backyard design project with plants, utilities, and decorations. Decide how you’ll be using the yard, create zones for activities, choose materials and plants, and send the finished plan to your builders and contractors.

Designate a secluded area within your backyard as your sanctuary, and then isolate it using outdoor curtains, screens, plants, or even...a fence. Consider a vertical garden of fragrant herbs, easily accessible salad greens, or attractive flowers that offers privacy, color, and vertical interest. When you think about good landscape design, you might imagine a vibrant mix of plants in different colors, sizes, shapes, and silhouettes, but it doesn't have to be that complicated. Single-species plantings can be just as attractive and interesting as more dramatic combinations. This sedum planting, for example, brings plenty of visual intrigue to a hot desert garden or a Midwest backyard, and it's a breeze to maintain.

An outdoor fireplace provides a cozy spot to warm up beside the pool in this backyard. Planting large ferns and shrubs on the other side of the low wall also gives this yard a tropical feel. Set up for a party or casual picnic with a low outdoor table and small wicker cushions for seating. A brightly colored tablecloth creates a festive table setting, along with large starry string lights.

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