From building a concrete patio to creating an elaborate water feature in your backyard, there are thousands of beautiful landscaping ideas that will breathe new life into your outdoor spaces. But it’s not only about beauty. Whether you have a small backyard or an expansive space to work with, it’s important to invest in landscaping that is both functional and beautiful. The more practical your outdoor space, the more likely you’ll find yourself and your family & friends enjoying the great outdoors.
Let’s take a look at four landscaping ideas that will help you strike the perfect balance between form and function.
Walkways That Connect
Installing walkways and paths in your landscape design can bring much needed structure, especially for homes with large outdoor spaces. The structural requirements for a walkway really depends on the intended use and desired design style. For the more informal, less frequently used walkways, large slabs of flagstone or bluestone placed randomly in the lawn—or even a simple path using small decorative gravel—can be a great choice.
For the primary walkways on a property, however, consider more polished and maintenance free options that are better suited for regular foot traffic. No matter the design style of your home or your new landscape, concrete pavers are a great choice for these types of walkways. A Unilock Authorized Contractor can help by providing design ideas, as well as expertise for choosing the best materials for your walkway application.
Define Your Space into Outdoor Rooms
One of the biggest challenges many homeowners face is deciding how to best divide their backyard space into separate sections, or outdoor rooms. By clearly curving out different sections of your backyard, you not only implement much needed structure in an otherwise expansive setting, but you greatly improve the function and visual impact or your finished landscaping project.
Defining your outdoor space could be as easy as moving around outdoor furniture to create a dedicated dining area, or if you’re just beginning the design phase of your project, it could mean selecting different, but complimenting, concrete paver choices to create dedicated cooking areas, sitting areas, and dining spaces. Either way, planning individual “rooms” in your backyard landscape can pack big design punch for your patio spaces.
Buy a trellis and plant rambling vines
A trellis makes for a beautiful garden centerpiece. These visual focal points are not just ornamental however. Consider using garden structures like these to mark the entrance to a lounging area, a vegetable garden, or even a pool area if the design allows. To make the trellis seem like it belongs natively in the landscape, plant a flowering vine like Clematis as the base, and as it grows, the plant will weave in and out of the trellis covering the wood with blue, red, pink, purple or white flowers. Talk about bringing a pop of life and brilliance to your garden and patio space!
Plant Edibles in your Landscape
When it comes to planning out the living elements of your outdoor space—known as the softscape—consider mixing more traditional choices like ornamental trees, flowering shrubs, and flowering perennials with attractive edibles. Edibles, or plants that produce vegetables or fruits, have found a place amongst traditional border plantings and ornamental garden beds. And why not? There are plenty of choices that look fantastic and add the element of offering freshly picked produce right in your backyard.
Need more ideas or help? Click here to get contacted by a Unilock Authorized Contractor near your home in Medford Lakes, NJ.
