Do you feel like it’s time to revive your Spring Lake Heights, NJ, landscape by incorporating current trends or personalizing the design so that it expresses more of who you are? Fortunately, you don’t have to reconstruct your entire hardscape or uproot your plant beds to achieve this. All that is required is the addition of a few creative and unique features. Here are a few simple landscaping ideas that can add interest to your backyard and make it feel as good as new.
Clever landscape lighting
While proper lighting ensures that your landscape can be navigated safely after hours, it also illuminates focal points and imbues your property with enhanced beauty that becomes apparent at night. Various landscape lighting techniques can be used to achieve different effects. Highlighting, for example, refers to an up-facing spotlight placed at the base of a feature like a tree or sculpture, allowing the feature to stand out as a focal point in the landscape. Silhouetting creates dark outlines of features like plants, by placing spotlights behind them. Try including these techniques in your design to create focal points that come alive after sundown.
Walkways that double as destinations
Dividing a landscape into small spaces, or outdoor rooms, customized to their specific functions can help to bring order to a large property. It also adds more variation and character to the design than if one large expanse of pavers were installed.
These separate areas can be brought together by walkways and charming paths. Consider adorning your walkways with water features, benches, and other structures that prompt your guests to pause for a moment. This will transform your walkways from functional passages into calming destinations that are worth stopping to appreciate. A rustic Courtstone walkway sheltered by dense trees and nestled beside a tranquil water feature can be the perfect backyard gem.
The title image features a side yard patio paved with Courtstone pavers from Unilock.
Playful textures for captivating results
Incorporating highly textured or worn materials, like antique wood, wrought iron, and tumbled pavers into an otherwise smooth and sleek patio aesthetic can create a truly unique hardscape. Umbriano pavers are smooth and elegant, allowing the addition of a Courtstone border to result in a characterful design.
Unrefined textures can also be found in natural elements such as plants, fire features and water features – especially when the features are constructed from natural stone or a convincing substitute. Rivercrest Wall emulates the look of stacked flagstone, for example, and can be used to build stunning water features.
Your patio floor as a focal point
Laying your patio pavers in intricate patterns can personalize the surface and make it more captivating. There are certain patterns perfect for linear pavers – herringbone and basketweave designs, for example. Copthorne pavers from Unilock, which emulate red brick and have a warm, rustic appeal, are excellent candidates for paver patterns like these. These complex interlocks add interest to a large expanse that may otherwise appear monotonous. Circular paver patterns draw attention to their center – a single spot on the driveway or patio floor. A motif or structure, like a fire pit, can be placed in the center for a unique touch.