Backyard Landscaping Ideas
No matter where you live, theres nothing better than relaxing outdoors on a warm summer night watching your backyard landscaping ideas come to life.
Unfortunately, re-landscaping your entire backyard during the course of one growing season can be back breaking, expensive and requires major planning.
Heres a simple solution: Break up your backyard into rooms and remodel one room each year. This is particularly helpful when you're on a tight budget. Youre results will be much better if you spend as much time and money as you can on one project, rather than attempting to redesign your entire backyard in one go with the same amount of money.
Although youre landscaping only one section of the yard at a time, you still need an overall plan. With graph paper and pencil in the permanent structures on your property including the house, out buildings, deck and trees.
This is also a good time to consider which existing plants and shrubs wont be a part of the new landscape.
Make copies of your sketch and experiment with different designs. Incorporate ideas you like from magazines or gardens youve visited.
If you host frequent cook outs youll probably want to keep the yard open and plant along the borders. If you dont need your space to be a mess, you could make a stunning scene with an island bed with paths, solar lighting and cutouts for comfortable furniture to sit on.
Here are some ideas youll dig:
Screening with Plants
If your yard doesnt have a fence, you might want to consider planting a row of hawthorn, juniper, arborvitae, or a combination of these bushes to create privacy and provide a backdrop for future flower beds. A strategically place evergreen screen will also provide a windbreak from winter winds and drifting snow.
Planning a Border Flower Bed
The hardest part of designing a border is choosing flowers that complement each other both in color and height. The list of plants I suggest here is for a 6 foot wide bed in a mainly sunny area. Wide, in this case, means outward from the plant screen or fence, not the length of the bed.
Use 3 https://pool-screen-repair-services-bradenton-ltd.business.site or 5 plants for each kind of flower and allow 1618 between each plant. Allow 2022 between the various plant groups. Planting odd numbers of plants will be more visually appealing than an even number.
Allow sufficient space at the rear of the bed for access. This will also prevent choking off necessary air and light from the plants in back.
These are my suggestions for a perennial border. They were chosen to give a long display, with the first flowers appearing in April and the last in October.
Tall plants for the back row: SEDUM Autumn Joy; RUDBECKIA Goldsturm; PHLOX White; IRIS light blue or yellow; VERONICA Blue; SOLIDAGO Golden Shower; and HOSTA fortunei Picta.
Shorter plants for the front row: GERANIUM grandiflorum; POTENTILLA Firedance; HUECHERA Pink; ASTER Dwarf Blue; SEDUM Dragons Blood; ACHILLEA Moonshine; and ERIGERON Prosperity.
Obviously, these plants wont be the best choice for every climate. A worthwhile book to help you choose plants that are suitable for the climate of your area is The Comfortable Garden. Its also an excellent reference for beginning gardeners.
Island Bed
An island bed, as the name implies, is planted in the middle of the yard surrounded by a sea of grass. Its shape and size according to your imagination and space. Scale the plants from tallest in the middle to shortest at the edges.
Preplanned Gardens
I understand all of this Latin mumbo jumbo can be daunting for first time gardeners, it was for me. If you are looking for an already-planned solution, Direct Gardening offers a large selection of pre-planned gardens designed to take all the guesswork out of choosing plants and placement.
Water Feature
Imagine the reflective beauty of a pond or the gentle splashing of a man made waterfall. What about a 100-foot high waterslide? Maybe next year.
Do Your Yard a Favor
Before you buy any vegetation, visit a real garden center for advice on drainage and soil preparation. Also take a copy of your plan; a soil sample, and an extra credit card just in case you cant wait years to get your backyard landscaping ideas come true.
