No matter where you live, there’s nothing better than relaxing outdoors on a warm summer night watching your backyard landscaping ideas come to life.
Unfortunately, re-landscaping your whole backyard throughout the course of one growing season could be back breaking, costly and requires major planning.
Even though you are landscaping simply one section of the lawn at a time, you still need an overall plan. Utilizing graph paper, sketch out the permanent structures on your property such as the house, out buildings, deck and trees.
Here are some suggestions you’ll dig:
Screening with Plants
If your lawn does not have a fence, you might want to think about planting a row of hawthorn, juniper, arborvitae, or a combination of these bushes to create privacy and offer a backdrop for future flower beds. A smartly placed evergreen screen will also give a windbreak from winter winds and drifting snow.
Planning a Border Flower Bed
The most difficult part of designing a border is choosing flowers that complement one another, both in color and height. The list of perennials I advise here is for a six foot wide bed in a primarily sunny situation. Wide, in this case, means outward from the plant screen or fence, not the length of the bed.
Use 3 or 5 plants for every kind of flower and allow 16″-18″ in between every plant. Allow 20″-22″ between the different plant groups. Planting an odd number of plants is much more visually appealing than an even number.
Permit sufficient space at the rear of the bed for access. This will also prevent choking off essential air and light from the plants in back.
Island Bed
An island bed, as the name suggests, is planted in the middle of the lawn surrounded by a sea of grass. It can differ in shape and size in accordance to your imagination and available space. Scale the plants from tallest in the center to shortest at the edges.
Preplanned Gardens
I understand all of this Latin mumbo jumbo can be challenging for first time gardeners, it was for me. If you want a ready made solution, Direct Gardening provides a wide assortment of preplanned gardens designed to take all the guess work out of plant selection and placement.
Water Feature
Imagine the reflective beauty of a pond or the soft splashing of a man made waterfall. How about a 100 foot high waterslide? Maybe next year.
Do Your Lawn a Favor
Before you buy any vegetation, visit a real garden center for advice on drainage and soil preparation. Also, bring a copy of your plan; a soil sample and an extra credit card just in case you can’t wait years to make your backyard landscaping ideas come true.