April 17, 2014

Landscaping is a wonderful way of investing time and energy into your home, but coming up with a design is a process that takes some deliberate thought. There are often distinct differences in the way that the front and the back yards are landscaped, though ultimately, this is a matter of personal taste that everyone who is planning to landscape their lawns needs to work out for themselves. However, here is some advice to get you started if you are thinking of making landscaping a part of your home.

Front Yard

When landscaping your front yard, one of your chief considerations should be the fact that this is what people will see when they go past your house, whether they are strangers just driving past or friends stopping for a visit. You want to make sure that your choice of landscape design is reflective of who you are. You

Paver walkway with boulder wall.

Paver walkway with boulder wall.

should also keep functionality in mind, deciding how much of your front yard you want to be devoted to decoration and how much should just be grass.

One fun way to break up the front yard and make it look distinctive is to put a boardwalk through it leading from the sidewalk to the porch.

On one side of the boardwalk you can have flowering plants, while the other side can be devoted to open lawn. It can also house a rock garden or a tree or two. It’s best to keep the front part of the lawn looking sharp, so don’t arrange the landscaping in such a way that you will be unable to keep up with it. Additionally, you should avoid putting in potentially hazardous elements such as ponds, lest neighbor children fall into them. A wooden swing can be a very nice addition, either on the porch or under a tree.

Back Yard

In the backyard, it is up to you to decide whether you want to just have the area open for recreational purposes or want to have a lovely area that you can walk through. If you have a dog, you’ll want to leave at least some of the yard as plain grass. If you have children, you can find ways of setting up play equipment like sandboxes and slides while still leaving room for flowers and other landscaping elements.

Deck with multi level paver patio.

Deck with multi level paver patio.

 

The backyard can be an excellent place to set up a pond with a fountain, though you should be very careful about this if your children are young. A simple fountain without the surrounding pond might be better in that case. Butterfly bushes and honeysuckle vines can add a great deal of color to the backyard and make for ideal viewing of birds and butterflies on lazy afternoons. Statues can also add a lot of interest.

Whatever you decide to place in your garden is a unique expression of you. Tending to your garden, no matter what size, is a wonderful way of interacting with nature, even if you live in the heart of the city.