Small Backyard Landscaping Ideas Do Myself

Gather Around The Fire

Grilling stations or outdoor kitchens can be used to cook your meals and not heat up the kitchen. Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces are very popular and allow you to enjoy your yard even when theres a little chill in the air. Both of these options make for easy entertaining or a fun family activity.

Backyard Ideas That Will Keep You Outside All Summer Long

Gazing out onto a vast space behind your house ought to get your mind thinking about backyard ideas. The rear is an extension of your home, and it deserves the same care and consideration as any part of the house. Your design will set the tone for all of your future outdoor spaces, so its important to plan accordingly. Before you can break ground on the outdoor oasis of your dreams, know what that dream is. Will you go modern or classic? Evoke a luxury spa of countryside living? Create space for entertaining or space to kick back and be alone? Look at the big picture: the entire backyard, entire front yard, or the entire property, and envision your goals, says Tyler Banken, an indoor/outdoor plant expert and landscape architect at Neverland, a plant resource.

Here, is a list of 46 backyard landscaping ideas to help inspire your perfect space.

How Do You Design Small Backyard Landscaping

‘How you design small backyard landscaping is entirely dependent on what you need your space to do for you not just physically but also emotionally,’ says garden designer Laura Morton, of Laura Morton Design in West Hollywood, California.

The designer has been landscaping gardens since 2000, and believes that emphasizing horticulture in your yard no matter the size is vital for your happiness and longevity. ‘Each garden is going to be a patch where I can improve the ecology, plant life and green space,’ she says. ‘I do a lot of what I think of as complete transformation.’

For her clientele in the Los Angeles area, Morton aims to encourage her clients with her horticulture knowledge, generating functional but beautiful green space. Through her work, she aims to support bird life and pollinators, incorporate native plants into the design, and add in fruit trees and even a small vegetable garden. ‘No matter the size, the space is the connection, both to the people and to the environment,’ she said.

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Save Water With Xeriscaping

Photo via @claudio_paisagismo

Xeriscaping is the perfect DIY landscaping idea for low-maintenance yard projects! While this is a more common landscaping technique in the Southwest, it can be a great addition to your landscapeparticularly since it reduces water usage by up to 80%! All you need is drought-resistant plants like succulents, pampas grass, or wildflowers, and then you mix them with rock gardens.

Plant Perennial Shrubs In Front Of Your House

Once you plant perennial shrubs like Azaleas or Hydrangeas, they will give back year after year as they bloom and add color to the front of your house. Many are fairly inexpensive and are easy to keep up. Be sure you consult with an expert at your local nursery for info on how to plant them with enough space, when to prune, and how to trim the perennials to prevent unwieldy growth.

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Balancing Shapes And Textures

Design by Mindy Gayer / Photo by Vanessa Lentine

With so many options available for furniture and plants, an outdoor seating area can be low maintenance by design. This modern seating area has waterproof cushions and a clean propane stone fire dish for easy entertaining. The square lines and gray tones are nicely complemented by planters at a right angle filled with feathery textured perennials in striking colors.

Small Backyard Garden Ideas

Theres no need to choose between a traditional lawn and a plentiful garden in your small backyard. You can use wood containers or stone borders to section off small garden beds for ornamental plants or vegetables. Or blend your grass into your perennial bushes and trees for a wild-grown aesthetic.

Incorporate plants of various heights to add depth to your landscape design. Fill out the majority of your garden beds with hardy, low-maintenance perennials that will come back year-after-year. You can fill the gaps with smaller annuals come springtime a nice touch because you can change up your gardens color palette each year.

When selecting your garden plants, especially perennials, think about how your backyard will change throughout the year. Plant species that flower in the spring, summer, and fall for a diverse garden design that naturally updates itself with the seasons.

As always, the ground is just one design surface at your disposal. Hang wall- or fence-mounted planters around your backyard for flowers, herbs, or vegetable plants. Trellises make great living dividers when planted with fast-growing vines.

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Add Structure And Shade With A Pergola

Create a cozy nook with a pergola.

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Use a pergola, or a canopy, to separate different areas of your yard. These structures, which can be freestanding or attached to your home, add a roomlike feel to the backyard without compromising fresh air. Think about putting a seating or dining area beneath the structure and dress it up with string lights, flowers, and plants.

Build A Decking Around An In

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If a hot tub is more practical than a pool in your climate, you can still go the in-ground route, which offers the added benefit of keeping the visual space open and making the yard feel larger than it is. By building a custom deck around a hot tub, it can feel like a destination for hanging out whether you are in or out of the water.

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Go Vertical With Your Gardening

If youre looking for simple backyard ideas to spruce up a small outdoor space, vertical gardens are a good place to start.

Vertical gardening, simply put, is using vertical space to grow plants. If youre looking for small backyard landscaping ideas on a budget, vertical gardens are a good place to start. Not only do they make the most of limited space, but they can be inexpensive too, especially if youre using recycled materials like old plastic bottles to make it.

DIY Vertical Garden Ideas

• Use a wooden ladder, terracotta pots and some wire for a rustic front porch vertical garden.
• Wash out old paint cans, fill with soil and hang them up to create a vertical herb garden.
• Repurpose a picture frame to create a vertical succulent garden.
• Waterproof an unused shoe organizer for a vertical garden thats easy to move.

Simple Deck In Your Backyard

If you do not have much space to create a wide range of backyard landscaping then build up the deck can be your best preference. On your deck, you can add dining seats and chairs to enjoy your night BBQ or entertaining dining. Do not forget to place a patio chair when you want to enjoy the daylight.

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Get Started On Your Front Yard

Consider the following front yard landscaping tips.

• Grow a variety of ornamental grasses, shrubs and flowers so youll have interesting colors and textures all year long. Use plants of different heights, but don’t put large-growing plants in front of windows.
• Try a garden design that spaces plants as shown on their tags, so they wont become crowded.
• To save money, start a flower bed from seeds, or divide existing perennials and replant them around your yard.
• Look for deals on healthy shrubs, plants and garden flowers that may be marked down near the end of the growing season. Be aware that they’ll probably need more care than those planted during the season.
• Choose evergreens as foundation plants, rather than deciduous shrubs, so your landscape wont look bare when the leaves drop.
• If you have pine trees, use the acidic pine straw as mulch in an island or garden bed of acid-loving plants. This could include azaleas, camellias, gardenias and ferns. If youre planting underneath the pines, be sure your plants get enough light, since the trees will create some shade.
• As needed, trim the shrubs you’re going to keep.
• When bulbs or perennials finish blooming, tuck pots of fresh annuals around them.
• Plant medium or large trees 30 to 50 feet away from the house, and small trees 15 feet away, so growing roots won’t damage your home’s foundation.
• Connect shrubs, trees, flowers or foliage plants in a border topped with chipped bark or other mulch.

Evergreen Shrubs Are Easier To Maintain Than Annuals

Choosing suitable evergreen shrubs for your garden can provide year-round color and ornamental value. In addition, they are also easy to maintain. Some shrubs are perennials, while others are adapted to harsh climates. These shrubs can be used in both formal and informal landscapes.

Leucothoe is a compact, evergreen shrub ideal for a shade garden. This shrubs foliage turns vibrant autumnal shades in the fall. This plant tolerates both acidic and rich soils. Its also a good choice for containers. Its also an excellent choice to add to a hedge. Its hardy to -30 degrees F. It grows up to four feet tall.

Hebes are excellent for attracting bees. Their flowers are also attractive to butterflies. They come in a variety of colors and shapes. Their leaves are glossy and leathery. During the summer, theyre covered in spikes of nectar-rich flowers. Theyre great for attracting butterflies and bees.

In addition to the evergreen foliage, plants with staggered bloom times offer ornamental value year-round. Theyre ideal for a container garden or for creating a ground cover. They also provide a source of forage for wildlife.

These shrubs offer a diverse selection of forms and colors. Some have more dramatic flowers and foliage. Theyre an excellent choice for a formal garden. Theyre also a perfect choice for creating sculptural designs. They can be used as ground cover or as an ornamental hedge.

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How To Transform Your Garden With Upcycling Decorations

Especially from broken or broken leftovers from the kitchen, you can create with a little imagination and skill quite charming mini-landscapes and display them in your garden.

Such small works of art will become an absolute highlight at any garden party. In no time at all, you can create a little fairytale garden full of figures and inspiring motifs for the dear little ones. But theres also plenty for grown-up crafting enthusiasts to discover and create:

Break Space Up With Levels

A multi-level backyard creates depth and can break things up visually. Levels additionally allow different spaces to serve different purposes. This might look like a slightly elevated or sunken patio, a large, raised planter or container garden, or a dining space with a shrubbery border to transition to a small upper yard.

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Opt For Natural Perennial Ground Covers

Tired of weeding the lawn? Skip the weed killers and opt for dense spreading perennial ground covers instead.

According to Jonas Sickler of ConsumerSafety.org, weed killers can be both costly and hazardous to your health. Harsh chemicals in Roundup can sicken pets and has been linked to cancer, Sickler says. Weed killers arent just bad for your health they also pack a punch to your bank account at over $20 .

Check out these cheap ground covers that are beautiful and low-maintenance:

Cheap Natural Perennial Ground Cover Options

• Early Snow Glories $2.40 per plant

Pro Tip: If your backyard is full of big, beautiful trees, you may want to choose shade plants that can handle living in their shadow, as not all plants can tolerate full or partial shade.

Do You Already Know These Upcycling Ideas For Your Garden

How often have you heard the following 3 words: Can this go? Probably more times than you can count off the top of your head. But still, you remember them. Because often these words arouse displeasure, discomfort, and pain of separation. After all, your parents or grandparents discarded items have a history. A story that you know and cherish.

But we have good news for you: with upcycling, you dont have to say goodbye to your old items, but instead breathe new life into them. A new purpose in your garden.

What this means for you is that you turn supposed trash into art. You produce less waste and give bulky waste a chance to give your garden a unique atmosphere. This not only promotes the sustainability of your garden.

With these special Do It Yourself garden projects, you will always preserve and awaken fond memories of times long gone. But most importantly, you now have a garden with individual charm in the here and now. We are happy to introduce you to a few of these garden ideas and go beyond the well-known classics of pallet garden furniture.

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Haul Out Old Mulch And Refresh

Just because theres mulch in the garden bed doesnt mean that it looks good. Mulch can dry out, leaving your beds looking worse-for-wear. Revitalize your landscaping with a dark-colored mulch that will contrast with your shrubbery and flowers. You can buy bags of mulch at your local home improvement store for less than $10/bag. The amount of mulch you will need will depend on the size of your flowerbeds.

Surround Yourself By Nature

Heres another great DIY tutorial that will help you create benches using your very own trees. This idea is not only handy, but its so easy to make and wont cost you a thing if you have spare wood laying around. The more trees you have, the better with this great outdoor idea.

The tree acts as a baseboard or pillar for the actual bench. All you have to do is build around the tree trunk to create some of the cutest benches ever! It is a perfect idea if you want to create outdoor seating without buying lawn furniture.

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The Landscape Design Process

Our design teamtakes pride in creating a lucrative property that adds value to the neighborhood. We carefully inspect the property, observing characteristics such as the position of the sun, topography, climate, and soil structure to ensure the best trees, shrubbery, and flowers are planted in your lawn. We examine the symmetry of the property to ensure the best layout, and of course, add necessary lighting to enhance the scenery and add safety to your home. Once we have created the perfect design, we show you our plans so you see your visions brought to life.

We bring expertise and experience to the design job. Our team is committed to your project and a fulfilling landscape project from start to finish. Youll appreciate our honest, worthwhile service just as much as we enjoy providing that to every customer that we serve.

Finding Room For Color

Having a grassy area with straight lines certainly makes it easier to mow, but you might feel like youre missing out on all the color that flowers add to the space. That wont happen if you take advantage of this backyard landscaping idea. The fire area uses small pebbles rather than bricks to keep things safe, but poles around the exterior of the space help define the area vertically. Theyre a place to hang flowers and sparkling lights to give ambient lighting when the sun goes down. Large barrels around these poles are a creative way to add some flowers.

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