Front Yard and Backyard Landscape Designing Ideas

What really makes landscaping so great is that you can be as simple or complex as you want to be. If you’re inexperienced, you can start very basic and redo and change it as you learn more.

You can try as many layouts as your mind can dream up. Your only limit is your imagination. Even professionals, who have years of experience, continue to learn new things all the time.

It’s a good idea to start with something simple. Decide what you want in each area, whether it’s a garden, walkway, pond or even a wall, but don’t get discouraged if the image of your final product seems beyond your skills. Do what you can at first, and you can always add to it later.

Once that mental image begins to come together, you’ll want to put it on paper. Sketch it out, even if it’s very basic. Simple shapes to represent the area you’re working on and what will be in it are sufficient for now. If you feel confident about your design and want to move forward, there are a number of good landscaping software packages available also.

Experiment and see what looks best in each of your areas, front yard or backyard. If you’re considering a rectangular garden coming off of your house, make some rough measurements. Then you can play around with different sizes and numbers of plants for that particular space. A good idea for a space like that would be to have the tallest plants in the back and step them down in height as you get toward the front. This way all of your plants can be seen clearly.

Even in a space that is rectangular, there are many creative things you can do. You can place a birdbath or some other garden decoration in it. You can also plant your flowers or shrubs in some sort of pattern rather than just straight rows. A spoke pattern is very attractive as well as a sun pattern or whatever you can come up with.

With so many varieties of plants to choose from, you could have a different kind in each of the triangle areas created by your spoke pattern.

This example gives you the opportunity to create a visually unique arrangement. It also gives each viewing angle it’s own distinct appearance, even though it’s part of the same pattern.

If you have a pattern that is already very unique and attractive, adding color contrasts can really take it to the next level. Pink foxgloves and bright yellow tansy can set each other off and create an interesting look. Lavender flowers against chives also creates a nice color contrast.

There’s no limit to the design possibilities you can come up with. Whether it’s planting shrubs along a fence or flowers along the side of your house, whatever the space you have to fill, the options are limitless.

Once you get rolling, you’ll be amazed at the ideas that start sprouting up.

         

More Landscaping Designs and Planning Articles