When it comes to your home, you want it to be comfortable, functional, and practical, yet still, provide you with a warm and inviting appeal. One way of doing this is to update your home’s landscape with attractive and functional designs that infuse your property with warmth, colour, and texture. When done right, your home can maintain stunning outdoor spaces that invigorate, relax, and reward both family and company. In order to create a lush and diverse space, you have to begin with the easy and practical design choices like adding in vertical height with baskets or including blooming shrubs and hidden usable structures like tables, fire pits, and fountains. Keep in mind that an excellent outdoor atmosphere is built from the combination of many elements.

Here are some simple landscaping design ideas that you can use today at home.

  1. Use the Curve Sweep: if you are building up more than one area in your backyard landscape, you are more than likely wanting individuals to explore the space. One way of getting people to walk into the yard is by using a curve sweep. Most notably done with flowerbeds, a curve sweep makes a garden more enticing by creating a playful, strong, and inviting line. One’s eyes will be naturally drawn to it, and it will pull you to follow it.

 

  1. Use the Hide and Reveal Technique: if you are working in a smaller outdoor space, choose to use the “hide and reveal” landscaping design called the miegakure. This makes the space feel larger and appear more mysterious or interesting as it creates an illusion of distance. This is done when you partially obscure a specific view or a garden feature like a fountain or gazebo. This can be done with large leafy plants, angled walkways or a mounded plant bed.

 

  1. Plant in Numbers: this is an extremely easy technique to use as it creates bold interest within your garden.

 

  1. Create Bold Contrasts: again, an extremely easy technique to use where you contrast different colours beside one another or accented against one another. Generally, golden or yellow hued plants will accent the space to feel and appear brighter while purple tones will make the space richer and darker.

 

  1. Use Containers: often plants are placed in containers and left on the deck when they should be incorporated into the garden beds or along the landscape walls. Move them around the yard to highlight specific areas and even choose to DIY your own large, colourfully glazed pots to change up the atmosphere.

 

  1. Don’t Forget About Shrubs and Trees: when one thinks of a backyard or front yard garden, it most commonly features flower beds and walkways. Instead, choose to add some trees and shrubs in as this will bring an aura of impact to your garden and can contrast nicely with your chosen garden style.

 

  1. Mix Materials: choose to use “hardscapes” or rather non-plant materials to mix up the level of interest in an area. For instance, flagstones embedded into a natural lawn will give it a different feel than if it were just left as a plain lawn. When you use a mixture of materials in combination with repetitive patterns, you create delightful contrasts.

 

  1. Double Duty Plants: another very easy and simple landscaping design option often used in limited spaces. Choose plants that can serve more than one purpose. For instance, many trees can be used as an attractive backdrop to a “rest” area but may also be used as a privacy tool.

 

Although the above landscaping design tips are just a few techniques that can be used out of countless, they are a great way to get started. The number one thing to remember is to have fun and to choose flowers, trees, and non-plant materials that pests and animals are not attracted to. If you live in an area where there are a lot of deer, choose to employ flowers and bushes that they won’t want to eat. With this said, regardless of whether you are just increasing curb appeal, infusing more value into the property, or are genuinely about creating a relaxing space, keep the techniques simple and don’t be afraid to experiment with them!