Outdoor Landscaping Ideas

Effective outdoor landscaping ideas highlight the strong points of your front, back and side yards while minimizing weaknesses or flaws. You don't have to spend a fortune to make your outdoor property more attractive and more organized. However, you do need to spend some time evaluating your home's exterior as you consider ideas for improving your outdoor landscaping.

In the planning stages of your outdoor landscaping ideas, make a detailed sketch of your property. Include not only your house and yard, but any outdoor elements that affect the appearance and function of your yard. The elements featured in your outdoor landscaping ideas may include flower beds, vegetable gardens, sheds, decks and patios, fences, driveways, walkways, even trash cans and garden hoses. Once you've assessed all of the key elements of your landscaping project, you can focus your ideas on the areas that might be more efficient or visually appealing.

Integrating Your Outdoor Landscapes

Making a sketch of your house and the surrounding landscaping elements will help you integrate your ideas. On many properties, the front yard landscaping is much more attractive and efficient than the back yard, which may consist only of an expanse of grass and a garden, or a shed and a patio. With many homes, the side yards are not effectively utilized, and these areas are often overgrown with grass or crowded with garbage cans and tools.

When you visualize your property as a whole, you'll have a better idea of how your outdoor landscaping ideas can be integrated to create a unified look for your home's exterior. Many homeowners don't have time to devote equal attention to their front and back yards for garden landscape plans. If your front lawn is well tended but your back yard is choked with weeds, consider low maintenance landscaping ideas for the back of your home. Browse through landscaping magazines or online photo galleries for low maintenance ideas, like rock gardens or extended patios.

If your front yard is alive with flowers and shrubs but the rest of your landscape lacks color and texture, focus your outdoor landscaping ideas on making your yards more interesting visually. Move trash cans and tools to a shed or to the garage to clear space along the back and sides of your residence. A side yard that receives little sunlight can be the perfect location for a shade garden. Plant hostas, impatiens, and other shade loving plants in this underused area to give your outdoor property more greenery and texture.

Some residential landscapes emphasize the features of the back yard at the expense of the front of the home. If your back yard is graced by a large patio surrounded by colorful border gardens and illuminated by exterior lighting, but your front yard is drab and unappealing, think of ideas for making the front of your house equally inviting. Build flagstone or brick walkways that lead guest from the sidewalk to your door. Plant bright, colorful gardens along the front of your home to give your house a warm, cheery appearance.

Budget Outdoor Landscaping Ideas

You don't need to invest a lot of money in expensive trees or shrubs, fountains, outdoor furniture or other design elements to improve the appearance of your property. Natural elements like rocks, logs, driftwood and sand are either free or very affordable. If you and your family are creating an environmentally friendly landscape, these naturally sourced elements will appeal to your concern for the environment as well as your budget.

Yard sales, estate sales and thrift stores are sources of inexpensive exterior furniture or ornaments. Old wooden or wrought iron benches and chairs or used patio furniture can be found at your nearest garage sale. Don't forget to "shop" in your own garage or attic for a forgotten bird bath or comfortable cedar chair that could be incorporated into your outdoor landscaping ideas. Repurposing your old furniture and ornaments contributes to the health of the environment by preventing waste.

Inexpensive ground cover is easy to incorporate in your outdoor landscaping ideas. Mulch, cedar chips, lava rock or pea gravel can be added to border gardens or accent gardens to add colors and textures that complement your plants. Instead of buying flats of annuals or full grown perennials, grow flowers from seeds or bulbs. Home grown flower gardens can brighten your property at a very reasonable cost, and your children will enjoy helping with the planting and watching the garden unfold.

Creative outdoor landscaping ideas can turn a generic, drab yard into an exterior expression of your personal style. Do it yourself experts can redesign a landscape effectively using a combination of available elements and new acquisitions. If you're planning a project on a larger scale or you're expanding your yard with a deck or water garden, consult local contractors for design tips and advice on local building codes.

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