When you look at your backyard, ideas of how to spruce up the space start running through your mind. While they’re probably all good ideas, not all will work for your space. To help you make the right decisions, here’s what backyard experts recommend.
1. Get Your Hardscaping in Shape
Hardscaping is one of the most important elements of a well-designed landscape, making one wonder why most homeowners overlook it. While using softscaping, which includes living elements and greenery, equally plays a crucial role, combining the two can do wonders for your outdoor space. Think of it this way. Softscaping is the bread, and hardscapes are the butter.
When you hear hardscaping, picture nonliving elements such as tiles, stone patios, driveways, walkways, terrace gardens, fire pits, and retaining walls. Such features can act as the foundation of your landscaping plan. They’ll improve the space’s accessibility, enhance aesthetics, and create a sense of continuity.
Your hardscape will help you clearly define how visitors are supposed to engage with the space, from which sections are on display and which ones are off-limits. You can intentionally direct foot traffic away from turf, delicate foliage, or other softscaped areas. Hardscapes can also increase safety and prevent damage to your property.
Now, as backyard experts will tell you, a hardscaping project isn’t one where you should dive in head first. You want to be sure about it before moving forward with anything. As you can already expect, once you construct and install your hardscape, making any changes or moving it is going to be too much of a hassle, not to mention expensive. So you must think ahead about how people will interact with your new landscape, ensuring accessibility and safety.
That’s why it’s a good idea to enlist the help of a hardscaping service. These professionals will take care of everything from planning and hiring manual labor to sourcing the best deals on materials and coordinating with concrete delivery services. You’ll sit back, relax, and watch your outdoor space come together.
If that’s not enough, most seasoned hardscapers will also offer insurance and a warranty on their work. So if anything goes wrong during the job, you don’t have to worry about the financial obligation that may come with it. That said, you must be careful and intentional about who you hire. Not everyone claiming to be a pro is truly a pro. Some will likely just after your money and can leave your outdoors in worse shape than they found it.
2. Make Your Landscaping Next-Level
Your home’s landscape is often the first thing people interact with visually and physically, so it’s in your best interest to spruce it up. Luckily, many landscaping projects can help you take things to the next level. The good news is you don’t have to spend too much money and time on them.
You can start with something as simple as pruning overgrown trees and bushes with the help of professional lawn services. Here, your aim is to get rid of any branches that may be blocking walkways or hanging over important structural elements such as your roof. It’s also a good idea to prune any limbs that prevent sunlight from reaching certain sections of your lawn, causing the grass to thin. While at it, why not take the opportunity to use equipment like a lawn tractor to remove any plants that don’t work well with the aesthetic you’re trying to achieve? Doing so will enhance your landscape’s aesthetics while allowing you to replant new, better-looking trees.
Once you’re done with this part of the project, which primarily involves removing things, you can start adding. Growing various plants is a great way to bring color and life into your space. Think of incorporating everything from trees and foilage to plants and flowers. You can always plant according to season, or you can choose natural grass or evergreens that will remain vibrant and beautiful through the winter.
Go for vibrantly colored plants if you want your space to attract the attention of onlookers more often. It also helps to choose plants that complement your surrounding landscaping’s color scheme and style. If your property has multiple levels, hide any concrete or plain steps with grass.
Mowing a sloped lawn may take more work. Still, backyard experts confirm that the benefits to the general condition and appearance of the land make the effort worthwhile. To stop soil and seed erosion, retaining walls or layered entrances can offer a solution.
3. Have a Water System
Your home’s water supply comes from either of two sources. You either get it from the city or an onsite well. Most people think they can only enjoy the benefits of water wells if they live in rural areas. However, that’s not the case.
You can still incorporate this feature if you live in an urban area. There are several reasons why you’d want to have your own well. For one, the earth naturally filters the water that flows from a private well. Mechanical filters are introduced to your plumbing system during the well installation for optimal filtration. This helps to ensure that any traces of minerals and particles are eliminated from the water.
Besides that, having a well on your property means you’ll have a reliable and consistent water supply. Water bans occasionally leave those who acquire their water from cities with no option but to abide by them. For instance, if the area is experiencing a drought, people may be unable to do simple things like use their water sprinklers or wash their vehicles. On the other hand, well owners own their water supply. Therefore, they may carry on with such activities even during a drought.
A private well typically won’t be affected by drought since the water comes from underground. Municipalities may sometimes advise the public to buy bottled water or boil it from their current supply for safety during extreme weather conditions. However, you won’t have to worry about everything when you have a well on your property.
4. Make Extra Storage and Organization
When you consult backyard experts seeking a solution for storage and organization, they’ll likely tell you to invest in local shed building services as part of their recommendations. Why? You may ask. Well, having a shed in your backyard will allow you to free up your home’s main storage spaces.
You can store things like your lawn equipment and tools there, which you would otherwise have to keep in your garage. It can also be where you stash your holiday decorations until you need them again. With a shed, it’ll also be easier to make space in your closets for your clothing and accessories. Once you’re done purging your home, you’ll be amazed by how much extra room you have.
A backyard shed can also help you reduce the clutter in your yard and the home. Besides storing your lawn equipment and gardening tools, you can also use the structure to keep the kids’ toys and sports gear out of the way, where they may pose trip hazards. You’ll get to keep your home and backyard clutter-free while enjoying easy access to them when needed. You’ll have fun. Wouldn’t you be happy with a cleaner, more organized home with more space?
5. Have a Watering System in Place
Besides keeping up with regular lawn care tasks like cleaning and pruning, you must ensure proper water treatment if you want a lush lawn. Here’s where a lawn sprinkler system comes into the picture. Sprinklers work to irrigate a residential garden or lawn by dispersing water in a spray.
While the initial cost of installing a lawn sprinkler will definitely leave a dent in your wallet, backyard experts say the long-term benefits make it a worthwhile investment. For example, you’ll notice a significant reduction in your monthly utility bills as these systems help to reduce water wastage. Thanks to advancements in irrigation technology, manufacturers have made controllers to go with sprinklers.
Some of them can measure the quantity of rainfall and switch off the system automatically. This way, you can be sure you’re only using the water you need. The result will be lower water bills, a way to save on your home’s operational costs.
The scheduled irrigation that sprinkler systems allow for will also help improve the retention of nutrients in the soil and overall lawn productivity.
By precisely delivering the right amount of water, your soil will better absorb the most valuable nutrients and distribute them to your plants. Hand-watering your lawn, on the other hand, may result in water runoff that carries with it essential nutrients.
It can also lead to oversaturation, which causes soil compaction around your plants, hindering their growth. Now, to ensure you continue enjoying the benefits of your watering system, you need to stay on top of your sprinkler repair and maintenance needs. Don’t let any potential issues go unchecked. Whether it’s the pressure being lower than normal or a faulty valve, act promptly.
6. Make Your Garden Standout
In your talks with backyard experts, you’ll likely be told that the garden is one of the most important aspects of your landscape, and it’s true. If it looks unkempt and all over the place, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done with the rest of the space; the overall aesthetic will suffer. So, when sprucing up your backyard, strive to make your garden stand out.
Before you can get to the exciting part of shopping for your favorite blooms, you’ll want to start by ensuring you have a weed-free garden. Weeds aren’t regular harmless plants. They’ll complete with the things you intentionally plant for resources like water and the valuable nutrients of the topsoil, negatively affecting their growth. So, take time to remove any unwanted plants in your garden. For this task, you can use a wheeled stool.
Now that you’re done with that part, you can start thinking of ways to incorporate splashes of color to break up the greens, introduce variety, and create contrast and focal points. Consider planting annual and perennial flowers like marigolds, sunflowers, hydrangeas, and cosmos. The good thing bout sprucing up your garden is you’re not limited to planting flowers alone. Many other veggies and herbs also produce lovely blossoms. These include white spring onions, purple chives, yellow dill, pale pink to purple thyme, red pineapple sage, purple or white basil, and flowering vegetables and fruits.
7. Don’t Be Afraid to Remodel
While taking on a full remodeling project may initially seem daunting due to the investment in resources, backyard experts say it may be just what you need to take your outdoor space to the next level. Think about it. When you take this route, you have the freedom to do more than enhance your property’s aesthetic appeal.
You can transform an unused section of the lawn into a functional outdoor room. This way, you’ll have more living space, which you can also designate as your primary entertainment area. If need be, hire demolition contractors to take down any walls that are hindering your plans.
8. Refurbish Your Roof
While your roof may not necessarily be a component of your backyard, it’s a significant contributor to the overall aesthetic appeal of the space. Your local backyard experts can confirm this. So, as part of your project, consider refurbishing your roof with the help of reputable roofing companies.
In most cases, this will involve repair tasks such as replacing missing, broken, or worn-out shingles. Your roofer can also address water or heat-damaged sections to ensure the issue doesn’t spread further. Ultimately, you’ll enjoy the protection your roof offers for a longer time and reduce the likelihood of needing a premature replacement.
9. Don’t Forget to Clean Up After!
If there’s one thing most homeowners don’t think about when taking on such projects, according to backyard experts, it is the clean-up after. However, making plans for disposing of the waste that’ll be generated is actually among the first things you should do. You don’t want to finish a backyard renovation task only to be left with a pile of trash that will make it harder to see the before and after results.
Working with a trash dumpster rental service may be the solution you’re looking for. These professionals will deliver an appropriate-sized dumpster to your home. Once you’re done using it, they’ll pick it up and dispose of the contents properly.
With the right approach, your backyard can quickly become your home’s most popular space. The key is to enlist the professional help of backyard experts where needed. Don’t try to tackle everything on your own.