Your home is your pride and joy, and it’s where you seek comfort at the end of a long, grueling day. This is why we put so much effort into making sure that it’s designed exactly the way we envision it. In many cases, we put so much focus on the interior that we tend to just leave the exterior to be as it is, or in the simplest form possible. However, you’ll soon realize that the design of your backyard is just as important and requires just as much thought and attention as the interior. This is because you will want to use it, and also have it maintained. Designing it properly will make maintenance an easier task for you, and this is why we’re going to let you in on a few ideas to help you design the perfect backyard.
Build a Deck for Entertainment
The first thing you want to think about when you start designing your backyard is the deck. Think about whether it’s going to be a space where you’d want to entertain a crowd of friends and family on several occasions, or if you just want it for your own personal use. According to this, you’ll be able to decide on the size of the deck, and also what kind of furniture and items you’d like to keep on there. Getting outdoor furniture that can last through any kind of conditions is the aim here, obviously. Decks are relatively easy to maintain because you just want to make sure that you clean the surfaces every once in a while. If you get quite a bit of rain where you live, make sure that it’s designed in a way where it doesn’t collect water, so there is no damage done to the deck or brought into the house at any point.
Dedicate an Area to Grow Plants
Generally, we like to have our backyards filled with plants and greenery, but if you’d like to have a situation that is easier to maintain, then you need to consider dedicating a specific area or corner where you can have all the plants that you want. You can have a flower, herb, and vegetable bed placed in a corner, or that takes up one side of the garden. To ensure that you’re not stressing over their care and growth, always get the best of the best. When it comes to the soil, you always want to invest in fertilizer that will help your lawn stay healthy and the plants grow at their best. Worm casting is the most popular, and for good reason too. It is a fertilizer that consists of earthworm cocoons, healthy bacteria, manure, and plant remnants, and works amazingly on the lawn and plants.
Think about the Ratio of Garden to Hard Floor
Depending on the size of your backyard, you’re going to want to think about what you want to do in terms of how much you’re going to use for landscaping, and how much for hardscape. While hardscape is definitely much easier to maintain, you don’t want your whole backyard to be made out of concrete. You want a balanced marriage of nature to practicality as well. This also depends on whether you love to garden or not, and whether you have kids or would want to entertain in this area. All of these factors come into play when designing your backyard with easier future maintenance in mind. You can integrate both together by creating pathways made from concrete slabs or rocks put into the grass and have different patches of hardscape around the space, or you can split it if you like.
Integrate Irrigation or Go AstroTurf
There’s nothing more off-putting than having a landscape that has uneven, dead, or dying grass. It just screams neglect, and it will make your home look miserable. This is why you should either get an irrigation system put in. This way you can time it to water your lawn at set times every day. You can also opt to go for the AstroTurf option, where you have fake grass that looks very real. This is more convenient if you have kids that will be running on the grass a lot.
Your backyard is a space that you do want to put some thought into when it comes to design because it’s important that you design to be easy to maintain while still looking beautiful. Sit down with a professional and see what kind of ideas they might have in mind, and also look for different options online to see what works best for you. Always keep the points mentioned here in mind when picking your design so that when all is said and done, you’re able to keep your backyard looking beautiful throughout the year without too much hassle.