Have you already landscaped your yard? Do you want to enhance it or give it a modified look and make a good impression? Landscaping your outdoor living areas can be a challenging task because you need to give them a great curb appeal. You are not only landscaping for yourself but also for other people who can see it.
You surely want to get relaxation from your landscape and have good comments and compliments from the onlookers as well. It does sound daunting but the good news is, there are no across-the-board “right” or “wrong” ways of landscaping. It is more of personal taste than copying the landscapes of your neighbors. But there are guidelines and tips from experts that you can follow to maximize the appeal of your design, both in your eyes and from the viewers.
Whether your yard just needs new plants, a pathway, or a mini-waterfall, redesigning its landscape can be challenging. First of all, you must know what you want. You must have a plan so that you can visualize what your landscape output would look like. Read our design tips that might help you create that perfect landscape makeover.
If you’ve done basic designing before, like designing your living room, kitchen, or bedroom, designing your landscape is never that too difficult. Of course, you have this vision of how your yard would look like. From that point, you can proceed with your designing plan. Here are seven landscape design ideas for beginners.
1. Determine landscape needs and wants
Think of what you actually need from your yard and list down the things that you need like plants, stones, a gazebo, or a patio. Do you need a space for your relaxation? Do your kids need a space to play in? Do you need a space for your flowering plants, for your vegetables? Would your family and friends gather on a patio or gazebo? Make a plan where you want to place the gazebo or patio, where you want to place your flowering plants, your waterfall, your altar, your pathway, or your walkway. This is the fundamental principle of landscaping for beginners.
2. Create spaces and consider the location
Determine where you want to put your gazebo or patio. To do this, you must first study the direction of the wind and sun. If you are planning to have breakfasts or lunches on your patio, you must place it on the west side so that it won’t get lots of morning and afternoon sun. Therefore you can enjoy your eating time. You should always consider the sun and wind so that you won’t be regretting the location of your patio or gazebo soon.
3. Draw a plan of your landscape
It is better to plan when you sketch it. It does not need to be a perfect master plan. Just lines, circles and some scribbling will do. This is to see the placement of everything. After sketching, you can try to imagine the setup and see if it works well with you. If you decide to make some changes, then do last-minute modifications. It is always good to let it rest for a while so that you can think of better options. Coming to quick conclusions about your yard can lead to choices that don’t work in the long term.
4. Decorate little by little
When you are determined and ready with your plan, start implementing it. Start designing your yard. You can start small. You don’t need to accomplish it all at once. This will surely need an extra budget. You can start by buying some plants and planting them to where you have sketched them to be. Then when you are financially ready you can start building your patio and gazebo. Landscaping your own yard is fun and enjoyable. Do not rush. Enjoy the process.
5. Set up a focal point
You know what makes a landscape amazing? It is that focal point where you draw your eyes around a particular thing that captivates you. It is that feature that catches your attention and makes you give it not only a second look but a stare! That may be your gazebo, a rare plant growing robustly, a statue, or a waterfall. Make that focal point stand out and captivate you and the other beholders.
6. Create a pleasing balance in your design
This is what makes designing appealing and captivating – creating balance! This is to avoid being repetitive and monotonous. You can do this by applying variations in size, shape, and color, with tall plants against a building or in the back of a flowerbed, and paths that lead people through space. Find a good balance between repetition and adding new elements. Repetition gives a sense of cohesion, but you also don’t want it to be monotonous. An occasional new element is better than having all different elements throughout.
7. Be open to changes
Even if you think that your output is your masterpiece because you are delighted and satisfied with what you have accomplished so far, always be open to innovations. Just as contemporary design in interior designing evolves, so does landscaping design. There will be new features that will become popular and you don’t want to be outmoded so you better incorporate that in your design to be “at the moment.” Be open to changes as change is the only permanent thing on earth!
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