Planning the Perfect Backyard Landscape
Designing your backyard space is a time full of ideas, creativity, and excitement for your new outdoor environment. Narrowing down your ideas into a focused plan that fits into your space can be challenging, especially when space and budget limitations are factored in. That’s why contacting backyard designers near you is essential before installing the landscape. The first major question to ask is, “How do you want to use the space?”
Define How You Want to Use the Space
This seems obvious but saying it out loud and discussing what that means helps you understand your priorities. Sometimes having one priority means other items need to be included to make it work which could open more opportunities or limit others.
Think Logically About Connections
Installing a planting area might require irrigation that needs to run under your pathways or patios which requires a carefully thought-out process to get the job done correctly.
When speaking with your landscape designer in Sonoma County they will be able to inform you of how one choice might impact another and the best strategy or organize the installation of each element.
Questions to Guide Your Backyard Vision
Here’s a list of questions we frequently ask:
Planning for Entertaining Guests?
Do you plan to have dinner parties or host social gatherings? Then a level and easily accessible patio space is a must. You may also want to consider:
- Outdoor lighting
- Pathways leading from the house to backyard features
- Defined entry/exit points
If there will be multiple entertainment areas such as a dining patio and fire pit area, we will consider how they are connected, if they are the same material, and if not how to pick materials that complement each other and the rest of the landscape while remaining functional and within the budget.
Planning a Vegetable Garden?
Do you want vegetables? Then you should prioritize the sunniest part of the backyard for your vegetable planters as most vegetables will perform best when in full sun conditions. Make sure you leave enough room for:
- Walking paths (formal or mulched)
- Wheelbarrow and tool access
- Bucket or soil movement
We recommend keeping the beds as close to the house as possible as it will increase the chances you’ll walk out to harvest veggies more often!
Need Space for Kids of Pets to Play?
Do you have kids or a dog and intend to play games? In that case, you need open uninterrupted level space:
- Lawn
- Artificial turf
- Mulch or soft surface materials
The goal is to create an area that can handle lots of wear and tear while also providing a safe play area. This means no fragile plants in the area and no hard abrupt angles or obstacles to get injured upon if someone falls.
Is a Swimming Pool in Your Future?
If you want to include a pool, think about how you’ll use the surrounding space. For example:
- Loungers need wide enough patio areas to fit comfortably
- Pathways to and from the pool should be barefoot-friendly
- Add landscape lighting for both safety and ambiance after dark
A good designer will help ensure these practical needs don’t get overlooked in the excitement of pool planning.
Interested in Attracting Wildlife?
Do you want flowers, butterflies, hummingbirds, and pollinators? For vibrant flower gardens that attract butterflies and pollinators, we must dedicate enough planting space to make it attractive to these garden friends.
Bigger groupings of a few types of key plants is more attractive than a wide diversity of single specimens as the pollinators don’t have to work as hard to find their meal.
Work With Local Backyard Design Experts – Inspired Landscapers
As Healdsburg Landscapers Inspired Landscapes possess a wealth of experience as backyard designers installing and maintaining a wide range of backyard environments from small patios to multi-acre estates.
Whether you want to clear space to have drinks with friends, play with your kids, or want to begin a journey in producing your own food, we know all the ins and outs of the process and how to organize a space that accommodates as many of your priorities as possible.
Give us a call at (707) 395-7474 or contact us online today!
