Elevate Your Landscaping
During the winter, many of our yards become areas we would rather avoid than enjoy. The once-green lawn that was dried out from the drought probably now looks more like a mud puddle than lush grass. Sometimes we lose plants during the winter from the cold weather or our own lack of a green thumb. Don’t fret over that barren landscaping! Now is the perfect time to start planning a springtime update for your yard. Here are a few suggestions that can be used to elevate or even completely renovate your current yard into a personalized outdoor space for warm-weather enjoyment.
When planning improvements for an outdoor space, it is important to find options that add to the space rather than detract. Adding a paved patio, a winding path, or even a gravel area will be a perfect starting-point. Portable elements like outdoor fireplaces and fire-pits make great conversational pieces, are relatively inexpensive, and can usually be found at your local hardware store. Permanent features like built-in barbecues and outdoor kitchens are not only great for entertaining but also offer technology-free alternatives for gatherings big and small. These permanent features are also excellent assets for attracting buyers when it comes time to sell your home.
The addition of an outdoor space is also beneficial in creating an extra, versatile entertaining area for your home. Outdoor living areas are great ways of extending your indoor living areas without requiring extensive permits or expensive construction. You can provide year-round visual interest to an outdoor living area by adding a sunshade, a moveable umbrella, or even a gazebo. Privacy screens are also useful additions to smaller spaces as they can create intimate areas while hiding unsightly areas like garbage bins. Additionally, individual privacy screens can create visual barriers without the expense of an entire fence.
Accent lighting, chandeliers, or string lights can give your yard a pleasant, revitalized ambience. With the advent of solar and battery-operated lights, you can illuminate paths and features like fountains or statues without having to do invasive digging or running wires. Soft-spot landscape lights are great for garden paths, and the distance placed between these lights will help outline the areas you want to illuminate. String lights or lanterns can be used in tree canopies, above an arbor, or hung from the end of a porch or a deck. Luminarias, or small paper latterns, are great options for adding colored lighting both as temporary and permanent installations, and can be hung from trees, decks, placed along pathways, or even used to decorate tabletops. Updating existing outdoor overhead lights and wall sconces are helpful in elevating your home’s exterior to match your newly updated landscaping.
Though lighting plays a large part in forming the tone of a space, the mood of an outdoor area can be improved by using simple accent items. The addition of pillows or updated upholstery to your outdoor furniture may help the space achieve a softer, fresher vibe. Even using a few colorful plants can transform a drab, barren yard into a personalized space for year-round enjoyment.
Whether revitalizing your landscaping with small updates like lighting or completely replacing a dried-up area with a new feature like a fire-pit or a dining area, these projects can be easily achieved in any style or size of yard. Take advantage of these wet months by game-planning for your spring landscape design.
