Make Your Backyard More Attractive with These Simple Landscaping Ideas

There are some amazing ways to make your backyard more attractive and take it from a blank slate to a beautiful yard for your whole family. Your backyard is an empty canvas just waiting for you to turn it into a work of art.

There is a nearly endless array of landscaping possibilities for your backyard, but it’s not uncommon for homeowners to draw a blank when it comes to creating a design plan.

Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to tackle everything at once. Instead, draw inspiration from these fantastic landscaping ideas and design your perfect backyard one step at a time.

Create Privacy and Separation with Hedges

Hedges are a mainstay of nearly any backyard. They’re easy to care for, make the yard look clean and organized, and they allow you to create barriers without the use of a fence.

Hedges are commonly used to outline homes and yards and create privacy, but they’re also frequently used in larger backyards to separate specific areas.

For instance, if you have an area of the yard designated for sunbathing or picnics, you can use hedges to separate this area from a child’s play area or a pool.

Create a Seating Area

You can’t truly appreciate your backyard without a quiet and relaxing place to sit. Benches are nice and durable, but they’re also a little uncomfortable and restricting.

Padded porch swings with awnings are great options because they’re comfortable, relaxing for both sitting and lying down, and they provide you with shade and protection from rain.

You can also create a seating area with a table for drinks and snacks. Seating areas like these are more aesthetically pleasing and comfortable than a typical picnic table.

Plus, they’re easier to set up and move when necessary. Make sure you level the ground before setting up the seating area. It’s also a good idea to prep the area with gravel or very small crushed rocks to make it stand out more.

Put Flowers Directly in the Line of Sight

Flowers are colourful, beautiful and aromatic additions to any backyard, but it’s easy for them to get lost behind furniture, buildings and fences.

Any potted flowers or flower gardens should be placed directly in your line of sight from anywhere in the yard. If you have a walkway or staircase, plant the flowers along the sides.

Hang flowers right outside of the back door. If you have a fence, plant flowers both inside and outside of the fence to create a flowery border.

Plant a Variety of Flowers

Remember to have some variety in your flower arrangements. An overabundance of one type of flower or one colour will make your yard look bland.

Flowerbeds and flowerpots with a variety of colours and types are much more interesting to look at. Three or four combinations per bed or pot should create a beautiful array of colours and shapes that anyone will enjoy.

Create a Stone Pathway

Nothing beats the classic and beautiful look of a stone pathway. Not only do they easily fit in with any yard or home décor, but they’re also practical and easy to create.

If you want to cut from the porch to the garden or any other two points in your backyard, you can take the stone path instead of damaging your lawn.

Stone pathways are also extremely durable and easy to maintain. The only maintenance required is rinsing off the stones when they get dirty and plucking some stray weeds that may grow between the rocks. You can read our recent article on best practices for weeding your lawn so they don’t come back right away.

Build a Fire Pit

Campfires truly embody the spirit of summer. With a fire pit, you can enjoy the gentle warm glow of a campfire in your backyard whenever you want.

Create a stone floor around the pit to set up a seating area for relaxation, spending quality time with friends and family and cooking some tasty campfire treats like S’mores and hot dogs.

Even when the fire pit is not being used, the stone, brick or metal designs add a unique and stylish look to your yard.

Spruce Up Your Shed

Sheds may be nothing but storage areas to many people, but they shouldn’t be overlooked as a large and important part of your landscaping work.

If your shed is ugly, run down and falling apart, it will be a massive eyesore in an otherwise beautiful backyard. Treat your shed like it’s a mini version of your home.

Give it a nice paint job, replace the siding, paint the trim, create a small archway over the door, or put some flowers or small shrubs by the entrance. You can create a clear pathway to the shed and keep the interior as organized and clean as possible.

If your existing shed is a lost cause, it might be the right time to tear it down and create a brand new shed from scratch. Building a brand new shed gives you endless design possibilities, especially if you’re trying to redesign the look of your entire backyard.

Install a Fountain or Backyard Waterfall

Water features are some of the most appealing additions you can install in your backyard. They’re beautiful, calming, and they increase the resale value of your home.

You can have small and simple water feature to enjoy near your garden, or you can install a large waterfall or pond to make a big splash in your yard’s appearance.

Water features also help cool down your backyard on hot days, and they tamp down noise pollution caused by local traffic.

Illuminate Your Walkways

Enjoying your backyard doesn’t have to end when the sun goes down. Lining your walkways with solar lights allows you to enjoy nighttime strolls around your backyard safely.

They’re easy to install, come in several colours, and they’re powered purely by solar energy—meaning you won’t have to worry about wiring or batteries.

Decorate with String Lights

String lights have become a very popular decoration for both indoors and out.

Your porch, gazebo, outdoor dining area, screen house, shed, garden and much more can quickly and easily be illuminated by beautiful string lights.

Not only do string lights provide useful light in your backyard fixtures at night, but they become beautiful decorative pieces during the day.