It’s that exciting time of year when you’re wondering what you can do to improve your outdoor living space and other parts of your landscape. It’s easy to dream about what kind of things you want to see, but it can be difficult to link all the features together. Between environmental updates, feature installations, and layout improvements, there are plenty of ways to turn your backyard into something new. For that total transformation, consider these backyard designs and patio ideas for your Wyomissing, PA home.
Expand Native Plant Life
As we continue to move into a new era, sustainability is a huge focus in landscape design. One of the biggest things you can do is reduce the amount of water usage, which is achievable by adding native plants to your greenscapes. The plants that are native to your region are perfectly adapted to whatever water they receive in the form of rainfall, snowmelt, and groundwater, with very few exceptions.
Downsize the Backyard Lawn
In so many ways, the lawn is an integral part of the home. It’s beautiful, and important to the aesthetics of the front yard, but unless you have kids and dogs, a lawn generally goes unused in the backyard. There are so many activities that can use that space instead. When you begin your backyard landscape redesign, pretend as if the lawn doesn’t exist. Instead, fill some (or all) of those spaces with other reasons to love your backyard. If there are any extra spaces left over, consider filling those with native shrubs, flowers, or other plants. If you really still want a lawn after you’ve added the amenities you want, downsize the footprint of the lawn instead.
Break Up the Patio
It may seem somewhat counterintuitive, but it’s actually useful to break up the patio into outdoor rooms. While a large open patio may make a space feel expansive, it’s easy for it to become cluttered and chaotic. With so many activities, you may find chairs blocking walking areas or pool water tracking into the outdoor kitchen. To break up the chaos, break up your patio into several smaller interconnected patios. Separate and surround these with shrubs or other plants. Then, place one feature in each: one for outdoor dining, one with a fire pit, one with lounge chairs looking out at the view, etc. Each space will feel much more cozy and intentional.
Vertical Gardens
If your landscape is full of amazing features yet it feels like it’s missing something it could be because it’s too one-dimensional. Very often, the secret sauce is creating vertical interest. Guiding people’s eyes upwards will help give them a more interesting perception of the space. There are no better elements to build vertically than plants. Let climbing vines grow on structures like pergolas and pavilions. Build a vertical garden for herbs and peppers near your outdoor kitchen. Plant trees for shade instead of installing an awning. Plants can also provide fruit and other culinary treats, or attract pollinators.
Upgrade to Permeable Surfaces
Paved surfaces make moving around an outdoor space much easier, though they often have an impact on the earth. Rainfall and snowmelt has to go somewhere, and even on a well-built patio it will run downstream - onto your landscape, where already saturated soil could mean standing water. Using a permeable paver system in your walkways, patio, and driveway will allow water to seep back into the ground slowly and naturally. Your patio will be drier, too!
Related: How Outdoor Lighting Can Be Used to Accentuate Your Outdoor Fireplace in Wyomissing, PA
