Side patio
Hide Waste Bins I suggest including a pullout compartment to stash trash and recycling. If your waste management company also collects compost, consider adding a green waste bin as well. This one by Amazing Spaces also includes a built-in cutting board on top. A handy opening allows you to easily sweep food waste into the composting bin.
What Do You Recommend for Outdoor Lighting? De Yong is a fan of keeping outdoor lighting simple. “Outdoor candles for atmosphere are a favorite,” she says. “Also, waterproof, rechargeable, portable LED lights are perfect for alfresco meals and have no messy cables to hide.” These also ensure all lights are extinguished or turned off at bedtime, so wildlife can enjoy the darkness. If you’re wiring in lights, consider where the beams are likely to fall. “Make sure lights aren’t pointing directly at the seating, which would cause glare and wouldn’t make for a relaxing situation,” Orchard says. “For a contemporary look, consider installing LED strip lighting on the underside of a bench to cast a warm, downward light and highlight any underplanting you may have.” Landscape Lighting That Doesn’t Wake the Birds More on Houzz Read more landscape design stories Get landscape design ideas Find a landscape designer or architect Shop for outdoor products
An outdoor fire pit, whether permanent or portable, will be just as inviting. This one in Montana is perfectly placed to take in the snowy view. Add to the experience by hanging a bird feeder nearby that will provide nourishment for wildlife and viewing opportunities for you. 10 Things to Consider When Choosing an Outdoor Fire Feature
Layer lanterns and hurricane lights throughout your space. Choose fixtures that fit your personal style, making sure they can handle rain, snow and freezing weather — or plan to bring them inside when not in use. Both battery-operated lanterns and those powered by candles are good choices. If you use candles, be sure they’re in a stable and secure spot and never left unattended. See more outdoor lighting
Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum cultivars) Why this tree: Few trees offer the delicate beauty and stunning color of the Japanese maple. “They have gorgeous color, texture and shapes,” Greenberg says. Japanese maple cultivars grow in a range of shapes, styles and colors: multibranched or with a single trunk; upright or spreading; evergreen or deciduous; and with foliage colors including red, yellow, orange, green and even purple, pink or white. Choose a dwarf or semidwarf variety and make it the solo plant of a container to highlight the form and foliage. Growing tips: Japanese maples are slow-growing and easy to keep in check. Prune during the dormant season. You may need to provide additional protection in colder climates or if you expect a freeze. Greenberg also suggests stringing lights through its branches to enhance your garden at night. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 26.1 degrees Celsius (zones 5 to 8); provide afternoon shade in Zone 9 Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Soft dappled shade or morning sun with afternoon shade is best; too much sun will scorch its leaves. Mature size: Varies; dwarf varieties are generally 3 to 8...
great ideas
something like that on wall?
birdhouse
Show off a garden gate. If you’re lucky enough to have an original specimen like this, let it shine. Trim back those creepers, give it a good scrub and treat it with a wood protector (choose a clear finish and test it in an inconspicuous spot so you don’t accidentally make it look orangy and new). If you don’t have such a gate hanging around already, or even a suitable opening to affix one to, perhaps you could find a lovely weathered version and prop it decoratively against a prominent wall. Surround it with plants to soften its edges and help it blend in. Tell us: What’s your garden’s style? Which of these ideas would you borrow? Let us know in the Comments.
Don’t forget a bench and climber. Something as standard as a good, solid, old-fashioned garden bench can go a long way. Forget built-in seating or stucco planters with hardwood slats for perching. They are things of beauty, but for classic styling, a bench next to a climbing vine or two is your answer. To really amp up the romance, fix a rose arch above the bench to frame your seat with some of the most traditional of all scented blooms. Check out this year’s new roses
Go round. Angles and clean edges, perhaps with brushed steel and glass in the mix, are the terrain of the contemporary garden. And that’s why circular designs and features can do a good job of making an outdoor space feel less modern. It’s not just the flower beds that curve here — there are spherical topiaries, ball-shaped hydrangeas, concentric rows of brick and rounded furniture pieces. Adding curves to a lawn and cutting into or building out from rectangular beds are less expensive ways to introduce this idea to a garden when a full redesign isn’t in the cards.
Meadow hideaway. If your outdoor table is positioned in a standout garden setting, keep all attention on the beauty of the landscape with an understated outdoor dining setup. For example, in this backyard in upstate New York, simple low-backed metal chairs and a sleek outdoor table nearly disappear from view among a stunning meadow planting of billowing ornamental grasses and flowering perennials. How to Design a Meadow Garden Everyone Will Love
Walled-in garden. And for a private escape, we’ll want to wander through a walled-in garden replete with brick walls, water features, clipped hedges and rosebushes, just like this London space. See more romantic walled-in gardens
cottage garden
What: Cottage gardens don’t have rules. They are wild and woolly. They jump over boundaries you try to impose on them. They climb walls and fences. Their charms come from seemingly haphazard mounds of blooms and foliage, scattered pots, trellises, arbors and even whirligigs. Roses, dahlias, foxgloves, irises, coreopsis, delphiniums, lavenders, yarrows, clematis, alliums, herbs, veggies, shrubs, sunflowers, you name it — anything goes. Please tell us about some of your favorite flowers in your cottage garden. Did any surprise you? Which plants provide your favorite garden fragrances? Browse pots and planters
Side yard
Side yard w string lites
Side yard w lanterns on standing hooks
Bird bath/fountain on side yard
Paint the gate on one side bright color w a wreath on it
Create a Garden Nook Whether you have a large garden and are looking for a secondary seating area or have a small or urban patio and need a backyard focal point, a little outdoor seating nook can be the perfect solution, offering a place to escape to on your own or with another person. Even if you have a small outdoor area, don’t feel compelled to fill it with furniture. A couple of chairs and a table in a corner can be enough and will leave some breathing room for plants, containers or a shade structure. Learn more about how to create a mini outdoor retreat
lit fountain, better with italian/mexican tiles
He’s admits he is very particular about steppingstones as well. “Standard steppingstones are 24 inches square, but that was too small for the main path to the patio,” he says. These are custom-cut 30-inch squares of bluestone. And more particular still, he made sure the curve of the bed’s edge cut through the stone at its lower-left and upper-right corners. “These are the little things that your subconscious picks up on, letting you know it’s a good space even if you can’t put your finger on exactly why,” he says.
maybe do a fire pit with seating like this
side yard
Drzewiecki has a background in architecture, and he often looks to the related building for answers when he begins to plan a landscape. “Often the house will provide me with centerlines, bump-outs, rooflines and windows that tell me where things should go,” he says. “And we think a lot about what the views will be like from the house. Maybe it’s because I’ve lived in Wisconsin so long — we spend a good part of the year enjoying the view from indoors rather than actually being in the space.” Here the double doors gave him a centerline to give the patio symmetry. Straight out from the doors is the lounge area, marked by a circle of brick on the patio. His clients are considering adding a portable fire pit where the round table sits in this photo. The window to the left is above the kitchen sink and looks out upon the pergola. The large windows to the right provide views to the fountain and its surrounding garden. New Lannon stone steps lead from the double doors to the patio, and there is a grilling station conveniently located to the right. Lannon is a town in Wisconsin near the Illinois border, in a region with quarries. Lannon stone is “basically a limestone,” Drzewiecki says.
2 big pots flank french doors, gravel
side patio
Add seating. “I like to use hidden seating areas within gardens, particularly in the flower beds themselves,” Burkhill says. “This really helps you feel part of the garden experience. It allows you to touch and smell the plants up close and invites you to take a moment, rather than just travel through.” Souter-Brown agrees and adds, “Think about seating to feel comfortable in, to admire a view, and that’s movable, so you can decide whether to sit in shade or sun, with others or alone.”
Fragrance. “Scents are one of the most powerful ways a sensory garden can stimulate the senses, both through plants that send their fragrances into the air and those that emit a smell when crushed,” Ashley says. “Some of the best for filling the air with fragrance are: Lavender, Philadelphus caucasicus ‘Aureus’, jasmine and honeysuckle,” she says. “For winter fragrance, try Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’, Sarcococca confusa and Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’.” Ashley also recommends planting herbs such as rosemary, thyme and mint, which also produce a nice scent when crushed.
pops of color, fountain too small on ground, like bench
intimate
intimate setting
Add a Wildflower Patch Wildflower meadows are simply beautiful and, regardless of the size of the area you have available, you can still sow seeds. Doing some research on what type of wildflowers will suit your soil will help you to work out which are most likely to thrive. A truly native wildflower meadow will do best in a sunny spot where grass grows thinly. Ideally, this would be where there’s impoverished turf, which means a lawn that’s been mown for years with the clippings removed and no fertilizer added. Just check that your lawn doesn’t contain ryegrass, which is not ideal because it’s very vigorous and will compete with wildflowers. If you want to go all out for flowers, a pictorial meadow does not contain grass seeds. This type of meadow comprises an annual mix, which must be sown on bare and well-prepared, weed-free soil in the spring. The fertile, rich soil will produce flowers that bloom from June to October. It will leave bare soil in winter, so you need to be prepared for this.
Squeeze In Some Ground Cover Plants such as clover, buttercups and daisies are so valuable to insects, and the soil is essential for worms, birds and other small creatures. If you can’t have any form of lawn, try creating small areas along hard paving using ground-cover plants. Small strips of grass alongside and between paving stones also create a great look, along with an essential habitat for wildlife.
vegetation
Installation. "When using pavers, you want to make sure you set them up for long term use," Sivgals says. "We try and use a full concrete sub-base, and then apply the pavers to that. But if you're not ready for that amount of work or financial investment, then there are other ways to install pavers too."
"A cast concrete paver is usually going to be the biggest bang for your buck," says Sivgalls. "It's strong, easily customizable, and comes in great colors and textures." Whether you opt for a cast concrete paver, or a more natural stone, you'll want to make sure that the paver you choose is thick enough and heavy enough that it can be walked on without getting damaged. But, you also want to make sure it's not too heavy, so you can lift it up and place it where it needs to go.
Unusual fountain
Q