Backyard Landscaping

The intent of backyard landscaping is to design an outdoor living experience that rivals indoor space. To do this, we must do more than work with organic elements alone. As important as trees, shrubbery, and gardens are, structural components are equally necessary. The building of swimming pools, patios, arbors, shade structures, and outdoor rooms adds completion, depth, and dimension to the aesthetic of any backyard.

This process must be treated as both a science and an art. We must first measure the backyard and identify its physical points of differentiation. This data helps us create a landscaping design that works with the existing topography and architecture of the property.

Backyard landscaping plans must also be done with a balanced blend of egress (going out) and ingress (coming in), and open lawn area. Every house has at least one point of entry into the backyard. Such areas cannot be treated as mere transit areas alone. Every egress/ingress point must establish a new experience that creates a new frame of mind for people walking outside. As people transition both in mind and body from indoor space to outdoor space, they need to feel a sense of openness and freedom.

Open areas in the lawn will help maintain this sense regardless of the size of the backyard itself. When outdoor rooms, patios, and gardens are positioned at appropriate vantage points, they work to proportionally balance as parts in relation to the whole. Irrespective of actual acreage, the lawn and surrounding elements will look magnified, if not expansive, if the geometry of landscaping has been calculated correctly from the beginning

Throughout all of this, backyard landscaping must also be done with some practical considerations in mind as well. Draining the land is very important for any type of garden because every structure is going to create a dam effect that will block water runoff. Some sort of drainage system must be installed in these areas to prevent the soil from getting supersaturated with water, and to prevent sensitive vegetation from being damaged by mud and standing water.

Most of our clients are people who use their backyards as outdoor gathering places for events that begin in the early evening and continue into the night. With professionally installed outdoor lighting, every element of the landscape will not only be visible, but it will also have its own unique ambience associated with its specific purpose and contribution to the surrounding design theme. It also helps magnify to the sense of egress into a new dimension by expanding the vista from the rear of the living space into the outdoor space of lawn, structure, and garden.