Outdoor Backyard Design Strategies

To a very great extent, outdoor back yard design is shaped in accordance with entertainment needs. Most of our clients are individuals who prefer to host events at their own residence rather than fighting the traffic, road construction, and massive crowds that typify any given Houston weekend event. Consequently, it is top priority in their eyes that our team creates an outdoor living experience that is customized to preferred forms of entertainment, and that offers a sensibility and level of comfort that surpasses public venues.

This requires extensive consultation with the client so that we may learn what specific types of events they intend to host on their premises. It also requires us to get a strong sense of the client’s personal lifestyle and circle of family and friends so we can develop an outdoor back yard landscape that is genuinely representative of the mindset and values of both host and guests in attendance.
Outdoor structures built in the back yard will therefore vary considerably in any given landscaping plan. People with a love for the water are going to want to see more than a swimming pool on the property. Wall fountains and natural pools, and perhaps even a purely decorative koi pond, create special points of interests for guests who typically would drive up to four hours to get to a lake or prime spot on a beach, but now only have to visit a client of Exterior Worlds to have an evening by the water in the comfort of a private setting, and under the ambient glow of custom landscape lighting.

Outdoor structures have to be constructed with two frames of reference simultaneously in mind. The first of these is a sense of what we like to call calm repose. When groups of people begin to form in the back yard, they look for places to stand, sit, or recline so they can comfortably mingle at will. We have to be very mindful of the fact that everyone has a slightly different definition of comfort, so it is seldom that we ever design an outdoor area with one type of amenity. Instead, we develop a back yard with a blend of standing and seating areas in order to provide something comfortable for everyone who steps on premises.

Since events tend to get exciting, it is equally necessary to approach outdoor design from a second frame of reference as well, and that is accommodation of movement to any and all special points of interest in the client’s back yard. It makes little sense to build a natural swimming pool and waterfall at the far end of a property without providing a comfortable and safe means of transit to the pond. This usually means more than simply building a path that leads through trees and shrubbery. Houston can experience very heavy rains that can turn even the most beautiful properties into mud pools. Outdoor design must therefore incorporate sophisticated hardscape solutions, such as custom walkways, and specialized drainage systems that keep the back yard from becoming rain laden and temporarily uninhabitable.

Once outdoor amenities, comfort levels, and safe transit have been established, back yard design takes on a more deliberately aesthetic focus. Since we are creating a living experience in the midst of a natural setting, landscaping architects must devote a considerable amount of time and effort toward integrating manmade elements into their organic surroundings. This includes outdoor buildings such as summer kitchens as well as custom hardscapes such as garden patios. The point is not so much to make these structures appear less manmade, but rather to strategically position them in harmonious relationships with surrounding gardens and trees.