Summer is the perfect season to find relaxation right in your own backyard – whether you’re enjoying some time to yourself or getting together with the whole crew. Here we share some of our designers’ best tips to refresh your backyard and create a welcoming space to get away.
Start with a Fresh Landscape
Landscape designer Karen Richards believes every summer-ready backyard begins with refreshing your landscape beds in the spring. It’s amazing how just a bit of cleaning up can make your space look great and set the stage for a fun and relaxing summer.
Edging along the borders of your beds does wonders to create a cleaner, more inviting landscape. And nothing rejuvenates a garden like a fresh layer of clean mulch. As landscape designer Ann Wickenhauser suggests, you can even place your mulch on top of any fallen leaves still left from the previous season – it’s both easier for you and better for your soil. This is also a great time of year to prune out dead branches and spent blooms from shrubs and pull any sprouting weeds.
Create a Relaxing Place to Sit
Whether you’re enjoying some well-deserved time to yourself or entertaining a group, you’ll need a place to sit and relax in your backyard space. Your plans for your patio – lounging, dining, maybe a little of both – will determine the type of patio furniture and accessories you’ll need and where to place them. If it’s a sunny space, an umbrella offers cooling shade – and perhaps a fresh pop of color too. And if you have a hardscape patio, Karen recommends adding an outdoor rug to soften the space and create a more inviting and comfortable place to relax.
Define the Space
But a relaxing patio can be more than just a place to sit – with the right details in place, your outdoor space can be every bit as stylish and comfortable as the interior of your home. Karen suggests hanging ferns or bloom-filled baskets from pergolas, trees, or the outside of the house. She loves how the extra texture and color defines the area and creates a comforting “sense of place.” Tropical plants and colorful planters enhance the home-like atmosphere, and a set of new pillows really refreshes the look and adds another layer of comfort. When everything fits together – in colors that coordinate with the surrounding landscape too – the result is so satisfying and adds to the joy and relaxation you experience in the space.
Appeal to the Senses
Naturally, how a space looks to our eyes is a primary focus, but scent and sound make important contributions to our sense of well-being too. Lanterns with scented candles add soft, romantic light to an evening get-together – and their lingering fragrance enhances the relaxing mood.
And for a final touch, play soft music or set a bubble fountain nearby to drown out the traffic and other sounds that may disrupt the peaceful world you just created. Landscape designer Chris Hanks loves how the sound of moving water melts away the stress of the day and seems to make the whole area feel cooler. As Chris points out, bubble fountains are easy to maintain, and many styles are small enough to enjoy on the patio during the summer, then tuck away in storage come fall.
Find Your Oasis
A retreat from life’s cares is as close as your own backyard. Stop by our Garden Store – we love helping you find everything you need to make the perfect outdoor oasis a reality.
