Creative Landscape Design Services to Elevate Your Yard

When it comes to designing your property, your outdoor space is just as much a canvas for your personal tastes as your indoor space. From plants to hardscaping features to energy-efficient additions, a well-designed yard can be a true reflection of both your personality and needs. Creating this space, however, is no mean feat. Determining what to include—as well as what will fit into your budget—takes time and experience. 

Thankfully, Blue Lizard Services is here to make the process easy and enjoyable for homeowners. From landscaping services to custom decorative concrete installations, we can turn any yard into an attractive and functional oasis that serves as a complementary extension of your property. But before we can get started, you should understand how to use landscape design services to elevate your front and backyards.

How to Elevate Your Front Yard

While front yards are often smaller than backyards, they are no less important. Your front yard is the first thing people see when they pass by your property—including you. This first impression serves to shape their overall perception of your building. As such, it is reasonable to assume that an unremarkable yard with no real spark of personalization may leave both you and any visitors to your home disappointed. 

Some creative landscaping tips and features for elevating your front yard include:

1. Choose a theme

Consider the theme of your property, as well as how to carry that theme into your outdoor space. Cottage-style homes, for example, may be best suited to a yard full of flowers, herbs and vegetables hanging in pots or planted directly into the ground. Adding brick, wood and wrought-iron furniture and hardscaping may help to further connect your property’s exterior with your yard. Mediterranean-style homes may call for yards with lots of natural-colored hardscaping, lined and/or peppered with beautifully organized native plants. And sleek, modern homes may tie well to an equally minimalist yard, with geometric hardscaping, planters and garden beds; manicured lawns; native plants; and plenty of neutral colors, such as grey and white. 

2. Custom decorative concrete installations

Patios, walkways, driveways and other hardscaping installations can all be personalized with custom concrete services. Decorative concrete makes use of stamps, stains, aggregate—granular materials such as rock which is mixed into the concrete—and other tools and methods to create a unique addition to your property. With a variety of colors and finishes available to homeowners, your hardscaping can be just as visually interesting as every other aspect of your yard.

3. Thoughtful softscaping

Softscaping is about more than just choosing the right plants for your yard. It is important to consider factors including texture, color, climate, water needs and where the plants will be placed. Vertical planters, arbors, old fountains, wheelbarrows and similar features can help make these plants a bright and interesting focal point of your front yard, while installing rock gardens and drought-tolerant plants can improve your space’s sustainability. Additionally, choosing plants of various heights, widths and colors allows you to incorporate a range of hues and textures, making your space more visually appealing. 

4. Functional spaces

Your backyard doesn’t have to be the only place people go to sit and relax. Even if your front yard doesn’t have as much space, consider incorporating a table and chairs,  hammock, porch swing or similar additions. Plus, by choosing appealing materials and fabrics for these pieces, you can turn even the most basic chair into a striking yard feature.

5. Install a water feature

While a rock waterfall may be out of place in your front yard, small ponds or fountains can be the perfect focal point. Surrounded by plants, rocks or other natural elements, these features can offer both a calming ambiance and eye-catching appeal.

Designing an Attractive and Functional Backyard

If front yards are a first impression for residents, guests and strangers alike, backyards are the perfect place to cement their good opinion. Depending on factors including your budget and the size of your yard, it is a blank canvas for you to design as you choose. Some creative landscaping elements to consider when building out your backyard include:

1. Softscaping

Like your front yard, the plants you choose should tie into the theme of your home as well as your area’s climate. Trees can provide shade, color, auditory appeal and/or privacy, depending on their size and species. However, they may be best suited for large yards connected to homes with a traditional, resort or mediterranean feel. On the other hand, succulents, neatly trimmed hedges, ferns, bamboo and similar plants may be an ideal fit for modern homes which need a subtler pop or greenery. And by using these plants to line walkways or stairs, as well as placing them along the hard edges of retaining walls and into strategically placed planters, these plants can become more than decorative. They can help to highlight, obscure or organize specific aspects of and spaces within your yard. 

2. Hardscaping 

While driveways and walkways may be two of the dominant hardscaping features in front yards, patios, retaining walls, pools and large fountains are similarly associated with backyards. When custom-built, these installations can take on unique shapes, colors and textures, allowing them to serve as both aesthetic and useful inclusions. Additionally, features such as fountains can take on a more natural appearance—for example, a rock waterfall—allowing them to both blend into your backyard as well as elevate its appearance and ambiance.

3. Outdoor living spaces

The best backyards are as attractive as they are functional. Outdoor kitchens and seating areas can increase the amount of usable space in your property while also giving you the perfect place to simultaneously socialize and enjoy nature. And by including visually interesting decorations, lighting, fabrics and materials, you can improve the appearance and ambience of your yard, further enticing guests and residents outdoors. 

4. Multifunctional installations

If you’re looking to save space, multifunctional furniture and installations are the perfect property additions. Choosing pieces which can transform into other furniture or provide additional storage space allows you to keep your backyard minimalist while still giving you everything you need to host (and surprise) guests. Additionally, giving installations such as retaining walls a secondary purpose—such as attaching benches—provides your yard with unique, durable seating areas for relaxing or socializing.  

Enhance and Personalize Your Outdoor Spaces with Blue Lizard Services

For homeowners, creative landscape design services offer more than just spruced-up greenery or a fresh, durable driveway. It is the realization of your landscaping dreams, bringing to life unique spaces that suit both your property and your personal aesthetics. Even the most mundane objects can become beautiful with the use of creative landscaping tools such as decorative custom concrete. But in order to reap these benefits, it is important to work with a qualified landscaping company. 

This is where Blue Lizard Services comes in. With over 20 years of experience providing lawn landscaping services, concrete installation, outdoor living space design and more, we have the experience to turn your yard into a personalized paradise. Our customers are involved in every stage of the process, ensuring that your voice is always heard as we work to bring your dream to life. So if you’re ready to start designing or reshaping your yard, give us a call or send us a message today.