A home doesn’t quite feel complete without the landscaping to give it that final touch. Not only does landscaping provide curb appeal to your home, but you can have fun during the process all while creating the yard of your dreams. The possibilities are endless, from having space for a relaxing oasis, including pet-friendly features for your pooch, or making a fun space for your kids to play.
Here are a few ideas to consider when landscaping your property.
What functional features do you need?
Kick off the landscaping process by thinking about the practical outdoor features best suited to your family’s needs. If you’re a gardener, how can you use your space to grow vegetables? This might come in the form of a small to medium sized vegetable garden, a hanging herb garden or fruit trees.
If you have limited space, use pots and containers to grow basics such as herbs, tomatoes and spring onions. If you have more space to play with, consider creating a raised vegetable garden so you can plant a wide range of seasonal vegetables. You can even plant fruit trees that suit your area’s specific climate and some grow well in pots, including limes and lemons.
If you have a furry friend at home, think about what you need for your pooch to enjoy life outdoors. If you have a bigger dog, consider the space needed for their doghouse or if you’d like a decent-sized lawn for those games of fetch to go a bit further.
Do you spend a lot of time outside entertaining?
If hosting family and friends is a big part of your life, your outdoor entertainment area will be an important aspect of your house to consider. A seamless indoor-outdoor flow has grown in popularity over the past few years, and creates a larger space to entertain if your deck/patio aligns with your kitchen or lounge area.
There’s plenty of outdoor features that can customise your outdoor area as well, including built-in barbecues, fire pits and sunken outdoor seating - all depending on the space you have to work with.
It’s time to relax
You may have an area – or wee nook - inside your home that promotes relaxation, but if you’re an outdoors person, you can replicate this outside to soak up those sunny days or crisp winter mornings.
Even with limited space you can create ‘retreat’ areas – for example, you could include a small bamboo-enclosed zen garden with seating. A nook that catches the morning sun is a great place to set up a wooden garden table and chairs as an outdoor breakfast area.
The simple addition of a wooden bench or hammock in a quiet corner of your yard can give you the perfect spot to read a book. Don’t worry about privacy, that’s easily achieved by using a trellis, pergola, living wall or carefully placed trees as a screen.
If you’re looking for something that can offer relaxation and fun for the family, invest in a spa pool and/or plunge pool – that is if space and budget allow.
For families, keep it child friendly
We’ve all become accustomed to staying at home for long periods during the Covid-19 pandemic – and some of us are busy keeping children occupied. If parents have learnt anything from being at home, it’s having activities to help the kids run off all that youthful energy. If you’re about to landscape, why not incorporate some fun outdoor features for the kids like a jungle gym, trampoline or play house. If budget is an issue, just ensure you have enough space to be creative and set up a home-made obstacle course for the kids, or start a project like building a sandbox.
Whatever stage of life you are in during your build – accommodating for the kids, or retiring to your own oasis – Generation Homes offers each build a ‘starter garden’, which gives you the additional option of working with a landscape designer to choose which plants you would like. To find out more contact one of our Sales Consultants today!