Backyard Landscaping Ideas and Photos | Backyard Landscaping Ideas

Backyard Landscaping Ideas: Photos to Inspire You

May 8th, 2012 · No Comments

When you’re designing your home’s landscape and need backyard landscaping ideas, the visual element is hard to avoid. Right after you’ve moved into a new home it can be hard to picture what the surrounding landscape will look like once you’ve renovated–or a added–a patio, some walkways, a few shade trees, and maybe even a pond or waterfall. If you’ve never worked on a major landscaping project before, it’s even hard to imagine the possibilities. That’s where quality landscaping pictures come in.

Explore the Possibilities

There are several good reasons to browse through quality backyard landscaping photos before you start your project. Firstly, you can get an overview of some of the features you can add to your backyard landscape. After all, there’s a lot more you can do with the yard than stick in a few shrubs and a flowerbed.

You might install a rock waterfall in one corner of your backyard or create a secluded seating area for relaxing with a good book. Add just the right landscape lighting and you’ve got a stunning display for your evening backyard parties and barbecues, and the occasional romantic evening with someone special. Instead of the plain concrete walkways everyone else has, you can construct unique and attractive paths with flagstone or pavers and landscape using lush groundcovers.

Bring Your Ideas to Life

Unless you’re a visual artist, it can be hard to describe exactly how you want your landscaping to look. Maybe you have a general idea in mind, but nothing you could actually sketch well enough to show a landscaper what you really want. Or maybe you’re the “know it when you see it” type. Browse through enough pictures of professionally created backyard landscaping and you’re bound to hit on one (or dozens) that make you think, “That’s it! That’s what I want for my backyard!”

Backyard Landscaping Photos can Give you Unique Ideas for:

Patios and decks
Water features like fountains and ponds
Paths and walkways
Garden furniture and seating areas
Fences and privacy screens
Landscaping with rocks and stones
Landscaping slopes and retaining walls

Professional Advice on a Tiny Budget

Becoming a professional landscaper takes years of training and a natural talent for creating aesthetically appealing garden spaces. Pro landscapers understand how design elements relate to one another not just visually, but practically, too. After all, a walnut tree might look great next to your house, but it won’t look so good when its roots crack your foundation.

Landscapers are also familiar with the requirements and behaviors of a wide variety of plants. For example, if you ask for fast-growing trees, they’ll know better than to recommend a species that puts on height quickly only to die within 10 years (a real risk with certain fast growers). Having a pro design your backyard can save you literally thousands in costs and months of hassle.

Because their services are so valuable, though, good landscapers don’t come cheap. Brian Benner, professional landscaper and author of Instant Landscaping Ideas, notes an average front landscape design runs to around $250.00 for his clients. As worthwhile as the investment may be, if hiring a landscaper just isn’t in your budget, an online collection of images is the next best thing.

The Problem with Most Landscaping Pictures Online

When you’re first getting general ideas on how to landscape around your backyard, browsing through whatever free pictures you can find online is fine. Once you’re ready to collect ideas that are truly appropriate for your backyard, climate, needs and preferences, though, those pictures you find “here and there” start to fall short. First of all, it’s hard to find a really thorough collection of photographs that covers everything from plants to patios.

The other problem is that backyard landscaping photos are rarely taken with do-it-yourself landscapers in mind. If you’re going to try to reproduce a landscaping idea based on a photo, you need that photo to be clear and show the landscape in detail from several different angles. Trying to find all that by searching the Internet could take hours and you still might not find what you need.

Instead of wasting time looking for pictures and ending up with a few images of “something that might work,” pick up a collection of backyard landscaping photos designed especially for home landscapers.