Creating A Lush and Welcoming Landscape

Spending time in the backyard is enjoyable and relaxing but only when you don't have to move your seating arrangement around so you can mow when necessary. Then, it's more of a nuisance to the point that you may not feel the work is worthwhile. Because of this, if you would like to spend more time in your backyard enjoying the outdoors and fresh air, consider having backyard hardscaping designed and installed so you don't have to worry about mowing and weeding that area. Here are several things to consider. 

How & When You Will Use Your New Backyard? 

There are many different ways to design the hardscaping of a backyard, depending on how you plan on using the space. Therefore, the first thing to do is to determine how and when you will use the backyard. There are so many options available. Here are the types of questions to ask yourself:

• Will you want an outdoor kitchen complete with a brick pizza oven or will a standard barbeque grill be ideal?
• Do you want a seating area to surround a fire pit or have seating only around a table?
• Will you install a pool and hardscape the entire area and use it only during the summer months or will it be heated and you will use it year-round?
• Do you plan on entertaining year-round or only during the warmer months?
• Will you need outdoor lighting in the hardscaped area or will you only use it during daylight hours? 

These types of questions will help your designer create a blueprint for an outdoor living space that will be customized for you. And, it will help the hardscape contractor determine what types of hardscape and base materials to use for your backyard transformation. The reason for this is because the soil composition, climate, and water table can be different from one season to the next, so it's important to know what conditions the designer and hardscaping contractor needs to consider. 

What If You Aren't Sure What You Want? 

If you're unsure as to exactly what you want and when you would use your new backyard living area, let the designer and contractor know so they can design and build a hardscaped space that can be used for multiple purposes and during any season of the year. One thing you can do is to ask the designer and contractor to show you their portfolios of the different types of projects they've previously worked on. Perhaps this can give you a few ideas for your custom-designed backyard hardscaping.