Design Ideas for the Backyard Oasis

Creating your own backyard oasis is easily accomplished with just a little planning and designing. Do you really need the aggravation of airports, traffic and packing when you can simply step into your own private paradise in your backyard?

Your backyard paradise can be designed for family activity or as a private retreat. Either way there is a perfect design solution for you.

As soon as you have decided what the main purpose of the backyard will be it’s time to create a design plan. One way to look at landscape design is that it is a lot like interior decorating. You work with space, choose colors and a color palette and work with light and lighting problems. With each decision you are trying to create comfort and a place to relax. And by using this thought you will find that you will blend your indoor space with the outdoors space creating a flow and a feeling of more space both indoors and out.

Your backyard design might include a children’s play area, small pond or water garden and you will have to calculate the area needed for these items. If gardening is your path to relaxation and you could design a small space garden with container gardening or herb gardening. Maybe you want to use your backyard for entertaining and relaxation. The addition of a fire pit or barbeque area is a definite bonus for entertaining. Don’t forget to plan lighting, both natural and manmade.

If your backyard receives a lot of sun or rain you might want to add a large umbrella or a roof to your patio to extend you use of your oasis. A trellis could also be added to shade your patio and if planted will add privacy, noise reductions and a splash of color.

Colorful plants like fuchsias, lilies and impatiens, that highlight any available sun work very well to brighten shady corners. Foliage plants like ferns, hostas and calendiums will add texture, color and a rich full look. Another option is to surround a water fountain with plants to create a focal point for your backyard design.

Entertaining in the backyard adds a new dimension to your backyard paradise and a few more decisions. You can decide to use a portable barbeque or build a fire pit. If the area will be used a lot you may want to make a small separate patio area for ease of mowing. A picnic table is a good selection if you have children and a patio table and chair set works well for a more personal atmosphere.

The night time atmosphere of your backyard oasis is set by the lighting. You can spot light fixtures and plants to make them stand out or you can have soft lighting. There are many different choices available a few of them are spotlights, solar lighting, lanterns, torches and teak lights.

Fences, creating habitats for birds and other wildlife, theme gardens and pathways are a few more projects that will add to the comfort and personality of you backyard. With time and thought you may want to add these at a later date.

Finally, there are three important points in backyard design to consider. The first and most important is to take time to plan what you want. Your first plans should be simple and be able to create with a minimum of effort. The backyard is your paradise and backyard projects should be enjoyable and add to the yard not take away from it.

Point number two, work with what you have. Old tree stumps can be turned in to stands for a small herb garden until you can have it removed. You can add privacy and create a more inviting area with container plants, decorative fence or trellis around your patio. Adding one item at a time will still accomplish your goals.

Enjoying your backyard it the third point. Items that take a lot of work you don’t enjoy doing should be avoided when you create your plan. If gardening is an enjoyable hobby for you then you should have some type of garden no matter how small but if you don’t enjoy gardening you should avoid this and put in something you enjoy. After all the whole point of a backyard paradise is to enjoy it.