Take a moment to visualize a beautiful landscape. Do you imagine colorful flowers and vibrant trees? Is there a bit of luxurious lawn or some tall ornamental grass? Are you envisioning your favorite shrubs, some evergreens, a few berries?
All of those things can be part of a spectacular living landscape, but have you considered some of the _non-living_ elements that can contribute to the beauty and overall enjoyment of your home’s landscape?
Today we’re exploring some of those landscape additions – ones that don’t require watering or pruning, ones that will never grow or sprout buds, but that bring something unique, appealing and even functional to your outdoor space.
See if you can imagine some of these as part of your dreamscape!
Stone
There’s more to natural stone than just a few rocks in your garden. Stone comes in myriad forms, from the tiniest bit of gravel to the largest boulder. It can be woven into the design of a planting bed, or set as a focal point. It can become part of a walkway or patio, built into a retaining wall, laid at the bottom of a pond or used as borders and edging.
There are so many ways to use stone that we’ve written plenty about it before!
Stone and the hardscapes that contain it are design elements in their own right, offering both beauty and functionality. Stone creates the foundation for everything from cooking areas to poolscapes and container gardens.
Stone is not only versatile and beautiful but it’s incredibly durable and low maintenance. Enjoy it as a seating spot, enclosing a grill, as steps along a pathway or front porch, as ground cover in a garden, and plenty more.
Seating
Of course we want you to have comfortable seating for lounging around a pool, dining on your patio or relaxing with a friend or a great novel. But that’s not all!
Seating can be incorporated into your landscape in many unique ways that will enhance your overall experience.
Think beyond the conversation sofa to other places that can benefit from seating – a wrought iron bench in a wildflower garden for immersive enjoyment, a flat stone outcropping near a pond for koi-watching, a cozy alcove hidden along a meandering pathway where you can sneak a few silent moments.
From single chairs to a swing-for-two, adding seating or tucking it into unexpected corners will give you more resting places from which you can enjoy your surroundings.
Lighting
Do your visions of a beautiful landscape include a lovely, sunny day? From sunrise to sunset, we want you to enjoy the colors, textures and joy of your landscape – but we also want the same for the evening hours!
Just because the sun has set, doesn’t mean your enjoyment has to stop. In fact, it should continue in a wholly different and wonderful way – and lighting is exactly the way to make that happen.
Add lighting above patios, along pathways, between trees and in treetops, underwater in ponds, fountains and bubblers, and anywhere you want to create ambiance or enhance the usefulness and safety of a space.
Brightness and shadow, color and depth, will transform your experience and quite literally let you see your space in a whole new light. Want ideas? We’ve got plenty of them.
Water
It’s soothing, it’s healing, and of course it’s beautiful. Water may not be “alive” but it is certainly life giving – from providing a home for fish, frogs and other aquatic wildlife, to attracting birds and butterflies, and supporting all of the beautiful foliage and blooms you enjoy.
Water is an indispensable part of any great landscape, and lucky for all of us, it can be incorporated as a design element in endless delightful ways.
A pond is a wonderful way to include water, but if you’re just dipping your toe in, so to speak, there are plenty of other options – patio water gardens, pondless waterfalls, garden bubblers, bubbling columns, spill bowls, and fountains to name a few.
Water can be enjoyed any time of the year, whether it is flowing and bubbling during warm months, or frozen into stunning sculptures during winter. It pairs perfectly with lighting for day or evening enjoyment. And it has other benefits, too, like creating a soothing white noise that can block out other, unwanted sounds.
Fire
You may think of fire as a warm winter addition, but it can be just as versatile year-round. A fire pit during summer is the perfect place to toast a few s’mores, and just as perfectly suited for an intimate autumn gathering, complete with a ghost story or two.
From portable patio options to lovely natural stone enclosures built into a surrounding patio, a fire pit can be a conversation space, a relaxing space, and simply a beautiful space.
Other options to add fire include fireplaces and even wood-fired ovens. Imagine cooking up a pizza in a natural stone oven and serving it around a cozy fire pit! Now that’s how you enjoy a great landscape.
Wood
Don’t dig up that tree stump! Have you considered how everything from fallen branches to sawn-off trees can become part of the beauty and charm of your natural landscape?
Turn tree stumps into seating or the base of a container garden. Use reclaimed wood as a bit of décor in a flowerbed. And while you’re at it, leave a few of those twigs that blew down in the last storm. It’s nice to have a neat landscape but sometimes it’s just as nice to let it tell its own story.
Wood can be included in your landscape in a similar way as natural stone – whether in small decorative bits or as a focal point in the form of a plant trellis or pergola.
A natural wood gazebo, complete with comfortable seating, a few climbing vines and perhaps some string lighting can become your new favorite sanctuary. And natural wood furniture may be just the addition you need for your dining area, or pond-side to create the charm you’ve been looking for.
Sculpture
You’ve probably spent time decorating the interior of your home, but have you considered adding décor – from artwork to statues and sculpture – to your outdoor space?
There is garden art and sculpture for any style, from elegant to modern, rustic to whimsical, and everything in between. Tuck a bit of sculpture into a flower bed where it will surprise and delight anyone who discovers it. Add a bold piece of art to a central location where it will be seen by everyone.
Anything can be art, whether it is meant to be or not! An old wheelbarrow, a few colorful planters, birdhouses, wind chimes, that old teakettle… why not turn it into something unique for your garden?
A beautiful – and enjoyable – home landscape is much more than just the plants and trees that grace it. The extra touches count, from the grandest fireplace to the most delicate statuette. If you’re dreaming of what your outdoor space can be, contact us for a consultation and let’s explore ways to bring four-season joy to your home.
