Proper landscaping actually brightens up your customer’s property and does a few more things that you might not realize. Because landscaping often uses cooler colors, you get the sense that you’re stepping out into an oasis when you take in a well-maintained lawn.
Landscaping is cooler in another way as well—grass is physically cooler than both concrete and asphalt. In fact, grass is about 30 degrees cooler than asphalt; and grass, unlike concrete or asphalt, beautifies any property, captures water runoff and helps to clean up the nearby air by taking in carbon dioxide and exuding oxygen.
Your clients might even find that landscaping helps improve business as well since one study shows that property managers had a 7% increase in rented space for commercial spaces when those same property managers invested in quality landscaping.
Shoppers also report traveling further, taking longer time in stores, and spending more on goods and services when the owners of those stores invested in outdoor landscaping. Landscaping is great for business, the environment, and perhaps even human health since better landscaping has been linked to lower stress.
Landscaping Elements to Spruce Up Your Backyard Decor
Some of us think of landscaping as a totally recent phenomenon, but in fact landscaping has been with us for millennia. Babylonian culture had the hanging gardens, which were actually so eye-popping that they made the list for one of the seven wonders of the world.
That’s setting the bar pretty high, though. There are a few touches that you could apply right now that can absolutely improve the ambiance and livability of your outdoor space. Adding things like evergreen shrubs, a fire pit, a lighted walking path or a rock garden can transform a backyard virtually overnight.
Include Flowers and Shrubs
Flowers and shrubs allow you to mix and match colors, sizes and shapes to suit your tastes and turn your backyard from a well-manicured, though perhaps somewhat drab, lawn to a gorgeous getaway.
Shrubs come in two broad categories—deciduous (shrubs that shed their leaves annually) and evergreen. The nice thing about evergreen shrubs like daphne plants, box shrubs, lavender and acuba is that they give you a ton of color options to choose from and they look great even when the weather turns.
Perennial flowers are also a really nice touch for dotting paths and backyard gardens. Aside from looking killer for more months out of the year, perennials are extremely reliable and easy to maintain.
Black-eyed susan flowers add a splash of vibrant yellow while salvia, purple coneflower and peony can add soothing purples and blues to any backyard decor.
Consider Outdoor Furniture
Outdoor furniture actually accentuates your other landscaping and outdoor decor efforts. At the same time, couches, tables and chairs can divide up your outdoor space and make your patio area much more comfortable, functional, and pleasantly inviting.
Illuminate Your Backyard
Evergreen shrubs and perennial flowers can be enjoyed all year long by you and your guests, but you may be at a disadvantage when the sun goes down since your efforts won’t be as visible…unless you add energy-efficient outdoor lighting.
The intensity, scope and color of your lighting should obviously be related to its purpose—tiny LED walkway lighting along a path or sconce lighting obviously shouldn’t be overwhelming (in fact, it should go for a more romantic, smoky mood) while higher intensity lights could be placed around your deck (area lights, spotlights, and flood lights).
The added benefit of deck lights is that they can be motion sensing and double as increased security around your home!
Mulch Your Garden
Adding colorants used from mulch manufacturers to your backyard garden adds balancing earth tones to vibrant flowers, helps control weeds and works to retain soil moisture.
All of these things make your outdoor landscaping easier on the eyes and ensures that you’re not sacrificing form for function since your flowers, shrubs and entire lawn should be healthier with the addition of mulch.
Landscape fabric, pine needles and pine bark nuggets work well in most cases.
Get Ready to Rock
Rocks are another versatile, yet pretty essential, component to your outdoor landscaping because they offer an earthy contrast to bright flowers and shrubs.
You might not initially think so, but rocks are also a versatile tool in the right hands.
Rock gardens are an increasingly popular option, large slabs can be used as a natural staircase into another quadrant of your backyard, and rock walkways are always a nice segue into an outdoor canopied area or patio.
