Backyard Layout Ideas & Basics: 12 Steps for a Better Backyard

Have you ever wondered how to create a beautiful backyard for your house? Most homeowners have, as this is one of the things that add the most curb appeal to a house. However, without guidance, this can sometimes be a bit difficult. That's why we put together the following list of backyard layout ideas and several tips on how to improve your garden with a backyard office shed. Keep reading to learn how to design a backyard!

12 Backyard Layout Ideas To Transform Your Backyard

1. Get Your Own ADU

Small residences, known as accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, are constructed on the same site as a major residence. These adorable tiny homes, which typically include one to two bedrooms and their kitchen and bathroom, may be utilized in various ways, including as a backyard shed studio, a guest house for visiting family members and friends, or a backyard cabin.

ADUs and work pods experienced high popularity in the early 20th century, but there was a significant drop in the building following WWII. During that period, families who had previously resided in these modest dwellings relocated to newly constructed suburbs, which offered them considerably greater convenience. That is no longer the case. 

Affordable housing has become more in demand in the previous five years, particularly in Southern California. This prompted an increase in modular accessory dwelling unit buildings and prefab studios. Investors and homeowners alike are beginning to see the advantages of living on their own property free from impending electricity bills and mortgage obligations.

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2. Make a Cute Walkway

Gardens typically include paths from one area to another, generally to another garden region with a specific sculpture, specimen, or other focal point. Along with differentiation, garden pathways and walks provide the garden landscape with some structure. Garden paths may help to organize the space, make it easier to harvest, prune, and weed, and prevent damage to grass or delicate plants from foot traffic. 

The materials used in backyard layout ideas while designing a garden walk vary based on the garden's mood or theme and the available budget. 

Although beautiful, many suburban gardens consist of grass surrounded by landscape beds of flora, which may be a little monotonous. A garden walk or numerous paths can be designed to limit the area of the grass, which lowers the amount of watering required and adds some drama to the garden structure. 

Before buying supplies or arbitrarily pulling up sod, drawing out a backyard plan design on paper that may be modified when contemplating garden path ideas and location is good. In order to better access the proper site, the walkways for the garden can then be set out using twine, rope, or even a garden hose. 

3. Prevent Damaging Your Services

You might need to dig holes in your yard for various reasons. Additionally, there may be utility pipes and wires in your lawn that are buried at different depths; cutting into one of these lines when digging might result in a costly or hazardous accident. 

In the US, household lawns are buried with millions of kilometers of power wires. Cutting unintentionally into one of these lines might stop essential utilities from operating or result in a deadly accident. Thankfully, there are reliable methods to locate subsurface utility lines before you dig. 

Trenches are excavated and then covered with soil or sod when the house's services are installed over time. These sites are often forgotten if not noted. The locations of these utility wires are rarely disclosed to the new owner when a home changes hands. 

Moreover, the depth at which these utilities must be buried might differ depending on the location. In colder climates, sewer and water pipes are often buried far below the winter frost level. 

However, you may be surprised to see that water and sewer lines in backyard plan design are very shallow after moving to a warm region. Additionally, when services are added and removed over time, you could discover that active landline telephone cables are still in your yard even if you have long since switched to mobile service for all your telephone requirements. 

4. Plan Ahead Before Planting Your Plants

It's a good idea to evaluate your yard and location before constructing your garden to find out which plants will grow there to input your backyard layout plans. 

Start by keeping an eye on your yard for a day. Examine your garden's potential locations and note whether they receive sunlight every three hours. This will enable you to decide where in your yard to place plants that thrive in shade, partial shade, or full sun. 

Understanding your area's hardiness zone is also crucial. Nine hardiness zones, each dependent on the regional climate, are present in the United States. The types of plants that are best suited and least suitable to the environment depend on the hardiness zone. 

Knowing your soil type can also enable you to choose the right plants for your yard or the best ways to feed your soil to sustain the plants you want to grow. Although some plants require a more neutral or alkaline soil, most plants prefer slightly acidic soil in ​backyard layout ideas​. 

5. Make Paths at Least Five Feet Wide

Before buying supplies or arbitrarily pulling up sod, drawing out a design on paper that may be modified when contemplating garden path ideas and location is good. In order to better access the proper site, the walkways for the garden can then be set out using twine, rope, or even a garden hose. Think about the places in the garden that will benefit from paths the most. Paths at entrances are usually beneficial since they frame the front door and beckon guests inside. An entry is often a broad walkway of at least 5 feet (1.5m) across and should match the size of the house. 

Although a straight path to the front door is usually less appealing than one with curves or even zigzags, you can make it more interesting by selecting the correct materials and including plants in the landscape and other small elements like lighting. Garden paths should be at least 4 feet (1m) wide or large enough for a wheelbarrow or other essential gardening equipment to pass through. Additionally, the materials to be used, the overall atmosphere of the garden, and whether or not a nook, bench, or other planned garden décor would require even broader proportions should all be considered when determining the width. 

6. Prevent Making It Look Crowdy

When the days get longer in the spring, many seedlings develop swiftly. It's necessary to thin out seedlings, but it may be more challenging if you overseeded or if your old seed packs had a greater germination rate than you had anticipated. In any case, seedlings frequently get overcrowded, and careful thinning will nearly always be advantageous. 

The greatest solution to overcrowding, which might result in our plants growing more slowly and becoming weaker, is to thin your seedlings. When your garden is busy in the spring, it might be simple to forget to thin your seedlings. 

7. Keep Open at Least Three Feet of Space Around Your Furniture

Making concrete patios into outdoor living rooms or green home offices with all the typical interior furniture, including couches, coffee tables, and lounge chairs, is in style. Living room patios are often bigger than the usual patio and frequently have an outdoor fireplace or fire pit for warmth and ambiance at night. Additionally, seat walls, water features, and outdoor lighting could be included. 

In order to properly size the patio, list the pieces of furniture you wish to put on your living room patio, along with their approximate measurements. A typical living room patio is around 16 by 18 feet. 

Make sure there is enough space for traffic to move around so that your visitors can fit in. Allowing a 3-foot clearance around furniture is a good general rule. 

8. Have a Wide Variety of Plants

Most gardeners see a biodiverse garden as one filled with wildlife, including birds, butterflies, beneficial insects, and other creatures. You may enhance the beauty of the environment and contribute to its healing and preservation for future generations by planting a biodiverse garden. Enjoy increasing the biodiversity of your garden and taking advantage of the abundance and diversity of nature. 

9. Make It as Relaxing as Possible

You may demonstrate your hope for the future with a cozy, pleasant outdoor area that welcomes warm weather and good moments in peace and style. The ideal place to be is outside, where you can relax and enjoy the fresh air on your patio, porch, deck, balcony, or garden. 

It is more important than ever to have a quiet place where you can retreat, whether you want to sleep after a hard day or read a book. 

Only some have the convenience of a private backyard plan design, spacious sitting space, or backyard. Consider installing a trellis or barrier to give yourself some solitude if you have close neighbors alongside or behind you. Large potted plants or a folding screen can also work. A large palm tree may offer privacy, and a carefully placed patio umbrella can assist in blocking noise. 

10. Lawn and Planting Areas Should Be Balanced

In all we do and everything around us, we seek equilibrium. We maintain an excellent work-life balance, a well-balanced diet, and strong interpersonal connections. However, what function does balance serve in our homes and, by extension, the garden? 

Symmetrical and asymmetrical balance are the two most well-known varieties, yet these are so general that they can only be referred to as overarching themes. It has attained balance when a garden is harmonic, comfortable for guests, yet interesting enough to keep them interested and give them options. Layers of voids and masses, light and shadow, enclosure and exposure, color, movement, and character are just a few examples of the numerous elements that make up the balance. 

Formal gardens are where symmetry is most frequently encountered and recognized. Mirroring clearly defined geometric features creates a sense of stability and control. It often works best in expansive gardens with beautiful scenery, displaying human power to modify nature and bring order to it by organizing its wild sort. 

11. Deal with Changes of Levels in Your Garden

A garden's composition is always made more intriguing and dynamic by changes in level since they allow vistas to be blocked or opened up, adding to the visual drama. Steps and ramps are the two most common options for adjusting for level variations in the garden. 

In order to avoid utilizing retaining walls, which are expensive and may seriously disrupt the flow of a garden even when planted above and below, you should try to avoid levels. 

A border that slopes provide for a tumble of plants where you may experiment with plant height to get an exciting impression. Verbena Bonariensis and other tall plants can resemble vegetation. 

12. Create a Pergola

A pergola is an outdoor building made up of columns that hold a grid of beams and rafters for the roof. This roofing grid in backyard plan design may be closed off or left open to provide a protected space from the elements. Both freestanding and house-attached pergolas are possible. 

The massive stone pergolas of the Italian Renaissance inspired traditional pergola architecture. However, "pergola" is used more broadly and refers to timber buildings. Since pergolas are frequently built into homes, they provide an outdoor living area that effectively acts as an extension of the inside rooms. They also pair wonderfully with modern garden sheds. 

The Bottom Line

Owning a garden is a huge responsibility if you want it to look good, but now that you've read this entire article, you know which accessories to add and what measures to take to have the most aesthetically pleasing garden possible, such as the Autonomous Pod. However, please make sure to check out the rest of our page and learn more about all the eco-friendly bamboo furniture and accessories you can add to your garden.