How to Use Landscaping to Get the Most Out of Your Outdoor Living Area

With year round favorable weather, the amount of outdoor space a property has can be just as important as the amount of interior space your home has in Northwest Florida. Outdoor areas can extend a home’s living space more efficiently when a creative landscape design uses plants and other materials to create separation, amenities, and activity areas. Here are just a few tips on how to get the most out of your outdoor living areas.

Integrate Hardscaping to Define Activity and Entertaining Areas

If you have a cement or stone patio, barbecue area, lounging and entertaining area, or dining area, the material from which those living spaces are made becomes the foundation that separates that area from the rest of your yard.

You can further enhance the areas by installing a cement, brick, or stone walkway to link your functional outdoor living areas while also defining their boundaries. A path between the outdoor activity areas, the garage, street, and the front and back doors connects these areas while reinforcing the purposeful separation of the entire space.

In addition to simple hardscaping, installing a new outdoor kitchen can create the feeling of separation and greatly enhance enjoyment of your home.

Use Multiple Levels to Create Separation

If your lot size isn’t large enough to spread out and define separate areas using manmade and natural materials, take advantage of vertical space. It isn’t uncommon to see waterfront homes where several decks or balconies extend the living space on every floor.

Retaining walls can also provide a sense of separation while serving a practical purpose at the same time. If properly constructed and integrated into your outdoor living area you can use the stone wall for extra seating when needed.

Plant Tall Shrubs for Privacy

In places where you need some privacy, ask your landscape designer to use tall shrubs to wall off an area. If you live on a busy road where there is always a lot of noise-producing traffic, tall plants and shrubs can effectively buffer the noise and turn your front porch or backyard into a delightful place to wind down and relax.

3 Outdoor Structures to Define and Separate Areas

1. Place a gazebo in a remote area on your property. The covered structure can become a quiet escape, a romantic dining area, or a comfortable reading nook.
2. A pergola over an entertaining and lounging area will protect the area from the hot sun or intense winds. Also, choose fast-growing vines and train them to grow up your pergola for an elegant effect.
3. If you’re looking to create a dramatic entryway to your home, place an arbor at the edge of the walkway. Plant seasonal vines to add color and interest to an otherwise simple arbor.

Let the GreenEarth Landscape Design Professionals Help You Define and Separate Areas of Your Yard

Our design professionals and landscape installation experts are committed to making sure that we use the best materials and the most creative and low-maintenance plant beds, living walls, or physical structures to create the separation and definition you want for all the function and activity areas on your property.

Are you ready to discuss your residential landscape design, landscape maintenance, and installation needs? You can reach our Panama City Beach office at (850) 236-1959 or our Santa Rosa Beach office at (850) 267-0010. Or, you can fill out our handy online form to schedule a free consultation. And be sure to kick off your planning (and dreaming!) process by downloading our free Landscape Planning Guide below.