Three Great Backyard Hardscaping Design Ideas

Hardscaping can expand your home’s living space and provide a solid foundation for outdoor design. You can go for a huge mosaic-tiled brick patio or add rock walkways leading to secret gardens. Imagine how best to use your private backyard space with a mix of nature and hardscaping for an attractive, relaxing retreat for you and your family.

wooden foootbridge in garden

Wood and Water
You can strategically mix wood and water for a soothing display to balance each element’s design effect on the space. If you have a large yard, think about changing it radically with an equally large patio. You could fill this space alone with furniture for entertaining.

However, you also can mix it up a bit by adding a fountain, reflecting pool or pond. For certain locales, an infinity pool might even be the way to go to make the most of a dramatic landscape or scenic vista overlooking a valley. Water elements, mixed with hardscaping, can instantly transform your backyard.

The important thing is to not limit the setting with just one design element. A mix of plants and water along with hardscaping can create a versatile and eye-pleasing space. Imagine an Asian-inspired outdoor theme using lattice fencing to create outdoor rooms. Use a large, colorful table umbrella in a bold print for shade and add a fountain for soothing sounds to block out neighboring street noise. Statues and gazing balls tucked in corners can add visual interest to the setting. You also can add mirrors decorated with ivy or other climbing vine to seemingly enlarge existing space.

garden walkway pavers

Garden Walkways
Indulging your green thumb in the backyard does not mean you have to sacrifice order and definition. Walkways can help define specific areas of the yard. With careful planning, you can enhance your existing gardens with a professional touch by outlining paths, enabling you to build gardens within the available spaces on either side. You can go with rock, brick or manmade materials to create your paths.

New materials allow you to construct pathways that glow in the dark at night, lighting the way to a beautiful rose garden or your favorite moon garden filling the air with rich fragrance. For certain areas, even a simple wooden boardwalk with a bridge might be a perfect way to join large spaces, particularly if you are lucky enough to have a creek on your property. There may be an attractive way to start these paths from a central location in your yard, such as a patio, and add solar lights to add subtle touches of shimmer along the way.

Patio and Outdoor Kitchen
You can combine all the best elements of hardscaping by blending your patio theme with the surrounding elements that support an outdoor grill and table set. Think about a California spa theme, with white bleached wood with matching overhead horizontal boards spaced to cast dramatic afternoon shadows of shade amid a clear sky setting. The cooking space could be encased in a marble-topped steel cabinet for easy cleanup. Add built-in seating with fun, bright-colored pillows, and you will have an appealing space for spending lots of time enjoying the fresh air.

The outdoor seats could serve a dual purpose with seating that lifts up to reveal storage. In fall or before any inclement weather, you could store the pillows inside and away from the elements. Built-in planters can complete the theme so that you can switch out seasonal plants to further brighten the area. Depending on where you live, you could try tulips in the spring, fragrant calla or oriental lilies in the summer and colorful mums in the fall displayed in clean, white wooden box planters. All the built-in layers with this design can add character and personality while remaining easy to clean for a streamlined, low-fuss appearance.