Simple Landscaping Ideas

I wanted to post some photos because I am so proud of how our front yard turned out after we found some simple landscaping ideas that we love and took on the planning and gardening ourselves. We have always been a very diy couple when it comes to all things home related -- I hate wasting money paying for someone to design or install things that we could certainly do ourselves. I think that a lot of people get intimidated by garden design ideas especially (including us at first), but as with anything, all you need to do is research and plan in depth before you embark on any home renovation project.  As I said, for this particular project, we really wanted to stick with simple front yard landscaping ideas that were within our ability to actually plant ourselves and that would not distract too much from the beautiful architecture and stone siding on our home.

In my opinion, simple landscaping ideas tend to be the best because they do not take away from the architectural beauty of your home.  This homeowner definitely understood this mantra and chose the perfect front yard landscaping ideas to accentuate the beautiful colonial exterior of their home.  Rather than overwhelming the front yard with a ton of trees and flower beds, they lightly lined the retaining wall and foundation with a few bushes, shrubs, and pops of colorful blooms.  What I like most about their garden design is actually the landscape lighting because I think it really transforms the entire space into something far more magical.

In my opinion, simple landscaping ideas like these are often the best ones because they do not distract from the already lovely exterior of your home (unless maybe your house is unattractive, then go for it).  I really appreciate that these homeowners stuck with very subtle garden landscaping ideas that allowed their stunning lyme washed colonial brick home to really shine.  I love all of the architectural detailing used on this home, so it would be a shame to hide it with too many bushes and trees.  They managed to achieve the perfect balance of greenery, grass, and hardscaping elements like stone pavers, brick, and even sculptures.  They have a phenomenal backyard design that is sure to inspire everybody on their street. 

I was super surprised by how much some simple landscaping ideas could transform our backyard.  It was definitely not an ugly jungle when we began, but I would not say that there was any sort of established landscape design to it.  We had some large trees and a few scattered hedges that were already there when we moved in, but it didn't feel tamed or complete.  When we decided to make this our summer project, I researched a ton of landscaping ideas 2020 to figure out exactly what was popular and what work work in a space like our yard.  We decided to take advantage of the trees we already had and plant a lot of ground cover below them to give the design some balance.

When you hear the phrase simple landscaping ideas, I think that the mind automatically goes to some sort of boring design (or at least mine did when our landscape architect began talking about it).  I am so pleased to say though that small backyard designs like ours can actually turn out very bold and beautiful despite the size.  Now I understand that simple actually means less plants and less clutter so that the ones that you do plant stand out more and can make a bolder statement.  They make the yard look sleek and uncluttered, yet very stylish.  My favorite part of our yard now is the awesome manicured landscaping bushes that act as a natural fence across the back.

I am finding that people truly do not understand that simple landscaping ideas can sometimes be the best because they do not take away from the architecture of the home and tend to bring out beauty of the property better than overdone and highly manicured designs.  Whether I am dealing with front yard or backyard landscaping ideas, I always start my planning process my simply sitting or standing and looking at the space.  I pick out things that I want to highlight and things that I want to distract from or beautify.  When I got started doing the front of this home, I was particularly struck by the gorgeous natural stone exterior and large circular driveway.