Backyard ideas for creating the entertaining space of your client’s dreams

Photo: Hummel’s Landscape Inc.

An exceptional backyard deserves to be enjoyed, not just by the homeowners but by their friends, family and guests. To be able to accomplish this, an impressive landscape design needs to incorporate an equally impressive space for entertaining, whether that means cooking, dining or simply relaxing.

Select stunning materials

One of the fundamental steps of creating an outstanding backyard entertainment area is selecting materials that will bring the space to life in terms of color, texture and overall character.

Natural stone can be an excellent option for this, but with concrete manufacturing technology becoming so advanced, concrete pavers and wall units can just as easily be used to create the desired aesthetic. This option often allows for an even greater range of choices and a wider variety of styles and colors. Simultaneously, concrete pavers and wall units often present better durability and a lower general cost.

Create intimate areas

Photo: Unilock

While materials are important, it’s how they’re used that really counts. This project on the right, for example, demonstrates how even wide open spaces can make use of intimate gathering points to bring the entire design together.

This Hummel’s Landscape Inc. project won the Best Backyard award and Best in Show award at the Unilock 2016 Awards of Excellence and utilizes Unilock pavers and wall units from Watson Supply Inc.

The design features a fire pit area sunken into the patio and enclosed by a seating wall that continues directly into the pool’s edge. This reinforces the cozy, intimate ambiance created by the fire pit.

Install a custom-designed gunite swimming pool

As a continuation of the fire pit area, the swimming pool of the above-mentioned project acts as the central feature of the design, around which all other spaces have been arranged.

This was achieved by designing the shape of the pool from scratch. Unlike with prefabricated fiberglass pools, this sort of customization is allowed by gunite swimming pool installation. In addition to re-imagining the outline of the pool, this also allows for the customization of accessory features, such as steps, tanning shelves and beach entrances.

Maximize flow between inside the home and outdoors

Indoor parties don’t always stay indoors and outdoor parties seldom stay outdoors. Why not embrace this by making the transition between home and yard as seamless as possible?

This allows guests to flow naturally between indoor and outdoor gathering points and facilitates the preparation of meals outdoors, especially if food items are being frequently moved from the indoor kitchen to the outdoor cooking area.

This sort of flow can be enhanced by sliding or French doors, wide steps leading out of the home and wide walkways leading to outdoor areas. Alternatively, the hardscape can begin directly on the threshold of where the home ends and the landscape begins.

Separate spaces while keeping them accessible to one another

In the same way, flow between different outdoor areas is important, however, a distinguished landscape company will ensure that there is a good balance between flow and visual distinction.

Keeping the areas separate from one another using varying elevations, low walls or plant borders is a good option, provided the areas are still accessible to one another. Alternatively, more subtle techniques can be utilized, such as eye-catching borders and changes in paver laying patterns.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was written by the Halstead Media Group. Led by husband and wife team, Anna and Corey, Halstead Media brings an incredibly effective balance of landscape industry background, small business knowledge and Fortune/Global 500 experience to landscape architecture firms, landscape design/builds and building products manufacturers.