Having a great backyard is as important as having a nice home interior. It’s a big part of your house and during summer, you’ll likely spend more time there than inside your house. You sure want it to look its best. When designing your backyard, there are many factors to consider like the size, what your backyard will be used for, the weather condition of your area, the terrain, and how much time you have to take care of it.

You might be able to pull it off yourself or you might be better off employing a landscape designer to help you with it. Having a functional and aesthetic-looking backyard is not always easy but it is important so here are 10 backyard landscaping ideas to inspire you.

Climbing Flowers on a Pergola

Pergolas are common features in backyard gardens and they are great to be used as the sitting area in yours. It provides a light shade so even when the sun is out, you don’t have to feel all the heat. It’s a simple wooden structure so you can plan to build it yourself. This will save you the cost of paying for labor. You can extend the pergola right from the backdoor of your house or build it in the middle of your backyard. It’s always a nice sight to have flowers grow on a pergola. Aside from the look, it’s a plus if the flowers you grow are sweet-smelling. Some of the best flowers for pergolas are honeysuckle, clematis, and roses.

Color Scheme for Backyard

The same way you have a color scheme for the interior of your house is the same way you can have one for your backyard. It’s true that backyards are mostly gardens but you get to pick the color of flowers that grow there. You can make sure they match with the other accessories like the chairs and tables.

Backyard Fire Pit

A fire pit in your backyard is the real deal. It will fast become everyone’s favorite spot. The fire pit should be placed a few feet away from the house and you should make sure there are no trees with branches hanging overhead. A brick patio is the best and safest kind of patio to have with a fire pit. There are a few rules and regulations with having a fire pit in your backyard, depending on where you live, so make sure to find out before building one. Looking for more backyard firepit ideas? Check out Decoist’s full article on crafting a backyard firepit that fits your space.

Trees in the Deck

Building yourself a deck is a low-maintenance way of landscaping your backyard. If you have a huge tree in your backyard, that’s still not a problem. You can build your deck around the tree and have it serve as a form of shade. Ensure you get the best hands to this so it can be sturdy and last a long time.

Flower Bed with Brick Edging

This is a simple and minimalistic design for your backyard. It is easy to do yourself and would only take a few hours in a couple of days to set up. It is also easy to take care of as the rest of the backyard can be covered with low-maintenance grasses. Around the edges of the house in the backyard, you can set apart an area, a few feet wide and then plant flowers there. This area can be set apart with bricks. You can grow a flower with one color or a combination of flowers to brighten the place.

Flower Waterfall

Flowers are great for gardens but if you’re looking for something different in your flower garden, you should try creating a flower waterfall. You will need a large flower pot that has a flat surface on one of its sides. Choose the spot it should be placed and grow flowers in the pot. Make sure to also grow some flowers on the ground to create that effect.

Swings in the Garden

A swing set in your garden is a splendid idea. No, it’s not only great if you have kids, you as an adult can also have fun on a swing. The swing set can be attached to a pergola to make sure that there is enough shade provided.

Simple Table Umbrella Shade

You can’t always go big with your backyard landscape especially if it’s not a home you own or you won’t be there for long. This is one of the simplest and stress-free backyard landscape ideas. All you need to do is purchase a table umbrella and place some chairs around it. The shade provided by the umbrella can be enough for four people. Depending on how many people you expect to be in your backyard at once and the space available, you can get two sets of umbrellas and chairs.

RELATED: Patio Shade Ideas: Enjoy The Outdoors in any Weather

Logs of Wood Pathway

This is a design you’ve probably not seen before. Even if you have, not in many places. If you have a garden in your backyard, you need to have a pathway to avoid people stepping on your flowers. This is where the recycled log of wood comes in. You can take logs from different parts of the tree so you can have variations in the sizes. Ensure that the woods are sealed before placing them on the pathway. You could also mix them with stones.

Contemporary Patio

Having a lawn and flower garden in your backyard when you live in a place with little rain means you’re setting yourself up for a lot of work. It is only advisable to choose a landscape that has less greenery and more other materials. A large patio is a good place to start from and you can mix it with concrete flooring and pebbles. For a little bit of nature, you can make do with planting succulents.

Landscaping your backyard is as important as paying attention to your interior decor. These backyard landscaping ideas should get you started with options of what you can do with yours. Some of them are ideas you can implement yourself with just a few purchases to make while others will require employing the services of a professional. Whatever you have to do to get yourself a beautiful backyard will be worth it in the end.