Small Backyard Landscaping Ideas No Grass
Small Backyard Landscaping Ideas No Grass – For most of the century, lawns were the standard of American front yards. They remain incredibly popular today, but standards are changing rapidly.
So far in 2022, 80% of consumers have requested landscape design that does not significantly increase the use of turf – and 37% have not requested natural grass at all, opting for artificial grass or other artificial turf and landscaping.
Small Backyard Landscaping Ideas No Grass
A lawn is a high maintenance area of the soil, requiring regular mowing, weeding, fertilizing and lots of watering to keep it green and clean. Along with all these savings comes fuel consumption and emissions from lawnmowers, pollution from fertilizers and pesticides, and excessive water use amid a record drought.
Grassless Yards Make Eggertsville Property A Mow Free Zone
The abundance of turf also represents a wonderful missed opportunity. Replacing our grasslands with native plants has the potential to restore habitat and ecosystem function on a large scale.
Realizing all this, many homeowners think twice about lawn grass. But what does a front yard look like without grass? Since we are used to grass, it can be difficult for us to come up with other ways to treat our front yards.
Time for some inspiration! From meadows, forests and desert habitats to outdoor living spaces, vegetable gardens and fire pits, front yard design is growing in a delightful way.
Below, we’ll look at some non-lawn landscaping ideas to get your tires (but not your lawnmower tires).
Landscaping Ideas To Transform Your Yard In Spring 2018
A transparent, elegant fence maintains a sense of spaciousness while presenting a welcoming space to passers-by. It also allows plants to come in, enhancing the sense of space.
Low-water ground cover plants such as Ceanothus ‘Carmel Creeper’ or Emerald Carpet Manzanita are an inexpensive solution to fill the space between tall plants. Subterranean mounds make the patterns appear dense and natural and, when native, can provide a large habitat value.
The limited range of species, arranged in small quantities and organic edges, gives a sense of urgency and a sense of the wild to this strip of parking. Tip: Always leave a space or two for people to jump!
This Southern California garden allows ground cover plants to do their work, spreading widely to fill the spaces between tall features of ornamental grasses, potted agave, and decorative rocks. Blue Spruce Sedum, Emerald Carpet Manzanita, and Huntington Carpet Rosemary share ground cover duties, creating an impressive mosaic of changing colors and low maintenance and easy water bills.
Yards Without Grass: Design Ideas For Your Landscape
Contrasts are well managed throughout the design: grass blows in the wind alongside rocks and agave; overhanging plants criss-cross the clear edges of a large paver path; the strict geometry of the axis of the veranda is calculated by the quantity of the planting fluid.
Balancing natural details (rocks, native plantings, river rock-colored gravel) and modern plants (overhanging posts, concrete fire pit, straight fence) provides contrast.
The route sets up different terrains while avoiding any vertical obstacles. This keeps circulation open and helps spaces feel larger and more connected.
Aligning the fireplace with the French doors creates a unified view of the outdoors from the living room, drawing people outside.
Low Maintenance Front Yard Landscaping Ideas
This design skips the grass in favor of a desert-inspired setting to a “campfire” front.
A mix of drought tolerant plants, including many native species, occupy a large area of perimeter, host birds and other pollinator species while creating a cool natural habitat background. Gravel, chosen to bring out the colors of the river rock, provides a low cost ground cover and satisfactory grip underfoot. Decorative bollards play the same trick, looking like they were taken right out of a national park (don’t worry, they weren’t).
To balance this natural environment, the design weaves in many of the features of today’s hardscape: large concrete pavers, beautiful street lights, recessed lights, and straight fences.
The style of the cottage garden can adapt to any space. Plant densely with natives and other species suited to the local climate, emphasizing many different flowers, heights and shapes.
Low Maintenance Landscaping
Keep plants short in the front and tall in the back. Here, tall plants help to integrate the veranda into the planting design, providing a unique, integrated design.
Framing is a big trick in any landscape style. Here, two maple trees add grandeur to the frame of both the front gate and the front door.
Go flowers! Cottage gardens are growing, characterized by many flowers, densely planted flower beds and a long list of annuals and perennials (we prefer perennials – low maintenance).
This design packs in flowers but sticks to a limited color palette, mostly shades of pink and lavender, with a few hints of yellow. The height of the plants grows higher as you approach the front door, helping to stitch the front porch into the entire area.
Simple And Easy Landscaping Ideas
Wisely, the method allows the plants to take all the complexity, opting for clean, simple straight lines that compare well with the consistent saturation of the garden design.
A narrow range of blue hues and subtle repeats help different species blend together, while creating accents like Agave Bouteloua ‘Blonde Ambition’ with bright, bold leaves.
Repeating patterns in different planters carry the theme throughout the yard, presenting disparate spaces as part of one unified design.
Speaking of restrained colors, this stunning design goes all silver blue with a few hints of blonde to guide your eye from the sidewalk to the door.
Crosley Ashland Fire Pit Bowl
The emphasis is on good graphics, ie lots of manicured lawns and the addition of pea gravel mulch. Dense agaves stand out boldly in the background.
The raised edges of the plants are framed by decorative concrete walkways. The main path is fitted with strip lights along the stairs, a small but powerful detail to express the feeling of modern luxury.
Interested in these blue varieties for your landscape? Consider Festuca glauca, Leymus ‘Canyon Prince’, Senecio mandrilascae and Agave attenuata.
The gravel voids visually connect this prefab approach to the surrounding gravel, while the other space adds a graphic element to the space.
Landscaping Ideas For Small Backyards
A strong central axis with a tree at each end to pull you along the way – classic design meets modern landscape design.
The combination of wood and the typical “X” rail fence creates a traditional farmhouse feel that contrasts with modern details such as simple streetlights.
This design maximizes curb appeal while keeping costs low. Tan gravel—cheap, attractive, and reminiscent of the local landscape—spreads across the yard, while decorative stones provide low-maintenance features to frame open spaces.
Two beautiful olive trees dominate the yard, casting brown shade on the porch and fire pit while providing vantage points for visitors coming in from the sidewalk. Low-water planting decorates the edges, combining energy and stone to revive the feeling of the local area.
Small Backyard Landscaping Ideas
A precast paver path adds a graphic touch while defining small areas in a flat front yard. Fire pits and blue water entertainment help create a wonderful outdoor space for evenings under the stars.
The dark color of the house draws attention to the bright wooden paneling and the strong planting along the path – it is the same principle with the black curtain behind the stage.
Artificial turf is best in limited doses and looks best when ornamental planting intervenes to deflect light, as it does here.
Do not worry! Turf alternatives have been growing since ancient times. Today’s artificial grass is a great place for sports, games and general fun of all stripes.
Best Front Yard Landscaping Ideas And Garden Designs For 2022
This yard offers a large play area for adults and children (we all want to have fun, right?). Waist-high layered planting and wooden display paneling protect the grass from the street, while mixed rows of Yarrow, Lavender and Olea ‘Little Ollie’ replace the low-water Boxwood setting a formal border around the play area. In the background, tall grass and bright red flowers add sparkle to the planting design, drawing visitors around the corner to the backyard.
Decomposed granite provides a more stable surface than gravel, but it drains more slowly. Turn the DG into an entry point to catch the run and give another place to walk so that the DG can hit your shoes before it scratches the interior floors.
Tall bougainvilleas break up the empty space of the exterior walls and help the planting design compete with the vertical scale of the house.
That’s the point. Whether spending time with family, friends or soon-to-be friends, this social court uses simplicity to its advantage, effortlessly adapting to any social occasion that may arise.
Small Backyard Ideas
Dense, drought-tolerant plants—heavy on rosemary, lavender and Westringia ‘Grey Box’ and dominated by bright olive—are separate yet cohesive, creating an inviting garden scene that invites neighbors to join in the fun. Those Bougainvillea are big, they don’t bother either.
The lighting makes full use of the Yucca and Candelabra Cactus – make sure you turn off the lights when you go to bed to avoid disturbing the local ecosystem.
The large vertical movement of the Yucca gives strength to this planting area while establishing a connection with the Yucca on the other side of the yard.
Succulent agaves, a prominent Candelabra cactus and a giant Yucca tree
Creating Interest In Your Yard With Focal Points And Special Features
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