Defining Your Goals
One of the most critical factors in the process is ensuring the designs coincide with your needs. Therefore, defining your goals should always come first. During this step, prioritize various project elements that allow you to create a functional outdoor space.
The goal-defining stage should include the intended use of the backyard, such as gardening or recreation. Always add your desired design, color scheme, and other focal points to the goal planning. The level of desired maintenance also needs to be included, specifying seasonal changes and their associated responsibilities. In areas with temperate climates, such as Jacksonville, Mexican beach pebble is a perfect choice that is easy to maintain year-round.
Pathways & Patios
Deciding on the part of the yard where hardscaping features should be placed early on can lead to precise placement, increased erosion control, plant protection, and more. By incorporating pathways and patios first, you can improve air quality and reduce energy costs. For example, adding a stone border around your patio will boost heat retention and release, stabilizing the soil temperature and roots of any plants you add later.
Remember rocks, stones, and pebbles are nonliving materials that fall under the hardscaping aspects of the backyard. Adding them to the walkway first helps you choose the best loose materials, determine what to leave out, and decide what landscape rock works best with the pathways, patios, gardens, and other backyard features.
Experimenting with Areas Near the House
While you don’t want to go outdoors and begin planting flowers or trees, laying out plants by the walkways, or building fences, you can first experiment with areas near the house. Doing so allows you to explore different options without spending a lot of money by ruining the project and needing to start over. Beginning in the spaces near the house during the early stages is necessary because these are the focal points of your backyard and must be visually appealing and well designed.
If your budget allows you to experiment, test the backyard’s soil conditions and place some plants around the back of the house, or install a small rock display by a flower bed along existing trees near the windows. Experimenting around the home gives it a more personable look once you complete the design.
Fences & Walls
Working on these areas in the beginning stages of the backyard landscaping project can help you achieve your goals, especially when adding rock features. For example, placing stones in gardens near the fences can help with weed suppression and ensure long-term durability. These areas often create boundaries and privacy, making it best to complete them early.
Selecting the wall barriers first also provides visual appeal and functional benefits that affect the backyard. Rocks are often used around fences, specifically in areas prone to heavy rainfall or drainage setbacks.
No matter how big or small your landscaping project may be, you can add incredible character, depth, and beauty to it with river rocks, stones, and Mexican beach pebble. Austin homeowners who are ready to get started on their backyard landscaping plans should reach out to the experts at RS&P Rock Stones & Pebbles, a premier landscape rock and supply superstore. To learn how we can help you create the landscape of your dreams, call us today.
