10. Accessorizing your backyard
An often overlooked aspect of making your landscape a family atmosphere is accessorizing. Your garden can be every bit as personal as inside your home by including items collected on trips, family heirlooms, garden statuary, or art that speaks to you. This is the step where you make the landscape your own.
As with all design, each accessory should be in scale with its surroundings and work cohesively within the space. For instance, garden statuary can be large to make an immediate bold statement, or smaller pieces can be used quite effectively, too, by tucking them in the garden somewhere where visitors will find it on their own as they explore your garden. Children and adults alike love the idea of exploring and discovery, and a good garden is best viewed not as a whole, but experienced by moving through it.
Use these ideas to create your own unique space
The intent of this article is to provide some insight into current trends for a family-oriented landscape; however, the real beauty of residential landscaping is no two projects are ever the same and each garden is a unique work in progress. Enjoy the process of making your backyard truly your own.
Clayton Ditzler is a certified landscape designer (CLD) with The Landscape Artist Inc., in Calgary. He has more than 27 years of experience designing residential landscapes. Ditzler can be reached at clayton@landartist.com or by visiting www.landartist.com.
