32 Landscaping Ideas For Your Yard That You'll Cherish In Every Season

Greet Guests With Flowers

Flowers always make a home seem more welcoming. Adorn your entrance with assorted annuals and perennials to keep your home awash with color all year long. Petunias, snapdragons, Lily-of-the-Nile, and 'Gertrude Jekyll' roses are great additions to your entry.

Also, if you have only a small space between your house and the street, add a low fence out in front of the yard. This little trick gives the illusion that your house is farther from the street than it really is, and it also makes a great space for planting flowers and vines. Perhaps there's something to that "white picket fence" idea after all.

Plant Rambling Vines

Another way to make the most of your landscape is by planting lovely rambling vines. There's nothing more romantic than deep green tendrils winding around fences and columns, especially when you've chosen a delicate, flowering vine species. Clematis is one of the showiest vines. It offers blossoms of blue, purple, red, pink, or white. We recommend growing this versatile vine on a fence, on a trellis, or in a container. Or, for a more laissez-faire gardening style, let the vines ramble and scramble over your shrubs and perennials.

Plant clematis during the cooler weather of fall and spring in fertile, loose, well-drained soil with lots of organic matter. It likes cool roots, so plant where the leaves get sun but roots are shaded. Feed monthly in spring and summer with an organic fertilizer labeled for roses or tomatoes. Local garden centers have lots of choices in spring. A good mail-order source is Brushwood Nursery.

Dress Up Your Driveway

By carefully sculpting the landscape and choosing the right plants and materials, you can dress up an unattractive driveway. With only a few steps, that less-than-picture-perfect portion of your home can be transformed into a gardener's paradise.

Start by creating a slightly raised island of lawn in the center of the drive. Then add a low boxwood hedge toward the back of the island with roses, annuals, and perennials rising above the hedge in the front. Blend a variety of colors, textures, and heights for a great look. Try 'Crystal Fairy' rose for height, lamb's ears for texture, and 'Butterfly Deep Rose' pentas for color.

Plant No-Fuss Lilies

When we talk about a rough-and-tumble, resilient plant, this is what we're thinking of. Crinum lilies laugh at drought, don't need fertilizer, and welcome hot, humid summers with lily-like flowers that perfume the air. Because they grow into huge bulbs over time, these low-fuss lilies are practically indestructible. Fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers in a rainbow of colors appear in spring, summer, or fall.

These plants like sun, so give them at least five hours a day; they don't care much about the sort of soil in which you plant them. We wish more plants were this low-maintenance. Most do best in the Lower, Coastal, and Tropical South (USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 8-10). Some, such as Crinum x powellii 'Alba' and 'Ellen Bosanquet,' are hardy farther north. Order from Jenks Farmer or Plant Delights Nursery.

Deer-Proof Your Garden

To keep your flowers from being gobbled up by deer—one of the most heartbreaking of all garden misfortunes—choose flowers that people find glorious and deer find disgusting. It's not as hard a chore as you might imagine. We recommend that you choose deer-repellant perennials like butterfly weed, globe thistle, 'Royal Red' butterfly bush, or even purple coneflower. Deer won't touch them, and, at the end of the day, you'll still have a flowerbed full of gorgeous leaves and blooms. You can find any of these varieties at garden centers, but be sure that you plant them in well-drained soil.

Add Height With Planters And Baskets

You don't want a one-dimensional home, so why would you want one-dimensional landscape design? Add eye-catching layers to your yard with elevated planters and hanging baskets. Elevated planters and hanging baskets create a sea of beautiful color from high to low, and the visual effect gives the impression of waves of blossoms rising and falling all across your yard. If you want to create an immersive escape, this is a foolproof way to get started. As an added bonus, plants love the good drainage and aeration that raised planters provide.

Each basket should contain three types of plants—a "spiller" (something that hangs down over the edges) like begonias and variegated sage, a "filler" (something that mounds and fills in) like coleus, and a "thriller" (something that is tall and eye-catching for the center) like purple cordyline.

Make An Impact With Blooming Shrubs

If you ask anyone what the easiest way to transform the look of your home landscape is, they'll definitely tell you: blooms. Blossoming flowers, shrubs, and trees make an incredible impact across a yard, and you can add color in just one lasting step. For major impact, we recommend Chinese snowball, which we think is one of spring's showiest shrubs. White flower clusters—that grow 6 to 8 inches across—festoon its branches in late spring. It's a thrill to behold. The plant gets big; we've seen them grow from 12 to 20 feet tall and wide.

Find a prominent spot where it will have room to grow. Give it full to partial sun and fertile, well-drained soil. Prune, if necessary, just after it finishes flowering in spring. And by the way, though it looks like a hydrangea, it's actually a viburnum.

Cover Outdoor Structures With Greenery

Sheds, garages, and outdoor workspaces are not always the most attractive accents to your carefully constructed yardscape. Simultaneously hide these structures and make the most of these spaces by using them as a setting for a beautiful display of plants and flowers.

Try adding brackets and a wooden plank to create a shelf on the exterior of a structure above the entrance or windows. Then set lightweight fiberglass planters filled with flowers atop it to hide the structure and also add natural ambiance to the entryway. Potted ferns are great additions to the base of the structure and they give an earthy accent to the threshold. Bringing plants both nearer and actually onto the walls of the structure will make it seem like a seamless complement to the green space.

Design A Hidden Room

Create a garden paradise, an escape, an oasis in your yard by constructing intersecting trails, meandering streams, inspiring vistas, and hidden rooms. Design small hideaways where people can gather for drinks and try mixing formal with informal to stimulate visual tension. Each turn of the pathway brings its own lovely garden vignette.

You can also get creative and save the biggest garden surprise—a wall of plants, a fountain, a statue, a bench, or a special flower display—for the farthest spot in your yard instead of putting it directly next to the house. You'll create your own secret garden just moments from your front door.

Enjoy Color Year-Round

The moment when flowers burst forth with their vibrant blooms is one of the most exciting times for gardeners—or anyone with a yard or passing by said yard. A great thing about gardening in the South is that we get treated to colorful flowers, leaves, or berries in every season. We cultivate plants that love our hot summers, our mild winters, and that look great all year. They are fantastic additions to our flowerbeds, and we love the accent that they offer to our front porches, our mailboxes, and our backyards. Look for these plants each season:

• Spring: Azalea, daffodil, forsythia mandevilla, dogwood, wisteria, bearded iris (pictured), peony
• Summer: Hydrangea, daylily, gardenia, crinum lily, lantana, crepe myrtle, impatiens, zinnia
• Fall: Pansy, aster, sugar maple, beautyberry, sasanqua camellia, holly, autumn crocus, mum
• Winter: Winterberry, Colorado blue spruce, amaryllis, Lenten rose, rosemary, saucer magnolia, flowering quince, crocus

Keep It Neat

For any landscaping you have, the key is to keep it neat. A house can feel overtaken by overgrown plants, especially in a small yard. Don't let bushes grow taller than the windows. Trim borders and vines to keep them tidy and under control. Keep flowerbed sizes small and maintainable. Less-contained areas spilling with flowers from every nook need control with a trim or thinning out every now and then.

Use Low-Maintenance Ground Covers

While it may be tempting to add lots of lush landscaping, it still has to be maintained. Consider the amount of upkeep that's reasonable for you. Limit the variety of plants you buy and choose low-maintenance ones. If keeping your lawn beautifully green is too much, put the mower away and embrace ground cover. A sloped yard can be just as lovely covered in simple ground cover as higher maintenance raised beds or terraces.

Mondo grass gives the look of green grass without the upkeep. It stays green year-round and is deer-resistant. Creeping phlox provides a burst of color in spring with purple, pink, or white flowers.

Add A Garden Path

Whether you use stepping stones, mulch, or pebbles, a garden path is more than just a pretty walkway. It connects parts of your garden while defining the boundaries of those areas. A designated path also keeps feet clean and grass or tender plants from getting trampled. Aim for 3 to 4 feet of width to allow for plants growing along the edges to spill over onto the walkway. Use stone edging to keep any mulch or gravel on the path.

Use Potted Plants

If permanent landscaping makes you uneasy, use potted plants to add color, height, and texture to your landscape. Add containers to your walkway, porch, or patio, and move them when you want to refresh the look. Possibilities are endless as the seasons change. Try topiaries or potted hydrangeas for a dramatic entry.

Define A Seating Area

Designing an outdoor space doesn't have to focus solely on the lawn. Create an outdoor space where you can relax, enjoy a meal, or escape for an afternoon nap. Even the smallest yards have room. Tuck a table for two in a private corner, or add cushioned chairs around a fire pit. With hanging baskets, potted plants, and colorful borders, this outdoor space just may become your favorite room.

Engage All The Senses

When planting your outdoor oasis, think about all of your senses and how you want your home to look, smell, and feel. Garden Designer Jay Sifford had a specific plan in mind when creating his mountain escape. Sifford painted the house black so it recedes from focus in the summer and gives the garden center stage. When plants are dormant in winter, the structure shines. “My goal was to create an immersive space set apart from the world at large,” he explains. “The choreographed, Technicolor experience is sensory and sensual, refreshing your mind and spirit. It’s a place to both find and lose yourself.”

As visitors wind slowly along the paths and pass blue, purple, yellow, pink, burgundy, white, and biscuit brown plants that are ankle to chest high, they forget their troubles—immediate and distant—and replace them with colors, sounds, touches, and smells.

Build Raised Beds

Mary Alice and Terry Ramsey make full use of raised beds on their North Carolina property. Vegetables, herbs, and flowers are planted side-by-side, providing a riot of color and a continuous harvest during the growing season. Raised beds allow them to bypass the clay and provide richer soil for their vegetables, while also keeping the soil warmer to help prolong the season. Raised beds are a simple landscaping project that is easy to construct from timbers or kits.

Enclose The Garden With A Fence

Enclosing a garden or patio with a fence provides more privacy, discourages roving deer, and adds a little mystery to your property. Plant flowering shrubs or vines that can trail over the top, charming the neighbors while screening the view at the same time. Fencing can also be used to create the feeling of an outdoor room, giving different areas of your garden varying purposes and personalities.

Build An Outdoor Room

Speaking of outdoor rooms, open-to-the-elements structures like this one make an enchanting dining or seating area. Trellises wall off the space while still allowing glimpses of the garden. A roof shades the dining area and provides just enough protection from rain. Potted plants, candles, and outdoor lighting will transform your outdoor room from beautiful to magical.

Create A Courtyard

As you can see in the before-and-after photos, the owners transformed this space from an ugly no man's land to a desirable courtyard. The carport was painted to match the home, then screened with breezy, romantic outdoor drapes. Gravel, plantings, and furniture were brought in to create an intentional and attractive dining area that the family can relax in for hours.

Shelter Under A Pergola

This outdoor dining room proves that a humble pergola can create the most luxurious look. The backyard transformation began with an installation of a 10- by 30-foot iron pergola. Wisteria was planted to grow into a leafy canopy overhead. A few lanterns hang from the pergola to cast a gentle light during garden parties. The outdoor fireplace caps off the space and makes it inviting year-round.

Plant Bulbs For Year-Round Color

Not into pruning, watering, and fussing over plants? Bulbs can provide much of the color you're craving throughout the year. Snowdrops, winter aconite, and crocuses bloom in mid-to-late winter, followed by daffodils and tulips in spring. Many types of lilies and gladiolas bloom in the summer, while spider lilies, rain lilies, and fall-blooming crocuses bring color to flower beds in autumn. After you prepare the soil and plant, most bulbs require little more than a sprinkling of fertilizer once or twice a year.

Add Groundcover Between Pavers

Pavers often become a problem area for weeds, but not if you beat them to it and plant a low-growing ground cover instead. These pavers are lined with dwarf mondo grass, which is tough enough to withstand light foot traffic. It can handle sandy soil and rarely requires watering once established. Provide protection from late afternoon sun and give it a haircut at the end of winter.

Define Spaces With Edging

Even the most relaxed cottage-style garden can benefit from edging. Edging provides structure, makes borders look neater, and defines the separation between gardens and the lawn or pathways. You can use bricks, stones, wood, wattle—the options are endless. Use found materials on your property or purchase edging material from the garden center if you like a more uniform look.

Plant A Parterre Garden

If you've fallen in love with the neatly clipped hedges used in formal gardens, try planting a parterre at home. You can always start small with two simple square beds, then add to the garden over the years. Parterres are usually bordered by low-growing evergreen hedges laid out in a symmetrical pattern. Boxwood, Japanese holly, and osmanthus are popular selections for hedges. Parterres look best when planted on level ground near a deck or terrace, as they are especially charming viewed from above.

Create A Hanging Garden

You can add charm to a garage wall, garden shed, privacy fence, or porch with a hanging garden. This trio of metal garden containers displays ferns, shrimp plants, arrowhead vine, and 'Aquamarine' pilea. The middle planter features asparagus fern, 'Neon' pothos, and 'Triostar' stromanthe. Add drainage holes at the bottom of each planter before hanging. Additional holes in the front of the containers provide spaces for tucking in more plants.

Plant A Privacy Fence

Landscape designer Todd Dorlon kept privacy top of mind when outlining this Birmingham home's compact lot. He skipped the fence and opted for a natural barrier, planting a dense row of 'Emerald Green' arborvitaes, which are much more compact than the massive 'Green Giant.' The fast-growing evergreen shrubs develop into neat, narrow pillars that reach about 3 feet wide and 8 feet tall. This easy-care hedge requires shearing only once a year to maintain its shape.

Use Window Boxes To Reflect The Season

Looking for a simple, high-impact gardening project? Add window boxes. These beautiful gardens in miniature provide a contained space to arrange plants and flowers that can change with the seasons. Bonsai-sized shrubs, trailing vines, lacy ferns and foliage, seasonal blooms, and compact bulbs are among the many choices for planting. Make sure to provide good soil and drainage, watering as needed. Swap out and refresh your jewel-sized garden throughout the year.

Layer The Garden

If your yard has a steep slope, that's a prime opportunity to add layers of interest to your garden. Adding walls, terraces, raised beds, and stairs to tame the slope and create pocket gardens. Plant low-maintenance shrubs and perennials at the street level, keeping them trimmed to maximize the view. Taller trees and shrubs can be planted closer to the house to draw the eye upward.

Cover Walls With Green

A fresh coat of paint can refresh an ugly wall, but it's also a prime opportunity to go green. Creeping fig (Ficus pumila) is a popular wall covering in the South because it can adhere to most surfaces and grows quickly. Creeping fig is hardy in Zones 8-11 and can take partial shade or full sun. Space plants 2 or 3 feet apart in rich, well-draining soil and the vines will grow 10 or even 25 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide. Water deeply when soil dries.

Install A Water Garden

Water gardens soothe the senses with splashing sounds and reflections of the clouds. They also draw nature like birds and butterflies. This two-layered fountain keeps the water circulating (reducing the potential for mosquitoes) and provides a lower level for water lilies and other aquatic plants. To maintain your water garden, remove decomposing leaves and debris before they muck up the water.

Vary Shade-Loving Plants

Some gardeners assume their palette is limited in the shade. As you can see in this Virginia garden, that couldn't be further from the truth. Vary your plantings by choosing shrubs and perennials for shade with different textures, sizes, and shapes. Focus on the color of foliage, which can range from deep green to blue-gray, burgundy, and gold. And make sure you plan for varying heights, which will greatly increase your canvas in the shade garden.