This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
1. Make It Feel Like an Extension of the Home
If you’d like to create an outdoor space that feels as comfortable as a room in your home, it’s worth considering the flooring. A soft material underfoot can tempt you out, even before you’ve put on your shoes.
The owner of this yard had a dream of being able to walk out barefoot and be surrounded by plants. “I said, in that case, we need to build you a deck,” landscape designer Pippa Schofield says. Two levels of the soft wood planks are roughly split into dining and lounging areas. “The top deck is nice for having breakfast, then, the way the light goes, the owners use the sofa and lower deck for afternoon and evening entertaining,” Schofield says.
Wood decking was used in this project, but for added durability and ease of maintenance, you could consider composite decking. These wood particle and plastic boards look the same as the wood versions, but without the need to clean off mold or repair areas that have rotted.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Automate as many maintenance chores as you can. A good place to start is with your irrigation systems. You can add timers to in-ground systems, drip systems and soaker hoses. These systems allow for watering all parts of a garden without having to drag a hose from place to place. In-ground systems with a timer also reduce the possibility of tripping over a garden hose. You can set the timers for the times that are best for both you and your garden, such as during the night.
Take it a step further by adding other automated features, such as motion-activated lights that come on when you step out at night or lights that turn on and off on a regular schedule.
New smart and automated garden products and features are rapidly coming on the market as well. Look through gardening magazines and websites, and talk to the staff at nurseries and hardware stores about what automated features they would recommend.
Bonus: An automated watering system, particularly one with smart features, ensures that your garden will get the water it needs when it needs it, and often results in using less water.
Plus, automating both your irrigation and your lighting will allow you to go on vacation without scouring the neighborhood for someone to tend to your plants or, if it’s in a front yard, worrying that your home will look empty.