Lazy days in the sun. Freshly cut grass beneath your feet. Barbeques with friends and family. Your backyard can be a magical place, especially in summer. But while it’s an extension of your home, so many Australians never realise their garden’s potential—and it only takes a little extra care and attention to fulfil it.
To help you get started, here are our top five backyard landscaping ideas to try this summer, curated by External Landscaping Services’ expert team. Keep an open mind—and the possibilities are endless.
Make water a feature
Swimming pools are an obvious choice if you want to enjoy the hot summer sun without leaving your property, but if you lack the space or finances to do that, a smaller water feature can provide peace and serenity at an affordable price.
Often taken for granted, it’s easy to forget the benefits water can add to your garden, both aesthetically and for nature. And for those who need to conserve water, many of today’s water features efficiently recycle water rather than consuming it outright—offering a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution.
If you’ve dedicated yourself to tending flowers or veggies, a garden thriving with nature can bring your property to life—but it needs water to reach its full potential. A simple pond is enough to begin attracting beneficial wildlife, and birdbaths can be a great addition too. For more design-driven ideas, water walls are becoming a popular modern solution, especially for those with limited space.
Upgrade your social space
To create the ultimate summer backyard, you need a comfortable space to hang out with friends, where the kids can run around, and the grandparents can sit and relax. There are a few elements to consider to take your social space to the next level.
The first (and most obvious) choice is to create an outdoor kitchen area, complete with a barbeque, comfortable seating, and perhaps a small bar. You can separate this area off by building a small pergola above, which offers shade and creates a visually attractive feature for your backyard.
To make that space your own, consider installing decking, which offers plenty of aesthetic appeals, can be enjoyed year-round, and requires little maintenance. An alternative to decking could be to install artificial turf—a great option for year-round vibrancy, durability in the harsh Australian summer, and saving on water consumption.
Use pathways to your advantage
When designed and installed correctly, pathways and walkways can add more value and character to your garden than their functional purpose suggests—helping plan your space by framing your backyard into separate areas.
Using pathways to separate your yard makes it easier to manage the different areas of your property, so you can maximize space use while keeping your garden looking organized and attractive. A hardy stone, slab, or gravel pathway will also protect your lawns and flowerbeds from being trampled or dug up, and need little maintenance aside from the occasional clean. Add outdoor lighting along the side, and your pathways can become a beautiful centrepiece for your summer evening hangouts.
An often less considered benefit is that opting for a large paving area can help you cut down your backyard water use—and therefore your water bills. Another reason a well-planned pathway can be a great investment that adds value to your property.
Create privacy using vertical space
Clients often come to us looking to create a beautiful space that also increases their privacy—especially if their property is close to their neighbours, or if they live in an urban area where space is at a premium.
Consider gardening vertically or introducing topiaries. Living walls, green screens, and hanging gardens are becoming increasingly popular as more people move to towns and cities. Trellis fences for climbers vertically arranged baskets and pots or using the ever-versatile wooden pallet as an upright planter system—finding a style that suits you should be fun and easy.
If you have more space to play with, topiaries and privacy hedges can offer unrivalled natural enclosure, while filling your back yard with lush greenery—and you can buy them fully grown and trimmed if you need a quick solution.
Go green and grow your own veg
Sustainability is top of mind for many Perth homeowners, with more and more families becoming conscious of where their food comes from, and how they can reduce their household waste. If that resonates, then you’ve probably considered growing your own veg—and there are some fantastic backyard landscape options that make this possible, year-round, regardless of your property size or budget.
If you’re short on space, or much of your yard is taken up by lawn or patio, then planter boxes offer a great space-saving solution. Raised off the ground, you can utilize your existing yard to grow seasonal veg, without making drastic or expensive changes to your property.
Alternatively, installing a small greenhouse can expand the variety of food you’re able to grow. Tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum peppers, and zucchini all grow well in the summer months, while broccoli or spinach prefer the cooler climate of spring and autumn.
Growing an eclectic mix of vegetables—whether in a veg patch, planter box, or greenhouse—can bring a splash of colour to your natural space as you sit down to enjoy a summer salad you’ve grown yourself. What could be better?
Maximise your backyard with our simple solutions
Your backyard can be as personal as your bedroom—and as social as your living room. With so much untapped potential, taking the time to plan your summer backyard landscaping routine can take your outdoor living area to the next level.
From decking and paving to lawns, irrigation, and property maintenance, our team at Externals Landscape Services are proud to be Perth’s leading landscaping experts and are highly experienced in helping homeowners and Strata property owners fulfil their backyard potential.
If you’re thinking about maximising your most important investment this summer, contact us today and see how we can turn your garden into your favourite place in the house.