Delight Guests With A Beautiful Backyard

Homeowners use their backyards for many purposes, including lounging and letting their children play. If you have a large yard and want to create a beautiful experience for your guests, here are some ideas to keep in mind.

You may already have set destinations for your walkway, such as from the house to a garage or other outdoor structure. However, Better Homes and Gardens suggests turning an underutilized yard area into a small patio. This could be a corner of the yard, an area under a tree or space against a wall.

To create this mini patio, start with the foundation. The flooring will be less structured than your main patio, so you may choose gravel or pavers. Carve out enough space with the flooring for seating. Consider adding landscaping around the patio, so it integrates with the yard.

Another destination for your meandering walkway could be a fire pit. While some fire pits are located on a patio, you could use a bonfire pit to draw visitors into another underutilized area of your yard.

A bonfire pit is essentially your classic fire ring. It can be built up above ground to provide seating or space to perch your feet. It can also be located below ground so that only the fire and its fuel are visible.

Fuel for your fire pit includes wood, propane and natural gas. Wood provides the traditional campfire appeal, but you have to locate the fire pit carefully to account for the embers. Propane is common in prefabricated fire pits. Natural gas fire pits must be attached to gas lines, but they're easy to use and maintain.

Above ground fire pits are usually constructed of natural stone, though you could opt for a concrete pit with a stone veneer. For style, you can go either finished or rustic. With a finished look, there's mortar between the stones. A rustic fire pit looks like it's been made of stacked stones.

Water fountains are ideal additions to your yard because they add the beauty of the fountain itself, the beauty of water interacting with light and the sound of water music.

A water fountain can also be the destination of a walkway, though this is more common in formal gardens. With this configuration, a straight walkway leads to a central fountain — imagine what you see in formal French gardens.

More likely, you're going to use a water fountain as a charming vista, an excuse for visitors to pause on the path and enjoy the view. In this case, you'll locate the fountain in a central part of your yard. You could place it on a paver base, surround it with gravel or let it sit on the soil. Add attractive landscaping that draws attention to the fountain.

Another option is tucking the water fountain into some of the lush landscaping that encourages visitors to stay on the meandering pathway. This creates a sense of discovery as guests round a curve and discovers the water fountain.

Use a curved pathway as the centerpiece of your backyard to draw guests to delightful destinations and vistas. Visit Carlisle Cement Products Company Inc. for the materials to build your own gorgeous backyard experience.