Building an elegant home takes the skilled touch of a team of architects, builders, interior designers, engineers, and landscape architects. For many people, it’s very often the project of a lifetime. While the main emphasis is the home, just as much attention should be paid to the landscape. When the landscape is expertly combined with the home, it creates a true masterpiece and an amazing place to live. The first step is inspiration. Here are six landscape architecture ideas to create an elegant backyard in the East Hampton, NY area.
Related: 14 LANDSCAPING IDEAS TO CREATE A RELAXING OUTDOOR RETREAT AT YOUR SMITHTOWN AND GLEN COVE, NY HOME
Garden Walkways
A large elegant landscape will be made up of multiple different spaces of use, such as a swimming pool area, an outdoor kitchen, a fire pit lounge area, and personalized touches such as a meditation nook or reflecting pool. In between each of these spaces, your walkways offer a wonderful opportunity for adding beauty and function. Their materials and shape will often dictate the pace at which people move through the landscape. Add carefully curated plantings alongside each walkway to integrate it into your design.
Sun-Drenched Pergola
There are plenty of ways to relax outdoors, but few know how to do it better than those living near the sunny Mediterranean. Taking full advantage of the summer sun is a joy of life, but of course shade is where it’s at. A pergola is an elegant structure that disperses sunlight, greatly enhancing your enjoyment of a sunny patio. Pergolas are simple structures, but they bring a timeless appeal to a space. You can customize a pergola with outdoor curtains, a nearby water feature, or even carefully maintained vines. The pergola area will become one of your favorite places to relax and entertain.
Amphitheater Terracing
Most commonly associated with public spaces, the amphitheater is a wonderful place that draws the eye to a focal point. When you’re working with different levels of your landscape, flat land is at a premium. Terracing your landscape is a wonderful way to transform a hillside into usable space and few design styles are more elegant than the amphitheater, especially when it comes to gardens or socializing spaces. A central fire pit or fountain will make this an incredible focal point for outdoor living.
Slow Reveals
The spaces around your front and back doors are opportunities to instill awe. As your guests enter your outdoor spaces, a slow reveal of a landscape helps to build suspense. You could intentionally yet tastefully obscure the view of certain parts of the landscape with plants, a curved walkway, or other landscape features so that as your guests enter the outdoor living space, it’s like unboxing a gift. If your backyard is blessed with a view, a slow reveal makes it even more stunning.
Moving Water
The presence of moving water is a wonderful way to create a relaxing and immersive environment. Whether it's the impressive roar of a waterfall or the gentle trickle of a bubbling fountain, the sounds and visuals of water will soothe the soul. Add water features where it fits the mood, such as a series of small fountains around the garden space or a waterfall near the back patio. Water features are infinitely customizable in terms of design and size - they can be little hidden jewels, or dramatic focal points, as you like.
Infrastructure for Increased Comfort
Outdoor living spaces need various infrastructure such as outdoor lighting, water lines, electrical wiring, gas lines, outdoor audio, and even wireless internet. Embedding this infrastructure during the renovation phase is a wonderful design consideration that makes everything seem just a little bit more magical once the landscape is completed.
Related: CREATE AN INSPIRING OUTDOOR SPACE WITH THESE LANDSCAPING IDEAS IN SOUTHAMPTON AND PORT JEFFERSON, NY