It’s hard to come across great backyard landscaping ideas for a small-sized yard. It’s always nice when I can walk into a backyard, and there is ample amount of space for a landscaping proposal, but that’s not always the case.

I have come across many clients who have a small backyard but feel very limited in their options. Often times, they have no landscaping ideas for their small space and feel that their dreams of outdoor living is non-existent.

On the contrary. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

It’s challenging – I’m not going to lie – but as a landscape design expert with academic training and years of experience, I feel confident enough to go over 5 tips with you should keep in mind when you’re trying to design easy landscaping ideas for your small Calgary yard.

Idea #1: Choose your destination and make it cozy!

In Calgary landscape design, one concept I’ve always stressed is the importance of choosing your destination points. These points are often categorized as either cooking, dining, lounging, or play.

In a small backyard space, it may be difficult to fit all of them in so you may have to choose just one.

Ask yourself: above all else, what do you like to do outdoors? It could be as simple prioritizing an open green space because you value giving your kids the ability to run around. Perhaps you just need a small space for the occasional weekend fire pit party. Whatever the case, you need to choose a limited number of destination points and get ready to make it your cozy nook.

By bringing a private intimate feel to your small backyard landscaping design, you create an escape for yourself from the daily rat-race. This makes that destination point so much more meaningful. You’ve now connected an emotion to your little alcove.

Tip #2: Think vertically when it comes to small backyard landscaping.

Many people often look at Calgary landscaping in a horizontal plane or axis. Think about it. If you had ample space in your backyard, you would say something like: “Patio here, garden beds on the left, grass on the right,” and so on and so forth.

You are thinking about landscape design in a horizontal manner – there is nothing wrong with that, I do the same. But when you’re dealing with smaller spaces, the horizontality of the space can be somewhat limited. Therefore, we have to start thinking outside the box and look at the space on a vertical axis.

Softscaping

Columnar trees are best. Swedish Columnar Aspens, and if you’re wanting a year-round coniferous option, Columnar Blue Spruce is a great choice. In terms of shrubs, I always recommend Karl Foerster Grass because they are very hardy, look wonderful year round, and are columnar.

Hardscaping

Landscaping structures like pergolas, privacy screens and arbour scan do wonders for your yard. The main thing they do is draw your eyes up, and anytime your eye links the landscape with the sky, it’s a wonderful feeling. Trust me, look at the sky next time you’re looking at a beautifully done landscape, it invokes an internal emotion.

Tip #3: Choose a focal point: Hardscape or Softscape

You have to make a decision. Do you want more hardscaping or more softscaping in your backyard?

Sure, technically you can do both, but (depending on size) ultimately one will dominate the space. Your destination point will dictate that answer.

For example, if you want a lounging area, chances are that you are going to have a deck or a patio dominate the space. As the rule of thumb goes: 12’ x 12’ for comfortable seating whether it’s cooking, dining or lounging around a fire pit.

Conversely, if your destination point is to play, you have to decide if you want your kids being able to play sports (which sport?), or if you’re investing in a play structure. This will dictate the overall soft landscaping required in your small backyard.

Make a choice, stick by it. That destination point – hardscape or softscape – is the focal point in your small backyard landscaping design.

Tip #4: Form follows function

All design fields, both interior and exterior, have always adhered to a famous concept propounded by American architect Louis Sullivan. He said that projects should first intend the function of the space, then let the form follow from it.

You need to know what you’re designing before you begin to put forms to it, whether they’re rectilinear or curvilinear. Spacing and scale becomes paramount, and even more so when trying to propose a landscape design for small spaces because the room for error is so little.

This ties into our first tip: your destination point. Understand what you need the space for, then allow that to determine what size you’ll need it to be.

Once you establish the type (dining?) and size (12’ x 12’?) of that destination, you can begin to form it according to your taste in conjunction with the overall space you have to work with. Some like the rectilinear shape while others prefer the curvilinear shape.

I personally look at the lay of the land, the existing form of the house and allow those elements to form my form (no pun intended!).

Tip #5: Color and texture

So, you know you want a patio space as a dominant destination point in your small backyard. You also know you need ample space to entertain your friends on a Saturday night around the fire pit.

You’ve measured things out and realize you have the space for it, and have created a beautiful form that compliments the house for your space.

All done right? Wrong.

There is one last step: selecting the right product and color that will yield particular textures to your landscape. This, in turn, can make or break the landscape design of your small backyard.

Often times, Calgary landscapers tend to go with a small handful of paving stones to sell to the client. This is for a couple reasons: one, the cost is cheap. Two, it’s easy to install.

You need to fully explore different options (and grab samples if you have to) so you can try to match the house.

As a landscape design expert in Calgary, I always encourage my clients to understand the patterns and textures that will be created with the selected products. I want them to understand the color options they clients have, and then show them how my landscape design proposal will accentuate their small backyard.

Proposing viable landscape design ideas for small backyards or small spaces isn’t difficult. It just requires a little more ‘out of the box’ thinking and finding landscaping companies in Calgary that can do this.

Give Tazscapes a call and see if we can design your small yard into your own personal oasis!

As a trained landscape designer, I regularly visit home-owners to help them with Calgary backyard landscaping ideas.

I’m often amazed that the first thing they do is take me to their space and begin complaining about what they have to work with.

However, where people see constraints, I see opportunity. It’s just how I was trained!

Here are my top five tips to home-owners who want to know how to propose landscaping ideas for backyards:

Tip #1: Know and understand your lifestyle

Not everyone needs a fire pit. That’s just an example, but it’s one that stands out at me among the thousands of home-owners I’ve met. Everyone says they want a fire pit, or rather, everyone feels like they need a fire pit.

Don’t get me wrong, fire pits are great. Along with proper lighting and water fixtures, the addition of a fire feature can take your backyard to another level. Their ability to hit key emotional triggers make them perfect for a cozy space.

However, you should not be spending thousands of dollars for a yard that has no use in your everyday life.

Many Calgary landscaping companies (not all) tend to do the same cookie cutter tactics in every backyard they enter. Why? Because it’s easy.

Their crews know it, the product is readily available and they can get it done with their eyes closed. On top of that, they charge you the same as someone who proposes a more intricate project.

I can’t tell you how many landscaping contractors in Calgary will propose a 12’ diameter circle paving stone kit with a central stack-stone fire pit.

Don’t get me wrong. This is something I too have proposed in the past. However, only when I deem it necessary for the particular yard, as per the client’s lifestyle.

Simply put, you have to propose a landscape design for your yard so it will be a useable space for you, your family and your friends.

Questions you should be asking yourself first and foremost are:

How many people will we entertain?
What will we be doing out here?
What time of day are we most likely going to be out here?
Do we have children? Pets?
How much time are we spending outdoors?
Is this for mostly Weekdays? Or weekends?
Who is going to maintain this yard for years to come, so our money isn’t wasted?

By understanding your lifestyle first, you can then move on to the next step of actually come up with landscaping ideas for your backyard!

Tip #2: Mark your destination points

One of the worst things you can do is have Joe Blow landscaping company design your backyard for you. Do yourself a big service and hire a professional landscape design company in Calgary. This is worth the investment – you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches later, trust me.

A destination point is where you or your family will be engaging with your landscape. I tend to lean toward the three most common points of interest: cooking, dining, and lounging.

Know your destination points. This will give you a great framework to work with when trying to figure out different ideas for your backyard landscaping. This may also open doors for you to look into landscaping features such as outdoor kitchens, privacy screens, fireplaces, and water features.

Tip #3: Mark your transition points

Once you have your destination points marked, i.e. What you want and where you want them placed in your backyard, you need to tie them with one another.

One thing I often see landscape contractors do is “plop” things anywhere in the yard without understanding proper circulation patterns.

There needs to be a flow in the yard. How do you get from one place to the next? Does it make sense to place the outdoor kitchen 20 feet away from the back door so you can’t conveniently get to your barbecue in the winter, for example? Understanding proper circulation patterns will allow you to tie in your destination points, thus giving your transition points a very experiential tone.

Choice of plant material becomes essential as well here. Colour schemes and scales also play a big part. Also, considering the selection of ground-cover and borders to outline those transitional spaces is important.

Tip #4: Inside to outside

I always like to pay attention to the details of each client’s home, in particular, newly-built homes. This is because more often than not, the home-owners have selected the colour schemes and textural patterns themselves.

For example, a very contemporary style house with contemporary style furniture tells me that my clients will love the contemporary/modern landscaping ideas for their backyard.

Essentially bringing what they have inside their home to the outside is ideal. Why? Two reasons: one, because it’s a style I know they will love. Two, because the outside of the house should flow with the inside of the house as well. This will make it a much more beautiful, comprehensive landscape design.

Tip #5: Seek advice from a Calgary backyard landscaping professional.

When coming up with landscaping ideas for backyards, you can certainly try to sketch up what you are thinking. Alternatively, as most people end up doing, you can check out inspirational landscaping company websites, like Houzz for ideas.

This is alright to do as a secondary resource, but I often tell my clients to keep one thing in mind: every yard is different.

Every home-owner needs custom planning as it relates to their particular yard. The grades, the size, and sun and wind exposure all differ within just one quadrant in Calgary.

Hence, hiring a professional landscape design company in Calgary that has a trained landscape designer can add real value.

Often, home-owners will go through the flyers they get in the mail and call 3-5 landscaping companies asking for a “quote” or “estimate.” What you have to realize, however, that the money you’re spending on your yard today can make or break the value of your most significant investment: your home.

Thus, seeking professional landscaping consultation from a professional landscaping design company in Calgary will open your eyes to a variety of possibilities that can bolster and accentuate your property.