DIY Landscape Design for Private Homes with 30 Photos

Before starting to create a landscape design for your private house on your own, ask yourself a few important questions. What do you expect from your yard? Do you need an entertainment area where you can actively spend time with family and friends? Or do you want to surround your home with a beautiful and picturesque garden with cozy corners for relaxation?

While preparing tips and ideas for yard design for you, Lanaspace has tried to consider and take into account the various needs of private homeowners. Moreover, we’ve collected here 35 photos with examples of landscape design to inspire you to arrange your garden on your own.

Where to start the landscape design of a private house on your own?

The best approach is to sketch out a rough drawing of your property. Indicate the following objects and areas schematically:

1. Contours of the house, the plot itself, and all existing structures (well, garage, barn, terrace, etc.);
2. Places where underground pipes and cables run;
3. Trees and shrubs you don’t intend to remove;
4. Sunny and shaded areas (you can mark with different colors, for example, yellow and gray);
5. Problem areas, if any (with poor drainage, soil erosion, stones, increased humidity, burrows of garden pests, etc.).

As you record all this information in your project, you’ll begin to have a clear idea of what you need to do to design your yard and garden.

So, after you’ve marked all the areas listed above, you’ll understand where to designate a relaxation area and where to plant certain plants. Because all plants have their own preferences in terms of light, shade, and daily water consumption. By clearly knowing your site and your preferences in landscape design, you’ll be able to choose perfectly suitable plants that will easily take root.

The next step is to mark on the project the places you want to allocate for plants and all other decorative elements: paths, relaxation areas, alpine slide, etc.

Create a beautiful yard landscape on your own

Further in this article, you will find interesting ideas for planning and landscape design of a private house yard on your own.

1. The main secret in landscape design of a private house – contrasts

Creating contrasts is one of the simplest ways to succeed in landscaping. Every experienced designer knows that plants in the garden make a bigger impact when planted together. Even lush shrubs typically look better in groups of 3 or 5. By planting plants of different heights, colors, and textures in one place, you make them complement each other. But when grouping plants in your plot, remember that plants and flowers in each group should have the same needs for sunlight, soil quality, and watering.

If you don’t plan to turn your private house yard into a lush garden that requires care, consider a combination of different materials in the landscape. For example, in a yard design with a neat lawn, you can add a section with bright mulch (gravel) or a pile of stones (pebbles, gravel). Gravel is available in various shades today that can beautifully harmonize with the color of the facade and other exterior elements, and it’s much cheaper than stone.

2. Curved Lines in a Private Home’s Landscape

Most landscape designers today are not fans of strict rectangular flowerbeds and straight garden paths. On the contrary, winding lines are one of the surefire ways to make a yard’s landscape look natural, letting you enjoy its natural beauty.

3. Add an Alpine Hill or Another “Island” to Your Lawn

Here’s an idea for those with a small yard or who just don’t want to fill their garden with numerous plants! Add a rockery, alpine hill, or just a small “island” of lush plants or shrubs to your lawn, and your landscape design will become much more interesting and sophisticated.

Also read: DIY Alpine hill – step by step with photos

4. DIY Flowerbeds and Plant Containers

Nothing in landscape design brings as much pleasure as an element of mystery. And you’ll be especially delighted that such an element is easy to add to a private home’s landscape on your own. All you need are old items that you can use as garden vases or plant containers. Check out the photos below: these simple ideas make you ponder the past and inspire dreamy fantasies.

5. Use Garden Lights

A small yard can magically transform at night if you add garden lights. You can place them along garden paths or under trees to shine beautifully from below, or hang lamps made by hand from bottles, jars, and other available materials. The whimsical play of light and shadow will wonderfully enhance your property!

6. Create a Cozy Relaxation Area in Your Garden

Do you often use your yard for:

• Grilling and cooking other dishes?
• Enjoying the fresh air and playing with your children?
• Evening chats around a fire?

Then you absolutely need to set up a relaxation area! Apart from garden furniture (tables, chairs, and armchairs), it should also have some shade, which can simultaneously serve as a cozy and decorative element. How about a wrought iron or wooden gazebo with climbing plants?

7. Terrace in Private Home Landscape Design

A terrace attached to the house is a popular relaxation area today that can also be a part of landscape design. For instance, consider the option in the photo below: such a brick terrace with a central fire pit can be easily crafted by hand.

8. Swimming Pool or Pond in a Private Home’s Yard

Despite all the costs and specific requirements, small water features like swimming pools and ponds are becoming more common elements of private home landscape design. Here, you can discover 6 affordable ways to create a water feature on your own.

9. Inspiring DIY Yard Landscape

Are you among those who find nature a significant source of inspiration? Do you want to use your garden for solitude, relaxation, and meditation? Then, when crafting your landscape design by hand, make sure to include secluded spots in your yard surrounded by tall and medium lush plants. Unlike gazebos and awnings that separate you from the environment, a couple of chairs or a lone bench amidst greenery will allow you to merge with nature. For a complete effect, you can place statues, large stones, water features, bird feeders, etc., in the garden.

10. Divider Elements as Key Landscape Decor

Another idea for a private home’s yard landscape design that you can realize by hand is setting up low fences and other visual dividers, giving the yard an interesting structure. In the role of such partitions, you can also use living fences and garden paths. Mix and match different materials to highlight the uniqueness of each area of your property – relaxation zones, playgrounds, flower plantings, vegetable gardens, etc.