How to Design Your Backyard

Use this how-to to design everything from a solar lighting plan, to a full backyard overhaul.

A well designed and executed backyard is easy to spot. Everything is in a perfect place, the lights highlight the best features, and everything flows together. Have you ever wondered what it takes to have a yard like that? Wonder no more, it's actually very easy.

A proper backyard design will incorporate as many elements as you want it to. This method can be used for something as small as installing new lights or for heavy-duty, full yard makeovers. This technique works very well for backyard design because there isn't the need for minute measurements, like there is indoors. That doesn't mean that you couldn't use it for the interior, but be very precise in all of your measurements.

For the sake of keeping this how-to fairly short, we are going to go through the steps of designing a plan for a new solar lighting system. For everything else that you may want to install in your yard, follow the same steps. Draw grass, trees, umbrellas, or whatever else you may have in mind.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper
• Copy Machine
• Friend

Instructions

1. Draw a "blueprint" of your backyard. This isn't as daunting as it sounds. The amount of precision and detail depends on the type of work you want to do. For our solar lights it can be a rough sketch with all of the yard's major features (patio, deck, raised garden, shed, etc.). For larger jobs, lawns or watering systems, it should at least be to scale. Feel free to outsource this job to your artistic kids, friends, or anyone.

2. Make at least ten copies of the blueprint. This is the crucial step. If you only make one copy, you're limiting yourself to one option for your backyard design.

3. Create ten plans. Not all of these plans have to be well thought out. The act of drawing on your copies will get the creative juices flowing, and allow you to see what your yard is going to look like before you actually do it.

   For our solar lights, we need to determine which parts of the yard are sunniest and shadiest, what the range of light is for each lamp, and which features our backyard has that we would like to highlight. For each lamp, draw a circle on your blueprint to show a rough estimate of its range. The lights should be far enough apart so they don't shine on each other, but close enough that they look like they are supposed to be there. If there is a special tree or statue in your yard that you feel needs some attention, draw a light that will shine on it. If you have the quantity of lights that you want in mind, take the time to draw them rearranged in different patterns throughout your backyard.

   Repeat this process for all of your copies. It's important not to overthink this, your creativity will flow from your open mind. If you're stuck, move to the next drawing.

4. Review your drawings. Narrow your designs down to your three or four favorites that look great and will fit in your budget. With these in hand, visit a friend or coworker and ask them for feedback. Their "fresh eyes" may see things that you overlooked or spark a totally new idea. With their help, narrow your choices down to the final one.

5. Go shopping! Now that you know exactly what you need and how many of each, the guesswork of shopping is done. All it takes is a quick trip to the store to get what you need and you will be enjoying your new solar lights in no time at all!