Landscaping ideas New England landscaping can be tricky because of the rough terrain and the area’s ever-changing weather conditions. The weather conditions can range from extremely hot during summers to dangerously frigid in the heart of winter.
These wide ranges in temperatures can make it difficult or stressful for plants to grow correctly, limiting landscaping options; however, it isn’t completely undoable. You can create a perfect landscape design by combining some of the ideas below.
Contents
Different Landscaping Ideas for New England Properties
1. Build a Simple Porch
There’s beauty in simplicity. Is that how the saying goes? Whether or not it’s what people say, it’s true. Minimalistic designs turn out great, especially when other things around complement them.
The porch design should be simple, with a few decorative additions, as such you can add things like plants, welcome mats, and a few chairs for relaxing to the porch for simplistic beauty and functionality.
– Benefits
Besides the aesthetics, adding a simple porch to your home has several advantages. For instance, the reason why patios are popular is that they would provide protection from rain and harsh sunlight.
It is an ideal spot for relaxing in the morning or having small gatherings in the evenings with friends and family. Also, options with screens can offer protection from Mosquitos and other insects.
Additionally, porches are a wise long-term investment. They are a frequently sought-after feature for many home buyers. Adding porches to your home’s landscape design will increase its appeal if you ever decide to sell it in the future.
2. Add Climbing Vines
Climbing vines can add a distinct feature to your New England home landscape. They are an excellent choice for greenery where there is limited planting space.
Grow them close to walls, fences, or an alcove to enliven the space. You can take adding climbing vines to your property a step further by selecting species that will produce flowers and attract birds, butterflies, and bees.
While climbing vines are helpful – Features to add to a landscape, they grow fast and, as a result, can be tough to control.
Some vines are stubborn and invasive and should only be considered if you’re prepared to take the necessary steps to manage them. It’s essential to keep this in mind if you want to opt for adding vines to your property.
– Variety
Some climbing vines are famous for their fragrance, while others are popular for their blooms and foliage spread. The best climbing vines produce fragrant flowers, beautifying your landscape and giving off an inviting scent.
Some examples of fragrant vines are the Japanese wisteria, sweet peas, climbing roses, and true Jasmine. Climbing vines that are popular for their blooms include; Japanese quince, winter jasmine, and downy clematis.
– Benefits
Climbing vines add to the aesthetics of any landscape in an instant that they start to establish themselves. Once they start blooming and growing in spring, they would look astonishing, however, also note that in autumn, when they degenerate they would still look very prominent.
You can use climbing vines to soften and connect features like walls, fences, and alcoves to the surrounding landscape. Also, they can offer shade, security, flowers, sweet fragrance, and edible fruits.
3. Decorate the Entrance
Sometimes framing your doorway or landing porch with decorative items can be the extra touch your landscape needs to come alive. You can use small lighting fixtures, pot flowers, and welcome mats to map out home entrances and boost their appearance. Adding these fixtures will bring some attention to your entryway.
– Benefits
Besides the fact that adding decorative – Features to your entrance boosts your landscape, it also makes your home feel more welcoming to anyone, and would even be an eye-catchy aspect to the ones passing by. Seeing a welcoming mat in front of doors or blooming flowers at the sides of the entryway feels cozy and welcoming to visitors.
4. Use Outdoor Lighting
A display of light is always a good idea for landscaping. It is a very attractive choice when homeowners popularly use outdoor lighting to their advantage when incorporating landscaping ideas in their plans.
To elaborate more, an array of lights can be strategically placed along walkways, by door posts, walls, decks, and pools to liven up the surrounding landscape, especially at night.
– Benefits
Outdoor lighting has many benefits besides livening up a landscape. Also, apart from their primary function of providing light for seeing at night, they offer a sense of security and safety.
Just as some properties are a little safer with lights all around, placed strategically, which means that they use it in a way that would enlighten the neighborhood and make it feel cozy. You can also use lighting fixtures to enhance certain features on your property. For example, pools, ponds, or gazebo areas can be showcased with lighting fixtures.
Additionally, outdoor lighting helps you enjoy your property to the fullest. You don’t have to stay indoors after dark. With the help of outdoor lighting, you can enjoy a relaxing evening outdoors in the company of family or friends.
5. Include an Outdoor Sitting Area
What’s a better way to enjoy your backyard than with a perfectly set up sitting area? An afternoon or evening of outdoor relaxation can be made possible with a well put together sitting area, where you can adjust some things, and it will be cozy.
Considering how hot it gets in New England, a sitting area with a few extra features for comfort will provide a relaxing spot for family and friends while adding structure to your backyard’s landscape. No doubt you will love to spend almost all your leisure time outdoors once you have it built in.
– Features
A sitting area is not complete without chairs, so it goes without saying that there will be chairs present. However, some extra features like fire pits and lighting can bring the whole look to the next level and also make the space more conducive for evening sit-outs. Also, you can spruce it up with flower pots and extra cushion pillows for aesthetics and comfort.
– Benefits
An outdoor sitting area will provide a space for family gatherings and relaxation. In addition, if it has a fire pit, it’s the perfect relaxation spot for periods when temperatures drop really low.
6. Use Native Plants
Plants are the go-to elements for most landscape designers. They work well in all types of landscapes, provided you have the right ones. You have plenty of options, from carpet grasses to potted plants or flower beds, plants have a way of adding a unique aesthetic to any space.
New England landscapes have rough terrain, with weather extremes that might not be great for so many plants. So, in choosing plants and grasses for your landscape, you should first consider native plants that thrive in the area.
– Variety of Choices
You can get creative with the plant type and arrangement, incorporating a combination of flowering trees and fragrant plants with varying heights that produce flowers with different colors. The combination of these native plants and trees will come together to form a stunning and welcoming view.
As a result of how rough the New England terrain is, some land grading or leveling will need to be done to improve the finished look of the landscape. Of course, this would be depending on how big the size of the land is, as this process should only take a few days, and then you can start adding shrubs and ornamental trees.
There are a – Variety of native plants that can be added to new England landscapes to improve the design. Some of them include; hydrangea, inkberry, daylilies, miscanthus, knockout roses, kousa dogwood, Hamelin grass, and butterfly bush. These plants will survive under extreme New England weather conditions, as it is the perfect place and zone for them to thrive.
– Benefits
New England native plants are an excellent choice for adding greenery to your landscape because they have naturally adapted to the region’s climate over time. When compared to non-native plants, using including native plants in your landscape instead of non-native plants can save you a lot of time, resources, and money.
Asides from the aesthetics they inevitably add to your new England landscape, growing native plants will attract some wildlife and beneficial insects to your surrounding landscape or garden. Many birds and other animals in the area are attracted to the fruits, seeds, and flowers that native plants produce.
Conclusion
As a homeowner, you’re inclined to look for designs that will make your home the most beautiful on the block. With the tips and ideas from this article, new landscaping has been made very easy, provided you can get creative and can find a way to mix various elements to make the environment come alive. Let’s look back at a few important points:
- New England weather can range from extremely cold to extremely hot weather. The weather condition and general terrain in New England can make it difficult to grow some plants for aesthetic purposes.
- Adding decorative – Features to an entryway improves the overall look of the landscape, such as some string lights, or a softer light around the porch.
- A sitting area with a fire pit can be useful during long cool nights to warm up and entertain family and guests.
- Climbing vines can be used to highlight several – Features of your New England home, and you shouldn’t have any issues growing and managing them, provided you groom them properly.
You can get the best out of your New England landscape by creatively combining some of these ideas. After reading them all, which one do you think you will incorporate with your house?
References
- https://www.greenerhorizon.com/6– Benefits-landscaping-with-native-plants/
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/north-american-plants-for-new-england-gardens&ved=2ahUKEwiDgYrt59z7AhXxQaQEHVBoDTY4HhAWegQIDBAB&usg=AOvVaw2UBEnWwMrKSXcEDYp0FEBL
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