Some backyards look gorgeous from the kitchen window and then immediately become useless the second actual humans try to use them. Oh yes, you know the type. It’s very Martha Stewart, very House Beautiful, Homes & Gardens, Southern Living, Livingetc, all that lovely magazine-worthy energy where everything looks calm, tasteful, well, picture-perfect life. You got the gorgeous outdoor furniture and cushions that don’t have pollen or dirt on them, a modern-looking pond that even has lilies and koi fish, and again, it’s definitely show garden worthy.
And of course, those gardens are beautiful. But even so, you still need to keep in mind here that there’s a big difference between a backyard that photographs well and a backyard that people actually want to spend time in. Just like a home, the inside. You can have a gorgeous home, and it may not be all that easy to live in. The same logic can indeed be applied outside, too, in the garden.
So, how can you create that balance, though? Something that’s gorgeous and stylish, yet still safe enough to be outside in, so you and your family can actually enjoy it?
Pretty Shouldn’t Mean Precious
Well, to start off here, a backyard shouldn’t feel like a museum exhibit with grass. It’s still part of the home, which means people should be able to walk through it, sit down, eat something, move chairs around, let kids play, or bring a drink outside without feeling like they’re ruining the whole composition.
Some gardens end up so carefully styled that they become weirdly intimidating. Well, maybe not for you since you designed it, but it can potentially be that way for your guest, though. Like the chairs look good but aren’t comfortable (this happens more than you think), or garden beds everywhere to the point you can’t do anything outside, or cute little paths that are honestly useless. You just don’t want that whole “please admire from a distance” because this isn’t a museum, this isn’t a botanical garden, this is a home, and it should operate like that.
The Layout has to Match How Your Life Works
The layout, the plants, all of it. Yes, you should have a gorgeous garden; you owe it to yourself. Plus, the Willow River team can help with that. They can help create that balance for you. But you personally (with or without a professional team) need to be realistic here.
If you’re wanting to be outside with your family, if you have a dog or a cat you want in the backyard, if you want to barbecue, host, or whatever else, then you need to understand right now that it does come with sacrifice. Not so much of “one or the other” but you can’t have it all, that’s the best way to put it.
Are You Willing to Deal with Sacrifices?
Maybe that’s a little overkill calling it that. But are you willing to just accept that you can’t have everything in the garden the exact way you want it, if that also means that you want the family to also do things outside? Again, you can have something beautiful and stylish, but it’s a garden in your home, and it deserves to be used and lived in, too.
Top photo: Image Credit