A beautifully remodeled home with a neglected outdoor area is like a cake without frosting – still “good” but missing something essential. Beyond simply improving the appearance and value of a home, well-designed landscaping adds layers of pleasure to our lifestyles – particularly here in San Diego, where we are lucky enough to be able to enjoy the outdoors nearly year-round. So, how can you enhance the outdoor area of your home?

1. Consider working with a Landscape Architect. A Registered Landscape Architect helps you achieve visual and functional unity between your home and its natural surroundings. Trained to consider both the artistic and technical aspects of landscape design, landscape architects bring a depth of knowledge and experience to your project that ensures consistency in quality with the rest of your property. If you have invested in your home’s interior, you want to be sure that the exterior does it justice. The quality and aesthetics of your landscaping should preview what a visitor will find upon entering your front door. Working with a professional, you will be able to develop a vision that can then be executed with careful planning.

2. Design for Your Lifestyle: Do you want your outdoor area to be a peaceful oasis where you will spend the majority of time alone or with a few intimate friends? Would you like an environment that is ideally suited to entertaining large parties? Do you plan to do a lot of outdoor cooking and entertaining? Is the level of maintenance important to you? These are good questions to ask yourself as you begin to visualize how you would like your landscaping designed. While your outdoor area is a critical element of your home’s value and appeal, it is ultimately a space where you and your visitors should feel comfortable and relaxed, so think about what really matters to you as you consider the design.

3. Sense and Sensibility: Landscaping requires a delicate balance of the practical and the ideal. Greenery must survive and thrive in your climate and the overall design should be planned to accommodate a  practical level of maintenance. The landscaping design should complement the exterior and interior of your home in structure and aesthetics. Optimum results will capture the essence of the relationship between you, your home and your natural surroundings.

Well-designed landscapes are living works of art that improve with age as they adapt to their environment. Be sure to give as much attention to the outdoor area of your home as you do to the interior, and consider working with a San Diego Landscape Architect to achieve your ideal vision.