Farmhouse landscaping ideas
Farmhouses are a traditional symbol of Americana, sometimes with a rustic, charming, and timeless aesthetic. A variety of farmhouse landscaping ideas can bring that simple beauty and useful practicality to any yard. Even if your home isn't technically a farmhouse design, you can use these design elements to spice up your landscape, as none of these farmhouse landscaping ideas have to be exclusive to a particular theme.
1. Mellow Shades of Flowers
In a traditional farmhouse landscape, plants emphasize the home and bring softness to harsh, rustic design elements. Following the traditional theme, farmhouse landscapes are often filled with soft, somewhat subdued hues of purples, blues, reds, and pinks. These muted colors keep the plants from distracting too much from the modest, somewhat utilitarian feel of the farmhouse.
2. Plant a Vegetable and Herb Garden
Herb and vegetable gardens are a must, with the idea that a farmhouse should have a practical and "utilitarian" aesthetic design. Often located unabashedly in the sideyard or in full view, the herb and vegetable garden is a hallmark of practicality and farmhouse design.
3. Borrow the View
Farms have an open, natural feel, free from the constraints of urban life, with large tracts of land in the countryside. To create a uniform look and feel, plan a landscape that emphasizes natural land features and highlights large, stately specimen trees. Create lush border gardens around your home's perimeter, paths, and landscaping to soften harsh views.
4. Keep It Natural
Rubber, plastic, and other man-made materials may be easier to work with and cheaper to buy and install, but farmhouse siding is all about natural materials. Instead, use wood, rock, and rustic metals where necessary. Likewise, instead of plastic edging materials, opt for more natural materials or forgo the border altogether, breaking up hard borders and softening the lines.
5. Fuller Border Gardens
Farmhouse landscaping often consists of thick, full-border plantings, with very little soil or mulch visible. Farmhouse design is all about a functional and practical look that doesn't sit well with a lot of time-intensive mulching and trimming. Instead, fill garden beds to the edge, allow plants to grow together naturally, cover bare ground, and shade out weeds.
6. Embrace the natural look
Like full plantings, farmhouse design allows plants to grow naturally without excessive trimming or shaping. Rather than the prim, geometric shapes of formal gardens, allow farmhouse gardens to grow naturally while mixing up textures and choosing the right-sized plants for appropriate spaces.
7. Keep it simple
Farmhouses are all about simplicity, efficiency, and no fuss. Who has time for meticulous landscapes when you're working from sun up to sun down? To use the ethos of a traditional farmhouse, keep your landscape uncluttered and uncluttered. A simple garden bench works like a full patio set and while the botanical diversity is attractive, it requires extra work to maintain and draws too much attention, countering the humble feel of a classic farmhouse.
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