You can do many things with the extra space in your backyard. You can make it your exercise spot. Or you can put out a chair and desk and work outside. But if you’re not using it, that precious space is wasted.
If you don’t know what to do with the extra yard space, you might consider landscaping it. Landscaping refers to beautifying a yard or a piece of land by adding plants, constructing a structure, and/or hardscaping (e.g. stone pathways, walls, etc.).
Landscaping can be very pricey though. It can cost around $3000 to $10,000. But the price can be worth paying if you consider what you can get out of it.
Benefits of Landscaping
Apart from more than making your yard look more attractive, landscaping also provides other benefits.
Improve Mental Health
Each backyard landscape differs in design and layout. But a typical backyard landscape will include grass, trees, flowers, bushes, and benches or lawn chairs. Some homeowners even include an outdoor fireplace.
Whatever the backyard landscape’s design will be, it will help you improve your well-being. The benches in your landscape will encourage you to stay outdoors more often. When you take breaks, you can go outside and read a book or just observe your surroundings. Regular exposure to nature can decrease stress levels and prevent repetitive negative thoughts.
A study by Robert Ulrich found that surgery patients who had a view of a tree from their hospital room had more positive thoughts and had better pain tolerance compared to patients with a brick wall view. Having a refreshing view in your home can be especially helpful during these trying times brought by the pandemic.
Improve Physical Health
You’ll have to put some effort into maintaining your flora. You can outsource maintenance tasks to a commercial lawn and landscaping care contractor. But from time to time, you’ll have to do manual labor by yourself. These tasks include sweeping the yard, trimming branches or bushes, and watering your plants. And doing these tasks several times a week will help you get regular physical exercise.
Also, plants are natural air purifiers. Extended exposure to polluted air can damage your lungs and cause respiratory and circulatory problems. Thus, having many plants in your backyard will help you purify the air you breathe and avoid the problems associated with polluted air.
Regulate Temperatures in Your Home
Having plants in the backyard will help you cool down the temperature outside your home. One study found that a landscape in a single-family house can lower its temperature by about 37.4°F. This is possible through shading, evapotranspiration, and wind channeling. Thus, if you want to spend time outside even during the summer, the plants in your backyard will help you relax and stay cool.
And if you have cooler air outside during the summer, your air-conditioning system doesn’t have to work too hard to cool the inside of your home. Having a grass lawn in your backyard is much better than an asphalt or cement floor.
Increase Your Home’s Value
Having a well-maintained landscape in your backyard can increase the value of your home. According to a study by Virginia State University, the selling price of a well-landscaped home can range from 5 5% to 12.7%. Let’s say that a property is worth $285,000. Its backyard landscape will increase its value by $15,675 to $36,195.
Thus, if you’re thinking of reselling your home after a few years, landscaping your yard as early as now will help you make your home more profitable later on. You also get to enjoy the landscape during the time of your ownership. It’s a win-win situation!
To Landscape or Not to Landscape?
Given all the benefits that a backyard landscape can provide, it’s hard not to say no to this question. The first thing you need to consider before you landscape is your budget. How much are you willing to spend on landscaping your extra yard space? Once you’ve settled on your budget, consider what you need and want in your landscape.
What plants do you want to have? What kind of bench or lawn chair set do you want in your backyard? Sketch your desired landscape layout once you’ve determined what you want to be included in it. You can also search online sites like Pinterest to get more ideas for your backyard landscape’s design and elements.
The planning and construction can take quite some time. But after everything, you’ll be able to enjoy your spruced-up backyard and take advantage of all the benefits listed above.
