10 DIY Back Yard Landscaping Ideas & Trends You Can Build Today (With Pictures)
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Ed Malaker
- Last updated:
Improving your backyard can be a great way to enhance the look of your entire home while making it more comfortable. Many of the most popular current decorating trends are well suited as DIY projects, so you can complete them at your leisure and often for less money. If you would like to improve the landscape in your backyard but aren’t sure where to start, keep reading as we look at several projects that can help get your creativity flowing.
The 10 DIY Backyard Landscaping Ideas
1. DIY Cardinal Birdhouse
| Materials: | Wood, glue |
| Tools: | Saw |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
The DIY cardinal birdhouse is a fantastic first project for any beginner woodworker. This project is easy to build and the instructions easy to follow. Improve your backyard landscape by populating it with attractive wildlife that will return year after year once they get established.
2. Grill Gazebo
| Materials: | Wood, glue |
| Tools: | Saw |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
The grill gazebo is an easy-to-build project. It’s attractive and can help protect your grill from bad weather. It will also make it more pleasant to use by providing shade.
Find a brick and stone specialist in your area, and get free, no-commitment estimates for your project.Consult a landscaping expert
3. Raised Garden Bed
| Materials: | Wood, nails |
| Tools: | Drill, saw |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This raised garden bed is a great project that can improve your backyard landscape by providing a fantastic space for growing. Raised gardens have several advantages. First, it’s easier to keep out pests and easier to maintain because you don’t need to reach down so far to pull out weeds. Second, you can change the soil to suit the plants that you’re growing. This project is useful and easy to build and doesn’t cost much money.
4. Mulch and Stone Walkway
| Materials: | Mulch, stone |
| Tools: | Rake, shovel, gloves |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
A great way to improve your landscape is to create a mulch and stone walkway that is functional and attractive. This project walks you through the creation of the walkway with easy-to-follow instructions. It aims to minimize cost, so there are many ways to customize it and make it unique. That said, it does take a significant amount of manual labor to complete.
5. DIY Modern Pergola
| Materials: | Wood, nails, stain |
| Tools: | Drill, saw, measuring tape |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
This DIY modern pergola is a great example of the modern backyard landscaping trend to do it your way. It’s great for vertical gardening and adds lighting so you can spend more time outside after dark. It’s fairly easy to build with standard tools, but it’s quite large, so it’s best suited to someone with a little experience.
Ornate
6. Mailbox Flower Bed
| Materials: | Rocks, mulch |
| Tools: | Shovel |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
If your mailbox is in your yard, you can build a mailbox flower bed to help improve your landscape. Flower beds are attractive and easy to build and help attract butterflies, bees, and birds, which can help enhance the appearance of your yard. This project is highly customizable, and you can use stones that you purchase or find.
7. DIY Fire Pit
| Materials: | Gravel, concrete, pavers |
| Tools: | Mallet, shovel, rake |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
This DIY fire pit is an easy-to-follow project that results in a working fire pit that will last for many years. The instructions are clear, so you can follow along even if you’ve never built a fire pit before, but quite a few steps take a bit of elbow grease.
- See Also: 23 DIY Fire Pit Plans You Can Make Today
8. Wishing Well
| Materials: | Wood, nails, glue |
| Tools: | Drill, hammer, saw |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
A wishing well is a fun project to build, and it only takes a few materials and basic tools. Some of the angled cuts might be hard for a beginner, but almost anyone should be able to complete it if they take their time, as the instructions are easy to follow. The finished product looks fantastic in any yard, and it’s quite versatile because you can use it as a planter.
9. Arched Garden Bridge
| Materials: | Wood, nails, glue |
| Tools: | Drill, hammer, saw |
| Difficulty: | Advanced |
An arched garden bridge is a fantastic example of the modern trend to add something ornate to the landscape. This bridge will look great in any yard and makes a fantastic conversation piece. There are a few angled cuts and quite a bit of cutting and hammering. However, if you are patient and pay attention to the details, you can complete the bridge in a few days.
10. Decorative Fire Pit
| Materials: | Stone sand, spray paint |
| Tools: | Shovel, rake |
| Difficulty: | Advanced |
This decorative fire pit creates an entire space, with seating, lighting, and even potted plants. It’s an advanced project, but you can get it finished in a few days if you have experience working with stone.
Backyard Landscaping Trends
Do It Your Way
One of the most popular current trends is not following any trends and doing it your own way instead. Many people choose their improvement based on their needs instead of current fads, so there is no real push toward any one design or item.
Ornate
Though most people may not be worried about current trends, they still want to put ornate items in their yard, which can be considered a trend. For many people, the more ornate it is, the better!
Summary
The biggest current trend is ignoring trends and choosing something useful or decorative. Many of the options in the Do It Your Way section are easier to build and more useful than cosmetic, while the Ornate section has complicated projects that will get your neighbors talking. Our favorites are the raised garden bed and the decorative fire pit.
Featured Image Credit: Andrey tiyk, Shutterstock
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