If you’re lucky enough to own a home with a fully or partially-enclosed courtyard garden, you may be wondering what to do with this outdoor area.
Should you turn it into an outdoor room like an outdoor kitchen or outdoor dining room? Add a timber deck? Install a water feature? In this guide from Alex Paving & Landscaping, we’ll give you some top tips and guidance for landscaping design in a courtyard.
1. Think About The Rooms Surrounding The Courtyard When Choosing Its Function
The courtyard is, essentially, an outdoor room. And when designing your courtyard, you want it to augment the other rooms of your house. For example, if it’s directly adjacent to a kitchen or dining room, it may not make a lot of sense to turn the courtyard into an outdoor area like a kitchen or dining area.
Instead, you may want to create a lounge area, or choose some other function that’s not fulfilled by a nearby room. This helps add more versatility to your home, and ensures the courtyard connects with and augments the other rooms in your house.
2. Add Verticality To The Courtyard
This is particularly important if you have a small courtyard. You can use pot plants, a vertical garden, trellises, or even an arbor or a pergola to add verticality to your courtyard – planting running vines like star jasmine that will grow toward the top of the courtyard. This can help your small space feel more open and airy since it will feel more “connected” to the sky.
3. Use Focal Points To Your Advantage
There are lots of different things that can be focal points in a courtyard entertaining space, such as a dining table, a fire pit, a water feature, large plants, retaining wall – the list goes on. Basically, a focal point is any center of activity or attention, where people and their eyes are naturally drawn when they enter a space.
Using one or more focal points to direct attention to particular areas in your courtyard helps create a more natural “flow” in your landscaping design, so work with an experienced landscaper who can help you use these focal points wisely.
4. Plant The Proper Foliage & Plants In Your Courtyard
Enclosed courtyards don’t get direct sun most of the day, since they are surrounded by walls that may shade the majority of the plants. So make sure you plant grass, flowers, vines, and other such plants that do not require full sun.
If you choose the wrong plants, they may end up looking sickly or may die, and you’ll have to dig them up and replace them.
Get Help With Your Courtyard Design – Contact Alex Paving & Landscaping
At Alex Paving & Landscaping, we help with outdoor gardens and entertaining areas of all types in Sydney. If you’re interested in redoing your courtyard, we’re here to help. Contact us online or give us a ring at 02 8044 3334 to schedule a consultation right away.