Whether you are thinking about adding a deck to your Northern Virginia landscape or you already have one, you might be considering the landscape design around a deck.
What are some ways that you can add landscaping to this area to get the most out of it?
Like a patio area, landscaping around a deck will not only make your space more aesthetically pleasing but can serve functional purposes, too. Ultimately, you want to make wise choices that will benefit your space in many ways.
How to Landscape Around a Deck
As you get started, spend a little bit of time thinking about your goals for your outdoor space as this will help guide your choices.
Here are a few ideas for landscaping around a deck to help your brainstorming.
1. Consider Trees and Tall Shrubs If You are Looking for Shade or Privacy
As we mentioned, some of the goals of landscaping around a deck might be functional. You’re not just trying to make the space more appealing from a looks stand-point, but you want it to be more usable, too.
If your deck is in the heat of the sun, you might be looking for ideas to create shade.
Trees around a deck could be one possibility (though you do obviously have to wait for them to mature). Certain trees, like Cryptomeria, for example, are pretty fast-growing and can do a really good job blocking the sun when strategically placed.
An evergreen like Cryptomeria can also be a good choice in creating privacy. If one of your big goals for the landscape design around a deck is to create privacy, then you’ll want to think about trees and shrubs that are dense and form something like a “wall” around your space.
Trees around a deck can also help to block some wind.
The European Hornbeam, for instance, has the ability to serve as a great screen as well as a wonderful windbreak tree. If you are looking to gain some additional privacy, then this makes a great choice.
Thanks to its dense nature, it can also deflect some wind so that you can enjoy your deck on a windy day.
2. Avoid Messy Trees and Shrubs Immediately Over your Deck
Trees that are constantly dropping flowers, fruit, or other debris might not make the best choice if they are planted too close to your deck. That’s because you might find yourself frequently sweeping up.
Of course, there are a lot of people who really love a tree like the Crape Myrtle, which is naturally a messy tree. It all comes down to where it’s installed.
If it’s far enough from the deck where petals won’t constantly end up there, but close enough for you to look at (and enjoy), it can serve a valuable purpose.
3. Consider the Seasonality of the Plants Around Your Deck
Another important consideration with the landscape design around a deck is its seasonality. You don’t want to go so heavy on annuals that you have no landscaping once they die off.
Instead, make sure that your design mixes in plenty of evergreen choices that will give you some year-round color even when those colorful annuals do die. And remember that there are often spring, summer, and fall flower choices that can be filled in so that you do have color at different times of the year.
There are also plenty of perennial plants that offer color and interest for a much longer period of time.
Chances are, you want to enjoy your deck for as much of the year as possible. You want to make sure that your landscape design takes the same approach.
4. Incorporate Rocks into Your Landscape Design Around a Deck
There’s an inclination to always think about plants when thinking about landscaping, which makes perfect sense. But rocks and boulders can also be a valuable landscape addition and have the added benefit of not requiring any care!
Boulders and rocks won’t die if they aren’t watered regularly yet they’ll still provide you quite a bit of visual interest. They also do a great job of filling in space in the plant beds around your deck so that every inch doesn’t necessarily have to be filled with plants.
If you’re looking for a low-maintenance landscape, then various rocks can be great choices to keep on your radar.
Get the Most Out of Landscaping Around a Deck
At the end of the day, all of this boils down to maximizing your deck space with the best possible landscaping choices.
This is true from both an aesthetics and a functional point of view. You want to make wise choices that help you to enjoy time outside to the fullest.
That’s why it’s so important to choose a landscaper in Northern Virginia who has lots of ideas (not only ideas for landscaping around a deck, but for your property as a whole). That is, a landscaper that can help create a custom design that is perfect for your individual space.
The last thing that you want is a cookie-cutter solution for the landscaping around your deck. You want something that is truly designed FOR YOU…and your specific wants and needs. That means a landscaper that will think outside of the box instead of creating the same design again and again.
At Rock Water Farm, we can help walk you through a bunch of different ideas for landscaping around a deck so that you can find the ones that work best for you. Or perhaps you already have a bunch of your own ideas. We love helping to bring homeowners’ landscaping ideas from the dream stage to reality.
At the end of the day, we know that you are investing a lot into your space and you want every single element, all the way down to the landscape, to be just right. That’s why we are here to help.
Are you ready to have a property that you are proud of at your Haymarket, Gainesville, or Bristow, VA home? If so, talk to an expert, choose a solution that rocks, and get ready to see your dreams begin to take shape!
