Outdoor living is a big part of life here in Florida and as such, nearly everyone wants a lush, easy care oasis at home to enjoy with family and friends. Whether your yard is large or small, you can create an incredible tropical oasis with these design tips and tricks.
Layer with Green
Adding lush green landscaping foliage to your yard it the ideal foundation to set the tone of your oasis. Green conjures up feelings of calm, harmony, renewal, and freedom, while providing a cooling effect in your garden. Use all the shades of green for interest, as well as varying leaf shapes and sizes to create texture. Add low-lying ground cover, succulents, large broad leaf varieties, and shade, palm, or fruit trees to make your backyard oasis look like a natural wooded area rather than a boundary or wall. Different sizes, shapes, and heights create layers in the beautiful way mother nature does it every day.
Decorate with Color
Colorful, flowered vines add easy pops of color to all your lush greens. Native tropicals like passion flower, honeysuckle, trumpet flower, cross vine, and bougainvillea are ideal choices and thrive on all that wonderful Florida sunshine. Adding more color to your garden with wildflowers – salvia, daisies, marigolds – will provide the added bonus of attracting not only butterflies, but hummingbirds as well. To create a truly tropical feel, add orchids to your garden by hanging them from tree branches or using them in seating areas.
Add Drama with Water
Water features come in all shapes and sizes, from decorative pottery to massive waterfall walls. A water feature adds drama to any garden providing its own measure of peace and relaxation while quieting city sounds. If your space is small, consider a small fountain water feature that can be placed on a patio table. If your garden is larger, you can be a waterfall or fountain spilling into a backyard pond with fish or lilies or even a part of your backyard pool.
Tranquility with Privacy
Wherever your home – downtown loft or family home in the suburbs – you, like everyone else, craves privacy. Privacy allows you to truly wind down and destress. The landscaping in your tropical oasis can certainly help you gain a measure of privacy. From large potted trees and plants to a well-placed tree planted in a strategic position to a trellis with climbing vines and flowers, landscaping makes your outdoor oasis private – balcony, deck, or patio.
Accents for Your Oasis
Accents are the finishing touches that make your outdoor oasis complete. Consider using natural stone – limestone, key stone, river rocks to enhance your tropical oasis. Teak or other tropical wood benches also encourage the relaxed, laidback atmosphere of your oasis, but don’t forget the comfortable seating for your family and friends. The options are endless – porch swings, hammocks, cozy outdoor furniture, tables, and even a bar will help you and your oasis guests relax and unwind. Adding a few colorful containers filled with mixtures of palms, grasses, and flowers make pretty accents that are easy to care for all year long.
Now, you are well on your way to creating a beautiful, welcoming backyard oasis. These design tips will help you create a cozy retreat where you and your family and friends can relax and enjoy one another’s company.
Creating a tropical oasis that you can use every day is a great investment. Call on the expert landscaping team at Xtreme Landscaping to help you with design of your backyard oasis – we promise to deliver above and beyond your expectations!