Design a Dreamy Fall Landscape with These Helpful Tips
Fall in Northern Michigan is certainly beautiful, with changing colors in the leaves and cooler temperatures making the world feel like it might be straight out of a fairytale. With all that beauty to see at all times of the day–or night–there’s still plenty of reasons to spend time outside. Fall might not be the first season that comes to mind when you think of enjoying your outdoor space, but it certainly shouldn’t be overlooked. In this blog post, we’re going to help you create a space that shines in the fall by sharing some of our favorite landscaping elements that will help you make the most of this season.
What to think about with fall landscaping
When designing any landscape–for any season–there are specific things you want to think about. The first is deciding what you want to get out of your outdoor living space. Are you looking to create space for hosting friends and family, or will this be your own private retreat? What sorts of things do you like to do outside? What plants would you love to see from your windows? These questions will guide you to the large-scale design ideas that are important to begin with, and they can help you design a space that will be great in any season.
Thinking about fall, specifically, the most important consideration has to do with the changing weather. As days cool down and night comes on quicker, what you want to do outside changes. A pool is a little less appealing when the temperatures drop below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and finding ways to spend more time outside after sundown become more important.
So, what are our favorite features to add to a landscape for fall fun? Glad you asked! Fire features, outdoor lighting, and plants with great fall color take top billing. Read below to learn more about why we love these features especially during the fall.
Fire Features
There’s nothing quite like cozying up to a campfire on a crisp fall night, and that’s why fire features are first on our fall landscaping list. A fire feature can be as simple as a Solo Stove, as complex as a decorative fire-and-water feature, or as eye-catching as a custom outdoor fireplace. The variety of stylistic choices, materials, and even options when it comes to what fuel you use make fire features endlessly customizable. This means there’s a fire feature to fit any landscape!
Fire pits and fireplaces are great additions to any landscape and can be enjoyed at any point in the year. The warmth of a glowing fire is especially appealing as evenings grow cooler and nights grow longer. Decorative fire features, like fire bowls or combination fire-and-water features, add ambiance to and elevate an outdoor living space.
For a more comprehensive breakdown of different kinds of fire features, check out this blog post here: Fire Pit Ideas Simplified
Outdoor Lighting
On the topic of nights getting longer… In order to get the most out of your landscape as the seasons change, investing in outdoor lighting is a must. Outdoor lighting has a basic functioning of illuminating the landscape to make it safer to maneuver along paths or around patios, but it’s much more than purely functional. With good design and intention, outdoor lighting can also add a lot of beauty to your landscape, especially in the fall. Using outdoor lighting to highlight trees with great fall color or draw attention to structural features, like garden art, brings visual interest to the landscape, even after dark. Outdoor lighting can also be used to create a mood or add drama to a space.
For more on how to use landscape lighting in your outdoor living space, check out this blog post: 10 Landscape Lighting Techniques to Brighten Up Your Space
Plants with Great Fall Color
Picking the right plants for a landscape can never be understated, and there’s so much that goes into putting the right plant in the right place. First and foremost, being aware of your own garden’s conditions is important–is it sunny or shady? What’s your soil like? Do you frequently deal with standing water, or is your yard very dry? Knowing all of these details is fundamental to making sure you pick plants that won’t struggle to survive in your space, but will really grow and flourish.
Once you’ve got the technical elements sorted out, it’s time to think about your personal preferences–what kind of garden style speaks to you, your favorite colors, and even how much maintenance you’re willing to do. These all play into the kinds of flowers, trees, and shrubs you’ll want to plant.
After that, it’s time to consider the seasonality of different plants. Different kinds of flowers, along with flowering trees and shrubs, bloom at different times in the year. To create a landscape with interest from early spring until late fall, it’s important to layer or stagger plants with varied bloom times. For fall interest, look for flowers that bloom late in the season–like sedum or asters–or keep their blooms for a long time–like many varieties of hydrangeas. Fall foliage is also important and can help create a space that shines even when most flowers have finished blooming. For some examples of trees and shrubs with great fall color, check out this blog post: 10 Trees and Shrubs with Autumn Color You’ll Love
Create a landscape worth falling for
Just because the seasons change doesn’t mean you have to hurry inside and stop enjoying your outdoor living space. With good planning and thoughtful design, you can create a space you can’t wait to come home to, whether it’s spring, summer, or fall.
