Large Yard Landscape Design Ideas

Having a large yard is a dream come true for many people. But like they always say, “with great acreage comes great responsibility.” Designing, installing, and maintaining a large yard can be a lot to handle, and there are different things to consider than with a small space. If you’re looking for large-yard landscape design ideas, look no further, because we’re here to help you learn the basics of large-yard design.

How To Landscape A Large Yard In Utah

Big yard landscaping design in Utah can be tricky. If you under-design the space, you’ll be left with sprawling and sparse openness. If you over-design it, you might spend every free moment maintaining it. And if you design it piecemeal, you might end up with a yard that isn’t cohesive and doesn’t flow. But it’s possible to design an award-winning yard, and we’ve simplified the process for you. Here are four steps for developing a landscaping design for large yards.

1. Assess The Available Space

They say if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Before you start throwing out large backyard landscaping ideas, map out your space. Determine what space is available, and identify any spaces that can remain as is. If you’re tackling the project yourself, your plans don’t need to be overly professional, but they should include basic measurements and be an accurate representation of the area.

2. Define The Functional Areas

Just like in a home, a yard needs to be divided into functional areas. You may want to start by creating a wish list of all the ways you want your backyard to function. Then assess the space, determine what is feasible, and determine the use and purpose of each area.

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3. Choose The Right Plants And Trees

This may seem like a gimme, but it can be trickier than you might think. Make sure you select plants and trees that work in your climate and soil, require the amount of maintenance you are willing to provide and coordinate with the other elements in the yard.

4. Consider Adding Hardscaping Elements

Hardscaping elements can be more expensive initially than softscaping. But what you spend on installation, you might end up saving in maintenance costs. Any softscaping you use will require regular attention, but pavers, retaining walls, patio areas, sport courts, firepits, and even decks, don’t need nearly as much maintenance.

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Bonus: Tips For Maintaining The Landscape

After putting so much work into developing landscaping design ideas, and bringing your yard to life, there’s still the matter of maintaining it. Regular yard management is the key to success. Make sure you are mowing on a regular basis and managing fertilizer, pests, weeds, and water. Developing a plan and making a schedule can really help with this process.

Let’s Talk Large Yard Landscaping Budget And Cost

How do you know if you’ve gone too far, or not far enough, with your large yard landscape ideas? That’s simple—budget. For most people figuring out the numbers is the least fun part of the landscaping process. However, it is an essential step in bringing your big yard landscaping ideas to life. If you’re just giving your yard a refresh, here is some project inspiration. But whether you’ve got a blank slate, or are ramping things up a bit, here are some ways to think about the numbers.

The Budget

Maybe you can’t put a price on your dreams, but still, it’s important to try. The cost of a landscaping project can vary wildly depending on the size of the yard and the level of renovations or upgrades. Average-size yards with average types of landscaping tend to run between $2,500 to $10,000. Those costs also depend on the amount of work being done yourself vs. the amount hired out. For larger or more extensive projects, the costs would obviously increase.

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If you’re going all in on your design ideas for landscaping a large yard, then your budget will need to be bigger. But unless you’re throwing caution to the wind, there are still some parameters to keep in mind. As a general rule of thumb, a landscaping budget should be up to 10% of your home’s value. Keeping it at this threshold helps ensure a return on investment. No matter what amount you’re able to spend on your landscaping project, the most important thing is to set a budget and stick to it.

The Cost

After establishing a budget, it’s time to determine which large-yard landscape ideas are feasible. There are a lot of factors that affect the cost of a project. Keep in mind that the majority of the budget will be spent on materials. Extras like special lighting, outdoor speakers, and higher-end materials can drive the cost up quickly.

The best way to determine what the budget will allow is to start by pricing out any must-have features. Then determine the costs of materials. This is an area that can make or break the budget. Opting for lower-cost materials can make the money go further, while high-end materials will eat it up faster.

Next comes factoring in the cost of plants. There are always trade-offs here too. For example, mature trees cost more, but they add a lot of visual appeal and also reduce the number of smaller plants needed for a design.

After determining the costs of plants and materials, it’s time to account for design, labor, furniture, lighting, and any extras. Planning out your budget in these different categories helps highlight areas where things can be stretched, or need to be cut back. While some costs are fixed, most of the time there are options to save if needed. Planning in this way will help highlight how much of your dream yard your budget will allow.

Large Yard Landscaping Design And Layout Tips

Yards don’t just serve a single purpose, and if you’re fortunate enough to have a large yard, you can really make it multi-functional. As you work on designing and creating your landscaping layout, consider the following things.

Designing Your Large Yard Layout

In this step, you’ll put your big yard landscaping ideas down on paper in broad strokes. Map out the area while taking into consideration the available space and terrain. Define the functional areas and determine the logical traffic flow. Balance the softscaping and hardscaping elements, and choose the right additions for the space, i.e. pools, pergolas, fire pits and fireplaces, outdoor kitchens and grills, furniture, and accessories.

Creating A Landscape Layout

The difference between designing a large yard layout and creating a landscape layout is subtle but important. We like to think of designing the layout as an overarching plan and creating the layout as filling in the details. When creating a large yard landscaping layout, you’ll begin to plan the plant beds and paths. It’s important to consider the views and focal points, choose the right plant and tree combinations, and incorporate your desired color schemes and textures. The landscape layout is essentially what you do to dress the yard. It’s the visual elements that people will see and appreciate, so it’s important to take time to thoughtfully consider each element.

Making Your Large Yard Low Maintenance

Once your yard is installed, there is the matter of maintaining it. Depending on whether you do this yourself, or hire it out, it can take a lot of time or a lot of money. That’s why it’s important to consider the amount of maintenance a yard will require when in the design process. If you’d like something lower maintenance, here are a few ideas.

Choose Low-Maintenance Plants And Trees

Some plants and trees are high maintenance and require a lot of care and attention. Others are more of the “set and forget” variety that is just happy to be there. Selecting the right plants for Utah is the best place to start. Then determine which ones are finicky, and which are a little more forgiving.

Use Automated Irrigation Systems

There is absolutely no reason why you should be hand watering, or turning your sprinklers on and off manually. Sprinkler timers and drip irrigation lines are huge time savers. The cost to install them will be well worth it in the long run. Not only will they save you time, but they often save water too.

Opt For Hardscaping Over Softscaping

As we mentioned earlier, hardscaping typically costs more upfront to install, but it costs far less to maintain. If you’re worried about the time spent on big backyard maintenance, then add in some additional hardscaping elements. This will cut maintenance costs and time down considerably.

Implement A Regular Maintenance Schedule

It takes less time to maintain a yard on a regular basis than it does to fix an overgrown yard. Scheduling regular maintenance like mowing, weeding, fertilizing, watering, pruning, and pest control will keep your yard looking its best. Whether you’re doing the maintenance yourself, or hiring it out, put together a schedule and make it happen.

Big Rock Has The Expertise You Need

Landscaping a yard is a lot of work, no matter how you go about it. But if you want help bringing your large yard landscape design ideas to fruition, then Big Rock Landscaping can help. Our team has been helping homeowners create dream yards for more than 20 years. Our portfolio speaks for itself and offers plenty of inspiration, but we’d love a chance to speak too. Take a look at the services we offer and get in touch with us to find out how we can help with your landscaping project.