How to Make Your Landscape Pop
An Outdoor Setting That Truly Pops

Many people have lawns that are well-maintained and neat. Tidy lawns are pretty common these days. Eye-catching lawns, however, are a whole other story. If you want your lawn to be beautiful and to make a lot of impact, there are several landscaping ideas that can help you accomplish your goal. Why settle for an ordinary lawn when you can have an extraordinary one? Life is too short to settle for an outdoor space that's anything short of exceptional.

#1- Invest in Lighting Lighting can do wonders for the look and feel of your outdoor space. Accent lights can strategically highlight the most beautiful parts of your lawn. Lighting fixtures of all types can make your outdoor space look charming, distinctive and elegant. Remember, too, that good lighting can make your lawn look a lot more unforgettable. It has another significant perk as well. It can give your outdoor property a major safety boost. If you want people to feel safe and comfortable walking around your outdoor space late at night, investing in lighting can give you a lot of peace of mind. Lights can make your pathways look a lot more gorgeous and atmospheric. They can also help prevent painful falls and injuries.

#2- Explore Your Options in Water Features

Water is a lot like lighting. The sight of it can enthrall, fascinate and enchant people. If you want to make your outdoor space particularly quaint, welcoming and soothing, nothing can be wiser than going for water features. There are so many choices in exciting and attractive water features available these days as well. Property owners can choose between fountains, ponds, pools, waterfalls and more. Streams and cascades can contribute a lot to the ambiance of your outdoor space. Water features can be terrific for the appearance of your lawn. They can also be an asset in the sound department. Gently flowing springs can be soothing and relaxing. If you want your outdoor space to be the epitome of calming, comforting and sophisticated, water features can go a long way.

#3- Construct a Functional and Beautiful Outdoor Kitchen

What can be more convenient and pleasant than an outdoor kitchen? You may notice that outdoor kitchens are becoming more and more popular nowadays. People just can't resist them. Outdoor kitchens can make entertaining guests in warm times of the year considerably easier. If you adore nothing more than spending time outside with friends and family members, the addition of an outdoor kitchen can do so much for your lifestyle. It can be a pain to have to prepare all of your meals inside while your guests are patiently waiting for you in the backyard. If you invest in an outdoor kitchen, however, you never have to deal with that inconvenience again. An outdoor kitchen can also give your yard a more polished, detailed and sophisticated appearance. If you want your lawn to impress, outdoor kitchen construction should be on your list.

Most lawn grasses can be classified as warm season or cool season grasses. Cool season grasses do better in humid, northern climates, while warm season grasses do well in hotter, dry climates. Before choosing the right grass for your lawn, choose among the varieties that thrive in your climate. This will give your lawn its best appearance all-year round, with less chance of dying or becoming discolored.

Cool Season Grasses
This grass type is well adapted to northern climates, growing vigorously in both Spring and Fall, though it may brown during a hot Summer. These are often sold as a blend of several different varieties of the same or similar species, for example, the Kentucky Bluegrass. They can also be sold as a mixture of several different species, like Fine Fescue. Growing a blend or mixture is the normal course of action when seeding a lawn. If one variety doesn't thrive or dies from disease then odds favor one or more of the others taking over and growing in its place.

Tall Fescue, Perennial Ryegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, and Fine Fescue are the most common types of cool season grasses. The newest strains of Kentucky Bluegrass stand out from their predecessors, as they are now very resistant to disease, and will keep their fine, textured looks without needing too many resources. They are also drought tolerant.

Fine Fescue includes several different Fescue varieties - Creeping Red Fescue, Hard Fescue, and Chewings Fescue - and are mixed in with Kentucky Bluegrass. This mix thrives in both shade and drought.

Perennial Ryegrass is the main grass in cool season mixes. It will germinate quickly and wear well.

Warm Season Grasses
This type of grass does well in southern climates, and has adapted to hot weather, actually going dormant when temperatures become too cold, like near freezing. Zoysia is best able to handle the winter, and is sometimes grown as far north as Pennsylvania. It stays brown in regions where the winters are cold, and is slow to become green in Spring. Though it's a dense grass it's only somewhat tolerant of the shade, and is grown best in areas with a lot of sun.

Bermuda Grass is best grown in the Gulf Coast states, where water sources are abundant. Wearing well, it stays green longer than the other warm season grasses. It also does well in the southern regions of the West Coast. In the southern parts of California it can be started from seed alone, but in the cooler mid-to-northern parts it can only be started from sod sprigs.

Another good choice for the coastal South is St. Augustine Grass. Coarse and adapted to humid coasts, it's not very tolerant of cold weather shade. On the other hand it can handle copious amounts of sun and foot traffic.

A good looking lawn will contain a combination of different grass types, each contributing its own strengths and weaknesses. When choosing your grass mix, look at what proportion the different varieties are mixed to together to determine which one will meet your lawn and landscaping needs best.