Patios and Playscapes: Adding Fun Spaces to Your Yard
If you view your yard mainly as a source of chores—a patch of wildness you must regularly tussle against to maintain order—we’re here to tell you that a well-loved yard can be much more than another task on your to-do list.
At Our Land Organics, we see yards and gardens—even unkempt ones—as opportunities to create relaxing, beautiful, and pleasurable spaces. We love using our horticulture and design expertise to transform unpleasant or unruly yards into the favorite space on your property.
If you browse through our portfolio, you’ll find abridged examples of our work turning backyards into patios and custom playscapes (as well as fire pits, lounge areas, edible gardens, and more). Below, we’ll review the components and benefits of creating a patio or playscape.
A crushed stone patio, colorful seating, and large plants for privacy creates a calm spot for family members to gather for quality time together (Our Land Organics design and installation)
Patios
A patio is a quick way to create a haven of reprieve in your outdoor space. The simple act of trading in lawn for hardscape increases access and creates a destination within your yard.
When you position plants to provide visual interest and privacy, you can quickly build a tiny oasis out of what was once a monotony of green.
When choosing a patio, it’s best to start by considering the foundational material. That will dictate how your patio functions, looks, and ages.
You don’t need a ton of room to create a pleasant and relaxing seating area (Our Land Organics design + installation)
A crushed stone patio is a simple solution that offers walkability, water permeability, and a great aesthetic. You may have to periodically add stone, however, as the material settles and breaks down over time.
A flagstone patio, while more costly than crushed stone, can create a visually striking place of reprieve in your yard. A flagstone patio will offer lasting access and beauty to your yard.
Creatively design outdoor living spaces offer fun for the whole family (Our Land Organics design and installation)
Playscapes
Children have a natural curiosity and need for outdoor adventure. By incorporating place-making plants, access paths, and deliberate places of interest into a wooded area, you can provide your youngster with a safe and fascinating playground right outside your home.
All of our designs are customized and tailored to best fit each client’s unique needs and site conditions. Nowhere is this custom attention to detail more apparent than in our playscape designs.
A backyard transforms into a nature-based classroom complete with a slide, a dry creek bed, native plants to engage the senses, and plenty of room to safely run around (Our Land Organics design and installation)
Working with existing areas of interest, we have made slides out of tree stumps and creeks out of stormwater pipes. Combining this creativity with carefully selected native flowers and shrubs, we can help turn your yard into your child’s playground and a (fun!) at-home schoolyard.
What About Mosquitoes?
When creating outdoor spaces and planning outdoor activities, many people worry about mosquitoes. So, how can you prevent those pesky bugs from ruining what is meant to be a restorative and relaxing part of your yard?
As an organic land care company, we strongly discourage the use of pesticides for mosquito management. In addition to introducing chemicals that are harmful to native pollinators, pesticides do not address the underlying problem responsible for the existence of mosquitoes on your property. This is why regular application is required when using pesticides, and over time, this regular application can decimate the ecological activity happening on your property.
Instead of fighting the symptom of mosquitoes with harmful pesticides, consider tackling the problem directly by eliminating potential breeding grounds from your yard.
Mosquitoes need continually wet places for breeding, and they often find these in areas covered densely with English Ivy or other invasive groundcovers. Replanting such areas with a more ecologically mindful selection of plants will stop mosquitoes before they even become an issue.
Additionally, you can sleep easily at night knowing that you didn’t have to expose local pollinators, children, and pets to harmful clouds of pesticide fog.
A flagstone patio, comfy seating, and naive plants invite the family to spend time outdoors. (Our Land Organics design and installation)