Our Side Yard Updates – Yardzen Inspired Side Yard Ideas

Side Yard Landscape Design 

Transforming your side yard into a functional and visually appealing space can dramatically enhance the overall ambiance of your home. Drawing inspiration from Yardzen, an online landscape design service, we recently embarked on a journey to revamp our often-overlooked side yards. Here, we’ll share some innovative and practical ideas that have turned our narrow outdoor strip into a charming extension of our living space. Keep reading to see Our Side Yard Updates – Yardzen Inspired Side Yard Ideas!

In case you’re in a hurry…

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How do I turn my backyard into an oasis on a budget?

Yardzen, an online landscape design service, became our guide in this transformation. The process started with us sharing photos, inspiration, and details about our space and lifestyle. What stood out was Yardzen’s approach to incorporating our ideas with their expertise to create a design that was both beautiful and practical. The interactive platform allowed us to visualize the potential of our backyard, making decisions easier and more informed. Yardzen’s recommendations for plant selections and materials ensured that our outdoor space would not only look good but also thrive in our environment.

How Does Yardzen Work?

Yardzen is an online platform that offers virtual landscaping services to help users transform their outdoor spaces. To use Yardzen, you simply need to take photos of your existing yard and upload them to the platform. From there, you can work with a team of professional designers to create a custom landscaping plan that fits your budget and preferences. Once you’ve approved the design, you can then hire local contractors to bring your vision to life. With Yardzen, you can easily makeover your home exterior and yard without ever leaving your house!

Learn more here: How Does Yardzen Work

Home Exterior Makeover with YardZen

Yardzen Average Cost

If you’re curious about the Yardzen Cost, you can find all the details and cost for Yardzen packages.

Side Yard Landscaping Design on a Budget

We’ve completed a lot of upgrades to our side yards over the last 5 years including:

• Leveling the yard
• Paver addition
• Planting various flowers, trees, and plants
• Adding Garden Beds
• Building a Lean-To Shed Against the House
• Adding an Outdoor Shower Area
• Built-in Arbor
• Mulching areas

Phew! That was a lot we’d already had completed so the side yards really just need a clean up.

SIDE YARD WITH THE SHED – BEFORE YARDZEN

SIDE YARD WITH THE SHED – YARDZEN DESIGN PHOTOS

SIDE YARD WITH THE SHED – AFTER YARDZEN

Our side yard with an outdoor shower area looks almost exactly like the Yardzen design!

Outdoor Sofa | Chairs | Crape Myrtle

One of the first steps we took was incorporating a variety of plantings to add texture and color. Yardzen’s design philosophy emphasizes native and drought-resistant plants, which thrive in our climate in Florida and require minimal maintenance. We opted for a combination of ornamental grass, flowering perennials, and stacked flagstone rocks to create a lush, layered look.

Additionally, we included vertical gardens with bougainvillea to make the best use of the narrow space without overcrowding while adding privacy. We installed a trellis and posts to secure the large bougainvillea that provides privacy and is gorgeous during the Spring and Summer months! The crepe myrtle and bougainvillea attract butterflies, bees, and birds to our yard. It’s lovely to look outside our bathroom window and see this view!

To save money on the cost of supplies, I reused every paver and rock from around our yard. I also made several trips to the park where our county provides FREE brown mulch that has been cleaned. I used large Ikea bags to transport the mulch in my Jeep and mulched our front and backyards using FREE mulch! Just search online for “free mulch in my area” to see what comes up for you!

We reused white rock from our front yard for the pathway by the garden shed and the outdoor shower. I had the kids help me “pick rocks” and we used buckets to transport the white rocks from our front yard to the side yard. We replaced the white rock in the front yard with GRAY rock (a front yard reveal is coming soon!).

SIDE YARD WITH THE ARBOR – BEFORE YARDZEN

This was the last picture of our yard that I took before redoing it. We had just installed the arbor which I talk about in this post.

BEFORE YARDZEN

SIDE YARD WITH THE ARBOR – YARDZEN DESIGN PHOTOS

SIDE YARD WITH THE ARBOR – AFTER YARDZEN

You might notice our side yard with the garden bed area looks nothing like the Yardzen design! That’s because I decided I didn’t want 4 garden beds on the side of the house. After living here for 5 years and trying to grow different herbs and vegetables, I learned that this side of the house was best suited for herbs only. I tried a vegetable garden in 2 other corners of our yard and sadly, did not have much luck growing things that I used to grow in Virginia (zucchini and cucumbers were so easy to grow up north!).

I created my own sketch of our side yard and what I wanted it to look like. I wanted a purpose for this side yard other than sitting and relaxing but our kids are grown so there was no reason to add a play area. The only purpose it serves is to look nice because that big window is my office/craft room window and if I look outside and see junk piled up, I’ll never get any work done!

Moving the garden beds was a lot of work! I moved the soil and the herbs and somehow they survived the move! The herbs seem to enjoy this new location and I currently use the second garden bed to propagate plants. I hope to grow more veggies in the Spring!

The raised garden beds along the fence line not only add visual interest but also make the space feel more structured and intentional. I LOVE looking out of our kitchen window and seeing herbs growing in our garden beds!

I ended up working my a$$ off to redo the pavers in the side yard and moved the garden beds closer to the pool. You can see what the side yard looked like before and how to DIY a paver walkway in this post.

I reused all of the pavers that I used for the former pathway, moved all the crushed shell I could find into containers and used that as my “paver base” in addition to paver sand. Then I cut strips of fake grass to fit between the pavers to create a patio area. I secured the strips of fake grass with landscape staples.

It was a huge project that I worked on from April to July! I spaced it out because of issues with the weather (it was either too hot or raining) and wanting to keep the cost low. I reused materials and only spent money on new fake grass. You might notice that we had our windows replaced from black to white too! This made a huge difference in our home looking more coastal than modern during this makeover.

To maximize functionality, we added a few key elements that transformed our side yard into a multi-purpose area. A paver pathway with rocks and faux grass now meanders through the space, providing a clear and inviting outdoor room. We added a small seating area with weather-resistant Adirondack chairs, perfect for morning coffees or evening relaxation.

This side yard is right outside my home office/craft room window so it’s nice to finally have a pretty view while I’m working. Although I still see the trash containers… I’m working on growing a potted bougainvillea to grow along the arbor (like the Yardzen design).

The dogs seem to love it, although our puppy tries to nibble at the fake grass in our backyard, he has not tried to do that in the new side yard yet!

I kept the furniture minimal on this side of the house but I would like to add some string lights to complete the side yard aesthetic. We currently have string lights above the garden beds so it’s just a matter of extending them.

Wrap-Up About Yardzen Side Yard Ideas

With these updates, both of our side yards have evolved into a serene retreat, drawing inspiration from Yardzen’s thoughtful design principles. Whether you’re looking to create a cozy corner or a lush garden pathway, these ideas can help you make the most of your side yard. Yardzen also focuses on making side yards more than just transitional spaces; they can be destination areas in their own right. By adding cozy seating areas, fire pits, or plants, these often underutilized spaces become intimate spots for relaxation and entertainment. Thoughtful lighting design is another key element, ensuring that the side yard remains inviting and functional even after the sun sets. Solar-powered lights or string lights can add a magical touch, making the space perfect for evening gatherings.

Shop My Yardzen Side Yard Furniture and Materials

What’s Included in the YardZen Packages?

What’s included in YOUR Yardzen package depends on which package you choose. See Yardzen Packages here.

Here are some services that can be included in a Yardzen package:

• Fully custom landscaping and hardscaping design for your yard with hand-selected plants, trees, and materials.
• Custom exterior paint and trim color selection.
• Siding, stucco, shingles, or resurfacing of your exterior walls.
• New shutter selection
• New windows and exterior door selection
• New roof selection
• New garage door selection
• Exterior lighting design
• New mailbox and house numbers selection
• Reimagined approach to your home

Don’t forget…

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Yardzen Side Yard Landscape Design