Even though plants are beginning to die for the year and winter is around the corner, fall is a landscape designer’s dream! The assortment of different autumnal colors creates a bright palette that you only get to play with once a year. If you are trying to think of ways that you can incorporate the fall season into your own backyard, here are some guidelines that you should keep in mind as you look for inspiration…
Play into Harvest Season
For many gardeners, farmers, and landscapers, fall is the time where you get to enjoy the fruits of the labor that you’ve for all year long. This is why it is called “harvest season.” As such, you should play into it. If you have your own garden or fruit-bearing trees, use some of your homegrown produce for the purpose of decoration (or go buy your own if you don’t have that mature of a garden yet).
Spread pumpkins and gourds around your yard. Put some stalks of corn on your porch. Put bales of hay in strategic areas that need a block of color.
Let Your Trees Do the Talking
The stars of fall landscaping are always going to be the trees. The striking array of oranges, yellows, and reds that leaves turn to in the midst of autumn are colors that we rarely see in nature outside of the season. As such, you should plant your trees in strategic ways where they overhang over the rest of your yard, giving a beautiful wreath of color around the rest of your landscaping (following this tip has benefits all year round, but is most aesthetically pleasing in fall).
Plant Evergreen Plants
While the typical autumnal palette is great, it is more striking when you contrast it with the usual green that nature provides. As such, you should intersperse some evergreen plants with the rest of your color-changing plants. This gives a great visual variety for your eyes to feast upon.
Take Advantage of the Holidays
Fall is home to two great holidays: Thanksgiving and Halloween. As such, you shouldn’t be afraid to let those holiday periods guide some of your design decisions. During October (or even late September) try to add some spooky elements. Look for Halloween yard decorations (they can usually be found for pretty cheap if you look early in the season). Likewise, after Halloween try to shift your yard to an entirely harvest season-themed look for Thanksgiving.