crédit: SICOSTEPS
1. We think often about our needs and dream. A good review is essential. What are the activities we envision in the backyard? How time and maintenance do we want to invest? Pool, Spa or garden? How much parking is needed? Is there a great view we want to play up? Or something we need to make recede or disappear, etc. Take time; get inspired by magazines and on the web for style, color and material.
2. Make inquiries on easements and municipal by-laws. Unless you are planning to do the work yourself you’ll need to shop for a contractor who can design and execute the plan. Make sure you have a location certificate and necessary municipal permits.
3. Make appointments. When is the best time to call your landscaping architect? Beginning autumn. The contractor will want 4 to 6 months prior to beginning the work.
4. You’ll need to make choices. Select activity zones and backyard structures based on available space and budget: traffic, dining, leisure, playground, pool areas but also service areas (recycling, garbage, and compost), storage area (equipment, garden shed, and heat pump), etc.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
GOOD TO KNOW
1. Consider accessibility and intimacy as two "must" to enjoying your backyard to the fullest: Where will you easily enter the garden? Are the patio set and cushions easily accessible? Think of allowing easy access between kitchen and outdoor dining areas, set up a little corner to enjoy the morning coffee or aperitif at the end of the day, install the spa near the house. Shielding the backyard from outside viewers should also be a priority.
2. Choosing the right place changes everything: It’s a good idea to wait at least one year when purchasing a house before launching landscaping projects. You need to figure out which type of soil you are dealing with, snow accumulation, where wind gusts hardest, which area gets most sun and/or shade, etc.
A LIVING AREA ON THE TERRACE
The “outdooring” trend isn’t waning. In addition to the dining room, “lounge-type” living room, we see reading spaces, naps and sunbathing areas as essential spaces. According to designer Nicola Tardif-Bourdages, “the trend is to maximize outdoor spaces as an extension of the house. Living areas meet all needs.” In short, the exterior terrace deserves the same comfort as the interior living room. What is the only difference between the indoor living room and the outdoor one? Plants, jests Nicolas Tardif-Bourdage.
MISTAKES TO AVOID
1
The wrong trees in the wrong places.
2
Too many activity zones. The backyard seems overcrowded.
3
Pool/playing module occupying virtually the whole backyard.
4
Vegetation overcrowding gives a cluttered look.
Source : Les idées de ma maison Author : Chantal Lapointe