Backyard and garden ideas to try on your own yard

How to choose a backyard or garden look

Start with how you want to use the space: eating outside, growing food, playing, swimming, or just looking at it from a window. Then be honest about water and time. Dry climates and busy owners suit Xeriscape Front Garden, Fire-Wise Gravel Garden and Native Meadow Front Yard; a gardener with time will enjoy the Potager Kitchen Garden.

Size matters least. Several of the best ideas here are small courtyards, a balcony and a roof terrace. Notice the light too: a shady yard suits leafy green planting, while a sunny one can take lavender, olives and grasses.

What these outdoor ideas cover

Living outdoors: Outdoor Living Room with a Fire Pit, Shaded Pergola Patio, Garden Sauna and Cold Plunge, Saltwater Pool Garden and Backyard Pickleball Court. Planted gardens: English Cottage Garden Patio, Potager Kitchen Garden, Wildlife Pond Garden and Persian Rill Garden. Courtyards: Italian Courtyard Garden and French Gravel Courtyard. Front yards: Layered Front Yard Planting, Native Meadow Front Yard and Xeriscape Front Garden. Privacy and low water: Backyard with a Planted Privacy Screen and Fire-Wise Gravel Garden. Open any idea to see its color palette, the materials it uses and a few tips for getting the look, so you can borrow one part of it instead of the whole garden.

Backyard ideas on a budget, and small spaces

Backyard on a Budget turns a bare yard into a place to sit with a pea-gravel patio, a DIY timber bench, festoon lights on poles and a fire bowl. Small City Patio Garden fits raised beds, climbers and a bistro table into a tiny paved space. Tropical Balcony Garden layers pots and a hanging chair on a narrow balcony, and Urban Roof Terrace uses steel planters, olive trees and two loungers.

Replacing lawn with gravel or meadow, as in the front yard ideas, also means less mowing. On a small plot, grow up rather than out: climbers on a trellis and tall pots, as in the patio and balcony ideas, add green without taking floor.

Try an idea on your own yard

Press "Design this" on any idea. The tool opens Landscape with the idea's area and style set and its image as the style reference. Upload a daylight photo taken from where you usually see the yard, like the back door or a window, and generate. The planting, paving and furniture come from the idea; the house, boundaries and slope come from your photo. Check each result and generate again if a tree or fence went missing. You can also add a few words of your own, like "keep the lawn" or "add a vegetable bed", to steer the result.

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