The best landscapes tend to demonstrate a wonderful relationship between the home, the backyard, and the front yard. However, even the smallest landscapes can feel disjointed and cluttered if there isn’t a unified design theme throughout the property. Masonry features can help to unify a landscape—masonry adds a level of permanence that will carry a home and a family together through generations. Here are four hardscape features that can connect a front yard and backyard, both literally and visually, in Lancaster and Harrisburg, PA.

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Walkways

Almost every home features a front walkway. Many homes also have walkways that crisscross the backyard and go around the house. These walkways are an opportunity to unify various spaces of use, especially those that utilize different materials. For example, a brick-size dark paver can be used as an accent or border alongside other materials. So, even if the front entry and walkway feature bluestone and the back patio features a flagstone surface, you can tie the two spaces together by continuing this dark border along the walkways.

Walkways serve as the literal and visual connection between spaces. They can provide the masonry continuity that keeps the various components of the landscape in harmony. Walkways are an opportunity to turn transitional areas into important design elements, not afterthoughts.

Stone Veneer

Building a masonry structure can be time consuming and expensive depending on the type of stone materials used. While the inside of the structure is designed to be built inexpensively with concrete blocks, the outer layer—stone veneer—can make a beautiful and bold statement.

A great way to change the look of a structure without committing to a complete rebuild is to clad the structure in stone veneer. This concept uses manufactured stone veneer as a decorative layer on the outside of a structure. Stone veneer can also be applied on the outside of the home or a retaining wall, keeping a continuity of materials that makes a space feel as intentionally designed as the home itself.

A Retaining Wall

Many homes are built on slopes, which can cause logistical issues in having enough available space. Retaining walls are designed to expand usable space while supporting the sloped landscape. This extra space can be used for new applications including walkways, an expanded patio, a fire pit, or a pergola. A retaining wall made from gorgeous stone can bridge the gap between the front yard and the backyard, quite literally carving some space out for an improved landscape. And for a flat property, seating walls in the front and backyards can use the same masonry theme.

Raised Masonry Plant Beds

Perhaps nothing brings attention to a landscape quite like the beautiful colors and textures of living plants. Raised masonry planter beds offer a better vantage point for viewing plants. For example, smaller ground covers are often overlooked in favor of more showy plants—but by placing them in a raised planter, they are given a bigger role.

Masonry planters can also hold much more than meets the eye by harboring walkway light fixtures as well as irrigation systems for the plants. They can be installed on both sides of the house—to offer a cheerful welcome to your guests, as well as a great place to grow culinary herbs for a backyard kitchen.

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