If you’re fortunate enough to have a home with outdoor living space, whether a pocket-sized porch or an expansive garden, ensuring you get as much use out of it as possible is key. For advice on how to maximize your greenspace, we tapped five Scouted landscape experts for their favorite ways to guarantee that the exterior of your home is just as regal as your interior. Prepare to get inspired as patio season begins in earnest. Featured in this National Article is Patricia Kennedy of Rendezvous Design located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Patricia is a Volume 9 Member of The Scout Guide Jackson Hole – a luxury publication that features businesses from Jackson Hole, Driggs and across the nation.

Keep it contained. Container gardening is the perfect way to add some height and interest to your landscape with less commitment than ground planting. “Filling multi-sized planters or containers with seasonal color are great ways of personalizing the space,” says Nathan Tuno, landscape designer and marketing director of Roots Landscape Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania. “I love the use of found objects or weathered containers that look unique and act as a talking point with guests.” Tuno goes on to explain that bountiful containers act as icing on the cake for patios and yards, or another way to take your landscaping to the next level.

Bring the inside out. When creating an outdoor space that acts as an extension of your indoor living, Mitchell Knapp, president and owner of Scenic Landscaping in Haskell, New Jersey, urges homeowners to consider what interior materials and design schemes can easily be translated outside. “Even small details, like matching metal tones, wood colors, or rock material, can create a seamless transition from inside to outside,” Knapp explains. For example, if your interior design aesthetic leans uber modern, he recommends continuing those clean lines and geometric features in your outdoor space in order to ensure a cohesive look.

Make a plan. The way you approach designing your outdoor spaces should be similar to your interior design planning. “When designing a patio or outdoor room, I always ask my clients how they plan to use the space, what amenities they’re looking for, and how this space will evolve over time,” Tuno says. A big key to creating an outdoor living space is to note where people will be gathering, access points, and views that need to be enhanced or buffered. Once those elements are decided upon, Tuno turns his attention to landscaping, which includes layering in everblooming perennials, trees with seasonal interest, low-voltage lighting, and planters into your plan, as they will welcome guests and your family every time they step into the space.

Channel your chi. Patricia Kennedy, principal creative of Rendezvous Design in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, recommends creating an outdoor space that includes the five elements of Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese practice of harmony. “You can actually feel how the five elements—earth, fire, water, metal, and wood—balance the ‘chi’ or flow of energy, and holistically harmonize the space for an outdoor calm continuum,” Kennedy explains. To achieve that feeling of harmony in your outdoor space she recommends framing the area toward a natural focal point or landscape feature, adding elements that involve fire and water, such as lanterns and bird baths, a metal outdoor grill or sculptural object and wood decking or furniture to impart natural textures that ground you.

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