Vacations are awesome, but they can also be costly and demand a lot of time traveling and staying away from home. An excellent alternative is to build a relaxing respite in your own backyard. Nanz and Kraft Florists have gathered up some simple ways to design a backyard paradise so all you have to do is step outside to enter a lush oasis of soothing sounds, pleasant fragrances, and beautiful nature and feel your stress melt away.

Easy Ideas for Converting Your Backyard into a Peaceful Oasis

Go Overboard with Plants!
Building a relaxing oasis starts by having lots of lush greenery enveloping you. Plant large, leafy shrubs, bushes, and trees throughout the yard. Layer plants and foliage of different sizes to generate depth and texture. Include tropical plants or orchids to create an exotic look or add crawling vines along your walls, fences, or a trellis. A profusion of plants not only produces shade but privacy too, which causes you to feel like you’re a thousand miles away.

Include a Water Feature
The sound of water has a calming effect, whether it’s from a pool, babbling brook, waterfall, or small fountain. Investing in a water feature for your backyard helps block out noises around you. You don’t have to splurge for a large swimming pool, although nice if can afford it, but you can also have water features such as a garden pond, koi pond, birdbath, bubbling fountain, or small waterfall.

Add Flowers for Vibrant Color
Color adds a sensuous, tropical island experience to your backyard. Flowers are a gorgeous accent to any landscape and provide a boost in spirits and a lovely fragrance. Place flower beds of various blooming annuals and perennials along pathways or in a nook or corner of your yard. Really, flowers are so nice they look great anywhere. Choose dissimilar colors for excitement and drama or pair harmoniously-colored flowers for a soothing effect. If you’re not a natural gardener, use containers for flowers and group them together to create a charming look.

Attract Wildlife into Your Oasis
If a natural retreat is what you’re looking for, then let the wildlife enter too. Entice butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard with a butterfly garden comprised of bright flowering plants. Butterflies are attracted to bright colors like yellow, pink, and orange as are hummingbirds, but they prefer tubular-shaped flowers.

Add Comfort
Your beautiful, lush backyard oasis isn’t quite done until you include comfortable seating so you can enjoy the view for hours. Having cushiony chairs, benches, or even a hammock provides goes a long way to giving you the feeling of being on your own island oasis.

Finish with Soft Lighting
Just because the sun has set does not mean you still can’t enjoy your relaxing oasis. String up some lights or lanterns for soft ambient lighting and for entertaining guests. Citronella candles are a nice, romantic touch and help keep bugs away.
With a little time, effort, and investment, you can build a backyard oasis you will want to visit again and again. With a yard like this, why spend money on a vacation?