More and more people are prioritizing outdoor living—a trend that exploded during the pandemic and shows no signs of slowing down. If you are joining this trend, you may need some inspiration for your landscape renovation: Here are four masonry features to include in your backyard design in Lexington, MA.
Whether you choose quarried natural stone, patio pavers, clay brick, or even a combination of materials, well-built masonry structures will add value to your home and last for generations.
Creature Comforts: Fire
Let’s talk about creature comforts, starting with fire. Keeping everyone warm helps make friends and family feel comfortable in the outdoor living space. A grand outdoor fireplace, a cozy fire pit, or an elegant fire table are three options for creating ambience.
Fortunately, you don’t have to stick with just one when making changes to your backyard. An outdoor fireplace can be positioned alongside your outdoor kitchen and feature a wood-fired pizza oven chamber. A fire table could take the place of an ordinary outdoor dining table to provide both warmth and a fascinating centerpiece.
And who can resist gathering around a fire pit sharing stories long into the night? Masonry fire features can be customized to suit your design aesthetic, and they can be built to any size to fit perfectly into the most spacious or the most petite patio.
Retaining Walls: More Usable Space
Retaining walls are necessary on a sloped property for erosion control, but in the process they also allow for more outdoor living space. Sometimes, outdoor living can expand both above and below the retaining wall. Depending on the slope of your property, you may need a seat-height retaining wall, which will also offer up overflow seating for your larger entertaining events. Or, it could be a taller engineered retaining wall designed for heavy-duty use. Or you might opt for a series of terraces that add dimension and interest to your landscape. A retaining wall can also act as the back wall of your outdoor kitchen, it can house a water feature, and it can feature integrated outdoor light fixtures for a clean, elegant look after dark.
If your property is flat, consider seating walls around the perimeter of your patio to add vertical interest as well as the convenience of extra clutter-free seating.
Convenient Gardening
If you love gardening but don’t want to kneel, or if you would rather contain your garden in a manageable area, then raised masonry planters could be the answer. These structures put your flowers, culinary herbs, shrubs, and ornamental grasses at a convenient height—with a generous cap stone, these planters can also double as seating. They can be ideal as patio perimeter features that define the space and make it cozier. They can be used alongside a more formal walkway. Or they can even be used as “room dividers” to make a very large patio seem more intimate.
The Tranquility of Water
Adding a masonry water feature to your patio will add serenity and beauty to the space. Water features are infinitely customizable and can be designed for any size outdoor living space. From a small natural stone bubbler fountain tucked away in the corner of the patio to an elegant sheer descent waterfall spilling out from a retaining wall, you can’t go wrong with a water feature.
Related: How a Retaining Wall Can Add Beauty and Functionality to Your Lynnfield and Boxford, MA, Landscaping