A Backyard Sanctuary for All Ages

Embracing synergistic and sustainable outdoor living spaces

By Chloe-Anne Swink

Gone are the days of living spaces being limited to the square footage of the home. The idea of “bringing the outdoors in” is trending. While bringing the outdoors in helps define serene and beautiful interiors, expanding your living space outdoors is equally rewarding.

Boulder’s (mostly) temperate climate and striking vistas make the idea of creating an indoor-outdoor living space a priority. Fortunately, the Boulder area is home to many landscaping visionaries who dream up and bring to life outdoor oases that not only increase homeowners’ quality of life but also increase a home’s market value. 

Imagine hosting friends for a backyard happy hour on a new stone paver patio framed by a variety of thoughtfully integrated and up-lit trees. Flowering vines hang gently from a pergola—sweet floral scent wafting across the table in the early summer breeze. Stone paths flow through the surrounding environment like water, guiding you ever so naturally through your private sanctuary. The word that comes to mind is harmony.

Consider a path of playful natural log cuttings like a game of hopscotch sans chalk and concrete. How about a children’s slide that spills out into a sandy play area, all neatly incorporated into a large boulder retaining wall? Exhale. Your mind rests at ease as you entertain your friends with the peace of knowing the kids are safe. They’re within eyesight, laughing and enjoying themselves in their little corner of your backyard respite designed to accommodate the whole family. 

Many people glimpse their backyard and think, “maybe we’ll get a trampoline,” or “a shaded area would be nice to sit under.” But to the trained eye, transforming a backyard into a sanctuary is much more than filling the space with siloed features and amenities.  

According to Jody Ash, owner of local landscaping company Wild Heritage Gardens, designing residential landscapes is a practice in holistic thinking. “You want to understand permaculture principles in the way that people and nature interact together, the way that people interact with each other, and the way that children and their parents interact,” she says.

Achieving a backyard space that feels like a 5-star resort requires taking every factor into account. It’s not about simply looking at how the lawn would flow with the hardscapes, but how the landscape ties into the lives of whomever it’s being designed for—human or otherwise. 

“In permaculture there’s a simple statement of three different lines. It is care for the people, care for the earth and care for the future,” Ash says. That sentiment embodies the beauty of modern outdoor living spaces. Landscaping companies like Wild Heritage Gardens and Changing Landscapes make this apparent through luxurious, thoughtful and whimsical creations. 

Whether you fantasize about a fully outfitted outdoor kitchen complete with a woodfire pizza oven or a tiered concrete backyard entertainment zone with a grill station, raised vegetable gardens, pollinator gardens or landscaping strategically designed to attract your favorite species of bird, it can—and has—been done. 

Despite Boulder County’s cold winter climate and hard, clay-like soil in some areas, it’s possible to achieve a backyard landscape that sparks joy year-round. 

Paul Hartman, owner of Changing Landscapes, approaches designs with winter in mind and how to add beauty when plants aren’t leafy and green. This includes plants that have an interesting look to them, such as red twig dogwoods or yellow twig dogwoods with colored bark that can pop against a snowy background or a wall or a fence. “There are also trees that get a very interesting branching shape—a multiple trunk type tree. We also look at providing that for winter, because looking at a sculptural tree can be very interesting as well,” he says. “And then, obviously, water features, fire pits and even boulders stand out. I’ve heard them talked about as being the backbone of a landscape—and I think it’s true.” 

One landscape trend that has taken off in recent years—for the good of people and planet—is lawn conversions or eliminating lawns completely. Traditional lawn care uses harsh chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides. These are not only bad for the environment and our water quality, they’re also often toxic to pets and kids who play on the lawn. “The average lawn uses fifty-five to seventy-five thousand gallons of water a year—and that is drinking water,” Ash says.

If you choose to maintain a traditional lawn in a space where yard games may take place or kids and dogs play, the kind of grass you use is integral, as is being mindful of chemical usage. Blue grass is a hardy variety that’s great for kids and pets to play on, thanks to its ability to withstand high traffic. A functional turf conserves water, doesn’t require harsh chemicals and can be applied to those same high traffic areas. 

As citizens of the Western U.S., we’re all aware of the importance of water conservation and the threat of drought. Converting a lawn into a pollinator garden threaded with hop-scotch paths and integrated slides and tunnels for kids or transitioning traditional grassy spaces to hardscapes or a beautifully crafted deck, not only creates a functional space for you and your family to enjoy, it produces a butterfly effect that ripples out to the greater community and ecosystem.