Mid-Century Landscaping Ideas

Plant Selection

• Whether you're turning your backyard into a 1950s garden or simply adding a bit of the style to your front walkway, there are several plants that can help you achieve the mid-century look. According to Ask the Plant Lady, for ground-covering plants, try using lush grasses and mosses such as black mondo grass, dead nettle, baby’s tears and Irish moss. Alternatively, for decorative plants that will accent your landscape, try using horsetail reed, sedge, bamboo, Japanese maples, smoke trees and weeping willows. No matter what plants you choose, make sure that they'll keep their foliage all year, and—for ease of maintenance—choose species that don't require much watering.

Hardscaping

• Hardscaping refers to the process of adding permanent, nonliving features to your outdoor space. According to Eichler Homes of San Francisco and Marin County, for flat hardscape features such as driveways, walkways, patios and atriums, try using materials such as river rock, decomposed granite, pea gravel and Mexican pebbles as opposed to more common options such as concrete. For outdoor fencing or wall structures, choose styles that are clean and linear, such as composite or faux-wood fences and uniform cinder-block walls.

Balancing Elements

• To optimize your mid-century landscape, incorporate a variety of materials that will contribute different textures to the overall design. Just make sure that all of the elements share some of the same characteristics, such as color or the repetition of a particular pattern. For example, linear stalks of bamboo will complement adjacent rectangular hardscape features such as paving stones, as their straight lines tie them together. In terms of color, try matching the color of your plants with the color of your house, shutters, or outdoor structure that dominates the landscape. A key principle in mid-century-style landscaping is to repeat elements throughout. So if, for example, you use horsetail reed in the backyard, also place some in the front yard or along a walkway. The same goes for hardscape features: If you have a pea-gravel driveway, connect it to a pea-gravel walkway or patio.