Every year the American Society of Landscape Architects surveys residential landscape professionals to rank the relative popularity of a wide variety of design features to be included in outdoor living spaces. This year, lighting, firepits, and areas for sitting and dining were expected to be the most sought-after enhancements for outdoor spaces.

Check out the list below to find out what else topped the list for 2011, and get ideas for your backyard for 2012.

The holidays are right around the corner and if you’re like most people, you probably have a few friends or family members left to buy presents for. To help ease the stress of last-minute holiday shopping, we’ve put together this holiday gift guide full of great gift ideas for the pool, spa, and backyard lover on your list.

Take your backyard winter landscape from drab to fab by adding festive touches that celebrate the winter holiday season.

We’ve put together some easy and creative ideas for decorating your backyard with seasonal flair—after all, you can still enjoy the view of your backyard in the winter.






Photo courtesy of Deborah Silver & Co.|Detroit Garden Works

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Deck the Patio & Fence




• Drape garland made out of hardy evergreens like cedar, cypress, and euonymus over patio doors and deck/fence posts. Add berries, pine cones, and twigs for texture and color.



• Outline the perimeter of your patio or fence with festive pathway markers such as snowflakes, candy canes, stars, or giant Christmas bulbs.







Photo courtesy of Foegley Landscape, Inc.








Make outdoor furniture part of your display by arranging string lights or garland over the backs of chairs and down the center of the table.





Brighten a barren patio with colorful winter containers. Use boughs of evergreens (such as red or yellowtwig dogwood, pine, and fir), poinsettias, winterberry holly, reindeer moss, fruit, hydrangea blooms, and dried eucalyptus. And of course don’t forget to add twinkle lights!

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Adorn Outdoor Structures




• Wrap the poles and beams of an arbor, pergola, or gazebo with twinkling lights to create a dazzling winter wonderland once the snow arrives.



• Hang glittery snowflake decorations (sold at craft stores) or large Christmas balls from pergola beams or gazebo railings at varying lengths for interest and ambiance.



• Add holiday spirit to an outdoor shed or pool house by hanging a wreath or swag on the door, filling window boxes with boughs of evergreens, pinecones, and berries, and adding lights to the roof. You can even add a wooden sign by the door that says “Santa’s Workshop.”



• Turn your gazebo into a gift-giving showpiece by placing a decorated Christmas tree in the center.



• Bring the indoors out by placing a wreath above an outdoor fireplace or hanging stockings made of outdoor fabric from the mantel.

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Dress Up Fountains, Planters & Birdbaths




• Add color to empty garden containers and fountains with poinsettias, evergreen boughs, pine cones, and winterberry twigs.



• Use empty planters to display decorative present stacks: Wrap a small, medium, and large plastic container (filled with a few rocks for weight) in holiday foil gift wrap, stack the boxes in size order with the large box on the bottom, and then tie them together with ribbon.



• Arrange glowing globes, jewel-toned gazing globes, or lighted grapevine balls (all available at home improvement stores and garden centers) in urns, tiered fountains, or birdbaths for a shimmering spectacle.