Many people have the benefit of having a large back or front yard that they would want to convert into a usable space. For the perfect results, this involves planning and working with specialists in designing outdoor living spaces. One aspect of the design process is establishing traffic patterns in the outdoor living area.
What Are Traffic Patterns?
In any outdoor living area, even the small ones, you are likely to have several features to spruce the place up. These include rock formations, shrubs, trees, grass and other forms of topiary. You could even have a water feature.
The role of the outdoor living space is to offer an alternative area for people to relax in the outdoors in a fun, safe environment. This will involve them walking from one place to another, such as from the main house to a gazebo in the center of your back yard. There may be other points of interest around the space that they could be interested in. These routes that are commonly used in the outdoor living area can be termed as traffic patterns.
How They Can Be Made
To avoid people walking all over the outdoor living area, you can establish paths that they are supposed to use instead. How this can be done is only limited by your imagination. You could use walkways, brick paths, laying flat stones that form a path or even grow shrubs in rows so as to direct people when walking from one part of the area to another. Planting shrubs or even trees can be used for the establishment of corners. Ideally, an established high-quality contractor should be used not only in the conception of these walkways, but also in their installation. This makes both processes a lot easier.
Why You Need Traffic Patterns
You should assume that the outdoor living area will be used by your household members a lot. The area may even frequently be used to host get-togethers and parties. In the absence of traffic patterns, you may find people walking all over the place, which could have a negative impact on the aesthetics of the outdoor living space.
An example of this is when an office designs a new outdoor living area. This could be part of office renovations to make it more appealing to clients and employees. Without walkways, people could walk all over a newly grown lawn, resulting in patchy growth. This translates to spending more time and money on re-growing the lawn.
Some Ideas On Establishment Of Traffic Patterns
When establishing traffic patterns, it’s important to first conceptualize the areas that people will want to walk to and from. You can then design paths in the area to suit this. Consider using designs that mesh well with the overall design of the outdoor living area. For instance, if it features interesting rock formations, you could lay paths in the outdoor living area using flattened rocks rather than bricks. Finally, rather than seeing them as being only functional, you can use the paths as design elements as well. You can get inspiration for this from many areas including online catalogues and ideas from your contractor.