Plan for Useful Space

• Planning before planting is the most important step in backyard design, and yet it is often overlooked, reports the North Carolina State University Extension. Planting shrubs along your house foundation and around the perimeter of your yard without thinking about how you will use that yard will result in an unattractive, inefficient space. Draw a plot plan of your backyard, then think about your family's needs, including areas for children to play, privacy or blocking noise, space for entertaining, storage, vegetable gardening, clotheslines and dog runs. Divide your plot plan into use areas and plan your backyard design to insure that each use gets a specific space allotted to it, instead of trying to lump all uses into one open lawn area.
  
  

Wildfire Protection

• With careful planning, your backyard design can actually help protect your home from the threat of wildfire. Keep flammable materials at least 30 feet away from your home, advises the Firewise Communities program of the National Fire Protection Association. Construct patios with stone slabs rather than wood, and use stone mulch rather than flammable pine needles, bark, or wood in landscape plantings that are nearer to your home than 30 feet. Plan privacy plantings farther away from your home, and consider incorporating water features that can enhance your backyard's beauty while also creating a fire-fighting resource.
  
  

Wildlife Habitat

• A few tricks in backyard plant selection and planting design can create a rich habitat for wildlife, enhancing your enjoyment of your yard by bringing birds and creatures up close for viewing. Focus on providing the three basic necessities for wildlife--cover, food, and water, advises the Purdue University Forestry and Natural Resources program. Select a diversity of native shrubs and perennials favored by the wildlife you want to attract. Include flower species that attract beneficial insects or provide seed for birds, like red clover, black-eyed Susans, and purple coneflowers. If your yard is small, or your backyard usage makes it difficult to include all three basic wildlife needs, take stock of what your neighborhood offers to wildlife and try to incorporate the one least-provided habitat component in your yard, the Purdue University suggests.
  
  

Sustainability

• The trick to a backyard that looks good in the long run and does not cost you a fortune in water, pesticides and maintenance time is to plan ahead for sustainability. Healthy landscape design includes selecting native plants well-adapted to the lighting, soil and wind conditions of your back yard, advises the University of Rhode Island. Compost your lawn clippings and raked-up leaves to return a natural weed-suppressing mulch to your backyard plantings. Water only as much as needed, to encourage your trees, shrubs and perennials to develop deep root systems that can survive temporary dry seasons. Consider using rain barrels to harvest rainfall and allow you to water your backyard without expense and without dosing your plants with unnecessary additives like chlorine and fluoride.