There truly aren’t many materials in nature that are as versatile as wood. We’ve crafted everything from furniture to paper with wood to help you find some great landscaping timber ideas. Timber is wood that has been processed for commercial use by being transformed into planks and beams, making it possible to use it for construction purposes. With the help of timber, you can achieve some fantastic results in landscaping either by hiring professionals to do it for you or by doing it yourself.
When it comes to landscaping timber ideas, there is a huge chance you will need timber at one point, but you shouldn’t only need it; you should want it, and have multiple creative ideas as to how to incorporate it and make it look special and unique. Think about all the possibilities that you can’t achieve with some other materials: you can color it, carve it, adhere it to one another. It’s truly versatile and homey.
We’ve looked for some of the best ways you can use wood to transform your yard, and here’s a list of them.
1. Custom Planter Boxes
Let’s start small: making planter boxes should be quite easy and highly customizable. You should be able to shape it a certain way (modern and simple, or classic and elaborate?) and even color it as your heart desires. We recommend considering the colors of whatever you intend to plant inside. If you’ll color it with paint, start with white wood, as it’s easier to color. However, you should always make sure that:
1. Your measurements of each plank are precise and exactly the same.
2. The quality of the planks you use and their thickness can support the weight of the earth and plants.
2. A Piece of Abstract Art
You can use cutouts of tree trunks as you can see here to form a stunning piece of abstract art to display on the outside of your house (or the inside, really.) It’s creative, different and unique, which is what you want your guests and neighbors to remember your house by. The thing about art, though, is that it’s personal; it doesn’t have to be this specific shape of cutouts or this specific composition. You can use colorful triangular or rectangular slices of wood, or even slices of mulch. The world is your oyster; get creative.
3. Under The Shade
There’s no place better to drink your morning coffee or tea than a gazebo overlooking a beautiful view, and that’s just a fact of life. You can use someone’s help to build this or completely rely on your own efforts, but if you do it precisely and customize it to your liking, the result should be beautiful. As you can see here, it’s possible to stain your gazebo a different color, or design the carving and structure of it to taste.
4. Rustic Furnishing
Furniture made of wood isn’t exactly the newest of concepts, but the difference between indoor and outdoor wooden furniture is that the latter doesn’t have to be very ornate, colorful or even padded at all. This look of simple wood planks screwed together is simple, rustic, understated, and adds an extra layer of naturalness to your landscape. Go for medium, cool-toned colors of wood that’s smooth enough to not need padding.
5. The Classic Deck
Like the previous idea, a wooden deck isn’t the most novel of concepts either. We invite you, though, to look at this classical style of walkway, consider its beauty and how you can customize it to taste. Will it be mismatched planks? Planks with marbling in them? Planks you color at home? Take your pick.
6. A Unique Bench
Benches are a pretty versatile piece of furniture for any landscape, and pretty traditional too. What you need to think about is: How am I going to make it look unique? And this is one way to do it. Using these laminated plants of varying widths and uniform warm medium color, fixed on a marble, slide-shaped structure of the same color, looks quite unique and innovative. Just make sure you don’t put small objects on that bench, for obvious reasons.
7. A Simple Fence
Fences shouldn’t only provide a minimal amount of safety; you should strive for aesthetic perfection. A fence can become a gorgeous element of your yard’s design that can stand on its own as a stylish and pleasing piece. In this one, you can see that the design is simple and safe yet sleek and modern with symmetry that comforts the eye and an equally sleek dark color.
8. Put Some Fun on It
If there’s a better piece of furniture to sit on with a book and a cup of coffee than a wooden swing overlooking a view, we don’t know of it. Swings are versatile, comforting and, above all, fun. We don’t think this is suitable for a DIY project as you’ll need a professional with knowledge of the weight it can support and the strength of the chain et cetera, but it’s a perfect piece to have in your garden.
9. An Unconventional Fence
If you thought we showed you a nice fence before, this one is nice in a completely different way. While not offering as much protection as a conventional fence, it’s an abstract piece of art that can stand alone as an avant-garde piece of décor. Think about how you can customize those wooden cylinders, be it in color or shape; in the end, what you’ll have is an art piece that reflects your personal taste.
10. Protect Your Plants
Mulch is wood that has been chopped and processed by machines into pieces almost as small and thin as flakes. The size of the pieces can vary. No matter the size, we shudder at the idea of walking barefoot on it (can you imagine those splinters near your skin… ugh) which is why mulch is used around bushes and plants to protect them from house pets and to also give the entire thing a cool frame to stand on. Use variations of coloring and sizes of mulch to experiment with different looks.
11. Gazebo of The Future
If your home has a modern or futuristic vibe to it, we can think of no better addition to your garden than this stunning futuristic variation on a gazebo. Here’s an idea: How about replacing that rooftop of glass with solar panels? Not only will you have a gazebo where you can charge your phone or laptop while working, but you can guarantee it’s clean energy.
12. Walkway of The Future
This is another modern variation on a previous idea. Wooden walkways are pretty, but you know what’s prettier? This chic and minimalist walkway of light planks embedded into the ground. The asymmetrical look of this walkway makes it quirky and spontaneous, and its minimalism makes it elegant still.
13. Stairway to Heaven
A wooden patio in your garden is an isolated space of peace and quiet; a room without walls that overlooks greenery. Think of all the ways you can customize that space; furniture, swings, bean bags, sculptures… you name it. If your garden is big enough to have a patio in it, you’re lucky, and we recommend you make that patio as stylish as you can… don’t let that fantastic space go to waste on shabby styling.
14. A Natural Walkway
While the first walkway we feature was a traditional deck and the second was a modern art piece grounded in materialism, this one is simple, understated, and feels like you were walking in a forest of wonders and then found a path built by the fairies to their magic kingdom. Because it’s meant to be as natural as possible, try not to stylize it too much as to lose its simplistic allure.
15. Sculptures and Cultures
In this China-themed garden, you can see that timber was used to carve out a shape of fence similar to Chinese houses and temples. This is a reminder not that you should do that in particular (and it is such an incredible option to boot) but that you can use timber and be inspired by different cultures and styles of design to create an unconventional and diverse feel to your space.
16. An Ornate Gate
This gorgeous gate is inspired by the feel of the 1950s and 60s gardens, giving you that nostalgic longing to your grandparents’ home (even if you never knew them or if their home didn’t have a garden or a gate like that). You can’t help but feel a call from the past when you see an elaborate piece of wooden work like this one. You can change the feeling it gives by changing its colors; remember: Color affects mood.
17. A Frame for Your Succulents
What’s prettier than succulents? Succulents surrounded by a box of wood. Seriously, while this structure of timber looks initially boring, it’s a good way to protect a group of plants with specific properties biologically and to frame them aesthetically. You can use this box in so many different ways as well; you can use it to contain a sculpture or even a small pool, et cetera.
18. Those in Wood Houses
We’ve talked for long about using timber around your house, but what about framing your house itself in it? Laminated wood (or even non-laminated sometimes, depending on the look you’re going for) can give a fantastically elegant allure. In this example, you can see how it was used along with bricks to showcase a modern and chic style of design. You can use timber in so many different ways to achieve a look you want for your house, be it classic, cozy, cabin-in-the-woods style, or a modern piece like this one.
19. Patio Roof + Columns
We’ve discussed patios and we’ve discussed gazebos, and we know that patios are larger than gazebos, but did you know that, like a gazebo, your patio can have a stylish and rustic wooden roof with wooden columns? Don’t think of this as just a construction or an amenity, think of it as an extension of what your garden can do, as you watch your climber plants and flowers grow upon that roof and frame it in a fairytale aura. This roof can also be built without a patio at all; just a roofed walkway inside your garden.
20. Styling Your Pond
Ponds are a gorgeous addition to any garden, but did you know you can use timber to style your pond too, just as you would stones? Yes, timber is just as customizable and beautiful a decoration for ponds (especially Asian-style ponds) as stones. Think about a look you want for your pond and use timber as needed.
21. A Wall of Greenery
This might be the most innovative idea on this list (yes, we’ve kept the best for last.) It can be applied inside your house or outside, for urban gardening or as a piece of décor for your suburban or rural yard. Using planks of white laminated timber for a modern look or non-laminated for a classical one, you can plant in the spaces between the planks for a very particular aesthetic; if you want to be philosophical you can say it’s the face-off between man’s creation and that of nature. We’ll just call it pretty.
Conclusion
Landscaping timber ideas can be diverse in colors and textures, customizable, and versatile. You can use it to apply a classical aesthetic, a rustic one, or an uber futuristic one. Use variations of colors (even stain it yourself if you have to) laminated and non-laminated, different tools, different styles of carving, and different ideas, to obtain any result you could possibly want. It’s truly God’s gift to those who love landscaping; its uses are infinite. Take a look at this list and pick an aesthetic you want for your landscape. You want it to be coherent, comfortable and stylish, and above all, uniquely your own.
