side yard landscaping ideas

15 Creative Side Yard Landscaping Ideas

So you are looking for some side yard landscaping ideas that are low maintenance and can be used in a narrow space, then you are in the right place. 

I will give you ten small side yard ideas here that you can apply to make your side yard from a trash can to a beautiful and clean design.

People treat their side yard like a garbage dustbin and never pay too much attention to it as they do in your front yard. But if you think creatively, you can make your side yard as beautiful as your front yard, no matter how narrow the space is.

Low-Maintenance Side Yard Ideas

Before we move forward, I want to let you know that these side yard landscaping ideas are indeed low maintenance, but that does not mean you should never clean them.

You have to take care of them occasionally and use your garbage in a way that does not disturb the look and feel of your side yard. 

If you do, then there is no means of all this. Your side yard will become the same as it was. Okay! So here are your low-maintenance side yard landscaping ideas for a narrow space.

Read, also: Ten amazing black mulch landscaping ideas

1. Build a Walkway in Your Narrow Side Yard

Build a Walkway in your side yard

If you do not have a walkway in your side yard, then you can build one. Just add some stones at a distance and then plant trees beside it. It will help you fight the mud in the side yard and make the yard look cleaner and more appealing.

2. Decorate Your Side Yard with Flowers

Decorate Your Side Yard with Flowers

Now what flowers are you going to use? Any flower you want, like roses, jasmine, or any other. Flowers that do not need a lot of maintenance. 

You can also use flower pots and place them in the side yard. It will make your maintenance effort much less than plating herbs and plants on the ground. But the choice is yours.

3. Build a Wooden Fence where Plants Can Climb

Build a Fence where Plants can Climb

If you like, you can also use a wooden fence and let the climbing plants climb it. So it creates a wall-like texture. You can also use artificial plants on the wooden fence, if you want, to design it quickly. 

You have many options in your design, as we will explore the other side yard landscaping ideas, but the question is, what will you choose? 

4. Tame the Slope in Your Yard

Tame the Slope in your yard

It is a pro landscaping tip. If you have a slope in your side yard, tame it using grass. It does look beautiful and natural. You can also use brown or black mulches to make it stand out, but that will cost you a bit more.

5. Build a Container Garden in the Yard

Tame the Slope in your yard

Normally, building a container garden takes up a lot of space. But you can also do it in your narrow side yard. Use large flower pots, make a square or circle, place the small pots inside it, and then use a few new pots to create a garden that looks like a container. 

6. Set Up a Seating Area in the Narrow Yard

Set Up a Seating Area

With the container garden, use some benches to create sitting areas or use stones for it. The idea here is to create a park-like feel on your side yard and enjoy nature.

It is helpful for tea and coffee or a gossip time and to feel the greenery alongside it with full privacy.

7. Add Some Style to the Yard

Add Some Style to Your Yard

Adding some new styles is extra work and takes occasional maintenance. But it may be good for your side yard if you use a fence or plant shrubs and create a visual barrier. The landscape style can be anything you like.

8. Add a Retaining Fence in Your Small Yard

Add a Retaining Wall

If you want privacy and to protect your side yard from getting disturbed, use a wooden fence or brick wall. That will cost you good money, but the wooden fence will not cost that much.

Plus you can use the climbing places in the fence to build the design. That means one shot, two hits. If the budget is not a problem, you can go for this landscaping idea.

9. Grow Vegetables and Fruits in the Side Yard

Grow Vegetables and Fruits in the Side Yard

Oh! I love growing vegetables and fruits in my side yard. It is one of the easy side yard landscaping ideas that many people use. You can plant cucumbers, beans, red chili plants, or anything you like. 

You can also buy some artificial plants and use them as a showcase. That also works for low-maintenance side yard landscape ideas.

10. Create a Welcoming Entrance

Create a Welcoming Entrance

Welcome designs are built for front yards, but that does not mean you can not use them in your side yard. Design a beautiful path that leads to your door, and use some small rocks on the side to make it more appealing.

Add some black mulch with a flower beside it, and use a garden bed if you have space in the yard. Set up some white benches to make it like a tea table and use artificial plants to make it look like a forest. 

I mean, combine all of the previous side yard landscaping ideas and build a new design that is low maintenance and beautiful.

11. Create a Garden Bed

walkway and side garden
James SteakleyCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

12. Make the Area Playful with Grass

backyard side garden
Cheryl on Flickr

13. Combile all of the Plants

side yard garden
Wknight94CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

14. Use Arborvioates and Vines

Shrine and garden
DragfyreCC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

15. Use Stones to Create a Unique Design

creative walkway
Patrick Standish on Flickr

Last Words

So now, you tell me what ideas you will choose from these side yard landscaping ideas and how you will combine them to fit in your narrow side yard. I hope you know the best. So now let’s get to the work!

Narrow Side Yard Landscaping FAQs

side yard landscaping FAQs

What is the easiest side yard landscape to maintain?

For me, it is a small rocky pathway with flowers and plants on the border. Just clean it occasionally, and you are good to go.

What is the cheapest narrow yard landscaping material?

I would say, use your old chairs and set them up in your side yard or lay a big stone that works as a chair. That way, your landscape will be cheap and low maintenance.

How can I make my small yard look nice?

Grow vegetables in the narrow yard and make it look good and green or plant some flowers supported by rover rocks.

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Side Yard Landscaping Ideas with Rocks
James SteakleyCC BY-SA 4.0, / Helar LukatsCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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About Author

Nazim Ali

Nazim Ali is an engineer who loves fixing things at home. He loves to try new things and share the knowledge with the world.