Halloween Landscaping: 6 Ways to Dress Up Your Yard

The fall is here. Leaves are turning yellow and fall off, flowers quit blooming, and plants are getting ready for winter. At Woodfield, we have one piece of advice  for you…

Embrace the death in nature and use it to get your yard Halloween-ready using these tips.

Dress Up Your Yard

1. Spice up the planters

For the plants that stay outside during the winter or until late fall, decorate the planter. Add spooky stickers, ribbons or cobwebs to make the Halloween reference. A creative idea is to use pumpkins for planters, so that a plant looks like it’s growing from the inside of a pumpkin.

If you have empty planters, use them to create an illusion of a dead garden. Instead of decorating the planter itself, focus on the contents. Make an arrangement of twigs and dead branches; add some cobwebs, plastic spiders or some slimy goo to make it look like the plants are dead, neglected or diseased.

2. Flowerbeds to graveyard

Turn spent flowerbeds into a mini graveyard. Get plastic grave plates or build wooden crosses to mark the “graves.” There is a lot of room for your creativity from inscribing custom names and dates on the tombstones to adding skeletons and body parts to the scene. You can even leave a few dead flowers for a more dramatic look.

3. Rework the lighting

For the month of October, you can change all your outside lighting bulbs to black light or some colored light like red or orange. Although not practical, this will definitely make your house stand out in the neighborhood. If you don’t want any drastic changes, create a few spotlights to highlight certain design features, such as a graveyard or a scarecrow.

4. Populate the bushes

If you have bushes and shrubbery growing along a walkway or next to the door, use them to scare your visitors. Dense bushes are a perfect place to hide motion-sensor devices that would jump out or make a noise when someone approaches. For a less scary experience, stuff the bushes with glowing mean eyes: enough to give someone the creeps. Here is a tutorial on how to do it.

5. Decorate the trees

There are plenty of hanging decorations you can use for the trees. Make sure they are not too heavy, won’t present a fire hazard or damage the tree in any way. Because trees are tall, we recommend going with larger décor pieces that will stand out.

6. Add a Gothic touch with black plants

There are a few plants that have naturally black foliage or flowers. If you are going for a scary and gloomy Halloween yard look, they would be perfect. Go here to see the assortment and read more about which plants will work better for Maryland landscaping in climate zone 7.

Have fun decorating, and if you need any help with the fall yard maintenance, contact Woodfield Landscaping and we’ll be happy to get your yard ready for the winter.