How to Create Your Backyard Oasis in Northern Virginia

By Kelli Cotton, RN, MSN

You don’t have to travel far to feel like you are on vacation!

Not everyone can hit the slopes or the trails during the winter months. In Northern Virginia, it is difficult for anyone with time limitations, traffic, and other responsibilities to travel distances during the week and on weekends. Creating an outdoor oasis is a fun way to get outside during the winter by just walking out your backdoor. It just makes sense that being outdoors any time of the year helps improve your overall health. Now is the time to build your dream outdoor fireplace or fire pit by O’Grady’s Landscape.

In your backyard, what is your dream?

Do you like the wood-burning fireplace, or would you prefer a flip-of-the-switch fire pit? I love the wood-burning outdoor fireplace. I love the smell and the sparks that come from wood. I also like adding a grate or a hook to cook dinner, whether that be chili or hot dogs! On the other hand, my husband likes the fireplaces that come on with the flip of a switch. Yes, it’s easier and cleaner, but where is the fun in that!

How can landscaping improve my health?

With COVID alone, our stress levels have gone through the roof. In a study with over 5,000 adults, 74% noted decreased stress levels just by going outside. Stress is directly associated with chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. It is more difficult for chronic diseases to affect you and your family by decreasing your stress levels. How will this improve my mental health? According to the National Institute of Health, spending more time outside in nature decreases episodes of depression. Add 30 minutes of activity, and the likelihood of depressive episodes is almost cut in half. Build in that 30 minutes of activity in your own yard. We all need to create a refuge in our own homes to help relieve that stress.

Creating a unique outdoor space where you can invite friends and family over and have a warm beverage is just what the doctor ordered. The process… finding the perfect pieces of wood, stacking them just right, adding the kindling and lighting that match… brings you back to the basics of life. It is very primitive. Not only is it primitive, but it also gives you one thing to focus on other than yourself and your worries solely. It’s magic! How can we help? Call O’Grady’s Landscaping. It is time to have your perfect fire pit or outdoor fireplace built! Whether you want to have a natural wood fire fireplace or a flip of a switch fire pit… that is up to you!

How can we help? Call O’Grady’s Landscape at 703-533-5001

It is time to have your perfect fire pit or outdoor fireplace built! Whether you want to have a natural wood fire fireplace or a flip-of-the-switch fire pit…that is up to you!

O’Grady’s Landscape Serves Sterling, Fairfax, Falls Church, Great Falls, McLean, Vienna, Arlington, Ashburn, Reston, Leesburg and more!

O’Grady’s Landscape is a full-service landscape company in Northern Virginia that serves homeowners in Great Falls, Vienna, the City of Falls Church, McLean, North Arlington, Ashburn, Reston, and Leesburg. Established in 1991, our Northern Virginia landscape company offers a wide variety of landscaping services, providing excellent project management and timely customer support services. Winner of the 2020 Service Houzz Landscape Award.

Resources

Beyer KMM, Szabo A, Hoormann K, Stolley M. Time spent outdoors, activity levels, and chronic disease among American adults. J Behav Med. 2018;41(4):494-503. doi:10.1007/s10865-018-9911-1

Thompson Coon J, Boddy K, Stein K, Whear R, Barton J, Depledge MH. Does participating in physical activity in outdoor natural environments have a greater effect on physical and mental wellbeing than physical activity indoors? A systematic review. Environ Sci Technol. 2011 Mar 1;45(5):1761-72. doi: 10.1021/es102947t. Epub 2011 Feb 3. PMID: 21291246.

Dhama K, Latheef SK, Dadar M, et al. Biomarkers in Stress Related Diseases/Disorders: Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Values. Front Mol Biosci. 2019;6:91. Published 2019 Oct 18. doi:10.3389/fmolb.2019.00091