Want to design a garden that can relieve your stress and refresh you when you come home? Check out these garden design basics for help!
We work so hard to get the house of our dreams. A place to call home at the end of our 8-5 routine, a beautiful place to lit us up after a long day of work. Sometimes a home cannot be as refreshing as we wish because of what welcomes you before you set foot in the house.
How does it look right outside your home? How about the backyard? If you don’t like what welcomes you home, then this article is for you! Here, we shall explore how you can transform your front or backyard using a garden design.
There is some myth out there that showcases garden design as something out of our pay grade. Let me tell you that couldn’t be further from the truth. A garden design can be done by an amateur or a professional.
What’s more, technology has eased everything and now there are applications which can guide you through garden designing. When you think about a garden design, consider the following factors:
#1- Budget
This should be the number one thing you have to think of. The other factors are subject to the budget prescribed. Budget determines even what type of seeds to plant and the type of pavements to include in the design.
#2- Location
Where do you want the garden located? How do you connect it to the house and other structures? Answers to these questions are important. Besides that, topographical features such as hills, outcrops and slopes dictate the layout of the garden design. Here you also have to factor the contextual location of the garden, an urban and a rural garden are designed differently.
#3- Soil
Know your soil. Not saying you should have a degree in Soil Science, just that you should be aware of the basics as soil affect the presence or lack of water and nutrients. This information can be derived from observing the type of weeds that grow on the targeted plot.
Please note that this is only important if you are considering designing the garden yourself, but if you can afford a Landscaper, s/he will know what should be done. Soil can be manipulated by adding valuable material such as compost, mineral salt among others to the top soil.
#4- Surfaces
The surface of the garden design is essential to the aesthetics of the garden. You can have an expanse lawn akin to ones in western temperate gardens. Surfaces of the paths in a garden design should be chosen with both practicability and aesthetics in mind.
#5- Planting design
It could be argued that a garden design is primarily a planting design and apparently, you can’t argue with that. Forget all the ground work; this will be what will make or break a design.
It combines some cultural, horticultural and ecological knowledge. You’ll need to know what can grow with what before you end up sabotaging your work, albeit unknowingly!
#6- Type of garden
There are different kinds of gardens, which include:
- Islamic gardens (dominant in South Asia, North Africa, and Iberian Peninsula)
- Mediterranean gardens (Popularized by the Ancient Greek and Romans)
- Formal Gardens (traditional European garden design)
- Cottage gardens (Wild Garden, not suitable for small urban areas!)
- Kitchen garden (A simple vegetable and herb garden)
- Shakespeare garden (Themed around the work of William Shakespeare)
- Rock Garden (Features extensive use of rocks and stones)
- Contemporary garden (In modern housing)
- Small Urban Garden (Container Gardening)
- Residential garden
I will go on a limb here and assume most people are after designing a residential garden — Designing a beautiful garden for your home. Having considered all the above and figured your design, what next?
Another thing critical to the formulation of a garden design includes the cost of maintenance. A garden may require a gardener and some tools. A good garden design should put that into consideration.
Some tools, such as a Pole Saw are very essential. A pole saw is required to top a tree as desired keeping a garden neat and attractive.
Tree topping is the oldest form of landscaping and requires no fancy education; just a beautiful imagination can wow your visitors. Whether is to top a tree, or deciding what material to line your pavement with; it’s all part of coming up with a garden design.
While you think of a garden design, it might do you plenty of good to remember that, through simplicity comes great beauty.
Do you have any other suggestions you think I should have mentioned? Please let me know in the comments.
Shary Saunders is a blogger at sharycherry.com. Gardening and landscaping have been her passion for years. You can find Shary on Twitter at @SharySaunders
Nice tips! I am moving to the countryside where I will have a garden and I especially liked the idea of a Mediterranean garden. My mother is from Greece and I love this “southern” theme. I believe I’ll need to get some statues for decor and then my garden will look amazing!
It sure got my attention when you said that knowing the kind of soil we have for the garden is essential for the success of the landscaping project. However, you did say that it is only important if we plan on doing the task ourselves. I think it will be best if I hire a professional to handle the landscaping and gardening since I do not know the first thing about plants. I do not even know the kind of soil we have. Anyway, thank you for sharing this.