Garden Design Tips

1.  Scale  2.  Purpose  3.  Layout  4.  What to Plant  5.  Further Reading

1.  Scale

A small garden will look most balanced with small-ish plants, shrubs and features.  A huge feature such as a twenty-foot tree would dwarf all other elements of your garden.  Take care when choosing new additions to your garden; check how large they will eventually grow.  Also make sure that your paths and borders are not disproportionately wide.  Small gardens often look best if they do not try to cram too much variety into a small space.  Invent a unifying "theme" such as "Wildflowers", "Evergreens and Ornamental Herbs" or "Small Shrubs and Ground-Cover Perennials".

The medium-sized garden is full of potential as it can accomodate many average-sized shrubs and trees.  The most popular design for medium gardens seems to be a grass rectangle with borders all round.  A large lawn can certainly be practical.  However, for something a little different from the four-square effect, how about adding curved borders, a wildlife corner or a pond?  Alternatively, a medium-sized garden you can afford to have two or three contrasting sections in your garden, perhaps divided or screened from each other.  For example, you could have a patio with barbecue area near the house with space for moveable container plants; a lawned section and a hidden area towards the end of the garden, screened off with shrubs or trellising, containing a "surprise" feature such as a pergola, seat or pond reached by a winding path.

A large garden will be able to contain mature plants, shrubs and trees of all sizes.  If designing a large garden for the first time, bear in mind that many plants and trees take several years to reach their full size.  It may be worth planting some fast-growing climbers or ground-cover plants so the garden is not too bare to start with.  A large, sweeping lawn can be beautiful as long as it is well-maintained.  You will have space for several contrasting areas to your garden, such as an orchard, a herb garden, a a rose garden and a pond or miniature lake.  A winding path can lead people on an interesting walk around your garden.  Try to put a surprise around each corner - a strong feature such as an unusual tree or sculpture.

2.  Purpose

What will you use your garden for?  Your garden may have one or more functions which will influence your design requirements:

Relaxing  Choose cool colours such as blue, lilac, white, cream and blueish greens.  Soothing fragrances such as lavender, rose or a camomile lawn will add to the effect.

Children's Play Area  A lawn is a popular soft play surface.  Hazards to remove or fence off include hard surfaces, spiky or poisonous plants and ponds.  You could dedicate part of the garden to the children, with their own miniature garden plots and a slide, swing or sand pit.

A Space for Pets  Again, a lawn is good for dogs and cats, and for rabbits and guinea-pigs which will enjoy eating the grass!  A garden made entirely of hard surfaces would be less comfortable for many animals.  Avoid poisonous plants.  Pets will appreciate the availability of sheltered or shaded areas.

Entertaining Friends  Provide adequate seating (either permanent or moveable) interesting walks around the garden with hidden corners and "talking points" such as a special sculpture or water feature.  You may like to keep accessories such as garden lights for outdoor entertaining.  A patio area may be useful for barbecues and other outdoor meals.

Growing Fruit and Vegetables  Plan what you would like to grow and how much space you will need for each kind of fruit or vegetable.  It can be helpful to grow your tallest plants (raspberries, runner beans) at the back or in the centre of the plot, leaving the low-growing ones (lettuces, potatoes) at the front and sides.  Small paths leading to different sections of the plot will prevent you stepping on your crops later!  If you decide to grow fruit bushes or trees such as currants or apples, leave enough room for them to grow to their full size.

Attracting Wildlife
To attract birds, choose shrubs and trees which produce berries.  Provide food such as peanuts and sunflower seeds for birds and don't forget to provide water for birds.  A pond may attract a number of garden visitors such as frogs and dragonflies, but protection from cats may be necessary.  Birds also need nesting space which could be in hedges, trees or nest-boxes.  The design of your garden could include a wildflower section to attract butterflies.  Allow hiding-places for hedgehogs and frogs.

3.  Layout

Factors to consider:

Choose between a formal garden based on straight lines, a relaxed-looking garden with curved lines or a mixture
Always plan to put tall plants behind small ones, not vice versa!
Leave space for plants and trees to reach their final height and width.  Include a variety of heights in the garden, from ground-cover plants to trees and climbing plants
An element of surprise - a seat hidden by a hedge or a winding path leading to a fountain
Your choice of colour schemes for the different sections of the garden
The garden boundary is often forgotten.  Will you have a brick wall covered in honeysuckle, a beech hedge, fencing or trellising?
For each season of the year make sure there is something in your garden best suited to it.  Try tulip bulbs for spring, roses and clematis for summer, Japanese maple for autumn foliage, and variegated holly for winter interest.
The personal touch - what is it about your garden which expresses something of yourself?  Is it an abundance of cottage garden plants, a collection of alpines or a section dedicated to your favourite climbers?

4.  What to Plant

It is tempting to buy all your favourite plants which you have seen elsewhere, and hope they will do well in your own garden.  Trial and error is a perfectly good method; however it can help to be informed about what has most chance of success in a garden like yours.  Questions to ask which should influence your choice include:

Is the soil acid, alkaline or neutral?
Is the soil clayey, sandy or loamy?
Is the garden sheltered or in an exposed position?
Will most of my plants be in shade or sunlight?
Do I have plenty of time to care for plants or would I prefer low-maintenance ones?
Is the garden near the sea?
What size plants am I looking for?  How large am I prepared for them to grow?

Answer these questions before going to the garden centre so you know what to look for on the label of the plants you buy!

Planning

Once you have decided what you want to include in your garden, it is helpful to make a plan.  Measure your garden and sketch its current layout as best you can.  Then make a new outline on paper and draw in what you plan to change.  Keep re-working the design until you are happy with it - it is much easier to do this on paper than to physically keep changing the garden around!  3D computer garden designers can be very helpful here.  Start with the overall shape of the garden and then concentrate on the detail for each section, rather than planning one square metre in minute detail and then having no time to plan the rest of the garden.

5.  Further Reading
 

BOOK:  What Plant Where

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