Stage 3 Designing your garden
First draw up your survey as accurately as you can and making sure it is all drawn to scale. Then trace over it including only the boundaries, permanent fixtures that can't be moved and anything you want to keep. Some plants may be too big to move and some don't respond well to being moved, so a little research will help you out at this stage. You now have a blank canvass to start your design.
Time initially spent working out a good design, can save time, effort and money in the long run. Be sure about what you want from your garden. Think about creating focal points such as specimen plants or water features. Plan vertically as-well as horizontally to create different heights and depth in your garden. This use of vertical aspects is all the more important in small gardens. Try a couple of different designs, then go out into the garden and roughly mark them out one at a time to see if they work before finalizing your design.
You can get some design inspiration from these books available from Amazon,
Tips:
- Geometric designs will give a formal feel to the garden and soft curves a more natural feel.
- Working diagonally in the space can make the garden seem wider so is useful in narrow gardens.
- Try and divide the space equally between hard/soft landscaping and planting to give balance to the space.
- Don't try to put too much into the space, an overcrowded garden wont be a relaxing garden.
If you struggle to come up with ideas or to get your ideas down on paper, then why not see whether we operate our Essentials design service in your area. Our charges are some of the most competitive in the industry and could cost the equivalent of just a few coffee table size design books from your local bookshop!
Forward to Stage 4 Site preparation
Back to Stage 2 Surveying your garden
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