Over winter garden design
| Published: 27th January 2008 12:08 |
And the garden was bare... There may not be many excuses to get out in the garden and do some work when its cold outside, but winter is the perfect time to start designing, planning and even carrying out some landscaping. Even when the soil is frozen in the ground, you will get a huge head start in the spring thaw if you know exactly what you are doing.
When a landscape is thoughtfully planned, it does more than beautify your garden. By careful planning, you can make your garden the perfect functional space through spring and summer, whether your main aim is to entertain at parties, entertain the children or both. A functional landscape design adds extra valuable living space to your home during the warmer months.
Creating a beautiful and functional landscape can be overwhelming, especially if you are starting off with a blank canvas. Before you take up your shovel or start laying down decking, stimulate your creative vision by finding as much inspiration from books, magazines and TV programmes before you commit yourself.
Above all, good design, whether for gardens or interiors, must start with a plan. If you start without ironing out problem areas, your end result could be disappointing. A plan should be mulled over, tinkered with, tested and lived with before you commit to bringing it to life.
A good garden design for you and your family should always suit your lifestyle, not your idea of a dream garden. Don't make the mistake of planning a well-manicured Japanese garden if you know that you won't have the time and patience to maintain it.
To make things a little easier for you, every good garden design adheres to the same basic design principles that are used by interior designers. These principles apply to all forms of gardens, from small to elaborate wide open spaces.
One of the main principles is that no one feature, plant or structure should be completely dominant. Instead, all features work together to establish a sense of unity and space. Interior and garden designers know that repetition, simplicity and scale are all features of a well designed space so try to plan your garden with these in mind.
Landscaping involves the use of many materials, both manmade and natural. Creating the right balance between hardscaped areas and structures from nature, auch as trees and shrubs, is one of the first tasks to tackle. Thinking carefully about creating a healthy balance of materials will help you achieve a sense of unity.
Trees are an important element, providing a natural framework for your landscape, screening, shade and year-round beauty. Once trees are strategically placed in relation to hardscaping, think about dominant shrubs before you visually start filling in borders with flowers, smaller plants or pots. This will help you to achieve appropriate scale and unity. Remember that a garden is a three dimensional space. Many amateur landscapers make the mistake of designing their gardens from one fixed view, usually from the patio or decking area.
A well designed garden needs to work from many different angles, so when you are planning your design, walk around your garden instead of designing it from your main patio area.
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