In the past few months I've focussed on individual features within the garden but today I want to go back a step, back to the very beginning..... when you first look out on the garden and think ' lets do something there'.
It's very easy to decide you want a seating area, a focal point or perhaps a new border and to get someone out to quote for the work. So long as you are careful with who you use, you should get exactly what you ask for. It works well for all concerned. That is until you then realise that the nice new deck makes the patio on the other side of the garden look a bit 'tatty' or that now you have a seating area in the corner you end up looking directly at the neighbours garage and the shape of the lawn now means the mower ends up half way in the flower bed when you get into that tight corner. So you then set about solving that problem. The end result being a garden that looks.....as it is, often disjointed with different materials, different shapes and different themes sometimes.
If you've just moved house or you're now getting round to looking at the garden this weeks advice is to first look at the big picture, the whole garden. This can be a daunting and big project initially and its tempting to just 'do the patio' but my advice is don't, resist that temptation, it will only end up in a garden that could have been better. This is the essence of garden design. You don't have to build the whole garden in one go if at all, lots of the gardens I design are built in stages due to financial restrictions, but by planning it out you can see the challenges and alter certain features so that they all fit together as one. Continuity is one of the main focuses when designing a garden, not just in planting but hard landscaping materials, the surrounding landscape and of course how it links with the biggest feature, one thats often forgotten when looking out at the garden, the house!
When I visit a garden that needs designing I tend to stand around looking a bit distracted at first, but what I'm trying to do is to absorb the whole thing, if I have time I may want to visit several times, taking photos and looking at the garden in different lights and times of day. Next I put the garden as it is on paper, the 'site assessment' and this includes notes on surrounding factors such as neighbouring trees, houses, views and even sounds. I'm then able to think about the proportions of hard and soft landscaping, the requirements and 'must haves' and ensure that everything has its place and nothing causes an eyesore or spoils a view.
You don't need to be a garden designer for the first bit either, just living with your garden for a while, walking round making notes or taking photos and then putting out a deck chair where you think you might want a seating area. The best gardens are often those that haven't been rushed and look like they were 'meant to be' and with a bit more thought and planning at the beginning its fairly simple as the garden itself will often dictate what goes where. By doing this it might take more time but in the end the garden will be all the better for it and you'll probably save money too!
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