Designing a Landscape

If you are redesigning your garden, adding to it or creating an entirely new one then there are a few things you will need to know about landscape design to help you make a success of your work. The most important thing to know is what sort of soil you have to work with and which plants are best for it. A knowledge of your garden’s position is also important; such as which side is north and which south and where are the sunny spots, the shaded spots and whether some areas retain more water. You might, of course, employ the services of a professional gardener or landscape designer to assist you or undertake the job themselves; but it can be immensely satisfying to create your own ‘masterpiece’ and you can learn the essentials as you go along.

As with any design task, the first and most important activity for you is planning. By proper planning you will avoid mistakes and give yourself a guide by which to work. A plan assists greatly in the whole decision making process without incurring any more expense than a pencil and paper, and your time. Your plan will include what building or new digging work needs to be done and where; it will include the plants and where they will be placed and you can decide which colours and shapes will predominate where. Some go so far as to draw up a scaled picture of the garden and attach photos or illustrations of plants, others use computer software and some merely type up a series of lists; but so long as your planning allows you to approach the work in an organised way then it is serving its purpose.

Remember, when designing your garden, to take into account, the seasonal nature of your garden and how each plant will appear all year round. Try to envisage what sort of garden you want to have in all the seasons and design it accordingly. Be careful you don’t put all your efforts into creating a spectacular summer display of colour and shape but have dead matter for the other three seasons in the year. You will have to look at it year round and should try to remember that when designing it.

Autumn, especially, can be a delightfully rich season for the garden and perennials will continue to grow and blossom each year. A good landscape design will provide you with a good plan for work, and a rewarding garden.