Are You Considering Using Services From Garden Designers?

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If you aren’t that handy at designing your own garden, you might be considering garden designing that can be done by professionals. They can incorporate ideas for your landscaping that you might not come up with on your own, but they will ask you plenty of questions to get ideas of the things you like the best, including colours, types of plants, unique landscaping features and even the types of vegetables and herbs you use, when cooking. Beautiful garden designs can blend all kinds of plants and many people are using their home gardens to grow organic foods, with plants that add interest to their landscaping, as well.

If you want a beautiful garden, but do not know where to start, contacting a garden designer is an idea that can transform your yard, deck, patio and entryway, with proper planning and execution. There are many experts in garden designing that are knowledgeable in unique plants, which offer you a beautiful garden, and little upkeep. When a garden designer is asking about your preferences, this is something they might consider and many flowering perennials are low maintenance and will put beautiful colour, flowers, fruits or vegetables in your garden every year.

What Are The Advantages of Hiring Garden Designers?

There are some garden designers that will consider natural landscaping features you already have and they will try to incorporate natural plantings that compliment them. If you have a small pond, cattails and water lilies might be used or if you have a large boulder, border plants or vines will offer a different look that will highlight the stone or make it less over-powering, depending on the size and location. The most beneficial part of professional garden designing is that you may be able to save money in the long run by taking advantage of things you already have, but might not have thought of incorporating into your plans. Every landscape is unique and every homeowner may have a different idea of what a beautiful garden looks like, so it is helpful to find a professional that understands your preferences and needs, for this reason.

When you are ready for a beautiful garden, considering professionals to design your garden can be a good idea for those that have no idea where to start. Not only can you learn a lot about the plants to select from, but also you can develop your gardens over a period of time and add plants that you especially like, as your budget allows. Many people will choose professionals to maintain their landscaping and gardens, which is an easy way to enjoy beautiful gardens that are visually appealing and weed-free.

Since there are several options for planning and maintaining a beautiful garden, it is a matter of choosing the methods you prefer. There are some people that will have the initial garden layout on paper so a garden designer uses it as the starting point, but they will maintain the gardens on their own after the initial planting. Since there are annual plants in many gardens, this might require a professional to plant a new garden each year, but many people are able to do their own gardening and produce a beautiful garden on their own, once they have received professional advice and designing services.

How Can A Garden Designer Save You Time and Money?

Backyard Landscape DesignKeeping a garden designer is beneficial in a sense of saving both time and money. It reduces efforts and woes at your part as well. The things you want to look in a garden designer are experience, work abilities and his knowledge towards all sorts of flowers and plants. He or she should pay attention to what your needs and desires are. A garden designer should be a better listener for that cause. He or she should carefully jot down what your hopes and expectations are. After hearing to what you wish, a garden designer should advice what things are positive and what is impossible to carry out.

More of the ideas which could be implemented depend on the location and site where the garden is to be made. It would start with an elaborative measurement of the area so that it could be observed of what planting could be done. The soil should be examined to figure out what shrubs will be suitable for it to sustain and what will not be. A few other things such as the water providing system and the light arrangements should be considered as well.

What Are Some Good Ideas For Patio Garden Design?

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Patio Garden Design is perfect for those who live in the city, but still want to consider creating a garden for their patio. There are different designs for your patio garden and it’s up to you to think of the color combinations, the pots, how they are arranged or aligned, etc. You can release your creativity in designing your own patio garden, after all, it’s yours and it’s going to be your pride and joy. These are mainly guidelines because in designing, you have no rules. You can choose from many varieties regarding patio garden design from modern to classic, whatever suits you, really.

When you do your patio garden design, you don’t limit yourself to space; you limit yourself to time and interest. If you don’t see yourself working on your flower garden designs, then this isn’t for you. Designing your garden requires time and effort and of course, your interest in engaging yourself with such activity. You have to have a lot of time on your hands to create a personal touch to your patio garden design. Once you’ve set your mind into designing your garden, you can now pick your place where you like to build a garden.

What Are The Most Popular Patio Garden Design Themes?

Patio Garden DesignYou can choose from different themes like, modern, classic, chic, or whatever suits your personality. There are different materials from stores that could fit your theme, for sure. As mentioned, time and interest is needed in designing your patio garden. If you did everything in a hurry, it would be noticed with the lack of alignment and organization. Before you start designing your patio garden, always think of a concept so that when you execute your design, you won’t take a long time deciding on how to fix everything and stuff. Organize everything and have your materials all set so you could start your flower garden designs already.

Uneven edges are dangerous for children, and adults, too. Safety is part of your patio garden design and it’s not something you should miss out. Your lives and safety are in your hands. Always take precautionary measures before setting up your patio garden. If you’re guests consist mostly of kids, you should be sure to check if everything in your garden would be safe for them. Make sure that the floor isn’t too slippery or that there aren’t too many sharp edges for kids tend to play roughly with other kids.

If you have the time, space, interest and budget, then you’re ready to start designing your patio garden. Always set aside some time for planning and organizing before going all hands-on on your patio garden. It’s not all about fixing and hard work, you really need time to plan everything out before getting dirty and excited. Always consider the place where you live in and always keep in mind that landscaping is important in your design. Of course, you shouldn’t miss out on your budget. Always make a list so that you wouldn’t be caught short in the middle of designing your patio garden. Remember that you should have fun because it’s your patio, anyway.

Which Urban Patio Garden Design Features Are Popular in 2017?

When planning an urban garden design, certain things need to be kept in mind. With such a small space to work on, you need to be careful with every little detail to make your garden come together. Here are some ideas that you can incorporate in your urban garden design:

  1. Make a Rough Sketch of Your Garden. The best way to plan for your garden design is to see it on paper. This will help you visualize your garden and will also allow you to plan your space more effectively. Unity should be one of your main goals in your design. It may be better understood and applied as consistency and repetition. Repetition creates unity by repeating alike elements like plants, plant groups, or decor throughout the landscape. Consistency creates unity in the sense that some or all of the different elements of the landscape fit together to create a whole.

    Unity can be created by the consistency of character of elements in the design. By character, I mean the size, height, texture, color schemes, etc. of different elements. A good example would be in the use of accent rocks and boulders. If you’ve ever seen a landscape design that had several different colors and sizes of boulders, then you’ve seen that unity wasn’t created by this particular element.

  2. Create an Optical Illusion in Your Patio. To make small spaces appear larger, use mirrors in your urban garden design. Weather-resistant mirrors are perfect for outdoor use and can be positioned in a sunny area in the garden to reflect light to shadier areas. Transition is one of the principles of landscape design that can be used to “create illusions” in the landscape. For example a transition from taller to shorter plants can give a sense of depth and distance as in an oil painting, making the garden seem larger than it really is. A transition from shorter to taller plants could be used to frame a focal point to make it stand out and seem closer than it really is.
  3. Color Adds Real Life Dimension And Interest to Your Landscape. Light colored walls and fences open up garden space. They also make your plants stand out more. Bright colors like reds, yellows and oranges seem to advance toward you and can actually make an object seem closer to you. Cool colors like greens, blues, and pastels seem to move away from you and can make an object seem farther from you.Grays, blacks, and whites are considered neutral colors and are best used in the background with bright colors in the foreground. However, to increase depth in a landscape, you can use dark and coarse textured plants in the foreground and use fine textured and light colored plants in the background. Colors can also be used to direct your attention to a specific area of the garden. A bright display among cooler colors would naturally catch the eye.
  4. Create Balance In Your Design. Your neighbor’s wall, busy street and other unpleasant views can be altered with the use of small trellis. A trellis can also double as a hanging or climbing post for some of your plants. A sense of equality draws tranquility and peace of mind. There are basically two types of balance in landscape design. Symmetrical and Asymmetrical.Symmetrical balance is where there are more or less equally spaced matching elements, areas, and shapes of the garden design. With a garden equally divided, both sides could share all or part of the same shape, form, plant height, plant groupings, colors, bed shapes, theme, etc. You may remember creating something like this when you were a kid in art class at school. Where you take a piece of paper, splash paint on it, fold it in half, unfold it, and then it magically creates an interesting symmetrical design. So symmetrical balance or design is somewhat of a mirror image or reflection.

    Asymmetrical balance on the other hand is one of the principles of landscape design that’s a little more complex. While textures, forms, colors, etc. may remain constant to create some unity, shapes and hardscapes may be more random. This form of balance often has separate or different themes with each having an equal but different type of attraction. Asymmetrical may be better understood as actually being unbalanced, abstract, or free form while still creating unity and balance through the repetition of some elements.

    A good example of this would be where bed shapes or paths differ on both sides of the landscape dividing line while still sharing some of the same elements and plants. One side could be curved with a sense of flow while the other side is straight, direct, hard, and completely opposite. Again, unity and balance will be created through other elements.

  5. Research About Your Plants. Some plants thrive when mixed with other plants, while others need a space of their own. There are those that thrive in sunlight and there are some that prefer partial shade. Knowing how your plants behave will help them grow more favorably. This is particularly applicable to herbs and vegetables, but may likewise be relevant to other plants. Contrast and harmony can also be achieved using plants. Fine foliage verses coarser foliage, round leaves verses spiked leaves as well as color compliments and contrasts. Plant height, color, and texture may be varied from one area to the next but each area should stay consistent within its own theme. Many successful do it yourself designs follow a basic theme to achieve most of the principles of landscape design described on this page. It’s a simple starting point for do it yourselfers that can be added to later.
  6. Plant Your Patio Strategically. You need to ensure that your plants get enough sunlight as required, so you need to plant strategically. But other than that, you need to know where exactly to place your plants to achieve cohesion in your garden. This also allows provision for putting other landscaping materials in your garden. Natural Transition can be applied to avoid radical or abrupt changes in your landscape design. Transition is basically gradual change. It can best be illustrated in terms of plant height or color but can also be applied to all elements in the landscape including but not limited to textures, foliage shape or size, and the size and shape of different elements.
  7. Add Proportion And Repetition. With such small garden space, you cannot place all your plants on the ground. Containers and raised beds help in stretching out your garden space and allow you to accommodate more plants in a tiny space. Use planters which you can hang or place on different areas in your garden. Proportion simply refers to the size of elements in relation to each other. Of all the principles of landscape design, this one is quite obvious but still requires a little thought and planning. Most of the elements in landscape design can be intentionally planned to meet the proper proportions. For instance if you are creating a small courtyard garden, an enormous seven foot garden statue placed in the center would be way out of proportion and a little tacky to say the least. Or a small four foot waterfall and pond placed in the center of a large open yard would get lost in the expanse. 

    Repetition is directly related to unity. Its good to have a variety of elements and forms in the garden but repeating these elements gives variety expression. Unity is achieved by repeating objects or elements that are alike. Too many unrelated objects can make the garden look cluttered and unplanned. There’s a fine line here. It’s possible that too much of one element can make a garden or landscape feel uninteresting, boring and monotonous. However, unity can still be created by using several different elements repeatedly. This in turn keeps the garden interesting.

Deciding what you want your patio garden design space to be like initially is the hardest thing to do, but the easiest part of the entire process. Translating that vision into reality will take up the bulk of your time and keep you stimulated and frustrated. But collectively how you spend this time will make the difference between a unusable piece of land adjoining your property and a beautifully designed garden.

What Is The Best Way To Create Ecstatic Gardens with 4 Useful Flower Garden Design Features?

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Are you one of the people I know who are creative but just too shy to show their skills? Are you fond of flowers and plants? Are you not afraid to get sweaty and dirty in your garden? Are you the kind of person who loves doing things on his or her own? Then why not start building a flower garden design and make use of it? Why don’t you show your other side to your family and friends? And prove to them that canvassing on nature is one of a kind.

You can express your real self by designing your flower garden designs based on your personality. It is your own garden, so don’t be afraid to do whatever you want. Designing your own garden will need a lot of effort from you, but don’t worry because in the end you will definitely be satisfied with the result. Remember there is no right and wrong when you are designing your own patio garden design, you yourself will be the one to dictate on what you should do, but considering some helpful tips with some flower garden design books will help you make the most of your designs attractive.

Although it is tempting to scale down the garden features to avoid cluttering the space this will result in a muddle of insignificant elements that does the exact opposite. Including a single bold structure like a chunky pergola or a rendered blockwork wall around a seating area creates a sense of enclosure, introduces a touch of drama and holds focus inside the garden. Textured finishes like slate or pebble cladding can be used on courtyard walls to add interest and also stop the boundaries from becoming overbearing.

Some of the skills of professional landscape designers are already built into the garden design software. For example, in the past we have to depend on the professionals to select suitable plants that will thrive in your local climate. Today, the USDA Hardiness Zone Map is encoded into most paid and free landscape design software, so selecting suitable plants for your climate has become a much easier job.

What Are The Most Important Features in A Software Package to create Awesome Flower Garden Design for Your Patio?

Over the years of using both free and paid garden design software for garden design projects for my clients, I noticed that there are 4 “must have” features in the software that can help to save lots of time and avoid garden design mistakes:

1) Large Plant Database with Hardiness Zone Maps

I cannot stress the importance of correct plant selection enough. Fortunately, access to Hardiness Zone Maps is just a few clicks away with the correct software. Experienced gardeners will tell you that it is pointless to plant something that will not survive in your climate.

The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones.

Therefore, to avoid the disappointment of seeing dying plants, it is important to know your hardiness zone before deciding what plants you want in your garden.

2) Ability to Do 3D Garden Designs and Create 2D Drawings

From experience, many people have problems visualizing how the garden will look like by just looking at a 2D drawing. Unfortunately, many professional landscape designers still like to communicate the garden design concept to their clients. For example, by looking at a “bird eye view” plan, there is very hard to imagine how a bird bath looks like beside a raised flower bed. Some clients absolutely love it; however, some clients want the bird bath removed after it was installed. Such costly design errors can have avoided if the client was shown a 3D photo of the future garden.

If you want to go further than simply understanding the basics of landscape design, there are a few places online that will help you to approach your landscaping in the right way. When it comes to finding inspiration to ignite your creative juices, there really is no better place than Pinterest. Simply search for “Landscape Design” to find more boards and pins than you can shake a rake at.

Anyway, 2D drawings are still important. It contains much important information, such as the size of the garden, and the location of every garden element. Therefore, it is crucial for paid and free garden design software to have both 2D and 3D design capabilities.

3) Ability to Import Your Front Yard or Backyard Photos

This type of free garden design software is probably the easiest to use, and it is definitely the most practical for gardeners who has only a small garden to work on.

This type of software allows you to import your front yard photo and add garden features around them. So, it is particularly useful for creating “before and after” comparisons. Some software even can create different lighting effects so that you can see how your future garden looks like in the morning as well as in the evening.

However, if you have a large garden, this type of program is probably not for you. The reason is, if your garden is a large one, in this type of program it is not possible to design in every single detail.

4) Natural Plant Growth Simulation

Once you’ve mastered the basics of gardening and landscape design, it’s time to get into the fun part: designing your garden. Below are a selection of options specifically chosen for this purpose.

With the Hardiness Zone Maps installed into the software, some landscape design software nowadays can also predict how your plants will look like in the next 3 months or 5 years. This is particularly important so that adjustments can be made for space constraints which are not apparent at the first look.

Smart Drawing is a powerful browser-based software app, which claims to be the “smartest way to draw anything”, from flowcharts to floorplans. It’s the software’s ability to draw and design landscapes only in 2D it’s an interesting feature here.

Besides, it is also a great experience to see how your garden will become more and more gorgeous year after year, without the need of time travel!

You should always put in mind that the flower garden design you are creating is yours. Remember to do everything that will make you feel better. Make it as relaxing as you want for you to have a sanctuary whenever you needed to unwind and rest your mind. Your patio garden design will reflect your personality so you should design it carefully.

Is Garden Design Planning Difficult To Do?

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The garden planning process starts with an analysis of the existing situation. You have to be aware, what are the values and what are the disadvantages of your garden. At first estimate the good views in the garden – to a natural territory, to a hill or a lake – mark on a plan all views, that you consider valuable. Mark also important views – from the garden terrace, from the living room in the house or any other place, which is used often. Estimate also bad views, which should be screened in the garden rearrangement process.

Every garden benefits from good garden design planning. Whatever your expectations are, planning and design are essential. One of the first questions I ask a client – as a garden design consultant – is “What do you want most from your garden?” The planning will focus on these needs and create a personalized garden that can be enjoyed by everyone for years to come.

One thing I have learned over the past twenty plus years as a garden design consultant is that very few people are totally content with their gardens. Despite the immense pleasure we derive from them, there is always something that could be better and this is where we, designers come in.

What Are The Essential Elements in a Good Garden Design Planning Strategy?

After the analysis is completed, the planning stage starts, during which it is important to take into consideration the five most important planning aspects.

  • The First Aspect is Functionality. The garden plan should be created according to the functional zones of the territory. So, the first task is to divide the garden into functional zones.

Each garden has a representative zone. Usually it embraces the front yard and it is situated by the main entrance, where are the first views towards the property, when approaching it. The representative zone has a decorative meaning – it should be appealing during the whole year. Therefore, often evergreen plants are used in the representative area, plants, which have a beautiful silhouette, decorative leaves as well as annual flowers in the summer. Special decorative objects of art are also suggested to be placed in the representative zone of the garden.

The recreational zone is a garden area, which is used most often in the warm season. There can be a garden terrace or a gazebo as well as a bigger lawn area for outdoor activities and recreational equipment. If there is a swimming pool intended, it will also be placed in the recreational area. The recreational area can be divided into a quiet and active zone. The quiet zone is designed for relaxation, dining and resting, but the active zone can be designed for different sports activities – it can also include some sports fields. In the recreational area such plants are planned, which have a long flowering period and which are especially decorative in the warm season. Near the terrace or gazebo some scented plants can be projected.

Gardening is essentially about growing plants, but the setting in which we place them is probably the single most important element that makes a garden appealing or otherwise. Personal tastes in garden styles vary as much as in other aspects of living, and what appeals to one person may not appeal to another. The true test of good garden design is whether the result appeals to you. As a garden design consultant, I have always seen my role as a facilitator, aiming to assist my clients to create a garden design planning that reflects their taste and personality.

If children use the garden, a children’s playground will be one of the functional zones of the garden. The playground should be placed in such a part of a garden, which can be supervised by adults from a place, where they spend most of their time. It should be a sunny place, but shade also should be available in the hot season. The children’s playground is often dividend for children up to 6 years and for children 7 – 14 years of age. There are different activities and different types of play equipment intended for these age groups. The playground can have a special theme or it can be intended for some specific activities – imagination games, adventure, gymnastics, water therapy etc. Choose the plants by the playground carefully – be sure to avoid poisonous plants and plants with thorns.

Another important functional zone is the household area. It is a place, where you will put a compost heap, a barn or a greenhouse, where a dog can be kept and some construction materials can be stored. There was a tradition to screen the household area from the rest of the garden before, but nowadays it is often left open and designed so, that it looks appealing.

All elements, which are planned later in the garden should be arranged according to the layout of the functional zones. Do not mix elements from one zone into another one – that is the basic tip to form a logical garden layout.

  • The Ecological Aspect. The ecological aspect suggests appreciating the natural values of the garden, to choose plants according to the ecological conditions of each specific place and to arrange the garden in an environmentally friendly way. Evaluate carefully the natural values of your site – do not rush to cut trees, shrubs and eliminate natural biotopes. A natural meadow, a wetland, a river coast or a forest ground cover can be much more valuable than artificially created plantings.

And moreover, when planning new plants, they should be chosen according to the ecological conditions of the place – sun or shade, humidity, nutrients in the soil, alkaline or acid soil etc. Plants with opposite ecological demands cannot be planted close together.

Ecology is the relationships between organism and their environment. Installing solar fountains is a perfect way to create an ecological garden decor.

Solar Fountains minimize carbon emission:
Since it is powered by the sun, there is no need of electricity supply from the grid. The generation of energy that we use indoor and outdoor produces greenhouse gases. Can you imagine how we can help minimize the harmful emission if all water fountains in the world use solar energy?

Solar Fountains conserve the natural environment:
Adding a solar fountain in your yard can serve as birdbaths. Clean and splashing water attracts birds. Birds are always an integral part of a natural environment. Birds visiting your yard will be more often making it their natural habitat.

Solar Fountains Are Good for the environment:
Using these types of fountains do not add pollution into the atmosphere. One of the environmental factors that cause diseases and health problems is air pollution, wherein different pollutants are present in the air that we breathe in.

  • The Visual Aspect. This means the artistic composition of the garden – how will it actually look like? The garden composition like any kind of art has to be harmonic, based on a good choice of proportions. There can be different design concepts, but it is important to connect the concept with the existing situation – the landscape embracing the territory and the style of the buildings in the territory – all these elements should compose a united composition with the garden.

Order is created through symmetry through the technique of repeating plants or colors. Bold or bright additions bring balance as well as adding some texture. Texture is a very important ingredient. Gardens come to life with different textures or as the French say “Viva la difference.” The contrast of adjacent textures can be very exciting.

The garden style can be more natural – appropriate for countryside, bigger gardens and more natural environments. Or on the other hand it can be more artificial, composed of different pavements, architectural elements and regular forms – appropriate for city gardens, historical gardens and small sites. In countryside gardens the territory is often dividend in different zones of naturalness – closer to the house the garden is designed more regular and further away it becomes more natural.

  • Psychological Aspect. It is important, that people in the garden feel comfortable, relaxed and are not restricted or stressed by anything in the garden. There are different environmental factors, which have impact on our perception of the garden (e.g. vastness, complexity, mystery, flexibility, uniqueness, light, colors, contrast, materials etc.) and they should be adjusted to the optimal level of the garden users, when creating a garden design. The optimal level is not the same for everybody – each person has a different optimal level for each environmental factor.

As a garden design consultant, what does the phrase, “a sense of belong” mean to you? We thought of the following meanings, but you may have thought of others:

  • a clear sense of identity – even personality
  • a sense of belonging – whether within the landscape or in harmony with the house
  • a feeling of cohesion and completeness

Timelessness – garden design, like any other area of design, goes through fashions and trends, but the strongest gardens are often timeless. Designers may adopt contemporary ideas and incorporate them into an existing garden, but this will probably not change the ‘sense of place’ greatly; instead it should enhance it.

We experience a garden through every one of our senses, and a true sense of place is created when there is harmony between the different sensory messages we are picking up – touch, smell, sound, vision and even taste. For this reason, when creating a garden, you need to be aware of the different ways in which your design harnesses the senses.

  • Economical. Get your garden or interior project online – professional, fast, cheap and it’s without leaving your home!

How often have you flipped through home and garden magazines, staring at the lovely well landscaped gardens thinking how costly it must be to get these gardens set up and maintain?

Can I Create An Exceptional Garden Design Planning on A Budget?

On the contrary, with a little bit of creativity and imagination, you can actually achieve the same artistic lawn in an economical way, by following some of these tips:

  • Decide What You Want.

Look around your neighborhood and study which plants really grow well in your area. You can start gathering pictures from magazines or internet websites to get an idea of the garden design that you would want to have.

  • What Color Suits You Best.

Once you had already chosen the plants that you want to see in your garden, you can now decide the color scheme for your garden design. Remember that you need to consider other factors such as the amount of sunlight that the plants you chose should get – should they get partial shade, full shade or partial sun, full sun? You can begin by building your foundation made of shrubs and choosing perennials, ornamental grasses, bulbs and annuals to give a wide selection of colors through the year.

  • Take Into Account Your Budget.

You can turn your garden design into a long-term project, if you are short on cash. You can start with a foundation first and then add flowers or plants gradually. It is a good idea to start purchasing expensive plants first and make them the focal point of your garden design.

Watch out for garden sales and discounts at garden stores and nurseries. Perhaps you can trade plants with your friends, or you can let your friends know that you are starting a garden, and maybe they can share some of their plants or seeds with you. You can even do some seed swapping with other gardeners or maybe approach your local garden club for some seed samples that you can start to plant.

Try to make friends with your neighbors who have some fine gardens themselves and ask for some tips. You’ll never know, they may even give you some seeds to get you started.

  • Draw a Rough Draft of Your Garden on Paper so You Get an Idea How Your Garden Will Look Like.

You can arrange the plants according to color or height. You should aim for harmony in color and variety in texture to make your garden interesting. To make it even more interesting, you can add some stepping stones, terra cotta bird houses, wind chimes and other simple accessories that you may already find around your garden such as old wooden chairs and ladders. All these elements layout in a way that you can truly identify who you are is what makes an exceptional garden design planning work specifically for your needs.

All it takes is a little imagination, time and patience and you’ll be on the road to creating a perfect garden design that is well within your budget.

Can a Small Garden Design Raise The House Value?

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A well-crafted small garden design could be desirable to people for a number of reasons. First, the outdoor space suitable for being turned into a garden could be rather small. Alternatively, there could be plenty of outdoor space, but the person may not want to make a large garden. Also, if the garden space is set in an urban setting there may only be a balcony or small patio available for a garden installation.

Backyard Design Flower DecorDesigning a small garden involves making use of every centimeter of space, and using visual tricks to make the garden seem larger. The plan for a small garden must be millimeter accurate as there is no room for adjustment if the plan is found to be incorrect when constructing the garden.

How to Make A Small Garden Design Attractive?

The first concept that any person who is designing a small garden needs to understand is that raised beds always make for a more vigorous crop. Raised beds can be constructed in virtually any shape imaginable so they are the perfect container for any small garden. For example, an urban gardener who only has a condo balcony to work with could build raised bed planters in the corners of the balcony and a long narrow one straight down the front parallel to the railing. This design creates a lot of growing space without taking away much of floor space on the balcony.

Many people think a plan is not necessary when they are landscaping a very small garden, whereas the absolute opposite is true. It is especially important to prepare a plan where space is limited to ensure that the finished garden meets the practical requirements and looks great too. Preparing a detailed garden design plan will ensure all the functional areas are the correct size for their purpose and will fit into the garden. A good garden design plan allows you to check that the garden will work before you approach landscaping contractors and start spending money. Some well-prepared 3-D visuals bring the garden to life and help you see how the garden will feel once it is constructed. The garden model and visuals are the final check that the spaces all work in harmony with one another ensuring that the garden is a comfortable, relaxing space in which to spend time.

In a small garden is it essential to use a limited plant palette – too many different plant species will make the space seem busy and closed in. It is also important to make clever use of all available planting space. Climbers are a great way to introduce greenery without taking up valuable space, and shrubs like Garrya elliptical, Fatshedera lizeii and Itea illicifolia, Ceanothus and Rhamnus alaternus perform well when secured to a wall or fence. In courtyards where there are no borders place trellis panels in floor mounted troughs. Green walls work extremely well in small spaces. Sedum roofs on sheds, bin stores, and other covered spaces are a great way to introduce low-maintenance planting into smaller gardens.

When designing a small garden, a simple layout with clean lines and strong geometric shapes works best. The design should not be overly complicated. If curves are required a central circle which can be either lawn, planting, paving or a path is better than fussy freehand curves.

Although it is tempting to scale down the garden features to avoid cluttering the space this will result in a muddle of insignificant elements that does the exact opposite. Including a single bold structure like a chunky pergola or a rendered blockwork wall around a seating area creates a sense of enclosure, introduces a touch of drama and holds focus inside the garden. Textured finishes like slate or pebble cladding can be used on courtyard walls to add interest and also stop the boundaries from becoming overbearing.

Another very useful idea to keep in mind when building a small garden is that it can be constructed horizontally as well as vertically. For example, a wall or fence can easily be turned into a living wall by adding hanging planters or vining plants like grapes, hardy kiwi, or honeysuckle to it.

Whatever style of garden is being constructed one thing that is important to keep in mind is that in order to create a strong visual appeal, it is better to stagger plants of different heights and colors around one another. This creates texture and dimension to a garden space that can make it seem larger than it really is.

Wooden structures like pergolas and arches enable vertical planting and provide height. A heavily planted pergola placed against a boundary wall blurs the edges of the garden and suggests extra space beyond. Paint a black rectangle on the wall at the end of the pergola to suggest an entrance to another garden area beyond the wall to increase the sense of depth in the garden. Another extremely good way to add height and drama to a garden is to include a tree. A well-chosen tree will give immediate internal focus to the garden as well as adding an essential 3-D element. There are small trees suitable for even the tiniest garden.

A gate fixed to a wall or fence surrounded with climbing plants creates the illusion that the garden continues beyond the boundaries. A well-executed trompe l’oeil doorway painted on a wall framed with evergreen planting and climbers is a simple, fun way to add interest and give the appearance of more space. Using diminishing sized pots, plants or statuary, or narrowing a path as it approaches the boundary will create a false perspective that makes the garden seem larger.

Level changes like steps, raised beds, or a raised pool give the garden an extra dimension, make it appear more interesting and distract attention away from the boundaries. Raised beds and retaining walls for pools can also double as seats if they are between 450mm and 600mm high. Creating extra useable space in the garden by introducing features that have a dual purpose it more useable as well as more attractive and this automatically gives the illusion of more space.

Using contrasting colors is another way to suggest that the garden extends beyond its actual boundaries. A pale wall with a door-sized rectangle painted in a darker colour framed by some climbers and planted pots looks like a passageway. Contrasting flower and foliage colours are also effective for creating interest, contrast, directing focus and adding the illusion of extra depth.

When there isn’t much ground area using the vertical space helps to provide more visual interest without cluttering the garden. Some ways of doing this include attaching planters to walls, hanging baskets and troughs from fence posts or mounting them along the top of fence panels.

A small garden does not have to be boring and featureless. With some careful planning and creativity smaller spaces can make stunning gardens and wonderful, low-maintenance places to de-stress and entertain.