tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49941519667378169622024-03-08T07:22:38.846-08:00gardenAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00740825214820139192noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994151966737816962.post-85888755659769759402016-03-08T04:37:00.001-08:002016-03-08T04:37:14.691-08:00Designing Your Garden - What Makes a Good Garden?<div id="article-body">
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Garden design is a very personal thing and is often an expression
of your personality. What I like you, you may not and vise versa. Some
people like neat and tidy gardens where there are no surprises, others
love the thrill of windy paths, lots of different plant material and not
knowing what is around the corner. There are three main styles of
gardens formal, semi formal and informal. They can then be divided into
many types of gardens and that depends on what you would like. Garden
design can be intimately tidied to the style of your house as in example
of the grand french chateaux where the geometric patterns of the garden
mimic the geometric construction of the house or it can have no
connection to your house at all.<br />
Some people are lucky and have
this innate gift of knowing how to design space, making it a pleasing
place to be in. Others don't have this gene and find it very difficult
to visualise how the space will work. To create a good design it is
important you understand that design is about managing space and people
moving around it. The core of good garden design centres round patterns
and the space within these patterns. By using geometrical shapes,
circles, triangles, rectangles etc. you can achieve a unified feel to
your garden. So you need to think about ground patterns and movement
around your garden. Where would you like people to go? Ground patterns
can be achieved with the use of bricks, paving and plant material such
as cut grass etc.<br />
Formal gardens are symmetrical and geometrical
and are strict in terms of repeating patterns and plant materials on
either side. It is very controlled, plants are clipped, shaped,
manipulated regularly and today is often suitable for small gardens like
court yards. Urns, balustrades, stone, gravel paths, parterres, formal
pools and framed views are all part of the formal garden. There are no
surprises, you know what to expect.<br />
Informal designs are
asymmetrical and not as regimented. Plant material is allowed to spill
over the structural elements such as walls, steps and paths. Plant
material is allowed to self-seed and wander around the garden. Informal
garden design is softer, full of surprises thus you don't know what to
expect.<br />
And semi formal is the combination of the above two.
Usually it is the built structures such as retaining walls, paths and
steps that are formal and the informal element is the plant material
which is allowed to spill over them, softening their hard outlines.<br />
Within
these three types, there are many different styles of gardens to choose
from such as contemporary, Japanese, Mediterranean, cottage, courtyard,
kitchen garden or secret garden.<br />
Contemporary is a modern style
that likes to reflect the surrounding but also use a wide range of plant
material. Form and texture of foliage are as important as flowers. Hard
landscaping is woven into geometrical shaped buildings; all of which
flow into the wider landscape. Plants are used as focal points to
highlight the architectural forms.<br />
Cottage was a late
nineteenth-century ideal to return to the simple cottages of the
country. They were planted with hardy bulbs, flowers, fruit bushes and
herbs and vegetables. They were geometric, colours were harmonised and
luxurious as plants grew well as they were heavily manured regularly.<br />
Mediterranean
is not limited to one particular area but are defined according to hot
summers and low rainfall. They encompass entertaining areas, shade, good
views and dramatic shadows. Hot colourful plants are used and lots of
lush green foliage plants to create a cool atmosphere. Plants need to be
drought tolerant. Evergreen plants are popular because they cast shade
on hot days. Walls are white washed to reflect the sun, pergolas built
to create shade and use terracotta pots. There is often a water feature
and water provides cooling vibes.<br />
Japanese gardens encompasses
religion and Japan's cultural history. Japanese gardens are very
symbolic often the symbols relate to nature. Plants are 'tamed' and
there is an emphasis on evergreen trees and shrubs. They are very
controlled and often minimalist. True Japanese gardens are contemplative
a place of meditation and great calm.<br />
<b>Planning</b><br />
If
you feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start when designing your
garden, I suggest you break it up into areas called rooms thus dividing
one big space into several smaller spaces. For example: there is the
front garden, the side garden and the back garden. Once you have decided
where they begin and end you can then divide each of those areas up
again. For example in the back garden you could have the entertaining
area, the grass/children's area, the utilities area (includes the
compost heap and shed), the pool area and the vegetable/orchard area.
Once you have defined the areas/rooms you can tackle one at a time, thus
making a huge project into several smaller projects.<br />
<b>The Three Planning Stages</b><br />
To
create an interesting and exciting garden there are 3 sets of plans
(may be four if you need an engineer's structural plans) you need to
devise:- Site Analysis Plan, Concept Plan and Planting Plan, usually all
drawn to scale.<br />
<b>The First Steps</b><br />
To design a garden
that works there are several things you need to do before buying plants
and planting them. If you follow these steps you are more likely to have
a successful garden.<br />
<b>Site Analysis</b><br />
It is important to make an inventory of the area you are designing. Things to include are:<br />
Levels - steep/flat
<br />Aspect - North/south
<br />Sun/shade
<br />Sun Summer/Winter
<br />Shadows
<br />Existing trees and buildings
<br />Wind
<br />Views - good and bad
<br />Soil conditions
<br />Entrances - Front/back doors
<br />Power lines
<br />Underground cables and pipes
<br />Clothes line
<br />Fences
<br />Sheds and garages
<br />Paved and unpaved areas
<br />Patio/BBQ
<br />Lighting
<br />Drainage - runoff of storm watered<br />
Once you have noted the
above, it is time to draw up the space. You can draw it roughly (not to
scale) but eventually you will have to draw it to scale. Start by
measuring the area you are designing, draw it to scale ie. 1:100 and put
all the above points onto your drawn plan. All these influences need to
be drawn on paper, so that you can gauge any trends. For example there
might be a paved path from the back door to the garage, but everyone
takes a short cut across the lawn, creating a desire line. No - one uses
the paved path. So perhaps pave the desire line and make it the
official path.<br />
The next step is the concept plan and this is the
plan where you put down you ideas. It can be as wild and as adventurous
as you like. Forget cost, enjoy your creativity. This is the stage where
you put down your dreams of what you have always wanted. Later on, you
hip pocket will decide for you whether you can have them. Anything is
possible, so don't be shy, dream away. Again this can be roughly drawn
or to scale, it is up to you.<br />
The third and final plan is the
planting plan and it is preferable that it is drawn to scale as this
allows you to know exactly how many plants you will need. It
incorporates all the ideas you have decided upon and shows you how the
finished garden is going to look. It is the road map which will guide
you to building your new garden.<br />
There may be a fourth plan if
your site is steep or you are having major elements built, as you may
need the advice of an engineer.<br />
Points to Consider<br />
Think
about your soil conditions, is it heavy clay or light and sandy? What
plants will grow in these conditions? Are some areas boggy and some
always dry?<br />
Sun conditions<br />
The sun is higher in the sky
during spring and summer and shadows are shorter. Whereas in winter, the
sun is lower in the sky and casts longer shadows. So a plant might be
in full sun in summer and complete shade in winter. Can it tolerate
this? Also think about the conditions the plants require. Are they full
sun plants like roses or shade loving plants like azaleas?<br />
Wind<br />
You
also need to think about wind direction. Which way does the prevailing
wind come from? Screens and hedges are one way of managing this problem
but what problems are they going to cause? Making the block feel narrow,
casting shadows etc? It is important to know because some plants don't
like wind and it is no good putting the BBQ/entertainment area in an
uncomfortable spot.<br />
Views<br />
Views out your window or from your
garden are very important. Some are intrusive while others are desired.
If you wish to block out flats/neighbours etc. you may need to put in a
higher fence or a hedging screen of some kind. Or you may want to
design your garden to enhance the view of the mountain, ocean etc.<br />
Utilities and Service Lines<br />
You
also need to be aware where your services and utilities are; things
like clothesline, overhead power lines etc. If you damage the gas,
telephone or electricity lines, you are liable to pay for their repair.<br />
Principles of Garden Design<br />
To
create a well designed garden, it is important to put the right plant
in the right position. This means considering the cultural requirements
of the plant. For example putting a full sun plant such as rose into a
shady position isn't going to work, because the rose won't be receiving
the right amount of sunlight for it to grow. The idea of good garden
design is to follow this philosophy, using the placement of plants to
create mystery, tension and surprise by using tricks of the eye, colours
and textures.<br />
Tension, mystery and surprise make a garden
interesting. One way to create these is to use hedges, low walls,
screens, paths, steps to make individual 'garden rooms' with tension
points that captures your attention on the way. For example a narrow
oblong garden can be made more interesting if you can't see the back
fence - that there is a feature (plant or statue etc.) that obscures the
fence. It also becomes more interesting if the path way is narrow then
opens up into another room. A winding path adds mystery to the garden if
you can't see what is around the corner. Surprise comes when you go
around the corner and discover a focal point.<br />
A focal point is
something like a seat/statue/water feature that leads your eye directly
to it. For example - a pergola that has a statue at the end of it. The
statue is the feature and is the reason why you look/walk to see it.
Another example of a focal point is a pathway leading through a door
that is open and shows a vista of the wider landscape.<br />
The success
of the focal point can depend on the how successfully the ground
patterns lead you there. If the paving encourages you along this path
thus creating some tension and mystery, you are more likely to follow
the path to see what's there because you have become inquisitive. Narrow
paths encourage you to walk quickly and not to dilly dally along the
way, where as wide paths say stroll, take you time, look at the
surrounding vegetation. A gentle curve can be negotiated at speed, but a
tight curve can't be so people slow down as there is risk involved.
Paving is used as a directional tool says don't walk that way, but walk
this way. Edging bricks say don't step over this - this is a boundary.
Paving can also be used to reflect the ground plane of the house or
other shapes in the garden.<br />
Long narrow gardens have a strong
directional emphasis that needs to be broken up. Square plots are
static. To solve these problems the space's shape needs to be changed. A
circular design distracts the eye from the straight lines of the
boundary fence. You could also use a series of rectangles using the
boundaries as part of the design.<br />
Another method is to turn the
garden onto a 45 degree angle. A long diagonal line will immediately
create a feeling of space. The paving near the house could be done on an
angle and high light the diagonal line of the entire garden.<br />
Gardens
with a dog-leg in them can utilise the bend by using tension, mystery
and surprise to lead you around the corner to a focal point of some
kind.<br />
Unified space is created by controlling the movement around
the garden. It is the way areas are linked together by paths, bridges,
pergolas, steps and terraces that determine whether a garden is
successful. Careless placing can ruin the flow of the garden. If you
wish to direct someone's attention to a particular point then there must
be a clear reason in the design for following this pathway.<br />
Ground
levels are very important when designing a garden. If a slope is too
steep to walk down safely, steps may be needed and if the entire block
is on a slope, the whole area may need to be terraced. What material you
use is also important. Steps should not be of slippery materials and
gravel may wash away. The surfaces need to be flat otherwise they could
be dangerous and people will not want to walk along them and instead
they may create a desire lines.<br />
Levels help to create interest and
'rooms' in a garden because you move from one place to another by
steps/paths/etc. Allow your levels to gently flow into one another and
keep them simple. Don't over decorate them. A slope up from the house
will appear foreshortened whereas a slope down from the house will
appear larger.<br />
Choosing Plant Materials<br />
There are 3 types of
gardens:- the plants man, the garden designer and the gardener's (mix
of the first two). The plants man gardens consist of lots of singular
plantings, unconnected and often rare and difficult to source. The
garden designer's garden consists of plants that are tried and tested -
they use plants that they know and how they perform. The gardener's
garden has learned that their favourite plants can be more effective if
planted in a scheme.<br />
When choosing plants you must consider what
the conditions are of your garden. There is no point putting alkaline
tolerant plants in acid soil or vise versa. It won't work! You need to
think about what your plants you have chosen require moist soils, dry
soils, shade, sun, well drained, boggy soils. If you do your research
correctly and place your plants in the right position, you are well on
the way to a successful garden.<br />
The height and spread of your
plants also needs to be considered. Tall growing plants are placed at
the back of the garden bed, graduating down to the low plants. Remember
some plants send up flower spikes that may be much larger than the plant
itself, so they need to be positioned according to their flower spike
height. Some plants are bushy so don't forget to leave sufficient room
for them to spread. They may need annual pruning to keep them in check.<br />
Colour<br />
Another
trick in the designing tool bag is using colour. Colour is the
sensation of illumination which is light. The way colours inter-react
with each other depends on their position in colour wheel. Manipulating
colour is great fun and can create all sorts of illusions. Colours are
divided into 2 groups primary red, yellow, blue and secondary green,
violet, orange. Secondary colours are made of combining two primary such
as mixing blue and yellow together to create green. You can make a
space look cold or create distance by using pale and brown colours. You
can also make a space looker bigger than it really is by using warm
colours such as oranges, reds or yellows. If you want to make a space
look closer to you, again use warm colours. As reds, oranges or yellow
are very busy colours to the eye, it is a good idea to intersperse white
flowers or grey foliage plants to calm the visual scene down. White and
grey also intensify blue and pale colours.<br />
One thing to remember
about the Australia sun is that the best time to look at our gardens is
in the late afternoon when the sunlight is not as strong. Our hot sun
tends to fade our flowers colours and the glare at mid-day tends to wash
the colour out.<br />
If you are feeling overwhelmed about designing
your garden, divide your space up and take it slowly, completing one
section at a time. Don't start another part until you have finished the
section you are working on and very soon you will have a beautiful
garden. Remember gardens are ephemeral, it is a process that is for ever
evolving. You never really finish.<br />
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<div id="article-resource">
See my next article On Creating a Gorgeous Garden and Living with Pets<br />
Sandra
Pullman B.App.Sc. (Hort) Hons. Burnley-Uni Melb. Visit my website for
"down to earth", good quality, reliable and practical advice explained
to you in layman's terms. I also run gardening courses for beginners.
Check out my website for upcoming class dates and locations. All your
gardening solutions are one click away! <a href="http://www.gardenpatch.com.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.gardenpatch.com.au</a> Or check out my blog site: <a href="http://sandisgardenpatch.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sandisgardenpatch.blogspot.com</a> There you can ask me questions.<br />
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