Garden design, garden planning, garden layout, planting plants and planting schemes

Planning Beauty in a functional garden

Posted on April 1st, 2009

For some people achieving a beautiful garden can involve considerable effort and expense, whereas for garden hobbyists/enthusiasts, it might be more about 90% perspiration and perhaps 10% inspiration. Whichever approach you prefer, the success factors will be largely influenced by the methodology of the research, design and quality of workmanship at implementation stages. In addition to adopting a common sense approach to undertaking a garden project, no matter how large or small, here is some advice to assist your efforts for realising a beautiful garden.

The key to achieving a beautiful garden is one that is practical, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. The latter can be very subjective but many would recognise all too often fundamental errors in terms of practical layout or functionality. Some common examples of simple errors in these areas include, positioning the Garden Shed in the sunniest part of the garden with the knock-on effect of the patio being in a less than ideal location probably in a corner where it gets less use because the sun doesn’t reach that shine there when the owners wish to use it! Other problems are a footpath traversing the lawn making the grass area appear smaller and less useable. Children will always get more use and more fun from an open lawn. Creative planning will help determine interesting and appealing layouts, careful plant selection and good ground preparation will provide a garden which is easier to maintain and plants which are more likely to flourish and provide long lasting beauty.

But creative planning is not just simply about creating a garden which appears ’innovative’ but a process which must also consider a range of issues including owner’s style preferences, lifestyle, site conditions and aspects. Each has implications for determining garden layout and planting scheme. The design must also incorporate sufficient space and adequate ground conditions for trees and shrubs to flourish. A practical layout that not only allows owner enjoy views but also special features and outdoor spaces including Patios, decking and water features etc. Increasingly owners are demanding attractive gardens with low maintenance requirements. It is possible to design a beautiful garden with lots of interesting plants many of which might require little more effort than an annual clip or occasional watering/feeding in order to sustain interesting but thriving plant performances.

A common sense approach to plant selection is very important and surprisingly straight forward. Once again a little research will help, visits to the local Garden centres, public gardens, even a stroll around the local neighbourhood will all provide useful information on plants which might be considered. There is also an abundance of information available from the Internet. Important to select plants and shrubs with appropriate heights and spread growth habits, ie, try to match growth characteristics, plant’s preferred growing conditions with the corresponding spaces available in the garden. Plan the scheme so that the structure is appealing all year and not just during the growing season. Big gaps caused by ’out of season’ plants and shrubs demands careful attention especially in smaller gardens. Whether your preference is for mixed ‘dolly mixture’ or block/group planting, formal or tiere, there are many possibilities to create interesting perspectives and appealing views within most planting schemes. Other criteria include select relevant plants to suit prevailing ground conditions, for example, do not expect a shade loving plant to survive in a bright sunny garden, or a plant which prefers dry or free draining soil conditions to succeed in constantly damp soil.

Good ground preparation is an essential pre-requisite for the preparation of any new prospective garden and is especially important in order for plants to become quickly established and encourages good root development. If the site happens to be old and overgrown, you may need to remove some or all of the unwanted trees or shrubs, which might also indicate that the existing soil is perhaps tired and containing insufficient nutrients to sustain new plant growth. This can be easily rectified by simply mixing in plenty of well rotted manure or soil conditioner. Also add some slow release fertiliser and mix in plenty of compost. Before planting commences, give all plants a good soaking (simply immerse plant in a bucket of water for at least 30 minutes, remove and allow excess water to drain) prior to planting in the ground. After planting regular watering of the plants will be important until the plants become established and ‘independent’.