Designing A Backyard: The First Steps
So if you want to design a garden, but don’t know where to start, this guide will help you in making those all important decisions and everything you should consider when designing your garden. Answering the questions below will help you.
How do you want to use your backyard?
Your backyard can become a natural extension of your home, allowing you to fully enjoy it. When considering any changes to your garden, think about how you plan to use the space in the future. You may want it to be lively and bustling, or perhaps more serene and laid-back. It’s important to consider the various roles your backyard will serve, whether it’s for entertaining guests, providing a playground for children, or simply creating a peaceful retreat for yourself.
Keep in mind that your needs and those of your family may change over time, and the garden will also mature and become more established. As such, it’s important to seek out flexible ideas that can be modified as needed. Designing your backyard with separate areas for various functions, some of which may be hidden from view, can be a helpful strategy.
How do you want to feel in your backyard?
A garden has the power to evoke emotions within us. From the moment we step into the garden, we are influenced by our surroundings. When designing a garden, you may want to create a space that is visually stimulating, with vibrant colors, diverse textures, and striking features to excite and rejuvenate your senses. If you prefer a calm and reflective space, a tranquil garden with evergreens and a reflecting pool may be more suitable. You may also consider using the garden as a space for therapy and healing.
By dividing the garden into different sections with the use of screening and tall plants, you can create separate areas with different moods. With careful consideration of the layout, paths, and small decorative details, each section of the garden can have its own unique view. Elements such as colors, shapes, aromas, and foliage can be used to alter your mood and emotions, creating a positive atmosphere and uplifting feelings.
What will your backyard look like?
If you want to transform the appearance of your backyard, there are numerous sources of inspiration available, such as garden shows, plant nurseries, magazines, books, television programmes, and websites.
However, it is important to remember that successful design is not just about combining all your ideas into one space. It is a process of reviewing and refining a variety of ideas with the goal of creating a cohesive and unified overall look for your garden, whether you are renovating an existing plot or starting from scratch with a new home.
To achieve a harmonious aesthetic effect, you should have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and carefully select the elements, features, materials, and plants that complement each other. Collect ideas, take photographs, and sketch out alternative designs.
How much work do you want to do?
To create an effective landscape design for your garden and ensure its future maintenance, it is important to consider how much time you can devote on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Unless you have a simple, low-maintenance garden with evergreen planting and hard landscaping, the tasks required will vary seasonally, with less to do in the cooler winter months.
A garden with high-maintenance features such as mixed flower borders, lawns, fruit trees, and vegetable plots will be particularly busy during the spring and summer seasons. Lawn mowing, hedge cutting, pruning, feeding fruit trees, germinating and transplanting vegetables, and other plant propagation and cultivation practices can take up a lot of time.
While gardening can be a fulfilling experience, it is important to be realistic about the time you have available for maintenance. Planning ahead and budgeting for additional help if necessary can help keep your garden looking great for as long as possible.
