Floral and Hardy Top 5 Tips for Garden Design
- Think how you want to use the garden – is it for play or just for relaxing? Designs for gardens with children will differ greatly from an adult only space. If you have children, you’ll want play areas and a sizeable lawn, but if it’s only for adult use, a large entertaining area would be more valuable. Think about their siting in the garden and whether you’d want them near to the house, or in the sun or shade.
- Safety – if it’s a garden to be used by children, make sure it’s safe for them to use. Don’t include standing water, make sure changes in level are protected and use only non-toxic plants.
- Try to design with your interiors in mind – you can create a great flow from inside to out by using the same materials, for example, for indoor flooring and outside paving, and also by adopting a similar style, whether your preference is traditional or more contemporary.
- Think sensibly about how much time you have to maintain the garden and try to make life easier for yourself. If you have little spare time, a vegetable patch and long herbaceous borders are probably not for you and maybe you need something simpler in terms of planting. Artificial lawns are also a very good way of saving time and effort on maintenance and look just as good as the real thing.
- Think about practicality too – you will probably need a shed or other storage, but site this so that it is not too obtrusive in the space and also so that it does not block out the sun from the rest of the garden. Clever storage solutions such as under bench seats, or wall-hanging at the side of the house are also very useful ideas.
