Have you made up your mind to design your garden? Do you dream of transforming this space in the front or back of your home into a playground for children or a paradise for plants, or a corner that combines peace and a sense of euphoria? Decorating a garden is a very creative process. Once you stand in front of a piece of land, you feel like the artist trying to create his work out of nothing. How do we start and how do we continue? Will we have time to take care of our garden? Will we get the result we want? What flowers to plant? What if we also plant some vegetables or herbs? And finally, what furniture to choose?
You will definitely have many questions and for some of them you will find answers in this article. For the rest, you will find the appropriate solutions over time, if you listen carefully to what your garden tells you.
Soil assessment.
The first step you need to take when designing your garden is to evaluate the soil. Whatever the size of the garden, it is important to know the type and quality of the soil. You can find out by taking a handful of soil from your garden and squeezing it in your hand to make a ball. If it takes shape quickly, the ground is clayey, if it crumbles and falls between your fingers, the ground is sandy. A very good garden soil should contain both species, with clay in a smaller proportion than sandy.
If the garden soil is mostly limestone, white and brittle, then you can bring some quality soil bags, at least for the areas where you want to plant flowers or vegetables. It is also helpful to know the pH of the soil, using special paper and a little distilled water, and if the price is different from what most plants prefer, around 7, you can adjust it by adding nutrients. If the soil has a lot of moisture, the excess water should be drained with gutters.
Organizing the theme for garden decoration.
In organizing the theme for garden decoration, there are three factors that are good to keep in mind:
- Functionality.
- Time available for care.
- Style.
Try not to imitate a fantastic garden that you saw in a magazine or in the neighbor’s yard, but consider the role that this space will play in your life.
What functional elements do you need for your garden?
You want a lot from your garden, it’s normal. It is the place where you relax, eat, read, bake or party. Do not forget that it is also the place where you prove your creativity.
You can design a garden that is exclusively for relaxation or a garden where children can play safely. You can combine different functionalities, even if the space at your disposal is not large. The important thing is to pay attention to the garden plan from the beginning and have a clear picture of the basic functionality or functionalities of your garden. So you can create separate corners for children’s activities, for rest, for gardening, for meals, to meet friends.
How much time can you spend each week caring for your garden?
The garden is directly affected by the attention you give it. If you have a restless lifestyle and it is difficult to find some free time to water the plants, graft trees, exterminate pests and other necessary tasks that require gardening, then it would be good to pay more attention to the paved space for relaxation and socialization, where you can place chairs and garden tables.
You can also use compost and fertilizers to keep nutrients in the soil and help your plants grow. Another way to have a beautiful garden that does not require much work is to plant lavender, as it resists drought well, begins to bloom after the second year, has no pests and all you need to do is prune its flowers. Do not be afraid that a garden with only lavender will be monotonous, as there are types of lavender with a wide variety of colors, pink, light blue, white, bluish violet and dark violet.
What style do you want to decorate your garden?
Do you think we should let nature grow on its own because the result will surely be attractive and coherent? Keep in mind that the wild style will not be so good for your home garden, but it will give it a sense of abandonment. And if you decide not to rely on any plan and just add to the garden the things you liked, the result will be strange and inconsistent. Just as interior decoration can be categorized into different styles, so it is with garden designs, according to specific aesthetic standards.
Minimal Garden.
Ideal for those who do not have the time or just do not want to care for plants. Like the corresponding style of interior decoration, minimalism in the garden is based on simplicity and open space. The basic elements in such a style are the grass, probably the only thing that will need your attention, exotic trees, the natural stone paving, the color palette with neutral colors and the furniture with simple lines.
Rustic Garden.
As easy as it is to design a rustic garden, the charming result will be if you follow the three basic rules for this style. Rely on wood, remember traditions and plant flowers you know from your childhood. This is where you need to choose garden furniture from wood or mats and create a wooden path from planks with a frame made of tree bark or slices of wood. You can also choose as a central element of the garden a wooden gazebo with beautiful decorative details.
Sacrifice the dwarfs from plaster for the sake of traditional decorations such as the handcart full of soil used as a flowerpot. In relation to plants, remember how fascinating daisies are. Add petunias, geraniums, lilacs, peonies and roses to them and you will get a rustic garden full of color and joy.
English Type Garden.
This is where the grass plays a major role, as it can cover up to half the garden. Also the bushes and the fence give the garden a special atmosphere, but if you want your garden to look like a novel, you can add rocks to the landscape, create spaces for planting flowers, build winding paths and if you have enough space, complete the landscape with a pond. As much as possible, let the plants grow freely, in organized chaos, while wrought iron or wood furniture is most appropriate.
French Type Garden.
Order of order and symmetry. Here the paths are straight and paved, the bushes are pruned symmetrically, the trees grow in straight lines and the flowers grow in geometric patterns. you can start with a central element, a fountain, and plant the flowers around it in spirals and rows, starting from the center.
Garden decoration.
Decorating a garden is a long process. Plants and trees do not grow immediately, and if you decide to build paths or a swing alone, it is best not to push. Take one step at a time and wait to see how the landscape is shaped.
Choose a focal point.
Even if you do not want to build a French Garden, it is a good idea to choose one or more focal points in case your garden is large. These can be either decorative elements or striking plants that attract attention.
Give a welcoming atmosphere at the entrance of the garden.
Whether it is the main or the secondary entrance, when we enter the garden, the first impression must be unforgettable. The visitor needs to feel welcome from the very first steps. You can create this impression by using a gate in the same style as decorating the garden, creating a wooden path with paving or gravel. You can have shrubs, flowers or pots around the path and make sure you have enough lighting for your night visitors.
Separate the area.
If you want even more functionality for your garden, it is better to divide the area according to your needs. A place for meals, one for the grill, for children’s activities, for planting vegetables, for flowers. Once the separation is done, you can deal with the decoration of each room, one at a time.
Create boundaries and maintain them.
Try to define the areas as mentioned above, because in this way the garden will look more cared for and comfortable. For this purpose you can use decorative or regular bricks, large stones, a wooden fence made of natural or painted wood, pebbles or even bottles turned upside down and buried in the ground. Let your imagination run wild to find the perfect solution for your garden.
Create paths.
Make sure you have enough paths and corridors between the plants and the flowers, so that you can pass without getting dirty.
Basic elements of a garden.
The Grill.
We start with the grill, as it is an element for which you need to find a special area. It should be close enough to the house for easy access to the kitchen if you need utensils and materials, but also close to water to avoid accidents. At the same time, it is good for the grill to be away from trees and wooden objects to avoid fire.
The Kiosk or the Umbrella.
Whatever the functionality of your garden, you will need a shaded area for very hot summer days. A gazebo or a large garden umbrella is the best solution.
Playground for Children.
Here you will be able to install a cot or rocking chair or even build a tree house. It does not need to be on a tree, it can be placed on the ground at a certain height, with access via a ladder. If it has a slide, so much the better. To make the playground even more attractive, you can also bring an inflatable pool or a sandbox.
The rocking chair, the hammock and the bench.
In addition to the outdoor table and chairs, you also need a rocking chair so you can take a nap on Sundays, or make your guests feel more comfortable. Also, one of the most hammocks and an outdoor bench made of wood, bamboo or wrought iron would ideally complement the garden furniture.
How to choose plants and vegetables for the garden.
Apart from the type of soil, which we covered in the first part of the article, it is good to know how much sun each corner of the garden has during the day. This will play a role in selecting the plants you will have in the garden. These factors as well as your preferences will help you choose what flowers to plant. In other words, to design garden flowers, you will need to learn about plants and build a strategy.
If you prefer to focus on decoration that has to do with activities other than gardening, but you would also like to have some flowers in the garden for color, you can choose simple drought tolerant plants that take care of almost themselves, such as lavender. Petunias and impatiens do not suffer much from temperature fluctuations, the lily is resistant to drought and the lilac withstands cold winters.
The vegetables grow in a sunny but sheltered place, not near the playground. Be careful when planting seedlings in the soil because some vegetables do not grow properly when planted next to others. For example beans can be successfully planted next to cabbage, eggplant or broccoli, but not next to onions.
Do not forget that the care you give to your garden will be reflected in its appearance and in turn will teach you how to pay more attention and better connect with nature. Even if decorating the garden based on your taste is a complicated process, you will feel an unforgettable feeling of satisfaction every time you drink your coffee relaxing in the most comfortable and charming place in the world.
