Achieve the Dream Garden by Defining Your Outdoor Space
Define your outdoor space. Before deciding what to include in your garden design, you should consider visiting public gardens or simply view examples of gardens on the internet. This will inspire new ideas and help you to visualise the potential of your outdoor space.
Photograph your existing garden area before working on the new design. Taking these photos with you around public gardens or comparing them to pictures on the internet will prove most useful.
Choose your garden flooring. Traditional gardens have a lawn for recreational use and a deck or patio dining area. However, there are many more types of flooring that can benefit your garden design. For decorative flooring, lay pebbles or stone paving; for zero maintenance flooring, lay an artificial grass lawn (astro turf); and for safety flooring, consider wood chippings or rubber.
How a garden is used should dictate the choice of flooring, and larger gardens are often designed to have more than one flooring area. Most decorative and safety floorings are available in several styles; choose a pattern and color that blends well with the surroundings.
Choose trees suitable for your garden. Trees have character, improve ecology and encourage birds to nest. These qualities should all be considered when planning how to use trees in your garden.
For garden design we are most concerned with proportions and placement. The size of any tree (after it has finished growing) should be in keeping with the garden; for instance, an oak would not be suitable for a small backyard. Trees are typically placed around the perimeters of a garden to provide privacy and a pleasant surrounding border. If you have a small area to design, the use of hedging may be more practical than trees, which can still feature in the corners or center of your garden. ...
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Author: Adrian Thompson