5 things to consider before designing your garden

Your outdoor space is an extension of your house, and it can become a relaxing haven for outdoor cooking or a space to have fun with your loved ones. It can be daunting to start a green space from nothing, and even worse if you are feeling uninspired. However, irrespective of the size of your space, planning a garden design isn’t as tricky as it may seem. You’ll easily find the perfect area for your gardening supplies, vegetables and fruits, and wildflowers to attract pollinators to your garden. Craig Holland explains…

Craig Holland is the Brand Marketing Manager at Plant-Magic. Although his initial dream was to become a pilot, he settled for the lively and vivacious world of plants. He has years of experience in caring for and writing about plants, and in his spare time he can be found eating super noodles and cheering for Liverpool FC.

The five things to consider before designing your garden:

Design a garden map

The first step towards your new garden design is to make a map of your current space. You’ll need to measure your borders and create a realistic drawing of the plants you already own. Have a formal, completely scaled version of your garden or a casual map of general areas. Consider, however, that the more detail you add to your map, the more thorough you’ll be able to make your garden.

Plan the design with common pathways in mind and incorporate stone, brick, or simple gravel to outline routes commonly taken. In addition, plan seating areas in ways that allow your visitors to easily admire and enjoy your beautiful garden.

Think about your budget

Before you start with your garden design, you need to know your budget. Consider your space and the look you want. Contemporary and intricate designs can often be too expensive, as they require extreme accuracy and remove some flexibility for future garden plans.

Alongside considering future changes you may want to make to your plants’ positions, make plans in advance for any watering needs. A drip watering system is a great way to keep your plants hydrated without overwatering.  

Add different zones in your garden

It’s likely that your garden will also serve as a cooking, lounging, and eating area. By defining different zones in your garden, you can easily separate different plants and create highlight areas. You can achieve this by using plant pots to divide areas, with either rectangular-shaped pots forming a low division or tall plants shading a specific area.

This will also help you to decide what plants you want in your garden. Do you want to plant only flowers, vegetables, or fruit? A mixture of all these plants can easily be designed and planned into the different zones.

Choosing the plants you want

Ease of care, your budget, aesthetics, size, and whether the plants are compatible are all factors that can potentially affect your choices. For choosing shrubs and trees, plan your garden according to their width and height at maturity. Bigger plants may damage your house, your pathways, or other plants if planted too close to other structures.

Native plants will give you best results for flowering every season. In addition, flowers will attract beneficial insects and pollinators that help your garden to flourish. Find areas in your garden which are sunny and which get shade, and at what time of the day. Plan for windy areas and more sheltered areas when planting more fragile plants. Don’t forget that these won’t necessarily be the same as the seasons change.

Don’t Forget the Local Wildlife

With pollinators visiting your garden, you can add houses and feeders for bees and butterflies. Add ladybird houses as luxury homes for these beneficial insects to rest. Don’t forget that hedgehogs, birds, bats, and squirrels may also visit your garden. Providing wildlife with safe resting and nesting spaces will help both your garden and the environment.

As you build your garden and all of its features, make sure to use the pathways and wander around your garden. This will help you find areas that need to be changed and improved as you add plants and other details to transform your space into a relaxing garden.

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Have you got any garden design tips to add? Comment below, or come find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!