Five top tips for great garden design

There must be something about the photos of our gardens on this website but we’re routinely sent emails from garden designers wanting to get involved in our blogging activities. Either they see us as hard working gardeners who appreciate good design and put it into practice within out immaculately manicured outdoor spaces or, more likely, they’ve noticed our gardens are a mess and we’re in desperate need of some expert help…

One such professional outfit are Garden Designers ‘Floral & Hardy’. We checked out their website and liked what they’re about: among their portfolio lies some impressively sized gardens with pristine lawns and borders, but more appealing to us were the smaller, more awkward spaces brought up to standard with thoughtful planting, practical furniture and a touch of creative class.

We decided to swing open the double-glazed doors to our blog and let them in, suggesting they inspire us with their five top tips for great garden design. Here then, in the words of Helen Ellison, are those five pieces of design wisdom…

1 Think about what you want from your garden

Decide what you want from your garden and how you would like to use it – garden designers can certainly give good advice, but make sure whoever you choose listens to you and what you would like – two ears, one mouth is our design philosophy! Choose a designer who recognises your aspirations and will follow them through to create the garden you dream of.

2 Make it inviting

Make the garden practical to use, but inviting too, with plenty of places to sit and relax and interesting focal points to look at. Water features can add a calming feel to a space – particularly important in city gardens where they can help to muffle traffic noise.

3 Create an all-year-round space

Make it useable year round with clever lighting schemes and heaters – this way you can make the most use of your valuable outdoor space. Pergolas, verandas and shade sails also provide protection both on the sunniest of days and as shelter in the showers.

4 Disguise the size

A small garden can be made to look bigger and angular boundaries can be disguised with a curvy design, or by offsetting a more linear design at angles to the house. Tricks such as these also draw the eye back and forth across the plot to give an illusion of much more space.

5 Think about time management

Think about how much time you have to maintain your garden – don’t go for time consuming lawns and planting styles if you don’t have the time to look after them. Many of us think we’d like a veg patch but if we’re away a lot or work long hours, this might not be a good idea! Keep it simple if your time is short.

For more expert advice from Floral & Hardy visit their website at www.floralandhardy.co.uk

 

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