Need landscaping & planting inspiration for August?

Posted onAugust 22, 2019

Landscaping gardening can really change the look and feel of your outdoor space and give you the chance to create a fantastic outdoor space, it can really give your home a boost, think of it as an extra room in your home. Re-designing your garden is an exciting time, but where do you start? Here are some inspiration ideas from materials to planting.

How do I start to design my own garden?

Start with the bones of the garden and whats already in place, walls, fencing, water feature, pots, trees, shed, grass etc. Do you want to keep all or some of these items in place, does the shed or green house need moving for instance?

Consider the size and shape of your garden and what direction it faces, how much sun you want for seating, entertaining and planting, perhaps a vegetable plot if you have the space. Do you want straight edges with formal geometric straight lines or a relaxed look with informal cottage garden planting?

Do some research on line, books and magazines, perhaps visit some gardening shows or open days to get some ideas. Take photos of plants you like, decking paving and maybe start a scrap book and start to build your ideas and consider your budget for the project.

Small Garden ideas.

A small garden or courtyard can be transformed, they do require a little more planning and can be low maintenance. Use a bare wall to create vertical garden using pots or hanging baskets, scented plants herbs or even vegetables . Using the wall can give you extra planting space and creates some height in the garden. If you have walls in the garden perhaps paint it to give a lighter feeling or use horizontal slat fencing for a more contemporary feel. Your seating area maybe small so why not create an elevated boarder? you could have a brick wall using reclaimed bricks or have it rendered so it can be painted, or old sleepers for a rustic look, this also will create extra seating as visiting guests to sit on the wall is space is limited. Keep the flooring all the same if possible as this will also help the flow of the space and make it feel bigger. Garden mirrors are also a great addition to the garden, tuck them into a dark corner with some planting can really enhance the space.

What Materials do i use?

Think about the hard landscaping first these are materials that will make up walkways and patios.Your choice of hard-landscaping also depends on the size of your garden, there are so many choices out there to chose from.

• Bricks, new or reclaimed
• Composite or wood decking
• Paving slabs
• Block Paving
• Sleepers
• Gravel
• Slate
• Artificial grass
• Fencing
• Rockeries
• Underlays
• Granite
• Resin

New outdoor lighting?

Lighting can completely transform your out door space at night. What kind of atmosphere would you like to create? Festoon lights or lanterns create a nice relaxed atmosphere or hanging pendents or floor lighting for a more contemporary look. Having lights within steps are very effective especially if you have a dark area of the garden or lighting a feature, a tree or statue or place lighting within a boarder to light up the plants.

I need a child friendly garden.

If you have young children and have the space it's worth setting aside an area for them. The hard landscaping you choose for the adult space would need to be different to that of a Childs play area.

Who will do the work?

Its well worth employing a professional to talk through the project with you and to ensure you will get the most from your garden and to establish wether the waste is included in their service. They will also advise if there is obstructions or maybe come up with ideas that you hadn't thought of, why not Contact Us to arrange for a no obligation quote.

My garden is on a slope?

A change in levels can make a garden feel bigger and certainly more accessible . Soil will need to be removed and retaining walls will no doubt need to be constructed. Good drainage will also be essential this will add to the cost of the design.

What will the cost be?

The cost will depend on the size of your garden and what materials you chose. It also depends on how much clearance needs doing before any landscaping can start.

How long will the work take?

It depends on how much is being done, if you choose to employ a professional they will advise how long it will take, that will be included in the quote Contact Us.

How do i choose the right plants?

Start with shrubs that will give you all year round structure and greenery, if you have space perhaps a tree for some structure. Box balls or pittosporum shaped into balls, they look really effective, once you've placed and placed the shrubs fill the gaps with beautiful perennials and annuals. As mentioned previously check the direction your garden faces? Not all plants like direct sun or just shade, so getting the right place for the right place is really important. Do plenty of research and look back through the notes, photos and magazine cuttings to remind you of your favourite planting combinations.

A metre or more in depth is a perfect size for a border, giving you enough space to put smaller plants at the front with taller ones behind. But if you don't have room for metre-deep beds, you could place climbers at the back of the border so you can still get height in the planting.

What are the gardening trends?

Wild perennial meadows are on key at the moment creating a loose style of planting. Or letting an area of lawn grow wild.

A quiet retreat for the grown ups, summer houses are the rage. Decorate like an outdoor room, a great place to sit and relax or to shelter from the rain.

Taking the indoor outdoors, blur the boundaries. Bold print and colour with big leaf shapes, outdoor rugs for your patio and bold tiles. Blending the indoor room to the outdoor makes your out door space seem a-lot bigger.

Composite decking instead of wood decking. Hard wearing, looks like natural wood and comes in a range of colours.

How do i encourage wildlife into my new garden?

You don't have to have a large plot to encourage wildlife into your garden. Flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies and other insects, without them production of seed and fruit would fall dramatically. Bees and butterflies don' like blowsy or double flowers as they don't contain much pollen or nectar. Try to include in your new garden a mixture of plants that will flower in spring carrying the display through to the autumn. For example Foxgloves, lavender, sedums, buddleja, michaelmas daisy to name but a few. You can also make a small bee bath by adding a little bowl with some pebbles and put amongst the nectar loving plants.

Remember, wether your garden is large or small, you can create a beautiful outdoor space what ever your budget. We all have different design ideas according to our taste and lifestyle, once the journey of planning and having the work done, then the exciting moment of planting you will have a fantastic new out door space to love and enjoy.