Garden Design and Creation

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© Mike Greaves 2006

Designing your garden

You can download the directions for our Internet Design Service which contain similar instructions.

Now you are ready to start designing. Get several pieces of tracing paper big enough to fit over your site plan. Start roughing out a ground plan, showing areas of patio, lawn, planting, and perhaps other materials including gravel. No one can tell you how to design – you are on your own - but the following points may help.

*     Think carefully about the areas – is the patio big enough? Will the borders take too much maintenance? Or are they two narrow?

*     Try to create a sense of unity, so that all areas and features belong together with shapes and materials that harmonise.

*     Aim to achieve balance across the whole plan – is this area of planting on the left/front balanced by something else on the right/back? Is there the right proportion of mass or bulk (shrubs, buildings etc.) to open space.

*     Consider movement routes around the garden – can you get conveniently from one place to another? Can you get the mower from the garage to the lawn? Have you put in all the necessary steps and level changes?

*     Do the shapes link together in a satisfying way? Is the lawn a practical shape for mowing? Is all the patio usable?

*     Does the design make best use of the patterns of light and shade throughout the day? Will you catch the evening sun when you sit down with a drink at the end of the day? Is there somewhere shady to sit when the weather is hot?

*     Are there any unnecessary elements? Does it look overcrowded or fussy? Can you simplify the design?

Try out two or three different ideas (on different sheets). Analyse each, listing good and bad points. This often gives you more ideas for the others. When you have got one which you like, and which works, draw it up carefully in ink and label it.

You may want to visualise your design in 3D, rather than as a flat plan. You can use photographs to trace over, or even digitally manipulate images in order to understand whether your garden works in three dimensions.