Garden Affair: Designing your garden a worthwhile venture!

24 Aug, 2014 - 06:08 0 Views
Garden Affair: Designing your garden a worthwhile venture! Garden Design

The Sunday Mail

Garden Design

Garden Design

The importance of landscaping to increase the value of your property is one venture that should be pursued.

Landscape design, as it is referred too, is an art form which requires careful planning and knowledge of various concepts.

How can one achieve a garden which is the envy of the whole neighbourhood?

It is essential to choose a particular theme of design, with the most popular being the African, Oriental, English and Japanese gardens.

When designing your garden one has to adhere to a few garden design principles which will ensure that it is in harmony with the buildings and the environment.

The selection of colour, texture, variety and shapes gives meaning to a garden, not to mention balance.

When designing your garden it is best to work on paper first: laying out everything before you commit any resources, time or human effort.

The drawing approach gives you an opportunity to have a bird’s-eye view of your garden, as you incorporate all the features in proportion to your house or the buildings in your garden.

The importance of scale becomes evident as one transfers what will be on the paper to the garden.

Measure your garden and choose a comfortable scale to work with before you start working. After positioning all the existing features in your garden decide which new features you might want to then add.

One can add pergolas, water features, rockeries, trellises, an orchard, herbaceous borders, a children’s playground or a swimming pool, just to mention a few.

It is imperative to consult the rest of the family so as to achieve mutual enjoyment from the garden.

Be sensitive to the functionality of each for a user friendly garden.

Each garden is basically divided into sections, the entrance, service area and the backyard. The entrance introduces the garden to the world thus it must be planned for beauty to give a warm welcome while the service area must have easy access from the house allowing everyone to enjoy a glimpse of nature. The back yard should also be organised and concealed with an attractive hedge or border as it usually does not contain any visual stimulation besides the vegetable garden, an orchard or fowl run.

The most important aspect of garden design is the selection of plants which can be annuals, herbaceous, shrubs or trees.

Plants give the garden its form, colour and beauty; thus proper advice must be sought from a nursery or you can purchase an ornamental gardening book.

Climate is important in the selection of plants and in this case it is wise to choose those that are already succeeding in the area.

The trend nowadays is to choose local indigenous flora as they promote proliferation of local wildlife and do not have invasive tendencies. Indigenous plants have evolved for a long time to suit the climate of the area and do not usually bring harmful pests or diseases as do some exotics.

Choose a lawn that suits your scenario as lawns have varying maintenance levels; or do away with a lawn altogether if your garden is not very big by placing large features such as rockeries or a swimming pool.

In garden design, balance refers to achieving proper height levels or its variation as one moves in the garden, avoiding a lopsided garden caused by, for instance, planting tall trees on one side of the garden.

Colour is crucial in a garden. Plants are selected choosing an appropriate colour scheme according to preference.

Texture or harmony refers to the plant form which is a combination of the various leaf sizes that plants have.

The occasional transition is good as long as it marks a boundary or a new plant grouping.

Straight lines are no longer a must in a garden. Borders or beds can take any shape one prefers.

Variety is the spice of life and in a garden variety adds interest.

Garden designing is quickly evolving to lessen the burden of maintenance. Gardens are for enjoyment and not to be endured by long hours of tending for them.

With our busier lifestyles a garden must require less and less attention. The selection of plants must be done with the conservation of water in mind, as water supply has become a major headache for cities.

When a landscape is done it must be pleasing to the eye. The investment in garden designing is a worthwhile venture which will bring joy to your family for a long time. Landscaping your garden should be viewed as a long-term project and not an overnight activity.

Plants need time to grow to their actual size and when they do flower can one really see the beauty of the landscape.

 

For further details Andrew can be contacted by email on [email protected]

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