Design Your Perfect Garden

Create the garden of your dreams with the help of this simple guide.

Your garden is an extension of your home. But it’s more than that. It’s a display of your lifestyle and passions. A place to explore and develop your interests. It’s a room with the benefit of being outdoors and subject to the elements, come rain or shine. A setting for plants and animals to thrive, let a bit of nature into your life with this handy guide.

Feel free to follow along to the letter or take bits and pieces as you need to create your own unique space.

Decide what your garden is for.

The first step in having the garden of your dreams is choosing what your garden is for. Whether it’s an outdoor play area for the kids, a space to relax in the long summer days or a place to grow for those with green fingers.

Splitting your outdoor space into separate areas is often the ideal method to appease all of the family and to suit every occasion.

Research and gather ideas

After dividing your outdoor space to your needs, define a list of essentials. This could be anything; a climbing frame or children’s play area, a specific area for plants, or a paved patio with garden furniture. Confirm the non-negotiables and list the considerations and ‘nice-to-haves’. A list of omissions or ‘must-nots’ can also be useful when information gathering.

Look out for ideas everywhere you go. Whether visiting family and friends’ houses or walking past the neighbours’ displays, take inspiration from anything that piques your interest. Local parks and Manor houses can also provide that spark with an abundance of creativity at hand.

Find ideas online, on television or in magazines. Check out the seemingly unlimited garden pics on social media. Friends, family, influencers, celebrities and professionals all have an online presence and are a rich source of ideas. Record and binge gardening and property shows, the pause button and your camera phone are the best tools for this job. Celebrity magazines are filled with ‘perfect gardens’. Although they may not be to your exact taste, innovate towards your expressiveness.

Speak to anyone and everyone about their ideas. Creativity is contagious. Each will bring a new perspective and such diversity in knowledge can be a fountain of originality.

Define a theme

Keeping a consistent theme is essential in garden design. Don’t over-complicate the space and keep it simple.

Choose specific elements. You may choose to emphasise a particular colour or pattern across the general design or in specific areas of your garden. The style may introduce exotic elements or plants and foliage. Perhaps a certain country or location influences the composition and overall plan.

Make sure the garden is practical. Without sounding too ‘Feng Shui’, establish a flow to the layout and ensure each aspect is accessible while complimenting its position and surround.

The possibilities are endless; choose a theme and elements that you like. This is where your creativity and imagination can run wild within the defined theme.

Measure, draw and measure again.

It is an old adage to ‘measure twice and cut once’. It is the same principle when planning your garden. Ensure that all plans are feasible and work within the existing location before buying materials or conducting work.

Measure the essential borders and perimeters of your garden, including solid items and structures such as walls, trees and sheds.

Sketch your garden with the borders and perimeter, along with solid structures included to scale. Having numerous copies may be helpful.

Trace your ideas onto your sketch. Add new elements and possible plans as per your design. Start with larger or structural elements such as grass, paths and patios.

Keep it relative. Smaller areas may feel unbalanced and overwhelmed with items such as large trees and patios. Conversely, larger spaces may need larger items or a greater number of smaller items to avoid them becoming ‘lost’ and lacking impact.

Implement changes evenly across the garden or specific thematic area, to achieve balance and to avoid over cluttering.

Calculate the measurements of the new additions to gain a more accurate estimation of the required materials.

It’s all in the details

Understanding the details of your garden is essential for a successful redesign.

The type of soil is crucial to what can be grown. Some plants prefer certain conditions over others. Soil pH (acidity/alkalinity), drainage, composition (clay, peat, sand etc) must all be considered.

The direction your garden faces is very important in deciding what to include regarding location. Does the garden face the sun or are there any shaded areas? The placement of planned features, such as patios/decking may need to be in sunlight. Conversely, some plants prefer shade and must be considered before including them in the design.

Micro-climates play a big part. Your garden is not the same throughout. It is made up of many micro-climates, from shaded areas and dark undergrowth to sun-traps and windy clearings. All areas will influence what is ideal to grow or place in particular areas.

The local climate will be ultimately responsible for what can be grown. All plants must be within certain temperatures or humidity ranges, outside of which successful growth will be very difficult. Investigate each plant and ensure your local climate and geography will be suitable for your plans.

Plan the implementation

Rome wasn’t built in a day and our greatest accomplishments are often an ongoing task. Patience and planning is key to introducing the changes you want.

Schedule a timeline of tasks in small manageable chunks. Plan when you’ll do each task and plan when you’ll buy required tools/equipment, materials, plants and other items accordingly.

Start with the big jobs such as clearance or more major groundwork. Remove unwanted items and declutter areas before the rebuild begins.

Leave it to the pros. Sometimes, it is easier and cheaper to get someone with experience. This is particularly true and a legality when it comes to structural issues and groundworks such as sewerage, water, gas and electricity.

Concentrate on your essentials. Introduce your ‘must-haves’ while the ‘nice-to-haves’ can wait. Make the spaces usable as soon as you can.

Take it one step at a time. Keep on schedule and complete each task as much as possible before moving on to the next.

Refer to your design regularly, updating and adjusting as necessary.

If you require any help or advice on materials or methods please get in touch or speak to one of our staff members in-store.

That’s it! Your personal outdoor space is complete and is ready to be enjoyed by the whole family.

If you found this guide helpful in transforming your garden share your process with us. We’d love to see your before, during and after pictures. If willing, we’ll share your work on our channels to show the world.