Garden Design

Garden Design: Your landscape design is like a floor plan for an outdoor area. It should be practical, and reflect your needs, likes and interests.

To figure out what you want to get out of your design, you will need to consider the following:

The function of your garden

This is a crucial aspect of landscape design as it details what the purpose of the garden is. Depending on your requirements, the function of the garden could be one or a mix of the below:

• Entertainment – with plenty of covered areas, seating and areas for relaxing that can accommodate large crowds.
• Child friendly – a safe garden with plenty of lawn and open space that the kids can run around in.
• Pet friendly – materials and plants that can withstand the wear and tear of dogs.
• Structured ornamental garden – a design based purely on aesthetics.

The theme of your garden

This is where your inspiration comes from. This could be influenced by a type of plant, culture or environment that you prefer or would like to replicate, and could include:

• A relaxed, informal country garden
• Balinese style resort garden
• Rustic Australian native garden
• Simple and low maintenance garden
• Colour themed garden
• Succulents and cacti garden

The design features in your garden

You will need to decide if there are any design features that you would like to incorporate. These could include:

• Hedges
• Water features and ponds
• Structural backdrops or pavilions
• Retaining walls
• Any additional items that are purely for beauty and do not serve a practical purpose

Budgeting

The more features you want, the more expensive it will be. So be realistic with your budget and don’t overextend yourself, as you want to be able to enjoy your new garden design without the worry of how you will be able to afford it!

The uses and features that you want out of your garden will dictate your design decisions.

When you have visualised what you are after, you will need to start creating a design plan. Your first step to landscape design is to measure out your garden site and draw a plan of your current garden. This will need to be to scale showing the correct measurements and proportions of the garden, and indicating the areas of light, shade and elevation. The plan will need to include existing features such as buildings, poles, rocks etc. that cannot be moved.

Once you have set up all the plans, you can now start to add all of the new landscape design elements that you want. This could include shrubbery, trees, walkways, paths, patios, sheds, a pool, lawn area and irrigation.

Creating a landscape plan will also help you in your decision-making processes, such as selecting plants and materials. The more information and detail that you can put into the plan, the better you will be able to estimate the cost and the more likely you will be to see your design become a reality.

And, of course, if you want some additional help and advice on planning and designing your garden, then the simplest solution is to let Fox Mowing look after it all for you.

And while we’re there in your garden, we can do a lot of other stuff too to get your garden looking and feeling its best.