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5 Top Garden Design Tips (DIY)
Not all gardens are made equal, but the size or budget does not dictate the quality that you can achieve in a garden. Our talented Designer Team at Tony Benger landscaping have come up with 5 key tips that anyone at home can apply in order to improve their quality time in the garden. So let's look together how can we turn your unloved patch of grass into Chelsea medal worthy!
1. Never underestimate a Good Plant.
Common plants that we see more often in our local Tesco’s car park might help develop your garden space. Species such as Hebe Sutherlandii or Lonicera nitida are often chosen for areas because they are low maintenance and tough as old boots! Yet, if you move away from the mass planting you see in car parks and use a Hebe Suthlandii Clipped into a ball with Frothy grasses and sweet-smelling nepeta, your garden bed has texture and colour all year round.
Lonicera nitida can be used as an alternative to pest prone box, try planting it at the edge of your beds and you can instantly add the look of the formal low box hedge style but with a half the cost.
2. Plan before you plant!
It is very easy to spend an afternoon at the garden centre and come out with a lot more than you planned to purchase. A common problem is finding room in your beds and a common solution is to dig up a little more of the lawn. This provides you with beautiful beds that might slowly begin to get harder to manage. Stepping over your perennials to hack back a dominant shrub can turn your garden into a war zone between you and the sheers!
If you have a blank canvas then list everything you want from your space, you may find that you can make much more of your patio if you know you want to roll your yoga matt out and have a seating area for your morning coffee. Multi-functionality is a designer’s best friend.
3. Outdoor Lighting is your secret weapon!
A common problem with life today is how much we are stuck inside. We are in our gardens more often, when the summer weather and temperature mean we can use the space long into the evenings.
With outdoor lighting (even something as simple as a solar-powered light you can pick up from your local Ikea or Homebase), your garden can be used later in the year or earlier in the season. Getting out and enjoy the garden. With an awning over your head, a hot cup of chocolate and outdoor lighting in the garden, there is nothing better than a winter sit in the garden to enjoy the stars.
4. Look up.
Looking to elevate your garden to better quality? It Is easy to think of ways to fill space but one excellent focal point can be to add space vertically. Arches with climbing roses, statement trees and hanging baskets are all ways to add extra dimension and colour to your space. Although these items might cost you, these are the features in your garden you don’t want to shortcut. Buy too small a tree and you will not reap the rewards of its full potential for 10 years. Arches or garden structures make for practical outdoor living, whether you put a gate to keep the dogs out the veg patch or a picnic table to help with kids engage with their plant biology homework, these features add an instant purpose and focal point to your space. Using height structures can also keep the eyes away from the weeds you might have forgotten to pull up!
5. Keep Wildlife in Mind!
It is possible to create a bright colourful attractive garden that pleases you and the wildlife that resides in it! The species that we are familiar with such as Hebe, Sedum, Yarrow, Heather, buddleja, alliums, pulmonaria and many more that we know attracts insects are well known as they not only provide you with vivid spring and summer flowers but also keep flowering throughout the autumn and winter. Heathers, mahonia, hellebores and crocus will keep the wildlife fed throughout the harsher months. Serving your garden wildlife unintentionally provides you with a garden of seasonal progression and continuous blooms.
We hope you find these tips useful, however if you rather have more in depth advise or a detailed garden design drawing, please do not hesitate to email [email protected] or ring us on 01404 831844.
