Designing your own garden can be both exciting and overwhelming. Where to start!  It’s a big topic, let’s tackle a few questions.

 I want to design my own garden, but feel daunted by where to begin?

 Before sinking spade into soil, it’s important to take a moment to put pencil to paper. Consider;

• What does my garden need to provide for me and my family?

• How do we intend to live within it, use it and engage with it?

• How do we want to feel when in the garden, and what qualities does the garden need to have to achieve that?

• What are the opportunities/limitations of the site?

• How does the garden need to sit within and connect with the landscape? Think about the ‘space’, but give equal attention to ‘place’.

Putting together a picture of how you wish your garden to be and feel is the first step, then think about how this fits with the site and environment.

 I can't decide on a garden style, everyone says I need one?

The simple answer, no! Garden styles and themes go in and out of fashion, so focus instead on the character and qualities you wish your garden to have, and make sure these are cohesive throughout.   For example, a cottage garden style is typically romantic, informal and friendly, so draw on these traits and the ways you can interpret them in your own setting.  In contrast, if you are attracted to formal gardens, a refined and ordered feel should be your guide, reflected in a way unique to you.

 Don’t be afraid to mix the qualities you love, like an orderly clipped garden structure filled with romantic planting a little on the wild side. Mix and match, but make sure there are repeated elements (plants, materials, colours, forms) that create unity within the garden.  Repetition is key to bring the whole picture together.

How can I accurately measure and draw an aerial view of my garden?

 The trick is to begin with known measurements, like the footprint of a house or the line of a boundary fence.  Take those features as the starting point for other measurements, then use techniques including triangulation to fill in the gaps.  The illustration below shows these methods at work. Triangulation is particularly helpful to map the position of trees and odd points - measure from two known points to the feature you are mapping, then use a compass with a radius set at those two measurements to transfer the placement on paper. The point at which the two circle arcs cross is the position of the feature.

 When transferring your measurements to paper, choose a scale reflective of the size of your site.  1:100 is a commonly used scale, and means that every centimetre on paper equals one metre on the ground.  For smaller gardens, 1:50 can be used -  1cm on paper is equal to 50cm on site.  Draw in all the important features – buildings and structures, boundaries/fencelines, important services, trees and so on.  Mark in windows and doors too – they are an important guide for placement of garden views and features. This drawing becomes your ‘base plan’ onto which you can develop your design.  Be sure to make several copies before you begin!

How do I figure out how to divide my garden into spaces?

 A bare base plan can feel daunting, so a simple trick to begin to divide an open space into areas proportionate and relevant to the house is to sketch in ‘regulating lines’ – lines extending out from the primary lines of the house and other features of the site as shown in the illustration below.  You don’t need to reflect these lines and the grid they create exactly in your design, rather use them as a guide for the placement of garden areas. 

Also think about shapes and the way they can link together or overlap to create garden areas.  It can be helpful to cut different shapes of varying sizes out of paper and move them around your base plan, to help envisage how they could be used. The aerial photo at the top of this story show how circular shapes have been used to define areas in our garden, and how regulating line guided their placement, the position of paths and other garden features.

How do I choose trees and shrubs that provide good garden bones?

Right plant, right place is key to a successful garden, so research trees and shrubs that suit your environment and climate. Walk your local community and natural landscape to note what grows well.

Planted garden ‘bones’ are those trees, shrubs, hedges (formal and informal) and other significant plants that provide year round structure in the garden.  They act as a canvas or frame against which seasonal planting can shine, while defining space and line, creating shelter and comfortable enclosure, and offering interest through shape, form, colour and so on.  These planted bones (like the shrubs, trees and clipped spheres below), in conjunction with the material or ‘built’ bones (the path and adjacent boulders in the image), hold the garden picture together through all seasons.

 When choosing trees and shrubs for the bones of the garden, consider their shape/form (eg columnar, rounded, conical, weeping), and how these forms can be best placed and layered within the garden picture.  Tall columnar trees will draw the eye up and can be used effectively as a frame, while a broad canopy will act as a ceiling.  Keep proportion and scale in mind - a big house will need to be visually anchored to its site using planting with appropriate mass, while a tiny cottage would be overpowered by towering trees or shrubs on the doorstep.

Evergreen plants are commonly used to provide structure, though substantial deciduous forms are also valuable.  Think about branch structure, colour and texture of the bark, and the lines and patterns created by the bare forms. When choosing hedges, consider informal (unclipped) shrubs with naturally tight or interesting habit, and formal hedges which can be clipped squarely, rounded or mounding in cloud-like shapes. Plants with interesting sculptural form can be used as punctuation marks and focal points.

Keep layers in mind too - tall, mid and ground level layers of structure will give the garden height and width, while providing habitat for a range of birds and insects.

If you are interested in learning more about how to design and grow your own beautiful and meaningful garden, The Storytelling Garden, a new workshop delivered via mail and online will explore these topics and more. Sign up to The Garden Curator newsletter in the link below to hear about release dates and events. See you there!