Practical Tips for Design - 21/01/2009

Terry discussed important elements of landscaping in his last blog entry and has talked about a very important one that often gets overlooked when doing landscaping for a home. Design. For a large project of a building site they have every element mapped out for them, inside and out so they can end with a great looking overall result, with a continuity of each area. So often as homeowners we have our map or plan for the inside of our house, but when it comes to the outside we just 'add-on' a bit here and a bit there with no real plan or direction and end up with something that may not 'quite' suit it's intended purpose.

Firstly, look at your personal needs and preferences. Do you have children or animals and want spaces for them to enjoy, are you an avid gardener and wanting many garden beds, are you putting in a pool or a spa, or have intentions for one at a later stage, are you building shade structures, what kind of seating do you want, do you want to match or contrast with materials to what you currently have? All these questions make the basis for your garden plans. Also take note of special functions or service areas your landscape will need to provide, just making a list of all these things gives a foundation to work from.

Next, develop the plan. I know for myself with renovating the inside of our house I purchased a child's  school graph book for 50 cents to plan our renovations in, it was great as I had squares to measure to making it a little more realistic to see how the overall design would work. We had an area that was a kitchen, dining and lounge area that we wanted to change and I think I ended up drawing 40-50 designs in that little book simply because I had so many options as the space was so big. I'm not recomending that everyone draw so many designs, but if you start with something like a graph pad to work out your garden size on you can re-draw as many times as you like until you've included all the elements that are important to you and your outdoor living space.

After you have developed a plan, involve a designer. The array of knowledge they have and the suggestions they can make to enhance and build upon what you are aiming to achieve can be well worth the money. If you are not great at sketching, they can draw the plan out for you from the list you made of the elements that are important to you as well as discussions you have had at your home inspecting the site.

The backyard in the picture below was designed for someone who enjoys gardening, while giving a large paved outdoor area to enjoy the garden from. With a raised bed in the retaining wall as well as 'steps' at each end of the wall to effectively display the plants. The use of sandstone for garden edging adds a natural feel and the colours of the paving as well as the wall have been chosen to match with the brickwork of the house.

You may decide for your budget to go ahead with parts of your garden on a seasonal or yearly basis (depending on what you have set out to achieve), and may plan to involve the designer for only certain sections of your project and go ahead with the rest yourself. With a great foundation and a good plan you will have an outdoor space that you will enjoy for a lifetime. Now I need to go get myself a graph pad and start sketching up my backyard :)

Happy Landscaping!
Karen Francis
Marketing and Design
Centenary Landscaping Supplies

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