Gardens can make any place beautiful. It can also entice people to spend more time outdoors. Excellent landscaping can also be a gorgeous view, not just for parks but also for domestic and commercial areas.
You might be feeling slightly disappointed with the state of your garden, but you’ll quickly be motivated once you take a glance at gardening and landscaping photos on the internet. If there’s anything you can learn from gardening, it’s that you can easily get inspired by other people’s work and even nature spots! But if you need it, professional gardening and landscaping such as Seyffer Designs are always available and can no doubt elevate and make your plans into reality.
The truth is, every outdoor area has a lot of potentials. You’ll only have to find it and help it blossom. With planning and a little bit of elbow grease, you can achieve the garden of your dreams.
Hopefully, you’ve got gardening basics down since we’ll skip to tips that can elevate your garden and landscaping.
Consider the Factors
Ultimately, a good garden design entails a lot of planning. And while you’re in the process, you’ll realize that several factors can affect your garden altogether. Here are some aspects to consider:
Region – When it comes to the types of plants you can grow in your area, you’ll need to study your hardiness zone. Each plant species has its requirements to grow healthily and beautifully. Once you’ve figured out your hardiness zone and the different plants you can grow, you can gather up photographs, posts, and even visit gardens to see which ones catch your eye. Save as many photos for inspiration!
Soil – Soil is crucial for any garden as it can affect the growth of different types of plants. Get to know whether the pH levels in the soil are acidic or alkaline. Moreover, note of whether it’s clay-like, loamy, sandy, or heavy. Drainage is also a contributing factor to the soil’s condition. The water distribution can help you predetermine whether your soil is prone to drought or excess water. It’s great to use compost and mulch for the ground to keep moisture and absorb water.
Light – How much light your garden gets is also a vital factor. Perhaps the area is shaded, or maybe it gets full sunlight. Noting this down will be necessary for the plant growth of each species.
Wind – Even wind patterns are essential to gardening. Observing this factor is also important as too much wind can burn or shrivel down some plants.
Surroundings – It’s also necessary to study the landscape or structures around the area.
Plantings – Gardening and landscaping require the aesthetic organization of plants. You’ll need to arrange all kinds of shapes, colors, and sizes while also attaining balance. It’s also necessary to pick several ornamental types of grass and seasonal flowers in the right proportion. Clustering some longer-lasting blooming flowers together and plants of varying heights make a great visual impression.
Size and Shape – Gardens will require a definite size and shape. Trying a bigger garden can be more challenging to maintain, but for a beautiful garden, it’s the way to go. When it comes to shapes, they can be angular or curved. The shape can determine the character of your garden. It’s also great to use edging through various materials such as rocks, brick, metal, mulch, plastic, or even other plants. Edging is a great way to define the shape, but it’s important to pick materials that best blend in with the rest of your garden
Decide on a Design
When considering the size, shape, and plantings, there are various existing garden designs you can choose to follow:
Naturalistic – Going for a naturalistic approach can help your garden resemble nature. It looks more untamed, and you can grow all kinds of native plants and wildflowers. For landscaping, adding pathways and water features that mimic brooks or other bodies of water can maximize a forest-like effect.
Formal – For structure, evenness, and order, you can try a formal garden. Straight lines can help define the shape of your garden. This type is fantastic for limited space, especially if you live in the city. Accessories that complement this garden are fancy looking sculptures, fountains, and some low-lying barricades or fences.
Informal – If you want a more casual garden, an informal design is for you. Curves and asymmetry can help your garden achieve a deliberate imbalance. All kinds of plants such as flowers, fruits, and vegetables will add to its charm. Going for picket fences, a water feature, gazebos, arbors, and benches can be a nice touch for landscaping.
Plan Your Colors
The colors you choose for your garden should be planned so plants can complement each other, the surroundings, and even your home. Like a painter, using the color wheel can help you visualize and understand color relationships. Colors and color combinations can help you achieve different kinds of effects and moods.
Warm Colors – Evokes energy, joy, and positivity
Cool Colors – Soothing and relaxing, but can also represent sadness
Complementary Colors – Looks brighter and striking
Monochromatic – Harmonious, subtle, and conservative
Analogous – Versatile but overwhelming, achieve balance by choosing a single dominant color and using the other colors as accents
Triadic – Versatile and bold, but not as striking as complementary colors
Tetradic – Bold but challenging to balance, using dominance and accents will help
Add Features
To add more designs to your garden, you can include all sorts of ornaments and functional pieces. Objects such as fountains, benches, sculptures can be focal points. Stone and water features can help you mimic nature, and they can also embellish certain parts of the garden. However, you’ll need to plan where to add these pieces to keep the design balanced and uncluttered.
Walls and fences can help conceal some parts that don’t look good and, at the same time, they can frame areas that you want to show off. Structures like extensive plantings, arbors, and latticework can create depth and layers to your garden, especially if they’re of different heights.
Pathways can be made out of different materials, as long as it matches your garden design well. Professional landscapers know how to use paths to achieve particular effects. For instance, a straight path can emphasize the formality of the garden. But circular and wandering paths can help along the garden seem more minimized.
Conclusion
With all the details you need to consider, you might feel overwhelmed. But taking some time to plan your garden out will be worth it in the end. The critical thing to remember is that you decide what plants, features, color combinations, and designs you want to use. These tips are here to guide you, but in the end, you shouldn’t let them inhibit your creativity.
