More Garden Design Themes and Styles Ideas

Fancy yourself as a bit of an

aristocrat?

Why not take inspiration from early Greek and roman architecture and create yourself a classic garden?

During the 18th century is was the fashion for well educated young gentlemen to explore Europe, where they learned about the classics, soaked up the culture and returned home with ideas and artifacts. These ideas and artifacts were used in many gardens in Britain including Chiswick House.

Some of the great classical gardens in Italy still exist today and are a good source of inspiration. They are very structured and formal, with evergreen hedges of box and yew providing that structure. Statues and references to classical architecture are featured prominently within the gardens including follies, bridges, and temples. Framed views and vistas that are still used today in many gardens would have originated from the classical era.

If you have been thinking that you would prefer a formal garden in design, then perhaps you might like to take it one stage further and add some classical inspiration to the design. Balustrades, columns and arches can all be reproduced and should be of high quality if you plan to use them in your garden.

Whilst looking at historical themes for gardens, you may decide that you would like a garden that keeps to the traditional of the period your house was built in. in this case you will need to research the period to be sure that you represent the history accurately. The Royal Horticultural Society Library would be a good source of information about historical periods in gardening. Don't forget to consider the planting and materials that were used during that time as well as the styles.

You do not need to design the whole garden with a particular theme in mind. You could if you prefer, design a modern garden which is personal to you, but take inspiration from themes and styles that you like.

In more recent times (after Second World War) there has been a slow emergence of more contemporary designs for gardens. This has been more evident in Europe and North America, however, us Brits are beginning to catch up now!

Contemporary, modern designs work best if the building that it is being linked to is also contemporary and modern. It then becomes easy to form a relationship between the garden and the building by using the same materials such as steel and glass.

People now take a lot of inspiration from their house interiors and with the availability of many more colours of exterior paints it is possible to create "that extra room" outside. Designers trying to create a contemporary design tend to shy away from traditional garden statues and ornaments and are opting instead for trendy glass and metal sculptures and modern artwork.

There's no reason why you

should be the same.

If you want a statue of "Adam" in your modern garden then go for it - perhaps you can paint him a different colour or something! During the "Ground Force" days, it was popular to use decking, and just about everyone who could afford to do it, did it! Thankfully though the trend died down when Alan Titchmarsh quit the show. Now you have the option of choosing a material for your patio that isn't made of wood, and you'll not be considered unfashionable. Of course decking is still popular, so if you like it, use it.

As our climate has changed so have our modern requirements for our gardens. We now have to consider water management and using drought tolerant plants because of the unpredictability of the British summers. The types of plants that we can successfully grow in our gardens is also changing and a result people can create little tropical jungles in their own gardens.

The latest trend to hit our gardens is to "grow your own" vegetables. This is a fairly new trend that has been gradually increasing during the last couple of years, however, I believe that with the present economical climate, the need to be able to grow your own vegetables is going to rapidly increase now. Unlike during war days, when people gave over their entire gardens to grow crops, this time around we are incorporating the vegetable crops into our normal planting and combining the two types of planting. If you visit any garden shows you will notice the number of display gardens that feature growing ornamental and edible plants together.

Another big trend at the moment is encouraging wildlife into your gardens. Choosing plants that encourage bees, butterflies and other wildlife can be enjoyable for children and adult alike as they strive for a bit of "nature" in their hectic urban lives. Increased sales of bird feeders in recent years have seen an increase in birds visiting gardens. I tried this for the first time earlier this year and whilst I did get an increase in bird life, I also gained a squirrel that scurries along from nearby trees and helps himself (or maybe herself) to my peanuts.

Although some people may find having a squirrel a nuisance, I quite like my little visitor - he's (she's) good fun to watch!

Some people are opting to allow a section of their garden to grow "wild" including nettles and wildflowers to encourage wildlife. This can look good in the right setting but care will need to be given to it to ensure that it doesn't grow out of control and take over the rest of the garden.

Another easy way to attract wildlife is to add water to your garden. You don't need to have a huge pond with a waterfall, any water will have the desired effect. I added a half cask barrel and filled it with water. I put in a few plants and now every summer I have frogs hopping around. It's nice but they make me jump every time they move! If you're wanting to keep fish then you would need to install an adequate pool for them to ensure their health. Talk to your local supplier to gain advice from them before you make any decisions.

When considering themes and styles for your garden look everywhere for inspiration. Yes, study the countryside and other gardens, but also look elsewhere. Reading interior design magazines or going to places that have nothing to do with gardens could lead you to your big idea.

How to form Shapes and Patterns in your Garden Design

Time to learn more about how to design your perfect garden.

You have now completed you functional layout plan and taken into consideration the principles of design that I covered last week. (Check my archives for this information)

Now, you need to begin the

design layout!

Don't worry, as before, we'll take it one step at a time and look at tips to make the process easier. It would not work well to just draw any old shapes and patterns on to your design and hope for the best! You have to decide the best logical decisions to ensure that your plan will look good. This can be made easier by using tools such as geometry and grids to assist us.

The most important thing to remember is that designing your garden isn't about drawing pretty patterns. You are, after all, a designer, and not a decorator! Having said that though, there is a place for patterns in your plan as they can help to form an intrinsic part of the design. Totally confused? Patterns can create mood, direct movement, and even help to alter the perceptions of the space.

You need to decide which shapes are going to form your design and how you are going to compose. You don't need to pluck these shapes from thin air. Refer back to all of the information that you have collated so far and search for clues. If your design brief stated that the garden would be formal then this would suggest using solid shapes such as squares and rectangles. They would also need to be set out in a symmetrical pattern to emphasise the formal theme. On your functional layout plan, you have already decided where some of your shapes need to be located within the space and so use these as your guide. You may need to juggle a few shapes to permit them to sit better in your design. This is normal and shows that you are allowing the design to change and develop as your thoughts and ideas become clearer.

Not certain that your shapes and patterns look right in your plan? Not a problem. Think back to your principles of garden design: unity and harmony, scale and proportion, and balance. These principles should be applied to the process of positioning shapes and patterns. Try to relax and let your sense of imagination have a slightly higher say than sensibility. You don't have to get it right first time. Just keep experimenting until you get something you feel happy with.

Okay, so you've looked through all of your work so far and you've still no idea what direction to take your design in and indeed no idea what blimin' "shapes" to use! Take a step back from your garden design and think more about the composition of shapes in general. Get yourself some fresh paper and draw the outline to your garden on to it. Then, draw yourself some different sized shapes on separate paper and cut these out. Now, within your garden boundaries, place your shapes in different ways and see what looks good to you. This could help you to reach some decisions about your design.

Consider each shape individually and then look at how the shapes relate to each other. You will need to analyse each shape to fully understand how it can be used to most effect within your garden.

The Circle is a strong. formal and simple shape that occurs in nature. It has symbolic meanings in many religions and cultures, such as in China where it represents heaven and forms the basis of the Tai Chi symbol of Yin and Yang.

The circle is made up of a centre, a circumference, a radius and a diameter. We can also extend the radius out from the centre of the circle, beyond its circumference. A tangent can be created by placing a line outside the circle that touches the circumference and forms a right angle with the radius line. (See diagram) To join any shapes to a circle it is important to link these new shapes with one of the lines we have identified. If you do not use these lines then the design will look unbalanced and awkward.

The Square is also a formal shape. It is a man-made shape with rigid sides and axes that pass through it. It is composed of a centre, sides, axes and a diagonal. Lines from the sides and axes can be extended beyond the outline of the shape to help formulate and create adjacent shapes. The axes can be used to divide the square into smaller squares or rectangles. A rectangle can be formed by extending one side of the square.

Similar shapes are relatively easy to combine as they generally fit together fairly easily. if you want to combine different shapes, then just remember to join them using their different component lines and they should fit together in a more pleasing composition.

When combining shapes prevent yourself from placing them in such a composition that you create acute angles (less than 45*). This will be very difficult to actually landscape and will look weak . Creating acute angles normally arises when combining circles to other shapes. Whichever shapes you are combining they will need to differ in size to establish a dominant shape. If you fail to do this then the design will lack identity, be dull, and lack focus - sorry!

Circles can be combined in many different ways such as overlapping them or in concentric circles. When overlapping them it is best to make sure the centre of the overlapping circles passes through the circumference of the underlying circle. If there is too little overlap then you could be creating an acute or obtuse angle which may be difficult to deal with, and, once again, will not look right.

Have an experiment with a pair of compasses and see what you can do with circles. Try expanding the radius out of the original circle and drawing a new circumference so that you create a wedge. You can also try drawing circles with in circles and creating the appearance of a cut tree trunk.

Have fun and get to know your shapes!

Time to get a bit more technical with the whole shape thing. You can create a shape using a curvilinear design. A curvilinear design uses the the circumference of circles and ellipses to form the design. Try not to confuse this with natural and free-flowing designs, where you purely draw a shape with your hand and do not use other shapes to create it. To successfully create a curvilinear design, you will need to combine circles so that they are tangent to each other - the fewer, larger circles you use, the simpler and stronger the curvilinear design will be. Curvilinear designs work best in informal garden settings. Take a look at the diagram. You can see how the circumferences of the circles create the curvilinear design.

To combine rectangles is a fairly easy process and you can usually achieve pleasing results without much effort. They are useful for creating formal, symmetrical and asymmetrical designs. Consequently, they are used to link architecture with gardens and are often placed close to the house or building to create patios and terraces. Rectangular shapes do not work so well for informal designs.

To combine them, as with all shapes, use rectangles of different sizes. Try to keep the shapes fairly large and restrict the number used to prevent the design becoming messy and cluttered. There will need to be a hierarchy of sizes, preferably with one larger, dominant rectangle that is surrounded or overlapped by smaller ones. This theme works particularly well in long, narrow gardens.

You can develop the rectangular theme by laying then at angles to the house and creating diagonal themes. if a site is very short and small, using a rectangle at 45* to the house can can take away the emphasis from the closeness of the rear boundary to the house by directing the eye towards its longest axis.

When designing shape combinations it is important not to get too carried away - remember keep it simple.

Okay, so you've got your shapes but how do you position them into your plan? There is a method using grid-lines that can help you to position your shapes and make sure that your shapes are in proportion to the building or house.

The grid system works by taking a measurement from a feature on the house and using this dimension to create a grid square - this grid is then repeated to fill the site. The feature that you use to determine the size of the grid square should be located on your baseline or house facade so that it visually connects and relates to the garden. The theory is that the designer (you) can use this dimension to draw up a grid for use as an underlay, onto which you can then arrange the patterns and shapes that will form the design. The measurements used for the grid will have a direct relationship with the house, and resulting patterns should also therefore be in proportion to the house.

Take a look at this next diagram. The unit of measurement for the grid square has been taken from the french windows. The shaded squares show how you can use the grid to create shapes and patterns for your design. Easy, hey?

The grid-lines don't always work for every designer but have an experiment anyway and see if it works for you. You can also try scaling your grid squares up or down proportionately or, when you feel confident with the method, even rotating the grid 45* to the house.

Whether you decide to use the grid or not, try to link lines from the house or baseline to shapes in your design. This will continue to create a direct relationship with the house and the garden. If there are existing features within the garden that are to remain then these should also link to the new design in a similar way.

Once you have created some interesting shapes for your garden, experiment with them by tracing the overall outline that your shapes have made and considering how they look. It must be a shape that is possible to create in real life.

Remember, I mentioned freehand curves earlier? If you want to create a natural look to your design it is possible to draw curves and shapes freehand although it is somewhat harder. You will have difficulty reproducing your shapes and will have to use the offset method of measuring to ensure accuracy. If you create a garden using this freehand method, then you must make sure that the shapes are bold, natural and not forced. Give me geometrics any day!

When you have got to a stage where you're happy to combine your functional layout plan with your new design layout, use smaller, scaled-down, versions of your site outline and roughly sketch in your proposed design layout. By drawing these rougher sketches it will be less intimidating than drawing onto your larger plan and will hopefully allow you to be more spontaneous with your layout. Make sure that your smaller plans are still in proportion otherwise you'll end up in a right pickle when you try to draw it onto your larger plan.

Getting the Balance in your Garden Right - more garden design principles

Okay...so we now have perfect unity and harmony in our well proportioned and simple design!

The other principle that we need to pay attention to is

Balance

A Balanced design will create a garden that is comfortable and visually pleasing. It will unite all of the features and elements within the space and create harmony. You see how all the different principles relate to one another?

To get the balance right, you need to think of how you'd feel in that space - you wouldn't feel very comfortable in a room that had all it's furniture pushed to one side - would you?

The easiest method for achieving balance in your garden would be to design a formal, symmetrical and evenly spread garden. Symmetrical gardens are naturally balanced and so you would not need to concern yourself too much with this particular principle. If you want an informal garden however, this will require a bit more consideration on your part to ensure that you get the balance right.

When dividing up your site (refer back to your functional layout plan here) you should make sure that each area relates to each other area. They do not need to be the exact size and shape - that would be boring- but they need to form some kind of relationship, not just two dimensionally but also three dimensionally. Consider which areas will become your masses (the solid aspects of your design; such as planting, buildings, etc) and which areas will be your voids ( the open areas of your design; such as lawns, patios, pathways, etc).

Use the furniture in the room as an example- all of the masses (furniture) are squished to one side of the room. The masses and voids in this space are not very balanced at all!

Now look at what each area is responsible for. You will have some areas that are to be for sitting and relaxing whilst other areas are for playing or walking. Try to balance out the different uses. The aim is to prevent the garden from becoming too static or active in any one particular section of the garden. If you are including a veg patch don't forget to add a seat to this area. That way you can balance work with sitting and enjoying the fruits of your labour.

Most gardens benefit from having secluded areas which are not immediately visible when entering the garden for the first time. You will need to consider the balance between these secluded areas and the open spaces. The function of each of these areas will dictate that balance to a certain degree - helping you to reach a decision.

Look at the balance you require between light and dark spaces. Too many shady areas will create a gloomy garden, whilst a bright sunny garden will be harsh, and tiresome. A totally sunny garden will also be harder to plant as they will need to be able to tolerate dry, hot conditions all of the time.

Sometimes you won't be able to control the amount of light that your garden receives. If your neighbour has a huge tree that casts a massive shadow over your garden, you'll just have to work with it, I'm afraid. Using light coloured paving materials and flowers can help to reflect any light that does reach that area and make it appear brighter. If, on the other hand,, your garden has no natural shade you will need to address this and add something that will add shade. Whether that would be a tree or a purpose built structure depends on what would fit with your design.

You will need to balance your choice of colours too. Introducing too many colours will make your design feel chaotic, whereas, not enough colour could make the design feel dull and uninteresting.

Take a look at this picture. How does it

make you feel? Is it too much colour or a well balanced design? (This was a design (not mine!) exhibited at Gardener's World Live show and people's views were mixed on the day )

Consider carefully where structures might add to enhance your design, and bring balance to it. Features or structures can help balance a three dimensional element in your garden and ensure that there is something of interest at all levels. When choosing which structures or features you want to use, make sure that they are the correct size and weight for your design - not too flimsy or overpoweringly large.

Remember - everyone's

views and ideas are different.

Just because you are convinced that your design is balanced, someone else may disagree altogether. Don't worry about it! So long as you feel that you have kept to the principles of garden design then you'll be happy with the finished design - and, after all - it is YOUR garden!

How to create a really good functional plan!

Let's look at how your

functional layout plan is

shaping up then, shall we?

You should have a well thought out layout with each area (or bubble) representing the solution to a particular function. If you have areas in the layout at the moment that aren't serving a function that you wrote down on your list of requirements, then scrub it out now! It doesn't need to be there and is just decoration for the garden rather than actual design. Don't worry, you can probably still include it, just not at this stage. What we're trying to do here is give you a template for your final design and make sure you include all of the absolute necessary features you want. Make sure that the areas are large enough to allow for whatever function you are expecting it to carry out - don't just make the patio area large enough for table and chairs, people will need to be able to walk around too.


Okay, so you're happy with the number of areas you have created and the sizes of each area. We also need to look at how they relate to each other. How do people move through the site? And how many of them will be moving through it at the same time? On the diagram below (apologies for using the same one as yesterday!) it shows arrows that mark the circulation routes that people should use.
Look at your site analysis and decide which are your primary routes in the garden. These are essential routes such as entry and exit of the garden, access to sheds, storage, etc. You can then identify the secondary routes. These are routes that aren't necessary but are used for recreation or relaxing, such as, meandering through the garden.

It is common knowledge that people will usually take the shortest route to get somewhere essential. These are known as "desire lines". It is important to consider where these would likely be in your design and try to accommodate, or prevent them where possible. Do you want the edge of your lawn worn out where people have "cut the corner"? If you're determined that you want to send people in a certain direction to reach their goal, then you will need to include something in your design that stops then from being able to follow their "desire line". In a large garden it is probably advisable to have a direct route to services such as sheds, washing lines, etc, however these don't have to be dull. You can use your creative flare and add a bit of design to these too, balancing the design with practicality as you go.

You may also want to add some focal points to your design, or have to take in to account existing ones. Focal points don't have to be a giant naked sculpture of a man/woman! They can be anything from artwork, to a specimen of a tree or shrub. Anything that will draw the eye and add interest. There may be a view outside of the garden boundary that you want to draw people to. When you are selecting the positions for these focal points consider the site lines from the house. You don't want to look out of the kitchen window and look straight at a shed - or do you? Imagine sitting on your new patio. What are you looking at? You don't need to know what the focal point is at this stage, but knowing where they are going to go is necessary to complete the functional layout plan stage.

Avoid specifics at this stage. You won't need to list the plants that you want to use but you may like to highlight specimen trees. Use simple generic headings for your planted areas - hedging, climbing, ground cover, shade-loving, etc.

Once you have completed your functional layout plan, create a few more and compare them. You may prefer the look of one more than the other, or decide to add some design features from one plan to another. Keep turning the plan to see it from different angles and prevent it from getting stale.

Congratulations!

Now that you have a functional layout plan of your garden that fills all of your objectives and potentially looks good, you are ready to start elaborating your design ideas for each area you have created. Consider materials and level changes and other important details.

Depending on how confident you are, you may want to sketch 3D drawings of your design ideas. These will help you get a better idea of what the finished design could look like. Don't worry if you're not good at drawing - we'll look at techniques later on.

You could, if you prefer, make detailed notes about each area on your functional layout plan and maybe attempt some freehand sketches to act as a basis for the next stage.

Something that does get used a lot by designers is the creation of a 'concept' or 'mood' board. This is essentially a collage of pictures and materials collected from magazines, photos and anywhere else appropriate that represent the "feel" of your design. Look through inspirational sources and collect images that reflect the way you want your garden to look and feel. It will help you to remain focused on your design and could even stimulate new ideas.

Give it a go and see what you think!

So....How do you really design a garden?

By now you should have all the information that you could possibly wish for (maybe even more than you could wish for!) about your garden and what you'd like to see in it.

We can now begin the process of designing your new garden! Bet you thought it would never happen, hey?

Using all of the information that you have collected you can start to develop some design ideas - you probably have already got a few seeds of ideas floating about inside your head waiting for exploration. We need to understand a few principles that can "make or break" a design. Being armed with this knowledge will allow you to come up with the perfect design for your garden. You will need to understand the concepts of unity and balance, scale and proportions, simplicity and harmony. I'll go through the importance of all of these soon but for now though...

...in the words of this blogs title...

How do you really design a garden?

Rather than going head first into wonderful sketches and colour-rendered plans, it is advisable to break the design process into stages. At whatever stage you are at, you will find it helpful and inspirational to display as much of your research around you as you can, especially your site photographs. Don't try to work on just one piece of paper throughout the design stages. You're a creative designer now and as such, can be flamboyant and "arty- darling". Therefore, use lots of "throw away" paper and draw, write or sketch whatever ideas pop into your head. You can discard the ones that won't work and develop the ones that might.

Don't rush things. Take your time and develop the ideas you have in a non-pressured, relaxed environment. If you get excited about developing certain design ideas at this stage, chances are you'll get excited using those ideas in your actual garden when you've built it!

The first stage of the process is to create and study a "functional layout plan". This is a freehand drawing that will act as your first rough working plan. It will consist of "bubbles" that divide your site up into different areas to detect how the space in your garden flows. No intricate details are permitted at this stage. All we are trying to deduce is where abouts you would like to position certain features so that the garden will best serve your requirements. Look back at all of your research and your design brief (your interview) to decide what it is you most desire in your garden.

Here are some site conditions or requirements that might affect your functional layout plan:

The site has an ugly view that needs screening.

You want a seating area in the sunniest position in the garden.

You have small children that require a play area that needs to be within view of adults.

You have a shady area that you want to incorporate a water feature into.

This list is, of course, only a few examples of factors that will contribute to the plan. Consider your data and make your own list of the important things that you need/would like in your garden. Rank them in order of importance to you so that you can focus on those points. Any extras can be a bonus to the design if you can incorporate them into it. Your ideas and rankings may change as your design develops. This is normal and to be expected as you find the design that best works for you. Don't worry about it, just go with the flow. You can make as many functional layout plans as you need to until you are happy with the layout.

Got your list? Right then, lets put it into a functional layout plan then.

Set up your site survey and analysis plan onto your drawing board or table top. Lay a piece of tracing paper over it and trace over the boundaries and baseline of your site in pencil. If you have any fixed features on the site survey plan that are intended to remain in place, trace these onto the tracing paper as well.

You now have the outline of the garden in which to work. Looking at your list, choose the most dominant features that will need to be close to the house and then work outwards from there. Roughly divide up your garden into areas - using free-hand with a pencil. You can use a scale rule to help give you an idea of size of each item, but you should not have any straight lines in your plan.

Start by deciding where the major divisions need to be and how, if at all, they will be linked. Don't worry about actual details at this point- you don't need to know that a hedge will be dividing the play area from the lawn, etc - just draw each area so that they are almost touching (see diagram).

With your list of requirements, decide what the function of each one is and decide where it would best be positioned in your garden. Make sure that the conditions in the garden match the function of your requirement - putting a cool seating area in the sunniest part of the garden wouldn't work! Knowing how different shapes influence people's feelings and behaviour is important when creating the layout of the garden. The shape should be tailored to the function. For example, if you want an area where lots of people can relax together, then you would create a square or rectangle with almost equal sides to make them feel at ease. A narrow strip would not be conducive for people to socialise with one another.

Try putting your main features into your plan and experiment with different shapes and sizes. Later we'll look at the other important concepts to consider whilst creating your functional layout plan including, desire lines and focal points.

Think about What you Want - How to Create a Design Brief

So...What Do YOU Really Want???

Today we're going to look at creating a design brief for your garden design. It will enable you to focus on what you really want from your garden and how it can be put to best use to suit your needs.

Although it may be tempting to add lots of different elements to your garden, you will need to try to refrain from doing this. Some things may be unpractical and will just make the garden look cluttered - and quite frankly - UGLY!

Give yourself a mini interview - and take notes about the answers you give yourself. Do this in your head or at least make sure you are alone - otherwise your friends and family may become a little bit worried about your behaviour!

Ask yourself questions, not just about the garden, but about how you feel, what your hobbies, interests, likes and dislikes are. It will all help to build ideas and possibly themes for your garden.

Some important questions to consider are:

Who will mostly be using the garden, and at what times of the year?

Do you or your family go away for long periods at a time?

Are there any particular requirements for individuals who may use the garden ( disabilities, etc)?

Will children be using the garden? Now or in the future? Depending on their age you may consider play areas, storage for toys, football pitches. You will need to give careful consideration to safety in the garden. Be aware of toxic plants and consider whether water is absolutely necessary in your deign.

Do you, or family, have any pets that will be in the garden? Again, now or in the future? ( I have a rabbit that has the run of the garden and he can be a pest at times, eating all of my favourite plants and leaving the weeds!)

Do you have preference for a particular style? Maybe a formal or informal design? This could be influenced by looking at the house and its environment.

Also ask yourself what you like and dislike about your current garden. Look at what you would like to keep or definitely want to get rid of. You may find it useful to flick through magazines to get an idea of what design ideas you like. Visit friends gardens and copy their ideas if you like them.

Are you just wanting particular colours in your garden? Or have you favourite plants that you want to make a feature of?

How is your house decorated? Chances are that if you have a modern house then you will be happiest if your garden reflected this design. Similarly if your house is of a certain period, reflecting this outside will encourage a balance and unity between the house and the garden.

Do you want to have a lawn? It is labour intensive to keep one and if you go away a lot, you may find it a struggle to maintain. Think about all elements that you want to include in your design. Will they involve a lot of time to maintain them, or will someone else be doing the maintenance?How much storage do you require in your garden? You will need to allocate ample space for storage but try to blend it into your design so that it is not obtrusive.

Importantly, you will need to decide how much space you would like for seating. Are you a party animal who has lots of people over at a time, or do you want your garden to be a place of quiet solitude for you to escape to?

Start to consider what plants you would like to include. You do not, at this stage need to have an inclusive list, but have an idea of what type of planting you desire. The different types of planting should include screening, hedging, trees, structural shrubs, seasonal interest and ground cover. For ideas you can take a look through my archives at "Friday Plant Profiles" (I'll be adding more soon!). Include in your list, plants that you already have and want to keep. Add a note after each one to remind you that you already own them! Site requirements may dictate what type of plants you can have, sunny, shady, etc, so focus on plants preferring those requirements and you won't go far wrong.

Do you want to add art or sculptures to your garden? A well chosen piece of artwork can add lots to a design but you will need to make sure it practically fits your specification. Visit gardens that interest you and study which features, art, plants you like the most.

Seek inspiration everywhere!

Lastly...before you go absolutely crazy with ideas...try to consider a budget for all of these wonderful things you are planning to do! It's no good designing a masterpiece only for it to remain on paper for the rest of its life because you never quite manage to win the lottery. Be sensible with your ideas and budget and then you can actually make this design happen!

As you continue the design process, don't be scared to change you're mind. If, as your design develops, you decide that actually having an Olympic sized swimming pool isn't the best use of space, change the design and have a jacuzzi instead!

Take your time to really think about everything and you will come up with some really good ideas that we can then start to develop.