Design Tips

Designing your garden should follow some basic guidelines for success. These guidelines include taking into consideration how you plan to use your garden.

Usage: Think about how people and vehicles move around on your property. There may be times when people need to drive vehicles onto your property. You would not want your garden to be in the way of vehicle traffic.

Pets and children have their special space needs to in your yard. Think about where they usually are when they are outside and locate the garden away from high activity areas.

Look at different area when picking the garden location and think particularly about breezy conditions and sunlight.

Do you have any porches or decks that would be improved by having a good view of the garden?

Think about who will be viewing or using the garden and what their needs would be regarding the best vantage point for viewing, or assessing the garden.

Are you designing a functional garden? What landscape feature do you have that may have to be included in your design? Is your driveway near the garden location? What about drainage? Drainage is often overlooked, but oh so vital to the success of your garden. Will you have to screen out undesirable views or to allocate for weather conditions? These things all need to be taken into consideration when designing your garden.

A screen can keep out salty breezes, dust or other environmental undesirables.

You also need to think about what sports are played in or around the garden area. Basketballs are not garden friendly.

Lastly, remember to consider how you and your guests will be moving around in your garden and also how you will be maintaining it. Think about what it will be like when it comes time to mow the grass surrounding your garden. Beds should be designed so that it is easy to mow around them. Stepping-stones provide ease of maneuverability. Hose guides are very useful and will keep the hose away from fragile plant stems.

The design of your garden should be pleasing to the eye, functional, and allow for other family activities as well as for ease of maintenance.

Now that you have all the routine basic garden designs planned out, it is time to think about scale - how big should the garden be? How does the size of your garden relate to the surrounding buildings? You will also want to consider themes. Are you going to plan your garden around a theme such as particular plants, wildlife needs, certain colors?

Other considerations when planning a garden are: existing features such as paths, trees & shrubs, walls etc. and also environmental factors like sunlight, breezes, moisture, shade, soil composition. Don't forget that another major consideration especially when deciding size and content of your garden is: how much time do you have to devote to maintaining the garden? What are your capabilities or are you hiring a professional?

This article is brought to you by author Laura Quintile and by http://organicgardensgreen.com

You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice, author name, and URL remain intact.

Laura Quintile is Website Owner and editor at Organic Gardens Green. Her background is with lifestyle topics including: Gardening, Keeping Fit, Staying Healthy and Pets.

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