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As a new homeowner, you want to be seen to maximise your property, extending life out into your garden with many opportunities for outdoor socialising and relaxation, creating connections with the indoors and adding more life to your outdoor space. Here we explore how to design or redesign your land to create the best garden for summer.
Elegant hard landscaping
Most high-quality garden designs include hard landscaping that delineates the usage of the land. Whether it is decking, raised beds, outdoor firepits, pergolas or garden buildings, hard landscaping adds the architectural structure to a garden. When hiring a gardener, you should expect that 80% of the cost of your design will be outlay on these constructions. However, the reward is a stable structure to the area and some easy to keep spaces that will always look classy.
Small, detailed moments
The best gardens will have moments that delight. While the hard landscaping created the frame, these smaller moments that grab attention offer a sense of indulgence and interest. Having details such as a sculpture, water feature, mirrors, maybe, can add richness to the design. Even when constructing your hard landscaping, you can add in some decoration that demonstrates craftsmanship and elevates a normal pergola, for instance, to a higher level.
The best garden design will invite discovery, and there will be layers of the garden to explore and then emerge on these details. While we are not advocating a maze in your garden, the effect of turning a corner and happening upon something beautiful can elevate your garden this summer.
Sculptured planting schemes
It takes planning to create a well-balanced and opulent planting scheme in a garden. Like in a painting, you need to consider how you want the eye of the visitor to be guided around the area. You can add depth with the height of plants and use colour to bring in light and shade.
When choosing your plants, you need to think about maintenance and the end look of your garden. If your new home has no landscaping, hard or soft, then you really need to give plants a few years to become the mature garden of your imagination. Equally, your choice of plants needs to balance with your lifestyle. If you love gardening, then a high maintenance planting scheme is appropriate. If you don’t want to spend days tending to the garden, you need to balance the opulence of your design with some practicality.
It is also worth working on the soil quality in your garden. Many builders backfill the garden space with building debris, and they then will layer with topsoil and then turf. While the lawn looks green and healthy when you arrive, there is little space for roots to grow. Any new planting, and eventually even this turf, are likely to struggle to thrive. Consequently, your first job in your garden may be to replace this backfill with quality soil.
Add in lighting
When you spend money on your luxury garden space, you want to be able to use it long into the evening. Consequently, a lighting scheme is a good idea. Yet, the best lights will do more than illuminate your social gathering. With the best use of up and spotlighting, you can draw attention to new dimensions of your garden. Lighting can transform a beautiful, flowered garden into a stunning dance of darkness and shadows.
Lighting is essential to a luxury design this summer, and it can take an unusable space and turn it into something social and safe.
Moving away from waste
While everything has been about luxury and opulence, garden trends are also leaning towards sustainable solutions. Consequently, there is a move to make our gardens an extension of our efforts to be sustainable. Having a large plot of land with our home allows us to section off areas for wildlife and others to grow food. It is possible to set aside an area for composting and have water butts to gather rainwater. All these efforts are not only cutting-edge design, but they are also ethical and demonstrate a commitment to improving the planet for all. When visitors share wine in the garden, you can talk to them about your solar-driven water feature, or your crop of vegetables used for your Sunday lunch.
Preparing for a house move
Summer is also a popular time for putting houses up for sale. Your garden is the kerb appeal that offers a first impression of your property. It is essential to strip back and make tidy the front and back garden, so your buyers have room to imagine how they would have the garden. Therefore, mowing the lawn, removing some of the pots and generally tidying up is essential.
Another train of thought is to suggest a lifestyle, especially in your back garden. So, setting out your garden furniture and your barbeque, as well a sun lounger maybe, can give an impression of lovely weekends resting with the family. The people can then buy into the idea and fall in love with this impression and it may just help you sell your property.
Summary
Moving into a new home is an exciting time and shaping a garden to match the beauty of your home is an adventure. This summer, you are looking to mix utility and beauty, starting with the right hardscaping structure.
Author bio
This article has been written by Anna Sharples who is the marketing and office manager for Garden Benches. Sloane & Sons Garden Benches are one of the UK’s leading suppliers in outdoor benches and dining furniture, helping to make your garden a place for comfort and relaxation.
