New Year, New Garden
New Year is a good time to take stock and contemplate your garden so whether you are thinking about introducing a new component to your garden or re-designing the whole garden it is worth giving it some serious thought.
For some ideas and a little inspiration here are our Top 5 Gardens
- Family
- Relaxation
- Grow your own
- Contemporary
- Easy maintenance
What garden are you?
The Family Garden
Ticks all the boxes offering some dedicated play space for the kids along with a pleasing garden for the adults to enjoy.
The key is to segment the garden into different areas using a mix of materials and normally consists of … a paved or decked area for seating/dining – providing a place to enjoy a quiet moment or for entertaining friends and family.
A lawn area – this is a great choice for child’s play, also creating colour and contrast. A play area for housing trampolines and/or swings – completed with play bark providing a fun yet safe environment.
The Relaxation garden
Sit back and relax …the relaxation garden is all about softness and tranquility. Introduce a quiet area within the garden for peace and relaxation, these spaces are often created using more natural materials like timber or stone.
Infuse the senses by smell, hearing and touch –well chosen planting is essential in getting the right mix of both texture and fragrance and water is often a key element used, most commonly in the form of a water feature or pond.
The Grow Your Own Garden
Whether you are a keen home vegetable grower or fancy a go at growing your own crops, this type of garden is proving more and more popular.
You can easily incorporate a large or small area of your garden by introducing timber or stone planters or creating simple border areas. Raised planters offer a more practical solution and can save some back ache too!
The Contemporary Garden
The contemporary garden is stylish and minimalistic with clean lines. Rendered walls offer a modern feel and provide both shape and structure to the design.
Teamed with gravels, feature stones and simple planting like bamboo and grasses provides a beautiful yet easy to maintain space. A mix of stone and timber works really well and rendered walls can be painted subtly to tie in with the property or go bold for contrast and interest.
The Easy Maintenance Garden
With such busy lives and also if we become less able, many of us still want a beautiful garden but without too much effort to keep the garden looking good… you can have both!
It doesn’t have to be a sea of gravel or bark with no design to the garden, consider using other materials including stone, timber, edgings etc to create shape along with different colours and textures. Planting can also break up these areas whether placed directly into gravel/bark or by using decorative pots to tie in with your desired look.
If this sounds like the option for you, read our article on low maintenance garden design.
