Whether a garden is designed by a professional or an amateur, certain principles form the basis of effective garden design, resulting in the creation of gardens to meet the needs, goals and desires of the users or owners of the gardens.
Elements of garden design include the layout of hard landscape, such as paths, walls, water features, sitting areas and decking; as well as the plants themselves, with consideration for their horticultural requirements, their season-to-season appearance, lifespan, growth habit, size, speed of growth, and combinations with other plants and landscape features. Consideration is also given to the maintenance needs of the garden, including the time or funds available for regular maintenance, which can affect the choice of plants in terms of speed of growth, spreading or self-seeding of the plants, whether annual or perennial, and bloom-time, and many other characteristics.
Important considerations in garden design include how the garden will be used, the desired stylistic genre (formal or informal, modern or traditional etc.), and the way the garden space will connect to the home or other structures in the surrounding areas. All of these considerations are subject to the limitations of the prescribed budget.
Location
A garden’s location can have a substantial influence on its design. Topographical landscape features such as steep slopes, vistas, hills and outcrops etc. may suggest or determine aspects of design such as layout, and can be used and augmented in order to create a particular impression.[1] The soils of the site will affect what types of plant may be grown, as will the garden’s climate zone and various microclimates. The locational context of the garden can also influence its design; for example an urban setting may require a different design style to a rural one. Similarly, a windy coastal location may necessitate a different treatment compared to a sheltered inland site.
Soil
The quality of a garden’s soil can have a significant influence on a garden’s design and its subsequent success. Soil influences the availability of water and nutrients, the activity of soil micro-organisms, and temperature within the root zone, and thus may have a determining effect on the types of plants which will grow successfully in the garden. However soils may be replaced or improved in order to make them more suitable.
Traditionally, garden soil is improved by amendment, the process of adding beneficial materials to the native subsoil and particularly the topsoil. The added materials, which may consist of compost, peat, sand, mineral dust, or manure, among others, are mixed with the soil to the preferred depth. The amount and type of amendment may depend on many factors, including the amount of existing soil humus, the soil structure (clay, silt, sand, loam etc.), the soil acidity/alkalinity, and the choice of plants to be grown. One source states that, “conditioning the soil thoroughly before planting enables the plants to establish themselves quickly and so play their part in the design.” However, not all gardens are, or should be, amended in this manner, since many plants prefer an impoverished soil. In this case, poor soil is better than a rich soil that has been artificially enriched.
Boundaries
The design of a garden can be affected by the nature of its boundaries, both external and internal, and in turn the design can influence the boundaries, including via creation of new ones. Planting can be used to modify an existing boundary line by softening or widening it. Introducing internal boundaries can help divide or break up a garden into smaller areas.
The main types of boundary within a garden are hedges, walls and fences. A hedge may be evergreen or deciduous, formal or informal, short or tall, depending on the style of the garden and purpose of the boundary. A wall has a strong foundation beneath it at all points, and is usually – but not always – built from brick, stone or concrete blocks. A fence differs from a wall in that it is anchored only at intervals, and is usually constructed using wood or metal (such as iron or wire mesh).
Boundaries may be constructed for several reasons: to keep out livestock or intruders, to provide privacy, to create shelter from strong winds and provide microclimates, to screen unattractive structures or views, and to create an element of surprise.
Surfaces
Naturalistic planting design
In temperate western gardens, a smooth expanse of lawn is often considered essential to a garden. However garden designers may use other surfaces, for example those “made up of loose gravel, small pebbles, or wood chips” in order to create a different appearance and feel.[6] Designers may also utilise the contrast in texture and color between different surfaces in order to create an overall pattern in the design.
Surfaces for paths and access points are chosen for practical as well as aesthetic reasons. Issues such as safety, maintenance and durability may need to be considered by the designer. Gardens designed for public access need to cope with heavier foot traffic and hence may utilise surfaces – such as resin-bonded gravel – that are rarely used in private gardens.
