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'Garden design' is the art and process of designing the layout and planting of domestic gardens and landscapes. Garden owners showed an increasing interest in garden design during the late twentieth century and there was also a significant expansion in the use of professional garden designers. Some garden owners have enough skill and experience to design their own gardens, but this is comparatively rare. Sissinghurst, one of the most admired gardens made in the twentieth century, was designed by its owners: Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West.

Garden designers usually are trained in both design and in horticulture, and have an expert knowledge and experience of using plants. Garden designers are also concerned with the layout of hard landscape, such as paths, walls, water features, sitting areas and decking.

Contents

Selecting a Location

Elements (Ingredients) of Garden Design

Conditioning the Ground (soil)

Boundaries

Hedges

Walls

Fencing

Alternative Surfacing

Water

Garden Furniture

Electrical Outlets

Lighting

Notes

See also

External links

Selecting a Location

The main issue when constructing a garden is where to make it. Many of the great gardens in the history and today often include: a location that is topographically significant, a suitable microclimate for plants, a well-designed connection to water, and rich soil. However, a good garden design, which is well-planned and constructed, can boost up the value of the garden more than just its location.

Elements (Ingredients) of Garden Design

Conditioning the Ground (soil)

First, excavated subsoil and topsoil carefully need to be replaced; then, the soil should be aerated thoroughly so it can be crumbly by digging it. Also, "conditioning the soil thoroughly before planting enables the plants to establish themselves quickly and so play their part in the design."^[1] Since “many native plants prefer an impoverished soil, and the closer to their natural habitat they are in the garden, the better,” a poor soil is better than a rich soil that has been artificially enriched.^[2]

Boundaries

The look of the garden can be influenced strongly by the boundary impinges. Planting can be used to modify the boundary line or a line between an area of rough grass and smooth, depending on the size of the plot. Introducing internal boundaries, perhaps in the form of hedges or group of shrubs, can help break up a garden.

Hedges

The hedges vary their colors throughout the seasons dramatically. The hedges, being strong features in a garden, are often used to divide sections of the garden. However, since they use the moisture and nutrient from the garden soil to grow as well as other plants, they may not be a good choice and may bring a negative effect to the other plants.

Walls

Besides the boundaries that are made up of plants like the hedges, walls made up of various materials can be built between regions. There are broadly three types of walling material: stone, either random or coursed, brick, and concrete in its various forms. It is good to determine what color, size, and texture will be most appropriate for the garden before actually building the wall.

Fencing

According to Brookes, fencing can offer an alternative solution, is the walls are too solid for the region of the garden. There are several numbers of fence types that can be used for a garden: animal-proof fence for country situations, peep-proof fences for the suburbs, and urban fences that provide shelter from the winds in exposed roof-top gardens and create internal barriers

Alternative Surfacing

Usually, a smooth expanse of lawn is often considered essential to a garden. However, a textured surface “made up of loose gravel, small pebbles, or wood chips is much more satisfactory visually” than a smooth surface.^[3] According to Brookes, creating a relaxed feel to a garden is often done by loose surfacing made up of bark chips, pebbles, gravels; also, the various textures, shapes, sizes, colors, and materials of many different paving elements can contribute to making a garden plan pattern and texture, if they are mixed successfully.

Water

Water plays a very important role in the garden since wet conditions foster rampant growth of the plants. Water spigots and pipes throughout the garden are helpful in providing a wide range of wild life and plant habitats. The water pipes must be placed below the frost line in order to avoid them from freezing in cold weathers.

Garden Furniture

The garden furniture is available in a range of materials, and it may be more creative than without furniture and by making use of it. It offers to explore how things can be creative not just being visual in the gardens. The wood is the most common material to make the garden furniture. Besides the wooden furniture, metal can be sometimes a better choice than the wooden ones since it is more durable than wood. Also, more creative sources like plastic can be used.

Electrical Outlets

If there is a lead to the water pump or a fridge in the pool house, electrical outlets should be established so they can function in the garden. The cables for all these power outlets must be laid before the construction of the garden begins. At the depth mandated by local building codes, three romex direct-burial cables can be laid in a marked or known situation such as just beside a path.

Lighting

Since most plants require direct light for their growth, lighting is an important factor to consider when designing a garden. Light regulates three major plant processes: photosynthesis, phototropism, and photoperiodism. Photosynthesis provides the energy required to produce the energy source of plants. Phototropism is the effect of light on plant growth that causes the plant to grow toward or away from the light.^[4] Photoperiodism is a plant’s response or capacity to respond to photoperiod, a recurring cycle of light and dark periods of constant length.^[5]
In most cases, various types of lighting techniques may be classified and defined by heights: safety lighting, uplighting, and downlighting. Safety lighting is the most practical application. However, it is more important to determine the type of lamps and fitting s needed to create the desired effects.

Notes

1. Brookes, John (1991). ''The Book of Garden Design.'' New York : A Dorling Kindersly Book, pp.213. ISBN 0-02-516695-6
2. Brookes, John (1998). ''Natural Landscapes.'' New York : Dorling Kindersly Limited, pp.54. ISBN 0-7894-1995-5
3. Brookes, John (1991). ''The Book of Garden Design.'' New York : A Dorling Kindersly Book, pp.226. ISBN 0-02-516695-6
4. American Horticultural Society (1980). ''Houseplants.'' Ortho Books and the Franklin Library,
5. "Phoroperiodism." ''The Merrian-Webster Dicrionary Online.''

See also

★ Computer-aided garden design

★ Flower garden

★ Garden

★ Gardener

★ Garden designer

★ Garden buildings

★ Garden furniture

★ Gardening

★ History of gardens

★ Celebrity gardener

★ Landscape architecture

★ List of gardening topics

★ Planting design

★ Residential garden

★ Roof garden

External links

★ Association of Professional Landscape Designers

★ 3D garden design online

★ American Society of Landscape Architects

★ UK Landscape Institute

★ BBC guide to garden design