Garden centres and nurseries
Garden centres and nurseries are great places for searching out ideas. Arm yourself with a digital camera, paper and pencil, and take note of everything that looks interesting. Gather a body of data to flesh out and back up your ideas – names of plants, colours, growing habits and so on. If you have in mind to go for a theme, say a Japanese garden, search out plants, materials and products that you know to be variously useful, traditional or characteristic.
Wander around the garden centre or nursery keeping an eye open for anything that might spark an idea, such as unusual containers.
As you walk slowly around the various displays, take photographs of plants, products and features that you think might fit well into your scheme.
Visiting gardens
If you have a friend who has created a beautiful garden, when you next visit ask them to tell you about how they got started and how the design has evolved.
It is also a good idea to visit world-renowned gardens that are open to the public. In the UK, for example, there are the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) grounds at Wisley and Hyde Hall, and various grand house gardens may be found throughout the world. The RHS gardens are particularly interesting in that they have gardens that have been designed by celebrated designers and experts.
A fine example of a traditional English pergola, with solid square-section brick columns topped off with oak beams.
A well-planted border can be a joy to the eye – so stunning that you might want to copy it in every detail.
Sometimes a particular arrangement of plants and structures, such as this piece of statuary placed beneath a rose arch, is inspiration enough.
Plants you like
List your favourite plants, with common names and botanical names, and brief details about their growing habits. Try to get magazine images as a reference. Ask friends, family and neighbours to tell you as much as they can about them.
Unsuitable plants
Look at your list in the light of your designs, and cross out ones that are obviously unsuitable. You might like the colour and the scent, but if it is going to grow too big for your space, or it is too prickly for say a child’s play area, then it is no good. Size and habit are particularly important if you are designing a small, enclosed garden.
OTHER SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
Famous paintings Paintings are inspirational. For example, how about a garden design based on one of Monet’s lily-pond paintings?
Memories Rolling around in your grandfather’s apple orchard, flirting under a particular type of tree … these types of memories can be particularly inspirational.
Fantasies If, for example, you have fantasies about living in a hut on a tropical island, you could build the fantasy into your designs.
Country walks A bend in a river with a quaint wooden bridge and willows … country walks are another rich source of ideas.
Cultural influences If you have experienced the pleasures of sitting in a Mediterranean garden, or under a loggia in India, why not create one of your own?
PUTTING THE ELEMENTS TOGETHER
Something for everyone in the family It is important to include the whole family in the design process – adults, children and even pets. Make sure everyone is happy with the end design. Deciding what to drop If you have worries, such as the kids falling into the pond or plant allergies, then simply leave these elements out of the design. Eclectic or sweet harmony? Most gardens veer towards harmony but, if you know what you like and you want a glorious unrelated mishmash of styles and forms, the choice is yours. Scaling down Sometimes you do have to compromise. If an element is dangerously large, or there just is not enough room for all those oak trees, you have no choice but to scale down. Cost and time When it comes down to it, most designs hinge on money and time. You could spread the creation time over several years, get friends to help with the work and beg and borrow plants, but you might also need to cut basic material costs – stone, wood, cement and the like.
Design techniques
This is the exciting bit. You have visited grand houses and show gardens, taken many photographs, developed a passion for just about everything, and generally looked, collected and clipped until your mind is racing with ideas. When it comes to good design, it helps if you follow the rule that says ‘form follows function’. This means that your final design should be a balanced blend of both your functional needs and your ideas and passions.
How can I use my inspiration?
A long, formal pond or canal links the patio with the rest of the garden. The natural earth-coloured bricks and symmetrical layout give this design a traditional or classic feel. The planting is less formal.
A decking patio with seaside overtones – the matching raised beds are topped with turquoise crushed stone to draw the eye. This is an entirely modern design that focuses on colour, texture and function.
GOOD DESIGN, POOR DESIGN, TASTE AND STYLE
In the context of design, a good starting point is to say that things and structures have to work – gates must open, seating needs to be comfortable, steps must be safe, and so on. If you are worried about what constitutes good taste or good style, then the best advice is to relate to tried and trusted classical forms. If you go for untried, cutting-edge forms and imagery, then you may risk, certainly in the short term, your design being described as being in poor taste or poor style – sometimes possibly for no other reason than that it has not passed the test of time.
Harmony and contrast
Taken literally, the term ‘harmony’ describes forms, colours and textures that are similar one
