How Do I Design A Garden Layout?
Landscaping is often overlooked, but the same detail and attention when designing your outdoor areas should be taken to ensure you create a space that is functional and suits your lifestyle. Houzz Contributor, Kate Burt, spoke to three UK experts on how to design your garden layout, below.
Whether you’re undertaking a complete redesign of your outdoor space or just hoping to improve it with some strategic tweaks, the first step is a great layout – think of your site plan as an outdoor floor plan that will combine function and practicality with as much nature as you can pack in.
Knowing what to put where, however, is not always obvious. Who better to ask for insight than three seasoned UK garden designers? For the lowdown, Houzz caught up with Georgia Lindsay of Georgia Lindsay Garden Design, Nigel Gomme of Cityscapers, Roberto Silva of Silva Landscapes.
Where Do You Start?
“I always start by looking – really looking,” says Lindsay. “It’s essential for getting the best out of the space.
“You might think there’s nothing to keep,” she continues, “but, when you look deeply, you might discover there’s a borrowed view in the surrounding garden you want to capture, or even just a tree in the distance you might want to frame.”
Consider also, she says, how you want to use the space and how you want your garden to make you feel.
Silva says he begins with a grid. “It instantly gives me a sense of proportion and measurements. It can be used for a free-flowing layout as well.”
The first thing Gomme does is take photos of the site from every angle, measuring and drawing out the garden as a blank box ready to be filled with ideas.
He also thinks beyond obvious boundaries. “A garden, however small, can be a portal into nature, somewhere to surround yourself in plants and scent,” he says. “The Japanese concept of ‘forest bathing’ acknowledges that being among trees is good for wellbeing. The garden doesn’t have to start at the back door – I advise clients to bring plants into the home, too, and think of the whole home as a series of gardens.”
What Should You Include In A Garden Layout?
Of course, this will vary greatly depending on the brief and on your needs and wants. If you entertain alfresco, you may want a fire pit with a seating area embracing it. Or if space permits, you might like a pool for the kids to cool off in. Silva says he’ll generally include a patio for entertaining, the main body of the garden – lawn or gravel – and the borders.
For Gomme, the relationship between interior and exterior also determines a garden’s layout. “The more integrated into the home, the better, so it makes sense for the first zone, closest to the house, to be where you dine outdoors or sit and hang out,” he says.
“Key to getting the right feel is balancing out the hard surfaces – patios, fences, walls, decking, etc – with plenty of planting and making it comfortable with seating, cushions, shelter from sun or rain and so on,” he says.
Lindsay has a different focus, saying that although every layout varies hugely, she tries to include one universal thing: a sense of mystery.
“Even the smallest garden should have an unrevealed area to create a destination,” she says. “The parameters should never feel finite – you don’t want to see your fence panels in their entirety or you’ll be reminded of the limitations of your garden.”
What’s Your Number One Luxury?
This has changed since the pandemic, according to Gomme. “In the past, I would have said water features, but with so many people working from home, me included, a garden studio is an attractive investment if you have the space and budget,” he says. “Nestled among planting, they can be a perfect home office, teenagers’ den or workshop.”
Silva will always include a feature wall, a water feature or some other focal point for the garden.
For Lindsay, it would always be a tree – even a small tree if space is tight. “For the footprint they consume, they give the greatest surface area for pollinators to keep our planet alive,” she says. “A tree also adds a vertical pivot point to navigate around, creating division and a sense of journey. They create the most beautiful focal point to enjoy at all times of the year, a constantly evolving reminder of the connection to the seasons.”
What’s The Rule Of Thumb With Layouts In Regards To Orientation?
In the southern hemisphere, a south-facing garden will be cooler and darker than a north-facing one. East-facing outdoor areas receive gentle morning sun, while west-facing areas are blasted with stronger afternoon rays.
“Place shade- and sun-loving plants in their respective areas, as well as seating, and you have the beginnings of a layout that works with the orientation of your property,” says Gomme.
“Capturing the sun used to be our focus,” says Lindsay, but adds that, with hotter summers, the appeal of a cool, shaded area is now a significant consideration. “Try to include spaces for both, to have the choice to retreat from the blistering heat,” she says.
What Are The Key Measurements & Proportions?
Referring to what’s known in geometry as ‘the golden ratio’, Gomme says he’s usually guided by design’s ‘rule of thirds’ and the ‘golden spiral’ (a type of spiral that grows progressively larger as it radiates out from a starting point).
“Nothing beats mocking up the proposed space with furniture and markers on the ground to map out how the space might work for you,” says Lindsay. “Study it at all times of the day and watch how the sun moves around the zones. You don’t want to create a beautiful seating space under a tree where birds might perch, for example – it could get quite messy!”
How Does Size Affect A Garden’s Layout?
“Small garden design is like designing the layout of a small room – details matter,” says Gomme. “A minimal palette works best – not too many different materials, colours and plants jostling for your attention. Keep the layout simple and practical, but avoid it becoming too hard and sterile by balancing it with planting.”
Conversely, he says, “Large gardens allow you to paint with broader brush strokes”.
How Does Shape Affect A Garden’s Layout?
The designers say they love an unusual-shaped garden for pushing their creativity and inventiveness. “On the whole, though, most gardens are a rectangular plot,” says Lindsay.
So how would they approach the following garden shapes?
Long & Narrow Gardens: “This is the trickiest, as the borders can be very narrow,” says Silva, who explains this can make it hard to create a good shape for the layout. “But it’s possible with clever planting. It also gives an opportunity to divide a garden into ‘rooms’,” he says of using zoning techniques.
“Concealing the perimeter is key,” says Lindsay. “There’s a danger with a rectangular plot that it will feel narrow, so breaking up the space into sections will help this. Create a destination and perhaps don’t go for the obvious terrace connected to the house – use the light and shade to your advantage.”
Gomme agrees with both, saying that a long, narrow lawn in the middle and planting around the periphery would only emphasise its narrowness.
“It can be transformed by subdividing it into a series of zones or mini gardens,” he says. “Three seems to be the magic number for this. I use plants to define the different areas and stagger the entrances to each zone from the left to right, to lead the eye and make the garden appear broader.”
Wide Gardens: “Wide means the layout can have a wider border,” says Silva, “and the left and right side of the boundary have more importance. For example, instead of having a focal point at the end, the side can be used for this or for a feature wall.”
Shallow Gardens: “In a shallow garden, every detail is seen, so we have to aim for perfection,” says Silva.
“Where the end wall or fence is close to the house, it’s good to make a feature of it,” says Gomme. “Painting a fence can make a huge difference and panels of different materials can be used to break up long, uninteresting walls. Climbers are often floriferous and scented, and architectural plants such as palms and multi-stem trees look great with a wall close behind to act as a foil.”
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