Hints & Tips: Design
Questionnaire
Consider the degree of potential changes you might
want to make in the garden (both hard landscaping
- the building element) and soft landscaping (the
plants themselves). The designer will add his/her
ideas and point out limitations and advantages of
the site (soil conditions, views, sunny areas and
so on); discuss how they will "fit in" with surrounding
buildings and the site itself; listen carefully
to your plans suggesting enhancements, modifications
and new ideas as they come up. These and other factors
help the garden areas to be used to their best advantage.
It helps to make up a "wish list" - for example:
- How you like to use the garden (sitting
in the sun/shade, children's games, entertaining
outside, BBQ's, what you can see from the house
etc.)
- The style you like (pictures from books/magazines).
- Functional facilities (sheds, greenhouses,
washing lines etc).
- Garden maintenance (whether you like tending
the garden or not!)
- A list of things which will remain in place
and things which can be removed/moved.
How you want to use the garden and its functionality
are key issues. Our objective is to help you create
inviting outdoor living areas, making the most use
of available space, light and views; to create focal
points within the garden to make it attractive from
within the house as well as inviting movement through
the gardens whilst using it.
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Hints & Tips: Plants in
pots
- Placing single pots: Use as
a focal point. See examples: 1
: 2
- Matching pots pairs or series:
Use to frame a view, entrance or pathway. See example: 1
- Groups of pots: Use odd numbers
of contrasting shapes. See example: 1
- Size of pots: Big is best -
Pots look infinitely better when they are large
in scale, even in the smallest garden. Small pots
look good on a table or tiered staging, not on
the ground.
- Plant shapes for pots: Consider
the finished outline of the pot combined with
the plant in it. See examples: 1 : 2
- Climbers in pots: Mature plant
size is controlled by the volume of root a plant
can create as well as the available nutrients
and water, e.g. Bonsai's are natural trees with
heavily pruned roots. Size of container dictates
the size of the mature plant and wall space it
will cover.
- Pots on the patio: Pre-design
pot groups of contrasting sizes.
- Ageing pots: Pots can be aged
quickly if they are painted with yoghourt.
- Permanent Planting: Some container
plantings are relatively permanent; the plants
can stay in the same pots for many years. These
could be shrubs, trees or perennials neither grown
as single specimens or as grouping of themes,
schemes and dreams.
- Be dynamic: Don't be afraid
to be big with your ideas. A strong theme can
carry the rest of thegarden and unify all the
different pot shapes you may have. Either choose
one plant for mass effect or a colour scheme for
seasonal flowering. Use bold and contrasting foliage
for maximum effect.
- The big picture: Don't forget
to stand back and look at the whole garden, the
sky and surrounding landscape. It's so easy to
concentrate on small areas within the garden,
missing other influential factors.
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