2009 December

How to build a courtyard garden [part 4]

In this video you will see the courtyard garden (design shown in how to design a courtyard garden video) being built.

This is the first stage of the garden construction.

The paving slabs will be laid in a couple of months time, so you will have to use your imagination a little bit! The rendered wall planters are built, so you will still get a good idea of the design layout.

The earth moves!

Since this part of Spain is subject to a lot of ground movement, the concrete is reinforced with metal to help prevent cracking. A plastic mesh is also worked into the wall rendering for the same reason.

The paving slabs will bring the ground level up approx 10cm (4″) higher, which will make the wall planters a look lower. The garden should be completed at Easter time. I will do a follow up video when the garden is finished. The paving, water feature and plants will make an enormous difference to the finished garden, I can’t wait to see it done!

Time to plan your own garden?

As now is a really good time to be planning your garden, the next 3 blog posts will be galleries of completed gardens. These will hopefully give you plenty of good ideas to put into your own garden (not to mention giving me some time off blog writing to devote to the first group of online garden design students)!

Your last chance to bag a bargain!

Talking of the very lovely people that have signed up to do the Beginner’s Garden Design Course – there are only 2 places left on the course. The price will double next year, so if you want to learn how to make your garden something special, now would be a very good time to sign up!

Once the course sells out it won’t be available for new enrollments until March 2010, so what are you waiting for?! Get your place on the course now – before the price goes up on Saturday 2nd January!

How to Design a Courtyard Garden [part 3]

By Rachel Mathews 8 Comments

In this video you’ll see the design process from start to finish – lots of trade secrets given away in this one…

Not got time to watch whole video & just want to see the finished design? See completed Courtyard garden design!

Keep to the Brief

The clients came up with lots of good ideas: raised planting borders, seating and illusion trellis focal point at the end of the garden. It was a nice change to have some of the thinking done already!

When designing anything it is important to consider the function of the area. This courtyard will mostly be used for a cool place to sit and have afternoon tea. It is two flights of stairs below the main living areas, so won’t be used much for dining.

Set Your Sights

As shown in the video, it is really beneficial to work out how the garden will be viewed before you start to design it. When you know which views are the most important, you can set your design up to maximise these views.

Find Your Centre

The line running down the middle of the garden is the centre line – it is only really necessary to know if you are planning on creating a fairly formal scheme that needs symmetry. Because of the shape of the courtyard and in order to keep the centre line parallel to the house, there were two centre lines. A centre line from the back of the garden and the other centre line from the middle of the front of the garden.

Simplicity is Key

When you start to rough out your design, it helps if you keep the shapes as simple as possible. Simple shapes to begin with, help make it easier to see how well you are using the available space and that everything is in proportion.

Precision Finishing

Before the design is finished, it is vital to check that everything lines up as it should and paths are of equal width. Double check by measuring everything you have drawn. A couple of millimetres out on the paper can be ten centimetres on the ground. You may not notice it’s not correct on paper but it will show when the garden is built!

So How Does a Garden Go From a Drawing Into Reality?

If you ever wanted to see how a garden is constructed, then the next video in the series will show all. But will it all go to plan? Find out next week!

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Part 4 How to Build A Courtyard Garden

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Filed Under: Garden Design Tagged With: Garden Design, Garden plan, landscape design

How to draw your garden site survey plan to scale [part 2]

By Rachel Mathews Leave a Comment

In this video we take a look at how to turn all those measurements you took from the last video and translate them into a usable drawing.

Why bother, though?

I mean, really, who wants to spend any of their free time trying to get a garden survey onto a bit of paper?

Answer: anyone who really wants to do a good job creating their dream garden.

The rest of the population will be too lazy and won’t care enough. That’s not you though, is it? If it were, you probably wouldn’t be spending time to learn how to create a great garden if you didn’t really want to achieve one, would you? Unless of course the garden design fairies have hidden a hypnotic message into the YouTube efforts (seek help if you think that’s the case).

To get yourself though this slightly dull but VITAL part of creating a beautiful garden – just envisage your dream garden a few months from now. Imagine sitting in it on a lovely summer’s evening sipping your favourite beverage – surely that was worth an hour spent measuring your garden and drawing up your survey? If it wasn’t, you didn’t imagine a beautiful enough garden – try again!

As you’ll have seen in the video, the shape of the freehand, rough survey sketch and the finished drawing is significantly different. THIS ALWAYS happens – that is why you mustn’t guess what shape and size your garden is! If you haven’t already, read the tapemeasureaphobia post, you will see why this is SO important to do.

Next week we get onto the fun part – the design. You’ll see exactly how the process is done, from beginning to end – plenty of top designer trade secrets coming your way!

Filed Under: Garden Design Tagged With: Garden Design, Garden plan, garden survey, landscape design, landscape plan, measuring gardens, scale drawing

How to measure your garden [part 1]

By Rachel Mathews 5 Comments

The video above is for anyone suffering from tapemeasureaphobia!

Yes, we finally have the first of the infamous garden in Spain video series up and running…. hoorah – well not quite hoorah, more horror. I don’t know what is worse, being in front of the camera to do these (yes I do feel like someone auditioning for a bad reality tv series) or the horrific editing process where I have to sit through hours of gaffs!

So why would I put myself through this horror (other than to make my family and friends cry with laughter)?

Because it is REALLY important you measure your garden if you are going to design it well. The survey is the first step to successfully designing your garden, without it you won’t succeed. Yes the reality is as harsh as that…

The other aim of the video is to show you, there isn’t anything to be afraid of. No rocket science involved, no sorcery, just a tape measure and a sheet or two of paper.

So watch the video, laugh if you have to but most importantly get out there and survey your garden!

In the next video in part 2 of this 4 part series – How to draw up your garden survey to scale (it really isn’t *that* scary).

Leave a comment if the video has been helpful, or if you have a question you would like answered on garden surveying.

If you would like another FREE lesson, download it from the Beginner’s Successful Garden Design Course (sample lesson is halfway down page)

Filed Under: Garden Design Tagged With: garden survey, how to survey a garden, measuring gardens