Comments on: How to Design Your Garden Part 1 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/ Garden Design Made Easy - Online Courses, Tips & Ideas for your Garden Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: How to design a garden part 2 | Successful Garden Design http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-323 How to design a garden part 2 | Successful Garden Design Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:03:21 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-323 [...] Garden Design by Rachel Mathews 5 Comments In part one, we looked at where to start with planning your garden. If you’ve followed steps 1 to 7, you’re now ready to go onto stage two, the [...] [...] Garden Design by Rachel Mathews 5 Comments In part one, we looked at where to start with planning your garden. If you’ve followed steps 1 to 7, you’re now ready to go onto stage two, the [...]

]]> By: Make your garden look spectacular this summer! | Successful Garden Design http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-322 Make your garden look spectacular this summer! | Successful Garden Design Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:02:14 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-322 [...] Edge your lawn, preferably in a coherent shape that will improve the look and flow of your garden. [...] [...] Edge your lawn, preferably in a coherent shape that will improve the look and flow of your garden. [...]

]]> By: Rachel Mathews http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-321 Rachel Mathews Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:36:08 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-321 Hi Dana, Thanks so much for your feedback, really pleased to be of help! Good luck with the measuring, let me know if you have any questions and I hope you'll share the results of your garden makeover with us at some point. Which part of LA are in? I lived near Laguna Beach for a few months, Dana Point was my favourite place to hang out (best berry smoothies in the world!). I know what you mean about the size of gardens, I landscaped one out there and it was absolutely tiny! Hi Dana,

Thanks so much for your feedback, really pleased to be of help! Good luck with the measuring, let me know if you have any questions and I hope you’ll share the results of your garden makeover with us at some point.

Which part of LA are in? I lived near Laguna Beach for a few months, Dana Point was my favourite place to hang out (best berry smoothies in the world!). I know what you mean about the size of gardens, I landscaped one out there and it was absolutely tiny!

]]> By: Dana C. http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-320 Dana C. Mon, 20 Jun 2011 04:39:22 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-320 Rachel, Thank you so much for the inspiration. At my last home I paid a landscape architect to design my front garden. Funny thing is, I told him what I envisioned and he put my exact idea on paper and charged me $1,000 to do it! Granted the yard turned out fantastic, but this time around I believe, with your help, I can come up with my own garden design. Several months ago I moved into a ranch-style home in Los Angeles with a large garden (at least by L.A. standards) in both the front and back yards. Currently they are just large square lots of lawn and with a few border plants and nothing else. I purchased your course on surveying the garden and just today bought my own 100' tape measure. Wish me luck! I will see how the first phase of my project goes. Despite my vast library of garden and landscaping books, your course has really provided me with the confidence to take this project on. Rachel,
Thank you so much for the inspiration. At my last home I paid a landscape architect to design my front garden. Funny thing is, I told him what I envisioned and he put my exact idea on paper and charged me $1,000 to do it! Granted the yard turned out fantastic, but this time around I believe, with your help, I can come up with my own garden design.

Several months ago I moved into a ranch-style home in Los Angeles with a large garden (at least by L.A. standards) in both the front and back yards. Currently they are just large square lots of lawn and with a few border plants and nothing else.

I purchased your course on surveying the garden and just today bought my own 100′ tape measure. Wish me luck! I will see how the first phase of my project goes. Despite my vast library of garden and landscaping books, your course has really provided me with the confidence to take this project on.

]]> By: Rachel Mathews http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-319 Rachel Mathews Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:05:46 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-319 Hi Joanna, If you are having trouble deciding, then work on 2 different designs - really go for it and develop them in full, leave it for a day and take a look with a fresh pair of eyes. If you still can't decide which you like best, peg them out in your garden and see which one feels & looks right when you've lived with it for a while. You can create shade using a timber pergola structure over the top of patios and walkways to create shade. Another way is to strategically place trees so that they cast shade in the areas that need it. The trees don't need to only be on the perimeter, you can incorporate them into the garden with the shape of the planting beds - if they have bare stems, so you can see past them, then they don't dominate the view. Hope that makes sense! Hi Joanna,

If you are having trouble deciding, then work on 2 different designs – really go for it and develop them in full, leave it for a day and take a look with a fresh pair of eyes. If you still can’t decide which you like best, peg them out in your garden and see which one feels & looks right when you’ve lived with it for a while.

You can create shade using a timber pergola structure over the top of patios and walkways to create shade. Another way is to strategically place trees so that they cast shade in the areas that need it.

The trees don’t need to only be on the perimeter, you can incorporate them into the garden with the shape of the planting beds – if they have bare stems, so you can see past them, then they don’t dominate the view.

Hope that makes sense!

]]> By: Joanna Rodwell http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-318 Joanna Rodwell Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:47:02 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-318 Hello again I find a stumbling block where I am not sure if circle/oval or straight/rectangle would be better when I actually like both in their right situation .... our back yard is currently a fairly empty square of lawn with things encroaching randomly . I just cant get around a procrastination of whether round or square would be best - to maximise the feel of space but allow for some important shade planting to happen (here in Australia the summer heat from an overhead sun is extreme). The shade needs to be "in" the overall space not just about the perimeters. How can one do "insideout" spaces in the quest for shade?? Regards Joanna Hello again

I find a stumbling block where I am not sure if circle/oval or straight/rectangle would be better when I actually like both in their right situation …. our back yard is currently a fairly empty square of lawn with things encroaching randomly . I just cant get around a procrastination of whether round or square would be best – to maximise the feel of space but allow for some important shade planting to happen (here in Australia the summer heat from an overhead sun is extreme). The shade needs to be “in” the overall space not just about the perimeters. How can one do “insideout” spaces in the quest for shade??

Regards
Joanna

]]> By: Rachel Mathews http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-317 Rachel Mathews Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:25:04 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-317 No daddy dearest you don't win a prize as you haven't listed your garden woes! Nice try though! ;o) In case anyone is wondering Osmocote is a slow release fertilizer which is great for raised planters. R x ps just wondering, how many other posts have you read?! I wouldn't go back too far if I were you! No daddy dearest you don’t win a prize as you haven’t listed your garden woes! Nice try though! ;o)

In case anyone is wondering Osmocote is a slow release fertilizer which is great for raised planters.

R x
ps just wondering, how many other posts have you read?! I wouldn’t go back too far if I were you!

]]> By: your father http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-316 your father Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:42:11 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-316 do i get a prize somebody forgot to mention putting h2o gel into the ground before you start planting especially in a small courtyard garden reflective heat etc. Don't forget 18 month Osmocote. do i get a prize somebody forgot to mention putting h2o gel into the ground before you start planting especially in a small courtyard garden reflective heat etc. Don’t forget 18 month Osmocote.

]]> By: Kim Gutteridge http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-315 Kim Gutteridge Mon, 31 May 2010 23:20:39 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-315 I must say that "Looking at Pictures" has certainly given me more confidence in my own garden design. It is generally understood that alot of people struggle to see how a flat drawing translates to the finished garden design in 3D therefore "pictures" or photographs are an excellent resource for gauging size, height, depth and colour in a garden. Whilst I wouldn't advocate creating a replica of another garden, I believe that "photographs" can give someone the confidence to develop their own inspirations/ideas to carry forth in their own gardens. Where would be without Gardening Books or Garden Design websites etc? I must say that “Looking at Pictures” has certainly given me more confidence in my own garden design. It is generally understood that alot of people struggle to see how a flat drawing translates to the finished garden design in 3D therefore “pictures” or photographs are an excellent resource for gauging size, height, depth and colour in a garden. Whilst I wouldn’t advocate creating a replica of another garden, I believe that “photographs” can give someone the confidence to develop their own inspirations/ideas to carry forth in their own gardens. Where would be without Gardening Books or Garden Design websites etc?

]]> By: Rachel Mathews http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/where-to-start-with-your-garden-part-1/#comment-314 Rachel Mathews Fri, 21 May 2010 08:08:11 +0000 http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?p=2659#comment-314 Ron - laughing! I wondered what you were going to say with me being a member of the LAP club! ;o) Yes looking at pictures is one very good way to go. What you need to look for is commonalities between the gardens you like. Are the gardens you like the most modern, traditional, informal or formal? Formal gardens tend to have more straight-lines and if they are traditional, lots of clipped box and yew hedges to define the lines more. Informal gardens tend to have less defined shapes and are more sweeping curves with a looser style of planting, more relaxed. What features draw your interest? Do you like water? Do you like hidden seating areas? Basically look at every single thing you see in each picture and go through a yes/no do you like it. To speed up the process just do that with gardens you like the look of and then study them further to work out why you like them. Once you know what you like, you can then work out how to re-create it in your garden. For a lot of people, looking at pictures is easier than actually being in the garden because they can see everything in one go. You might be the opposite and do better visiting gardens to get an idea of what you do and don't like. Ron – laughing! I wondered what you were going to say with me being a member of the LAP club! ;o)

Yes looking at pictures is one very good way to go. What you need to look for is commonalities between the gardens you like. Are the gardens you like the most modern, traditional, informal or formal?

Formal gardens tend to have more straight-lines and if they are traditional, lots of clipped box and yew hedges to define the lines more. Informal gardens tend to have less defined shapes and are more sweeping curves with a looser style of planting, more relaxed.

What features draw your interest? Do you like water? Do you like hidden seating areas? Basically look at every single thing you see in each picture and go through a yes/no do you like it.

To speed up the process just do that with gardens you like the look of and then study them further to work out why you like them. Once you know what you like, you can then work out how to re-create it in your garden.

For a lot of people, looking at pictures is easier than actually being in the garden because they can see everything in one go. You might be the opposite and do better visiting gardens to get an idea of what you do and don’t like.

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