Garden Design: Essence and Styles

Almost every owner of a private house dreams of a beautiful and even unique land plot. How can the plan be implemented? This can only be done if you correctly develop the landscape design of the garden plot. What is it? Science, art or fashion? Why do people who have their own piece of land tend to do landscaping of the garden? How to apply it on your territory? What is the essence of the design of the garden plot, and what styles can be applied in this case? Let's try to answer these and other questions that arise when studying this topic.

Definition of a concept

What do we mean by garden design (see photo below)? This is nothing but the creation of convenience and harmony in the application of green spaces, as well as small architectural forms.

Many owners of garden sites believe that creating an exclusive design on their own is unrealistic. However, this is not the case. Everyone can transfer any design ideas with a little effort to their house territory, creating a unique landscape on it, providing an atmosphere of comfort and harmony. Such works, whether it be the creation of a small cozy garden or a luxurious park, will require the same approach to business from the side of architectural and design decisions, when planning the space, as well as when choosing those plants that will decorate the site.

The design of the garden plot (photos are placed in the article) is a whole philosophy that combines life and nature. At the same time, a huge number of options have been developed to beautifully and comfortably equip the local area. Among them, the one that can fully satisfy the individual needs of the owners can be selected.

The essence of the design of a garden plot is its harmony, convenience and simplicity. All this, together with the style chosen by the owners, is the basis for creating a unique atmosphere that will help to create all conditions for a comfortable country life and a relaxing holiday. However, you should not rush to extremes, as some summer residents do. They believe that the main beauty of their site is in the flowers. Guided by this idea, they land them on any piece of free space. The principle "the more the better" when developing a garden plot design is unacceptable. Of course, this is beautiful, but the whole composition in this case does not have aesthetics. The essence of the design of the garden section of a country house does not lie in the planting of a huge number of beautiful plants, but in their correct grouping and in combination with each other. And with the landing described above, which is often used by our summer residents, the appearance of even the most beautiful rose bushes is lost.

Design project development

Creating on your own site an interesting and beautiful landscape is currently a necessity for many urban residents. After all, they gradually cease to consider the cottage as a place where only vegetables are grown. People tend to come to their suburban area to take a break from the hustle and bustle of nature, that is, relax before the next working week.

In this case, there is absolutely no difference whether the design of the garden plot for 10 acres, 6 or 4 will be carried out. The owners must carry out preliminary careful planning and use the available space as rationally as possible. The design of a garden plot on 6 acres, which is quite modest in size, can also be of stunning beauty.

What needs to be done in the first stage? If the work will be carried out independently, then you will need to develop a design project for the garden plot. Ready-made solutions will help in this, numerous photographs of which are presented in the article. And even if the implementation of the planned project as a whole is impossible for any reason, then you can always use the most liked ideas of professionals when doing the landscaping of the garden plot with your own hands.

How to develop such a project? First you need to transfer the outlines of your territory onto paper, while making up its detailed plan. It should have:

• exact size of the plot;
• already existing buildings (residential building, garage, etc.);
• the buildings that I would like to erect are marked;
• already indicated engineering systems (lighting, water supply, ponds, fountains, etc.) are indicated.

At the next stage, they begin to distinguish various functional zones - decorative, recreation, household, etc.

When designing a garden plot with your own hands, you should consider its purpose. It can be either only decorative, or combined with economic. And sometimes the owners want their territory to be intended solely for relaxation.

Further, when developing a design project for a landscape site, the zones are filled based on their purpose, desired style and personal needs. At this stage, vegetation, architectural details are selected, lighting, arrangement of ponds, laying of paths and necessary communications are provided.

The boundaries of each zone, which can be hedges or ivy twisted trellis walls, are thought out separately. The separation of sites by their functionality is sometimes carried out using paths, artificial ponds and garden sculptures. The basic rule is naturalness. Such a separation should not have sharp breaks or drops. If the site has an inclined terrain, it is recommended to divide the slope into several terraces. Thus, the functional areas will be divided in height.

When drawing up a landscape design project, it is necessary to go to the site in order to clarify the features of the soil and the presence or absence of groundwater in the territory. If necessary, drainage work is carried out.

Elements used

When doing the design of the garden plot with your own hands, you need to choose the right color palette for each of the planned zones. This will make the most low-budget project unique, transforming the area used.

Regardless of the available hundred square meters, the design of a garden plot will include certain elements, the color palette of which must be taken into account in advance. Among them:

1. Elements that make up the natural landscape. These are trees, shrubs and other plants, as well as stones and mounds, paths and ponds created by nature itself. If the owners decided to leave some of these elements in order to make the design of the garden plot more natural, it should be taken into account that they will, to one degree or another, influence the general palette of the territory.
2. Objects of architecture. These include, first of all, a residential building, as well as existing extensions to it, such as a terrace and a porch, a greenhouse, a bathhouse and a garage, awnings, gazebos, etc. When developing the design of the territory, one should take into account the fact that the color the solutions of all of the above elements should be in harmonious combination with each other.
3. Items of decorative and social landscape. This group includes all plantings and ponds, flowerbeds and rock gardens created by the designers or owners of the site. When using these elements, the possibilities of playing tones and shades become simply limitless. So, flowering plants allow you to create a unique colorful meadow of various plantings, which will change its appearance depending on the time of the warm season. In this case, a whole alley of evergreens can be planted, which will become a real bright spot of the territory.
4. Other items. The list of landscape design components includes sculptures and platforms, flooring and hammocks, swings and platforms. Each of these components plays a role in the overall composition of the territory located near the private house.

Site Design Principles

How should the territory of a personal plot be designed? When drawing up a design project, it is necessary to take into account several basic principles, namely:

1. Integrity. This principle implies the location in different parts of the site of the same elements, which can be both natural and decorative.
2. Simplicity. This principle of landscape design tells man nature itself. After all, everything is beautiful, simple and natural in it. That is why it is not necessary to have a large number of complex shapes and elements on the site, to use a wide range of shades and colors.
3. Balance. Those who comply with this principle succeed in creating the harmony of the site. In this case, the balance can be symmetrical, in which the same elements are repeated relative to one visually fixed point, as well as asymmetric, characterized by a variety of sizes and shapes.
4. The combination of vegetation. Everything that is planted on the site should ideally harmonize with each other. In this case, it is necessary to provide a combination of horizontal and vertical landscaping.
5. Smooth transitions. This principle is very important in any case, but it acquires special relevance when planting plants. Their height, as well as the size of the leaves are subject to smooth change. That is why the tallest plants are planted in the background, medium ones follow them, and the smallest ones in front. This principle allows you to reach the depth of the landscape. Smooth transitions must be observed when arranging various elements. For example, when developing the design of garden plots on 6 acres with your own hands, it should be borne in mind that the huge sculpture envisioned for staging in such a territory will look ridiculous and strange. And vice versa. If a small fountain is planned in the design of a garden plot on 10 hundred parts, nobody will notice it on such a vast territory.
6. Work with color. When drawing up a landscape design project, it should be borne in mind that the cold tones of the elements located on the site will create the illusion that the object is far away. Warm flowers, in contrast, appear to be nearby. For background compositions, gray, black and white tones are perfect.
7. Landscape filling. This principle implies a combination of all small architectural forms, namely, verandas and greenhouses, fences, etc. That is why it is desirable to build them from one material or use a harmonious color scheme.
8. Both in width and up. The essence of this principle of landscape design is to create small elevations. Such a move allows not only to slightly increase the area of ​​the site, but also create additional opportunities for the owners.
9. Naturalness. Being on the site should give joy from communication with nature. That is why it is not necessary to use artificial plants and a large number of elements with strict forms in the design of the landscape.

Observing the above principles, each owner of a garden plot can easily create his own design project. But the final success of all the work will also depend on a well-chosen style. In this case, the features of the relief, the location of the territory, its size and the nature of the owner are taken into account. That is why, before choosing a particular style for your site, you will need to study the features of each of them.

English (landscape)

This style provides naturalness and the complete absence of any strict forms. In this case, there is a refusal to install figures having the correct geometry, which allows you to create the impression of a complete merger with nature.

The use of English style in landscape design allows you to recreate the romantic atmosphere of the noble estates of the 19th century. At the same time, a person to a reasonable extent invades nature, taking into account the vegetation of the region in which the site is located. The main features of the landscape style:

• the presence of water bodies of a natural form, winding paths, as well as a seemingly lack of orderliness;
• the predominance of green in all shades, as well as silver;
• the indispensable presence of a lawn, as well as vertical gardening;
• performance of tracks only from natural materials.

The decoration of the site, the design of which is made in the English style, is a small pond in which lilies or water lilies grow, as well as benches, arches, arbors made of natural materials.

Mediterranean

This style is notable for its simplicity. When using it, all key elements must be placed around the patio. This is a patio, which is usually paved with stone or covered with wooden flooring, partially surrounded by a brick wall painted in terracotta or white.

The Mediterranean style involves a breakdown of motley flower beds on a flat green lawn. An obligatory element in this case is a carved pergola (forged or wooden), which should be partially entwined with ivy. In order to create protection from the sun, use dense curtains of light-colored textile.

With a Mediterranean design, the seating area is complemented by wicker furniture and a sunshade. The decorations in this case are massive vases with bright colors, fountains and sculptures.

French

This style can only be used by owners of spacious areas on which large stone houses rise. Such design is distinguished by luxury and plenty of free space.

The central element of the site in the French style is a wide avenue. This is a path along which neatly trimmed trees and shrubs grow, elaborate lawns are broken and antique statues are placed.

Also, this style provides a combination of roses and lavender. These plants fit perfectly into such a landscape design.

The main features of the French style are symmetry, clarity of lines, as well as respect for proportions. Such a site is certainly complemented by fountains, labyrinths, grottoes, artificial porticoes, stone bridges and columns. In this case, the garden should be located slightly below the level of the main building in order to be completely open to the eye.

Japanese

If the owners like this style, then they can use it in tiny sections of 4 acres, and in a spacious garden area. In this case, laconicism and minimalism are present. In the Japanese style there is no lush decor, complex shapes and flowering plants. A mandatory element is a pond, around which it is recommended to lay out large stones. It is great if there is an island in the center of such a pond that can be reached by a bridge without a railing.

When choosing vegetation, it is necessary to pay attention to evergreen shrubs and trees, including dwarf ones. In spring and autumn, fruit trees and maples add to this garden.

Paths must be sprinkled with gravel. In some areas, large stones are sometimes laid out instead.

Chinese

This style can be applied on their site by supporters of the Feng Shui philosophy. It implies the harmony of all elements and its arrangement of decorative elements should ensure the free passage of energy flows.

The site, made in the Chinese style, contains a pond surrounded by a composition of stones and green spaces. At the same time, harmony with nature is successfully emphasized by paths made in the form of stairs, wooden bridges painted in bright colors, an artificial waterfall, as well as a Buddha statue. Be sure to plant bright flowers that have violet, yellow and red hues that look great in combination with an even lawn on which dense grass or emerald moss grows. To create color, orange lights are installed. They are hung around the gazebo and along the paths.

Rustic

Lunch. the design of the garden plot in this style, which has another name - "country", is by far one of the most popular. This is due to the fact that with its help it is quite simple to create an atmosphere of ease and naturalness.

The rustic style implies the absence of not only strict lines, but also the freedom of creativity. The most important thing in carrying out these works is that the territory of the personal plot resembles a picture of rural life.

Traditionally, this style involves planting ordinary fruit trees, including pears, cherries and apple trees. . , . , , . , , , . .