The usual attention is paid to the usual interior, while the arrangement of external spaces remains as if in the background. It’s very in vain, because a stylish and modern landscape design can immediately declare the owner’s personality, prepare the guests for what they see inside the house. Today, there are many options for arranging a personal plot, many creative ideas that can be implemented on their own. So, modern landscape design: arrangement plans, plant species, tips on.
Landscape design project
Buying a house, future owners imagine a relaxing holiday in the shade of fruit trees, flowering flower beds around, paved walkways, soft evening lighting and a barbecue area with family and friends. But in practice it often turns out that you have to move around on the lawn, there are no communications on the site, it turns out that the shade from the trees does not allow the plants to bloom, and the garden is viewed from all sides. A competent design project of the site will prevent such errors.
You can create a project for a modern landscape design of a country house yourself or with the help of professionals. In the first case, it is first necessary to draw a plan of the territory on paper, to designate existing residential and farm buildings, fruit trees, green spaces, paths, natural reservoirs. In the figure, it is desirable to indicate the cardinal points, sunny and shady places, elevations and lowlands.
All this needs to be done on a scale. A modern landscape design project can be done using graph paper, a simple pencil, tracing paper and a set of colored markers. The same can be done electronically. There are several free computer programs that allow you to not only draw a project, but also conveniently change it by moving objects with just one click of the mouse.
Design Software
Among the free programs for designing the design of a personal garden you can list:
- Google sketchup In the database of the program there are several ready-made models of green spaces and buildings, which greatly simplifies the work. If there is no suitable element, you can draw it yourself.
- Sierra Land Designer 3D 7.0. A simple interface, convenient controls and a large database of pre-installed objects that you can simply drag to the desired location. You can choose lighting (time of day) and weather conditions to determine the most successful location of all elements.
- Artweaver Free. A simplified analogue of Photoshop, which is intended not only for modeling modern landscape design, but also in general for the development of three-dimensional layout projects.
- X-Designer. The program simulates a suburban area in bulk. You can change the time of day and weather conditions, use the rich base of plant layouts, decorative elements and buildings.
There is also "Our Garden.Rubin 9.0", 3D Home Architect Home Design Deluxe 6.0, "Our Garden Crystal 10.0", Garden Planner 3 and other computer programs that are suitable for beginners. But experienced users will be closely within the framework of these tools, so it is better to choose the more advanced AutoCAD, Punch! Professional Home Design or 3D Max.
Site zoning
Modern landscape design requires mandatory zoning. This is necessary in order to functionally correctly and conveniently place all the necessary elements of the infield and the relationship between them. The main areas are: front, recreation, gardening, utility, game.
Separately, you can make a dendroplan of the territory. When planning the location of young plants, their further growth must be taken into account. Dendroplan can be combined with the main do-it-yourself landscape design project.
Entry area
The front or entrance area is the first thing that the owners can see when they return home or guests. As a rule, this zone is small, even if there is parking for a car, it occupies no more than 6% of the site. The main attention here should be paid to the platform for the car, the entrance to the garage and the approach to the main entrance to the house.
It is important to take into account the peculiarities of the territory in order to prevent stagnation of rainwater in this zone. It is also necessary to think over a wide (1.5-2 meter) path leading to the house. Materials for it are better to choose durable, for example, tile or brick. Decorative elements are placed only along the fence inside the site, from the outside you can arrange a flower bed. A small hedge, ivy or climbing roses are suitable for decoration.
Rest zone
In the recreation area, as a rule, a gazebo, a place for barbecue, patio, terrace are equipped. This usually takes 10-15% of the site. There are several nuances in developing a design for a vacation spot:
- it is necessary to consider a convenient connection with the house, because if holiday dinners and friendly meetings are held here, access to the house will provide maximum comfort;
- if possible, a gazebo and barbecue facilities should be placed away from the entrance, behind the house, which will ensure a secluded environment;
- It is advisable to plan a place to relax so that the most beautiful places of the garden are clearly visible from there.
Garden area
The garden zone occupies the largest part of the territory, about 75%. Under the greenery, fruit trees and crops, it is better to take the sunniest and most open part of the site. For fruit trees, by the way, the north side is more suitable. An excellent decoration of the area will be blooming apple trees, cherries and peaches. Shrubs (currants, gooseberries) can be used as hedges. On a small plot, the garden and the kitchen garden can perform an exclusively decorative function, it is better to place the beds modularly, and to lay paths between them. This will not only make the view aesthetic, but also greatly simplify the maintenance of plantings.
Economic zone
In the economic zone have a garage, a barn, a greenhouse, a bath. It is rather difficult to hide farm buildings behind a fence in a small area, so you should think about decorating them. Climbing plants will come to the rescue. Walkways and the area around such buildings are best equipped with tiles or bricks. Green lawn, of course, will look prettier, but it is not at all practical.
Game Zone
The play area is intended for the smallest households, so it should be as safe as possible. It is important that the site is well visible from the windows of the house, and the coating is soft (sand or lawn is suitable). It is better to place the children’s zone on the sunny side, but you should make sure that children can hide from the sun under an umbrella or in the gazebo.
Household and residential buildings
In the design project of the household territory, it is necessary to plan all the buildings that already exist or will be erected. In addition to the house, the barn and the garage, you may need a summer kitchen, a greenhouse, a bathhouse, high beds, a fountain and other large decorative elements, a gazebo, a patio, a barbecue area, a children's playground, benches.
It is necessary to consider the size and location of objects. Tall buildings are preferably located in the northern and northwestern parts of the site in order to obscure the green spaces as little as possible.
Building codes
You should also familiarize yourself with building codes and rules so that there are no further problems with the legalization of development. So, for example, from the neighboring site to the object should be at least:
- 4 m for a farm building where livestock or poultry will be kept;
- 3 m for a residential building (one-story);
- 1 m for buildings of a different kind (baths, greenhouses, arbors);
- 1 m for shrubs;
- 2 m for medium tree trunks;
- 4 m for trunks of tall trees.
Own housing should be removed 15 meters from latrines, a garbage container, small outbuildings and 8-10 meters from a well.
Location of pads and tracks
Modern landscape design involves easy access to all modular elements of the yard: zones, flower beds, decorative elements and so on. On the plan in advance, it is necessary to draw the location of paths, paths, territories adjacent to the buildings. It is better to adhere to smooth bends, rather than clear geometric shapes - so do-it-yourself landscape design will be as close as possible to the suburban style.
You can use garden tiles, bricks, pavers, gravel, pebbles, natural stone, wooden saw cuts to pave paths and home gardens. Sandstone, limestone or granite, stone are suitable for a barbecue area , and a deck board will look good in a recreation area - this is a wear-resistant material that is easy to assemble.
Landscaping
Planning for modern landscaping of the garden should begin with the location of large elements: hedges, trees and large shrubs. Young plants on paper or in a computer program scheduler should be depicted in the maximum size, so it will be clear how the plant will become an adult. You also need to make sure in advance that the trees will not damage the paths, decorative elements and communications nearby with their root system.
It is important to adequately assess their own strength - for green spaces need regular care. It is good to think over the garden so that the flowering of some plants replaces the flowering of others. You can think of landscaping the courtyard in a monochrome or a variety of colors. With the right choice and arrangement of plants, the garden will delight almost all year round.
Many modern styles in landscape design involve a complete planting of the territory with a green lawn. It may be beautiful, but the lawn requires care. It’s better to plant fewer plants, but they will be unpretentious and will not take much effort. In addition, with long-term dense planting of the territory, the soil is depleted, the plants lack nutrients, and they grow much worse.
Decorative techniques
There are several decorative techniques that are used in modern landscaping of the garden:
- Garden bridges. To make the walking route on a large plot more interesting, you can resort to the construction of garden bridges, which will be a continuation of the paths.
- Dry creek. If you can’t arrange a pond, you can resort to an artificial dry pond for garden design. A dry creek made of glass balls, marble chips or small stones imitating a dried-up bed is enough to make your garden stylish and modern.
- The neglected garden. The modern idea of ​​landscape design for those who do not pursue ideality and clear geometric shapes. Such a garden was supposed to imitate the natural nature.
- Glowing stones. In the dark, luminous stones will become a key feature of the infield, will add an atmosphere of fabulousness and magic.
Communications and lighting
Before planning the placement of flower beds and decorative elements, you should think about the supply of communications and lighting. You can use not only electric lamps, but also light sources on solar energy. It is advisable to think over the illumination of large decorative elements: a fountain, a gazebo, an artificial reservoir. Proper lighting at night will create the feeling of a magical garden.