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Garden Design or Landscaping on a Budget ?
Need a Few Ideas ?
Using recycled materials is an excellent way to landscape on a budget.
Many building materials are available second hand hand from wreckers yards, often demolition sites are more than happy to sell or even give away old bricks and timber, all you need to do is ask.
Recycling old containers for use as pots is a way that that the budget conscious landscaper can save money.
With paving, seconds are often available direct from the manufactures, a great way to trim the budget,
Garden Design - Ideas For Designing Gardens and LandscapingSo we have a list of great ideas, collected from garden shows, open gardens and magazines, but how do we turn the list into a achieable plan for a garden design. A sure way to sucess is to employ an experienced and qualified garden designer, however lets go through the basic first. Essential to the establishment of any new garden, native garden or to updating the design of an established garden are the principles of good garden design. Designing for small gardens and patios differs in many ways to designs for larger areas and garden designers or landscape architects take into account both the needs and ideas of clients as well as, low maintenance requirements for gardens, climate and local conditions when planning a garden. Good design might seem simple, however the gardens that we see in glossy magazines and those 'good ideas' that we try to adapt from garden shows do take skill and planning and are not always suited to practical situation. To create a garden that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but is also practical and easy to maintain requires thought, site evaluation, climate consideration and budget consideration as well. A professional designer will take all of this into consideration, but hear are some tips to get you started. |
Garden Design Basics: Site Evaluation, Garden Style and Uses.When starting a new or redesigning an established garden it is essential to start with the basics. Garden designers will often look at what do they have in the area to be developed that they might wish to keep. We recently visited a garden that was designed around a 80 year old copper beech. The tree was magnificent it provided shade and great color, but it also restricted planting. The garden design needed to be sympathetic to the trees needs. And small garden design has a different set of principles.
From Ellerslie Flower Show Sarah Eberle Garden Design : Maintenance considerationsGardens can be high maintenance or low maintenance and this will be reflected in the overall design and choice of plants. A good garden designer will wish to know a little about you gardening habits. Do you want to and have time to maintain a garden, or do you need a low maintenance garden? Functional Garden DesignConsider what you want in a garden, are you looking for something that is aethetically pleasing from inside the house that you do not really venture into. Or do you want a vegetable garden, an area for the kids to play cricket do you have a dog? What about Garden Path Design? Outdoor Living Areas and Garden DesignAl fresco and outdoor eating are all the rage. Do you want outdoor entertaining areas that open onto the garden? An integrated living area and garden where one flows into the other. Are you considering a gazebo or similar structure that will be a part of the design? These things help determine the style of garden that will best suite your needs. And remember that needs change, so your garden can change as well.
Traffic Flow.Car access, pedestrian access, where do visitors park, where do you park? All a part of practical garden design. Traffic flow can be controlled by planting, but make your house and garden accessible. 
From Ellerslie Flower Show Palmco
How to design a garden.Ideally a design expert would be expected to start by drawing a plan of the wholegarden area including house, on graph paper, mark in structure and palnts that you really want to keep, mark in logical traffic flow lines. Its time to start planning. Check out that list of 'good ideas' which ones still fit into your garden design.
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