How to Design The Size And Shape Of Your Garden
People often feel stuck with one or several of
the following issues with their garden: the size, the shape or the existing
layout. Something that might surprise you is that none of those things matter.
The garden design formula I will show you works regardless of those things. In
this chapter we're going to look at exactly how design works. Then, later on in
the book we'll look at the specifics of how to modify it to work with whatever
shape or size of garden you have. As we've touched upon already, the real key
to creating a great looking garden is how you arrange the areas of 'empty'
space within it. By empty, I mean the areas you can walk on like deck, patio or
lawn etc. Most people do their gardens the other way round. They start with the
'stuff' like plants and features; then the areas that are left are usually lawn
or patio. In order to successfully create a great looking garden you need to
shift your thinking 360 degrees and start by shaping the empty bits, then the
areas that are left are where your plants and features go. If you have a fairly
established garden and are now wondering how on earth you can start afresh like
this, don't worry; we'll cover how you do that as well. Like I said earlier, it
really doesn't matter what is in your existing garden now. 11 So I guess it's now time I prove that and show
you precisely what you do need to do...
The 'Shape First' System
Now I know you are keen to get going with your garden but you'll get much better results if you are prepared to have a few 'test runs' at designing first. So, to really demonstrate how design works I'd like you to grab a sheet of paper and a pencil and follow along... No need to panic, I promise this will quick and painless and no artistic skill whatsoever required. On your sheet of paper draw a large box shape, either a square or rectangle - no need for it to be perfect. Draw it totally freehand and if it's the worst drawn thing you've ever seen on paper, that's absolutely fine! For those of you who like to skim-read a book first, then come back and do this type of stuff later, I strongly advise you don't do that this time. It will be much more effective if you do it now. Otherwise it's a bit like reading the end of novel first - the carefully constructed plot isn't nearly as effective when you know the ending. Entirely up to you, it's your book after all, but don't say I didn't warn you! 12 Now in the square or rectangle you've drawn, I want you to draw 2 similar shapes that interlock as shown in the pictures below. The shapes should be really simple, either box shapes or circles - again no precision whatsoever is necessary. Precision at this point is an impairment, not an asset, you'll see why in just a moment.
Now on
your shape at the bottom of the paper, write the word 'patio' and on the other
shape, write 'lawn'. Then take a look at the spaces that are on the outside of
your main shapes; these areas are where you put your plants and features. If
you are looking at your sheet of paper with a horror-stricken face because what
you've drawn so far would never make a great design in a million years, don't
worry. It's not meant to at this stage. What I want you to see is the reverse
process of shaping the space before you even think about putting in plants or a
pergola. So far we've only covered one design principle: Shape. There are
layers to a good design. One principle alone does not a good design make. The
shape is THE most important one to get right but the other principles make it
work properly. So, let's take what you've done and make it work better by
adding another layer into the design process. For those of you that couldn't
help yourselves and did the exercise using a ruler, you're now going to see why
that wasn't necessary!
Proportion
When I asked you to draw two interlocking shapes, one thing I did not do was to specify the 13 size of the shapes. The reason is I want to demonstrate each principle separately and too much information in one go makes things much harder to learn. Now you've had your first experience of shaping the empty parts first, you're probably already seeing the impact the size of the shapes you've drawn makes. So what I'd like you to do now is to look at the shapes you've drawn, now that they are labelled lawn and patio (if your garden is way too small for a lawn, please still play along as this exercise will still be very relevant to you when you start to design). Now notice how much space is left for the planting. Are the areas outside your lawn and patio shapes looking too big or too small in relation to the shapes you've drawn? Don't worry if you can't immediately answer that question, I'll give you a ratio to help you shortly. In the meantime, take an eraser and rub out the first shapes you've drawn and then experiment re-drawing them larger and smaller. Now look at the drawing again and notice how the larger and smaller size shapes affect the areas on the outside that are left for the plants. Are you getting a better sense of which size worked the best? Did a particular size look like or 'felt' like it worked better? If you're saying, "Yes, the very first one I drew!" you're a smart Alec, well done, you're a natural when it comes to proportion! For the rest of us, though, it probably took a bit of tinkering with before it looked right.
What
if None of the Sizes Looked Right?
I'm
going to give you that ratio I mentioned earlier. Now, this isn't something
that is set in stone, which is why I wanted you to experience the effects
different sizes make before I let you loose with it. It's not set in stone
because different gardens and people have different needs, 14 which we'll cover later, but this ratio is
certainly a good starting point. As a guide, you need to allow approximately
three-quarters empty space to filled areas. So your lawn, patio, deck and open
areas of gravel should take up approximately three-quarters of your garden, the
rest should be filled with plants and features. We'll talk about manipulating that
ratio to suit your needs later on when we look at small garden design tricks in
chapter 4.
One Last Important Part to Proportion
As
well as the proportion of the overall size of your garden, each feature you add
must also be in proportion to everything around it and in proportion to the
people that use the garden. For example, if you have a pergola, you need to
make sure that it not only looks good in proportion with the garden but it also
has to work with you. If you are six feet tall (1.80m) and the pergola is
six-and-a-half feet tall, it’s going to feel very uncomfortable to walk under,
especially when the plants start to hang down from the beams. If you make the
pergola seven feet high, you also need to make sure it’s wide enough to take
the height. For example, a pergola or archway that is three feet wide (1m) and
seven feet tall (2.10m) would look too tall and skinny. Whereas a width of four
to five feet (1.20-1.50m) would look more in proportion to the height.So bear
this type of proportion in mind when adding any vertical features to your
design.
How
to Give an Existing Garden a Makeover
It's
all well and good showing you how to shape the space when a garden is virtually
empty, but what about gardens that do have existing plants and features? If you
are keeping your patio area and lots of plants in borders that are well
established, but somehow the garden just doesn’t seem to work as well as you’d
hoped, then what? Well, the good news is everything you have learnt thus far is
relevant; you just have a few more things to manoeuvre around. 15
The Key To A Successful Makeover
In
order for a garden to work well, it has to work as one whole unit. If you
remember back to our very first design principle, Shape, we discussed the
importance of viewing the garden as a whole entity. This is critical for any
design. Just because you have existing elements in your garden doesn’t mean
they should be in any way separate from the changes you make as the garden
develops. Survey the garden and draw up a scale plan. Then, once you have
everything plotted onto paper and can see an aerial view of the garden, take a
look at the empty spaces. Are there clearly defined spaces, or an irregular
smattering of plants and features dotted about? If you have lots of things
dotted about without much clarity, you have half the answer. What you need to
do is to work out how to bring clarity and balance into the garden. You may see
what needs to be done the moment you put it on paper. If that isn’t the case,
try to detach from what is there now. Don’t think about all your favourite
plants in the border on the right hand side that you do not want to touch. Be
objective - is what is there on the paper working? And if not, why not? You
need to be honest with yourself first, then work out what you can do. If you
are totally against moving something, that’s fine. Just because something isn’t
working, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to move it; re-shaping and linking
into other features often works well. There are occasions when something simply
is in the wrong place. Then it comes down to a judgement call; can and do you
want to live with whatever the ‘it’ is that’s in the wrong place? The example
shown below is a simple makeover. The patio and main shrub borders have stayed
in place. The lawn has been shaped and has a brick edge to define the shape.
One shrub border has been trimmed back a bit on the right hand side.
A few
stepping-stones link the patio to the newly shaped lawn and a bench has been
added as a focal point in front of the large shrub border on the top left. At a
later date, the patio could be re-done and perhaps a semi-circle shape could be
cut into the lawn to add more interest and shape. But for a makeover, which has
only involved re- shaping the lawn, removing a few shrubs and adding some
features, it’s totally transformed the look and feel of the garden. It really
can be as simple as re-shaping your lawn and borders that can create a dramatic
improvement to how your garden looks. It’s easy to underestimate just how
important shaping the space is, it really does account for 60% of garden design
success, if not more. The modern courtyard garden plan below shows how simple
box shapes have created the design. The areas that are left either side of the
boxes are where the plants go. In this garden, added interest, is created by
making the left-over shapes raised planters.
OK, what's next? Well, you now know the first two big heavyweight hitters of garden design, 'Shape' and 'Proportion'. There's a third big bruiser called 'Movement' that will be your bestest buddy when it comes to making your small garden look and feel wider and longer. The next chapter will demonstrate 'Movement' in action with a selection of small garden plans. The designs will also be 'de-constructed' so you can see the underlying shapes and how they affect the perception of space and create movement.