Once you are happy with the approximate position and the size of each feature, you can fill in the detail by firming the design up and finalizing the list of features you want to incorporate. It’s worth bearing in mind that the `hard landscape‘ areas of paving and walling will take the lion’s share of any budget. Plan these to link sensibly with the adjoining house. If the building is of brick, then brick might also be used in part of the patio or to build raised beds; if the floors inside the building are stone then this could be run outside to form a patio that will link the two elements together.
As has already been emphasized, simplicity is so often the key to success. By keeping the materials used for hard surfaces to a minimum, you are far more likely to achieve a harmonious result. Of course, a large expanse of garden covered in a single material may look visually heavy — especially if you are using new bricks or concrete paviors — and in such instances it can be a positive benefit to mix materials: a brick path flanked by stone setts or railway sleepers, or a chequerboard pattern of flagstones and cobbles. Never underestimate, either, the softening effects of sympathetic planting: shrubs spilling over on to a path, or grass and moss growing in the cracks between bricks or paviors can do wonders to mellow even the most recently landscaped plot, integrating your hard surfaces with the garden to create a living outdoor room.
More ‘fluid’ surfacing materials include gravel, cobbles and even tarmac. These can be laid to a flowing pattern, and are ideal for a sweeping driveway or a meandering path, where granite setts or flagstones would need to be cut to fit. They can also demand less on the eye than other, larger-module materials, something to be borne in mind, particularly in smaller gardens.
If you look at the designs in this chapter you will also see that the layout close to the house is planned in an ‘architectural’ and positive way, helping to draw house and garden together as a single entity. Further away you can start to think in more fluid terms, planning the shape of lawns and borders in strong flowing curves. These provide a real feeling of room and movement, which in turn creates an impression of greater space, even in a compact garden.
PLANTING
While the planting scheme is beyond the scope of this book, it is, of course, the essential element that brings any garden to life, the plants embracing your composition so that they clothe and soften the inevitably hard lines of paving and walling. I think I have already made it clear that trying to create a garden without planning it first will almost certainly lead to disaster. This is particularly true of planting. At all costs, avoid over-complicated planting schemes. Do your homework, check a good plant directory, and go about this all-important planning in a logical sequence — it will pay enormous dividends in the long run. Think first about where you might position trees, bearing in mind their size and their ability to provide shade or a screen. Next plan your shrubs: fast-growing evergreens will quickly provide shelter and protection. Finally, fill in the details and add colour with a selection of bulbs and herbaceous perennials, and set aside areas for annuals and containers for a change of planting from year to year.
TRIANGULAR GARDEN
Triangular gardens are always awkward as they tend to focus the view in a particular direction. In this design I have demonstrated the principle of providing an architectural pattern close to the building. The brick paving leads out from the French windows and interlocks with the raised bed and planting to form an attractive combination of hard and soft landscape. From here the eye is led away at an angle, under the pergola and towards the raised pool.
The apex of the triangle is naturally dominant and virtually impossible to hide. It is best not to bother; soften it by all means with well-chosen plants, but allow the eye to rest there with a purpose. The seat, placed alongside a tree at the end of this garden, has the added bonus of an attractive view back across the garden.
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