Do-it-yourself landscape design of the site: rules, ideas, photos

Recommendation points

• Where to begin
• Procedure and play with time
• Zoning rules
• Design of paths and fences
• Working with relief
• Landscaping of the site

For the owner of a private house, furnishing an interior and a personal plot are equal things and require equally close attention. We will tell you how to effectively organize the space around the house, plant greenery and decorate it in the best traditions of landscape design.

Where to begin

Before rolling up your sleeves, it is worth remembering the main goals of landscape design. Of these, the main one is the visual expansion of space and organization, ordering of the objects on the site.

High-quality landscape design takes into account the needs of people, provides easy access to infrastructure, while hiding unnecessary technical details of the arrangement and sets the general tone for the design of the personal plot. Note that decorative elements should never run counter to the exterior of buildings and existing structures..

All work carried out during the design of the site must be visualized in any available way. To begin with, a general plan in pencil on paper will do, where existing objects are displayed and new ones are added over time.

This method has a disadvantage: you are working on the design of the site so that it, first of all, pleases your eyes, but at the same time you never observe it from a bird’s eye view. Therefore, over time, you will have to use landscape design programs in order to have an idea of ​​the appearance of objects from any angle..

Procedure and play with time

You should also make it clear that all landscape design work is done exclusively for the future. Even an ordinary flower bed or flower garden takes 2-3 years from the moment the seedlings are planted before they take their proper form. Understand this at every stage of development and act strictly consistently. Also, be aware that the order of drawing up a design project is always different from the order of actions for its implementation..

Design development always begins with stationary objects: buildings, gazebos, hedges, reservoirs and others like them. First, everything that should be removed, demolished and dismantled before the completion of the implementation is removed from the plan, then new objects are applied that are planned to be built by the same moment.

The next stage is the formation of the main paths and paths for the passage of people. Since it is precisely the paths that in most cases divide the site into zones, it will be necessary to combine the abstract ordering of objects and rationally lay routes so that access to any part of the plan is as convenient as possible.

In the end, work is underway on individual zones and objects. This includes the formation of green spaces, flower beds, hedges and artificial hedges, arrangement of recreation sites, reservoirs, arches and stairs. At the same time, the colors prevailing in flower beds and used for painting fences, gates and other elements of the exterior are determined.

Zoning rules

There is never a lot of space – this is a key law used in creating landscape compositions. Even if you have at your disposal two hectares of adjacent territory, you will still find it useful to expand the territory visually and group the zones in such a way that the seemingly huge garden requires as little maintenance as possible..

However, you should not be zealous with zoning: too strong division into zones will turn the garden into a motley jumble of mixed elements, where there will not even be a hint of a regular structure.

When zoning, start with spaces enclosed between buildings or natural obstacles. In them, depending on the natural light, it is convenient to place play areas, walkways, small flower beds and fountains.

When you cut off all small zones, leaving a spacious area of ​​a more or less intelligible shape, turn on the flight of your imagination and good taste to divide a large area into a series of smaller ones with the correct geometry and shapes. Adhere to the rule that the area of ​​one zone should not be less than 1-1.5 are, and the aspect ratio of the rectangle described around it should not be more than 5: 1.

Design of paths and fences

Zoning should be carried out in such a way that from the entrance to the territory the view opens gradually. For most sites, one central path or alley with paths branching off in different directions is ideal. In areas with increased width, it is better to lay a double alley divided by a flower bed or a natural reservoir, a winding path with short circuits, or two paths closer to the edges. Remember, however, not to locate the main aisles too close to fences on the boundary..

A mandatory rule is to highlight tracks either with color or shape. It is good when you visually determine the difference between paths of different types and purposes: the main paths are wide, with continuous paving and curbs, and the paths for maintenance and garden care are smaller, paved with passes and merging with the ground or lawn.

It is recommended to divide the site with solid and translucent fences so that visitors do not see the complete picture at once, but they are not content with contemplating only individual zones. It’s great if the height of the fences increases with distance from the entrance – the cascading design has always been and will be in favor.

Remember the combination of textures and general styling concepts. The wooden house of the well goes well with the log house and natural stone, the embroidered red brick fence with concrete paths, the modern ceramic facade with stainless railings Don’t make ridiculous combinations.

Working with relief

Plots, even strongly limited in size, can be effectively expanded with elevation differences, at least small. True, you will have to forget about the fences from the chain-link mesh: to create a multi-level plan, you will need a fence along the boundary on the parapet, otherwise your cunning plan will be revealed at the ground level in the neighboring garden.

A stone garden will always look spectacular. Divide the land into three consecutive zones and transport the soil from the nearest to the entrance to the most distant one. The boundaries of the zones are formed with stone, the paths smoothly turn into steps paved with slate or paving slabs.

The difference in height does not have to be large, but it must be commensurate with the width of the site. The good news is that when dividing into three tiers, the upper one can always be further raised by deepening the lower one. Start with the little things – 10-12 cm differences, but remember to carefully plan the ground until you get the perfect horizontal plane for each terrace.

It is possible to accentuate the relief without dividing it into tiers. Towering flower beds and areolas around trees, recessed paths, U-shaped zones – all this will add additional volume and visually expand the space.

Landscaping of the site

When you find the optimal zoning scheme, proceed to filling individual areas and creating a green-floral arrangement. You should start by identifying crops that are suitable for climatic conditions and flowering period.

To erase the boundaries of the site, plant shrubs around the perimeter, in front of them – wildly growing herbaceous plants. It is advisable to plant trees along the northern and western borders in order to give the most illuminated areas to light-loving plants.

The correct distribution of insolation is very important for plants. Consider both the daily movement of the sun across the firmament and the change in its trajectory during the summer. Do not let the shadows from tall trees fall on bright flower beds, which should be well lit.

Finally, for green spaces, the most important rule is repetition and symmetry. Here, again, you can only hope for your good taste and sense of style. Combine colors correctly, arrange beds and flower beds in a cascade, showing them to visitors as you move deeper into the garden, and add accents either with many small and evenly distributed details, or with one large-scale composition. And don’t forget that the best time to plant a tree in this place was twenty years ago..