Pro Panel: 8 Easy Tips for Novice Gardeners
Has this past year sparked an interest in improving your outdoor area? This expert advice will help lay the groundwork
As winter kicks in, the masses of cheerful blooms in your garden can begin to fade and it’s tempting to grab a selection of new plants to add instant colour to your outdoor area. However, without a little planning, it’s easy to end up with an incoherent design that somehow doesn’t quite work. So before you part with your pennies, dig into these insider tips from experienced gardening pros. Houzz asked three UK-based landscape architects and designers for their top tips: Patricia Tyrrell of Patricia Tyrrell Living Landscapes, John Brennan of Yorkshire Gardens, and Peter Reader of Peter Reader Landscapes.
2. Consider plants’ future sizes
At the same time as having a sense of how you’d design your interior, however, Brennan suggests you also consider the fact that gardens are constantly changing.
“Not only is what you plant going to grow and spread, it’s also going to change over time,” he says. “If it’s a tree or shrub, it will get larger and also cast more shade, which will affect what’s planted nearby.”
Need expert help designing your garden and choosing the best plants for your site? Find a landscape architect or designer near you
At the same time as having a sense of how you’d design your interior, however, Brennan suggests you also consider the fact that gardens are constantly changing.
“Not only is what you plant going to grow and spread, it’s also going to change over time,” he says. “If it’s a tree or shrub, it will get larger and also cast more shade, which will affect what’s planted nearby.”
Need expert help designing your garden and choosing the best plants for your site? Find a landscape architect or designer near you
3. Maximise your beds
The classic garden layout consists of a central lawn and narrow flowerbeds around the outside, but Reader says boosting the planting space can not only introduce more interest and colour, it can actually make life simpler.
“Deep beds are easier to maintain, as the plants can grow to their full size, while planting or features emerging into the central spaces create interest and structure, and draw you out into the garden,” he says.
The classic garden layout consists of a central lawn and narrow flowerbeds around the outside, but Reader says boosting the planting space can not only introduce more interest and colour, it can actually make life simpler.
“Deep beds are easier to maintain, as the plants can grow to their full size, while planting or features emerging into the central spaces create interest and structure, and draw you out into the garden,” he says.
4. Look where the sunlight falls
Before you purchase anything for your garden, it’s worth spending some time in it to find out where the sunny and shady areas are, so you can choose your plants and position your seating accordingly.
“Draw a little map and mark in the shady areas in the morning, at noon and in the evening,” says Tyrrell. Note whether each area is mostly in sun, mostly in shade, or in part-sun, part-shade. “Then, when choosing plants, it becomes much easier to identify where they will grow best,” she says.
“This is also a useful exercise for identifying areas of the garden for a patio or seating to get the morning or evening sun; a shady area where you can locate your garden shed, or a place that gets the sun all day for vegetables or a greenhouse,” she says.
Before you purchase anything for your garden, it’s worth spending some time in it to find out where the sunny and shady areas are, so you can choose your plants and position your seating accordingly.
“Draw a little map and mark in the shady areas in the morning, at noon and in the evening,” says Tyrrell. Note whether each area is mostly in sun, mostly in shade, or in part-sun, part-shade. “Then, when choosing plants, it becomes much easier to identify where they will grow best,” she says.
“This is also a useful exercise for identifying areas of the garden for a patio or seating to get the morning or evening sun; a shady area where you can locate your garden shed, or a place that gets the sun all day for vegetables or a greenhouse,” she says.
Reader agrees. “When buying plants, do your research, and go for what will grow well in your garden conditions. Don’t just buy what the garden centre has to offer. ‘The right plant for the right place’ is the garden designers’ mantra,” he says.
Brennan adds that plants not only survive better in the right light, but look best in their natural habitat.
“Large-leaved plants with cooler-coloured flowers probably originated from woodlands and will look better in the shade,” he says. “Hot-coloured flowers look good planted next to grasses to give a natural, prairie feel, while herbs often prefer poor soil and look good planted through gravel.”
Brennan adds that plants not only survive better in the right light, but look best in their natural habitat.
“Large-leaved plants with cooler-coloured flowers probably originated from woodlands and will look better in the shade,” he says. “Hot-coloured flowers look good planted next to grasses to give a natural, prairie feel, while herbs often prefer poor soil and look good planted through gravel.”
5. Buy in multiples
Tyrrell and Reader both suggest you shouldn’t buy one of everything, but several, preferably in odd numbers – three, five, even seven.
“Mix them around the garden,” says Reader. “Repetition pulls the space and design together and creates harmony.”
Browse more stunning Australian gardens on Houzz
Tyrrell and Reader both suggest you shouldn’t buy one of everything, but several, preferably in odd numbers – three, five, even seven.
“Mix them around the garden,” says Reader. “Repetition pulls the space and design together and creates harmony.”
Browse more stunning Australian gardens on Houzz
6. Avoid bare patches
Whether you have deep or shallow beds, it’s wise to fill them with your favourite plants, or nature will step in.
“If you leave bare soil in your garden, nature will fill it with weeds,” says Tyrrell, “so it’s important to try to achieve a complete ground cover. Not only will your garden be more colourful and interesting, it will also be easier to maintain.”
Whether you have deep or shallow beds, it’s wise to fill them with your favourite plants, or nature will step in.
“If you leave bare soil in your garden, nature will fill it with weeds,” says Tyrrell, “so it’s important to try to achieve a complete ground cover. Not only will your garden be more colourful and interesting, it will also be easier to maintain.”
7. Create intrigue to make the space feel bigger
The sense that there’s more to explore beyond what you can immediately see is a trick many designers use to make a garden feel bigger than it is, so consider partially hiding an area.
“If you have a garden where all parts are visible at once, you could think about partitioning it, either physically with screens or hedges, or through different planting styles with different atmospheres,” says Brennan.
The sense that there’s more to explore beyond what you can immediately see is a trick many designers use to make a garden feel bigger than it is, so consider partially hiding an area.
“If you have a garden where all parts are visible at once, you could think about partitioning it, either physically with screens or hedges, or through different planting styles with different atmospheres,” says Brennan.
8. Remember there are four seasons
All our experts recommend you try to consider different flowering times and changing leaf colours.
“If you visit a garden centre, don’t purchase all the plants that are in flower, as you’ll end up with a garden that only has colour at one time of year,” says Tyrrell.
All our experts recommend you try to consider different flowering times and changing leaf colours.
“If you visit a garden centre, don’t purchase all the plants that are in flower, as you’ll end up with a garden that only has colour at one time of year,” says Tyrrell.
Brennan adds that a range is important so other plants take over when early bloomers have gone past their best. “Bear in mind plants will change throughout the season, so what you’re buying from the garden centre may look great now, but may look very different in six months’ time,” he says.
Reader agrees. “Plan for interest for the whole year,” he says. “Select a mix of plants that flower at different times or have two seasons of interest, such as spring blossom and autumn foliage colour, so there’s always something of interest going on.”
Reader agrees. “Plan for interest for the whole year,” he says. “Select a mix of plants that flower at different times or have two seasons of interest, such as spring blossom and autumn foliage colour, so there’s always something of interest going on.”
Your turn
Have you found yourself more interested in gardening recently? Share your thoughts and tips in the Comments, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
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Have you found yourself more interested in gardening recently? Share your thoughts and tips in the Comments, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
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Want more on gorgeous gardens? You’ll love 3 Small Outdoor Spaces… and How They Did It
If you were dressing your living room or bedroom, you wouldn’t just think about the flooring, you’d consider all the layers, from curtains and pictures to cupboards and cushions. Tyrrell suggests you treat your garden in a similar way and think of your plants like the furnishings of a house.
“Low-growing, mainly perennial plants should be the carpet and therefore purchased in largest numbers,” she says. “Shrubs are the furniture, so you have to be careful about the quantity and leave space around them in order that they can be appreciated for their individual forms and not grow together into an untidy mass. Trees are the ceiling and windows, creating the roof and framing the views.
“Just like in a room, the shrubs and trees should sit on the carpet in a layer,” says Tyrrell. “It would look pretty silly if you cut a square out of your carpet to sit the sofa on and the same applies in the garden.”