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What makes a good garden?

We all have our own idea of what would be our perfect garden. I know that many times I have visited gardens and thought how wonderful they are. I often looked in awe at these lovely creations and thought how difficult it would be to design such a garden for myself. Remember, however, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder – garden design is entirely a personal matter. No two of us are exactly the same and it is in that difference that we find appreciation, enjoyment and pleasure. So whatever your particular aesthetic leaning, be confident to set out to achieve the look that pleases you. If it is right for you, then who can say it is wrong?

If you begin to look closely at what a garden is, how it has been constructed and also understand how it works, then creating your own great garden begins to become a real possibility. We can all learn a lot by visiting other gardens, and looking at how they are planned and arranged. We can then apply those principles to our own garden space. You will be surprised at what encouragement and inspiration you will pick up from other gardens. Don’t just visit large, splendid gardens, many good ideas and inspirations can be had from just taking a stroll through your local neighbourhood. Not only is there the opportunity of picking up some good ideas, you will also begin to learn about which plants grow well in your particular area. Just as importantly, you will see those that struggle to survive and so you will be able to decide whether or not they will even be a part of your planting plan.

Books and magazines are also packed with inspiration. Magazines in particular are great for cutting out pictures of gardens, favourite plants and planting schemes that appeal to you, all of which can be kept. Why not start a seasonal profile, cutting out images of plants that look good at different times of the year, to help you plan for year-round colour? Details such as these are easily forgotten. Rosemary Verey’s Garden Plans was the first gardening book I owned and was the inspiration for the initial layout of our garden. I knew little about gardening and garden design then and have since developed a more personal style of gardening, but it was a helpful starting point. We’ve all got to start somewhere, and as I often say, ‘You don’t have to be different to be good . . . to be good is different enough.’

Nor does it matter if you only have a small garden: the principles of good layout and design still apply, whatever size space you have to work with.

Working with the landscape

Well-planned gardens use their available space efficiently, taking advantage of any natural features such as an eye-catching view. In an urban landscape this may be an attractive nearby building, a mature tree or a view of the cityscape. In a more rural setting, there may be an opportunity of a view across open countryside, perhaps to mountains, hills, a distant steeple or a faraway, isolated village.

Many garden designers call this ‘borrowing the landscape’ and this technique can be used to wonderful effect, often creating a visual illusion of extending the garden horizons. Look around your garden to see if this is an element that you can take advantage of in your own design. If there are no natural features that you can incorporate in your plan, it is perfectly possible for you to create beautiful vistas within the garden itself.

Focusing attention

In larger gardens, statues and sculptures are used on a grand scale to create focal points. However, simple features such as a specimen plant, birdbath, water feature or seat can also be used as very effective focal points, drawing the eye to them. In a smaller space, the use of a focal point can help make the area feel larger than it is.

I find that seats are a particularly good item to use in this way as they also offer an attractive invitation to sit and rest. Think carefully about where you place a seat. For instance, is there a place in the garden that gets the last spot of evening sun? This would be a good location for a seat. A seat also gives you an opportunity to think carefully about what you plant around it. I would suggest that night-scented plants should be considered. There is nothing more pleasant than to experience the concentrated scents from flowers and foliage in a sheltered spot in a garden, on a summer’s evening, when the air is still and warm.

The continuous brick path and formal layout of the clipped box (Buxus) naturally lead the eye to the statuary beyond. It’s a perfect focal point.

Creating different spaces

Garden designers will often make the best possible use of space in a garden by dividing it into several smaller units, or ‘rooms’. This makes the space more interesting to the mind and to the eye: a garden that cannot be seen in one glance invites further exploration. You will want to wander round it, to visit all the rooms – and this is often why a visit to an average-size public garden can take so long! The clever layout means we walk over the same piece of ground, often crossing our tracks and also viewing the same features from different angles.

The division of the garden into rooms can be achieved in many ways. The planting of evergreen shrubs or hedging is an effective divider, providing year-round colour and maintaining an integrity of structure throughout the year. Or you might prefer a less permanent divider, such as trellis, which can offer you an easier means of changing the layout of the garden as your own ideas change and develop.

Whichever way you choose to create the division of the garden, this design strategy can also serve some very good practical purposes. Utility areas can be screened out of sight and areas of shelter will also be created, which can be used to the benefit of both people and plants. Furthermore, a room design is a way of allowing you to choose either diversity in the garden, where each room is differently themed and planted accordingly, or indeed to choose continuity between rooms by implementing the planting of the same structural plants in each area. My garden has developed into a series of rooms from a shady courtyard to a sunny, late summer border. I have used various hedge solutions as well as trellis to help both divide the space and provide shelter.

This small area has been turned into a garden room by using rusted iron containers and a matching archway, which successfully divide it from the main garden area and simultaneously create a wonderful entrance.

Light and shade

Well-designed gardens also use light to best effect. The contrast between bright light and shade in a garden can have many different qualities. Shafts of sunlight falling into an otherwise shady area will transform a space, especially where these shafts light up a water feature. Too much light, however, can also be a problem. I am sure you know how welcome it is to seek the comfort of shade on a hot, sunny day. If shade is not a natural part of your garden, it can be created by the careful siting and planting of trees. Or use climbers, as in my garden, where a leafy vine-covered seating area provides pretty, dappled shade and so is the perfect area for relaxing and entertaining.

Evening light can be usefully employed, too. Planting trees or shrubs with coloured leaves in such a way that they are backlit by the setting sun can create a dramatic and pleasing effect at the end of the day. Ornamental grasses also look particularly beautiful when backlit. We have giant feather grass (Stipa gigantea) planted in a position where it casts a silhouette in the morning and is then bathed in warm sunlight by late afternoon. As the sun sets behind it, the seed head plumes look quite lovely.

My outdoor dining room, where a vine-covered pergola provides shade from the midday sunshine.

Keeping things to scale

Correct scale in a garden is vital. For example, planting a large viburnum next to a delicate bellflower (Campanula) is not going to be a successful combination. On visiting a great garden it’s easy to take scale for granted, but we would soon notice if it wasn’t right. This applies in smaller spaces too: correct scale means features such as sculpture, pots, furniture and plants sit at ease within the garden and also with each other, working both individually and as a whole. An out-of-scale sculpture or feature will upset the overall balance of the garden.

Consider the relationship of all elements within the garden with regard to scale. Successful use of scale means all elements are in complete harmony and it will be imperceptible that you have carefully considered this aspect.

Hard landscaping

The choice of hard landscaping materials is another important consideration that affects the feel of the garden. Patios, steps, timber decking and gravel areas are among many options available, but should be in proportion to the surroundings. Don’t spend time, effort and money creating hard landscaping features when they are simply not required. An over-landscaped garden can look cold and soulless, lacking the essential balance between plants and man-made features. Where hard landscaping is required local natural materials, such as stone, brick or gravel, always sit more comfortably in a garden (see here). Never choose more than two or three materials as the overall look can quickly become restless and cluttered, and always refer your choices to your location, the site and the style of your house.

Limit the use of landscaping materials to achieve a sense of unity and allow the plants to do the talking.