Backyard Garden Design

When planning a design for a backyard the first task is to evaluate what you have. Look at the size available for landscaping, quality of lighting such as quantity of sun and shade, the quality of the soil, the climate in your region, what uses will there be for your backyard space, how much time you have to tend to a garden and of course the budget available.

An Outdoor Room

The backyard can be viewed as an extension of one’s home, adding an outdoor room or rooms, to one’s living space. How this space will be used helps determine landscaping choices.

Some of the more common uses are entertaining area, vegetable gardening and children’s play area. A backyard need not be confined to one use.

A deck or patio with outdoor furniture would provide an area for entertaining or relaxation. If one has young children a space nearby could be made into a play area with a low rise border to ensure that the children’s activities can be supervised.

A vegetable garden can be incorporated in a separate section of your backyard or for those with a small space, some vegetables can be planted amongst the flowers.

Once your goals and needs have been determined, a plan can be formulated. This involves a sketch of your house and the designs you wish to incorporate or changes that need to be made to provide the landscape that you desire.

Garden Design Guidelines

Hardscapes are an essential part of garden design. This includes decks, patios, fences, arbor, and pathways. They are needed to provide privacy, interest and traffic flow in the backyard. It is important that the hardscape area should be completed before any planting is done. In addition, hardscape materials should complement the house to make them more aesthetically pleasing.

Try to establish a low maintenance yard unless you are a very avid gardener. A garden that requires a lot of care can be discouraging if one does not have the time or inclination to maintain it.

Consider safety and convenience of use. Fences should be sturdy, paths should have a good grip, and water features, although lovely, are a danger when children are playing nearby.

Use techniques such as curves to eliminate awkward shapes in your plot and open areas to make a narrow plot seem wider.

It is best not to overplant your garden space. Plants will not grow as well and it will have a cluttered appearance.

Plant SelectionThis process is generally quite enjoyable. Everyone has different plant preferences, but plants in the final decision must be suitable to the site conditions, i.e. type of soil, sun or shade, climatic factors, space available.

• Select plants which will provide interest all year round with colour, texture and foliage.
• Use evergreens to provide continuity.
• Use annuals to provide colour. Perennials bloom only for a specific time. The continous blooms of annuals can fill in the gaps.
• Use drought-tolerant plants.
• Consider form, texture, colour and growth habits when selecting plants.

Principles of Design

Variety:Use form, size, texture and colour to achieve graduated and sequential changes. Using the occasional dramatic contrast adds visual interest.

Repetition: This gives the garden a sense of order. Plant groups of the same plant in different locations throughout the garden. One can also use plants with similar qualities such as form or texture and place them in a couple of locations in the garden. Try to maintain balance to avoid monotony.

Balance: It is not necessary to have one portion of a garden to be a mirror image of the other in order to achieve balance. There should be a feeling of equilibrieum which is acieved by plant selection.

Coarse textures have a stronger visual balance than finer textures. Complex forms are more visually dominant than simple ones, and warm colours such as pink, red and orange stand out more than cool ones such as green and blue.

Emphasis: A few dominant plantings will add a focus to your garden and provide a more visually appealing effect.

Gardens can be composed mainly of one type of plant such as roses, herbs or vegetables. Examples of other types are rock gardens, water garden, shade garden and wildflower garden.

Planning before planting will help to ensure success in your gardening ventures.

References

Atha,A.,Courtier,J., Crowther,M., Hook,S., Squire,D., The Ultimate Book of Gardening, Paragon Publishing, 2002.

Beaulieu, David, “Top 10 Tips for Do–it-Yourself Landscaping”, About.com Landscaping

Burcher, Lise, “Residential Landscape Design and Construction”, The Horticulturist III, University of Guelph, 1997.