Garden design: secrets of arranging affordable means

No one will deny that the best place to relax is a country house with a landscaped plot. And the design of a summer cottage site with your own hands in the spirit of landscape design is a fascinating activity for those who love work in the country.

To decorate your summer cottage, it is not necessary to purchase an expensive garden decor

One way or another, the land constantly produces something, and it is worth letting it go by its own will - it will take a long time to fight weeds, and the appearance of the site will not bring the expected joy. Using the advice of experts on how to arrange a garden plot, it is easy to achieve the best result at minimum cost.

General recommendations for the design of a summer cottage

Since they came up with the general principles of landscape design, the initiators and home craftsmen have been offering new original ideas for decorating the garden plot with their own hands. It's no secret that a lot can be done from improvised materials on a personal plot using:

• identical plastic bottles;
• flat cuts of trees;
• old stumps;
• brick remains;
• scraps of metal and boards;
• burlap impregnated with cement mortar, etc.

An original garden sculpture can be made from a plastic bottle

There are simply no boundaries for fantasy

Agree, to create real masterpieces you will need the same materials and tools as for the construction of an ordinary arbor or bench. To create something special in the playground, in the yard or in the garden, you will need:

• a good idea;
• detailed instructions or techniques;
• a little patience and free time.
  

  Connect two pallets, cut out the extreme board and fix the third pallet as a back - the original deck chair is ready! It remains to cover the wood with a protective composition

For high-quality improvement, it is recommended to contact specialists who will help to conduct light anywhere in the area, punch a well or build a sauna. But to bring it “to mind” so that all objects are perceived holistically is the task of the owners of the cottage. If there are absolutely no skills, you can order a single plan from a landscape designer, which takes into account all the wishes of the customer. An alternative is to develop it yourself, using special programs to design the site with your own hands, a sample is in the photo.

On the plan, it should be noted the existing buildings, the location of the paths and the placement of trees, shrubs and flower beds

Tip. In order for the homestead area to look aesthetically pleasing and harmonious, adhere to the general stylistic decision.

Garden Arrangement in Provence Style

Agree, it’s ridiculous in different places to make a country-style lawn with flower beds in trolleys, next to what is not compatible with the rural stylist. For example, next to a fabulous Russian tower for a child, make a Scandinavian-style troll house, and then a Japanese rock garden and an Asian pagoda-style bathhouse. Such "worst" eclecticism is inappropriate. It is advisable to complete all buildings in a single style solution:

• garden;
• canopies and canopies from the sun;
• open hearth (oven, barbecue or barbecue);
• paved walkways and lighted walkways;
• auxiliary buildings;
• gardening (cascading flower beds, flower beds, hedges, flower beds);
• homemade pond (pond, pool or fountain);
• practical places to relax (benches, gazebos, garden swings).
  

  Garden design in oriental style - an abundance of stones and pebbles, interesting combinations of coniferous and deciduous plants

If a lot has already been built, and there is no goal to adhere to a single style, you can visually generalize all objects using a common garden decor and painting in uniform colors. Garden grates, partitions, forging gazebos and white garden furniture look very noble.

There will always be old tires that you can paint and make bright garden sculptures

The cottage can be revived with bright colors and spectacular decor from improvised materials. It’s not necessary to remodel and repaint everything. But take a critical look at what I would like to change for a long time - benches, hedges and fences, gates or gates. Any design should not be at the expense of a comfortable stay.

Where to start the transformation of a summer cottage?

Don't get started without a well thought out plan. It can be a sketch or diagram, it is important to decide on the main objects.

The scheme of the garden plot can be drawn on a sheet of paper

It is better to divide the entire site into zones that should be separated by barriers, but well-formed walkways and paths should lead to them.

The playground should be flat and well visible.

Having distributed the main objects, they plan landscaping, and not vice versa. It is difficult to transplant trees and shrubs; large expenses will be spent on the transfer of finished buildings. But it makes sense to remove the barn or cellar, which is morally obsolete, to transfer to the extension to the house.It is important to consider where seedlings will be grown and where to put the greenhouse, if at all.

The land with a slope needs to be strengthened with terraces, equipped with steps, bars and cascading galleries of brick and stone. The masonry can be left "wild" or decorated with cladding. Wood trim can also be used, but they will not last long.

Stone retaining wall will last for many decades

When organizing places of leisure, all the wishes of family members are taken into account. The playground is located in a place in the garden, which is clearly visible from the courtyard and windows of the cottage. And the design of the garden plot with flowers, statuettes and decor is secondary.

Important! Decide in advance which type of garden is closer to you - landscape, regular or wild.

1. With regular design, priority is given to the geometric shapes of the main elements and flower beds, the pool and the fountain are preferred. Everything is ordered and arranged compositionally.
   

   Clear lines and selected compositions

2. When designing landscape compositions, natural forms are a priority, natural relief is played out, curvilinear forms can be made into a small pond.
   

   Japanese Style Landscaping

3. Wild or Moorish style looks like an abandoned garden or part of the wildlife where the porch leads. The design is appropriate if the site faces the lake or river. Then the most “cultivated” yard remains with a lawn and flower mixborders.
   

   An abundance of vegetation and necessarily a pond or fountain

Tip. Do not forget about the design of the vertical space of the cottage during the design of the site - walls and fences, vertical landscaping, hanging flower beds. All elements, regardless of the chosen style, should be in harmony, but do not forget about the practicality and ease of care.

The garden begins with a gate

Gardening of the seasonal dacha

Not all summer residents and amateur gardeners delve into the intricacies of growing flowers. Beautiful flower beds are years of diligence and decent investment.

Tip. If you do not know the secrets of professionals, try to decorate most of the garden with perennials. This is the best option and the proportion of those who are in the country only on summer holidays and on weekends, without having enough time to care.

Tall perennials bring personality to any style garden

Use literature, magazines, photo examples and all kinds of gardening ideas on how to beautifully design a site, adjusted for your abilities. Another hint - apply the principle of seasonality so that the cottage delights the eye all year round. Throughout the warm season, something must bloom in the garden, and in winter the area will be decorated with coniferous plantations and rock gardens with stones.

In early spring, decorative crocuses and wild hyacinths, tulips and daffodils will delight. And in late autumn, chrysanthemums will bloom until the frost. The remaining spring-summer flowers are selected according to personal preference. And try to exchange excess bulbs, rhizomes and seeds to exchange with other summer residents and gardeners - so landscaping is much cheaper.

Chrysanthemums bloom at fairly low temperatures and low light

In addition to green grass, ground cover plants and hedges, the garden will be decorated with such varieties of flower beds:

1. Rabatki is a narrow, uniform flower strip along the foundation of a building, walkway, fence or fence.
2. Flowerbeds (geometric and arbitrary shape), consist of several types of plants, perennial or annual, where higher ones are located in the center. Self-renewing flower beds are developed taking into account the seasonal principle - while autumn perennials and spring bulbs are sleeping, heat-loving annuals bloom.
3. Rockeries and Alpine hills are a spectacular combination of stones and plants of contrasting shapes. They land directly next to a cozy courtyard or to decorate a remote corner of the garden reserved for relaxation.They are equipped on a slope or a gentle plot, complementing the flowers with dwarf conifers of dwarf forms.
4. Mixborders are a mix of the colors of the same season and size. Their charm is in variegation and variety, although such flower beds look a bit careless. Suitable for "wild" gardens, landscaping of remote areas or to visually separate the courtyard and garden.
5. Single stands - small flowering shrubs, perennials with large flowers, planted to decorate a lawn or an unoccupied area. A group of daylilies, large dahlias, cannes, hosts or yuccas in a row, selection irises and terry peonies look good.
6. Rosaries, collections of tulips and selection daffodils, other group plantings - undoubtedly one of the best seasonal decorations of the garden. They can be planted in the form of a cascading flower bed. This is a great solution for those who are fond of growing a certain type of flower, but do not know how to beautifully decorate their summer cottage.
7. Vertical gardening is easiest to do with climbing or climbing plants. Dutch breeders annually offer new large-flowered flowers and terry forms of familiar garden pets. Evergreen frost-resistant ivy, decorative curly beans, red wild grapes and decorative pumpkin shapes can also be used for these purposes. They will close an old fence or an unsightly outbuilding. Light constructions twined with climbing plants are a popular way to quickly decorate garden plots.

Curling plants on trellises allow you to quickly and dramatically change the design of the garden

A light arbor made of steel rods, a wooden fence, a wrought iron arbor or a series of arches along the path literally in a season will be overgrown with decorative grapes, clematis or climbing roses. As reference materials also use a mesh netting on concrete columns, steel arcs or structures made from scraps of plastic pipes. They even grow strawberries and seedlings.

How to plant trees and shrubs with maximum benefit?

If the cottage is already many years old, it is probably worthwhile to audit trees and shrubs. Fruit trees are a priority, but they need to be pruned and cultivated, removing the barren wen branches. Currants and gooseberries can be planted separately in the front garden or they can make an alley.

The tree trunk circle can be arranged as a flower bed

Old trees can ennoble the general design of a garden plot or make an unpleasant impression. In addition, in the fall they create an additional deciduous mass. The only plus is natural shading. If it is decided to leave a single old tree, it can be used to advantage, equipping a bench or swing in its shadow. A circular flowerbed with sides around its trunk will add beauty.

Among the decorative forms of shrubs today in the catalogs there are a lot of interesting offers, characterized by abundant flowering and fruiting. When deciding what to buy for designing a plot in the country, do not forget about the traditional lilac bushes of different shades for spring, and garden rowan and viburnum will delight scarlet clusters in late autumn.

Lilac looks great as a single plant, and a group

Coniferous trees and shrubs will not please the fruits, but in the winter they will remain the only decoration of the garden. Breeders adapted to our climatic conditions many conifers that were previously considered southern - thuja, cypress, pine pine with long needles.

Among the variety offered in the catalogs, you can choose different forms of conifers:

• horizontal
• spherical;
• spiral;
• weeping.

From conifers you can collect any composition

The shade of the needles also varies - yellow, light green, blue, dark green, reddish and bright green.

Spiny green spaces can also be used as hedges and visual dividers of the site.

Paving of a site: platforms and garden alleys

Well-planned paths are not only beautiful, but also practical:

• combine cottage objects;
• simplify the movement on personal territory;
• give completeness to landscape design.

Step path - the easiest garden path option

The owners of the cottage themselves decide how much percent to allocate for the garden, beds, a cozy courtyard with a dining area, flower beds and lawns. In the courtyard and in the parking lot of personal vehicles can not do without a paved area.

Asphalt is convenient, but it is often difficult to arrange it on your own site. Concreting is a good alternative, but today it is being replaced by paving slabs, which without problems can be purchased in the right amount or made independently. She laid out the courtyard and garden paths.

Budget option - casting concrete tiles

Garden malls can be laid out in different ways:

1. monolithic;
2. fragments of the same size (it is possible with sowing small grass between the blocks);
3. in bulk (a mixture of sand and gravel, granite chips, expanded clay, granular slag).

The original combination of stone and pebbles

Garden paths can simply be tamped with gravel and sprinkled with sand if used temporarily. Paved paths are more reliable, they will not be washed off by a shower, they will last for many years. Decorative paths can be paved with sea pebbles, thin cuts of wood, natural stone, brick or paving slabs. It is important that they do not crumble, are not slippery after rain and the first frosts.

The path from the saw cuts will last longer if they are impregnated with a protective compound and put on the drainage layer of crushed stone

Stylish and well-groomed garden complement garden decor and park sculptures, you can even use a "dry" fountain. The ennobled territory is a joy for its owners, a delight for guests and casual visitors. More examples on the design of the garden plot - in the photo.

Expert Opinion

Alina Kvileva

Landscape designer

Ask an expert a question

Hello, my name is Alina and I am a landscape designer, if you have any questions regarding landscape design, please answer them with pleasure.

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