SHAPING UP
If your garden feels uninspiring and lacklustre, maybe it’s time to update the shapes of different elements within the layout. ‘Strong shapes play a very important part in a garden because they ground the design, and always look far better than random shapes,’ says Rosemary Coldstream, an award-winning garden designer. For whatever reason, the strong outlines within a design often lose their impact – lawns become ill-defined as bits are randomly stolen for more flowerbeds, while wavy-edged paths develop in tandem with wishy-washy edges to beds or borders.
Circles, squares, rectangles, ellipses, triangles and free-form shapes not only stamp a garden with character, but can also influence the perception of the space, making it appear more spacious. Rosemary prefers clear geometric shapes that can be connected together in different ways, but look best when intersecting at a strong angle such as 45 or 90 degrees. ‘There’s a practical reason to this too,’ she advises. ‘A lawn or border that goes into a narrow point can be difficult to maintain – that part won’t get well watered, and the planting or grass will suffer.’
Most plots attached to smaller houses are rectangular, and if the garden follows suit the results can be dull and predictable. ‘While square geometry adjacent to the house
