The secrets of great garden design
Is there a right and wrong way to design a garden? The slightly ambiguous answer is: yes, and also no. While there are guidelines for making spaces look bigger or more private, exciting or quiet, ultimately, how your garden feels should be down to how you want it to look and how you want to use it.
That said, most designs that don’t quite hit the mark generally fail on space-they are either too open or too cluttered. Try writing a wish list of everything you’d like in your garden and then draw a plan to scale to see if it all fits. If it doesn’t, work with what will fit and apply some of my design rules to help you get what you want. Your garden will be all the better for it.
Unite the elements
There are those of us that are drawn to straight lines and symmetry, and there are those who are drawn to curves and sweeping lines. It is a complete misnomer that gardens formed of straight lines cannot be soft and inviting.
The exuberant planting in this scheme makes the straight lines of this garden both soft and inviting, while the hard landscaping still remains crisp and clean. The two go together to make a dynamic yet inviting space. The sunken area creates seclusion and it would be a joy to sit
