Go with the flow (General Garden)

Member Name: blondmaiden

Product:	General Garden
Date:	03/03/01 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can be easy

Disadvantages: Takes a bit of planning

I can't say I am a great expert on gardening, only having done some garden design as part of an interior design course. However I did learn a few really important things that help when designing and maintaining a garden.

It is important to sort out the hard landscaping first, this is things such as paths and walls or fences. I also believe it is important to keep the garden in character with the property although some people may disagree with this. If you live in the country with a little cottage I think it looks so much better using old paving rather than modern.

Soil type and amount of sunlight should also be taken into account. It is no use planting acid loving plants in an alkaline soil or plants that really love dry, sandy soil in a waterlogged spot. They will not do well. All this may seem like common sense but there are so many plants out there that we may love to have but do not have suitable conditions for them.

This was really brought to the fore when I saw the same lavender in my garden which is hot and sunny, the ideal condition, and a neighbours garden which receives little sun. Mine looks healthy with lots of flowers while my neighbours looks spindly and not well at all.

It certainly pays to read about plants before designing a garden and make sketches to ensure that they are not planted too close together and that there are different folliage shapes and colours next to each other to provide contrast. A certain amount of evergreen plants and plants that bloom at different times of year are needed to provide all year interest. Plants should also be planted in odd numbers such as 3 or 5 thereby looking like 1 plant when they spread rather than individual ones.

Scented plants near the doors and paths are useful to provide a lovely smell when you pass.

The amount of time you have should also be taken into account as there are many plants that do not need much care and the garden can look lovely wit
hout spending hours every day caring for it.

Summary: