Some people see lawns and beds as a little high-maintenance, so paving stones or decking can work in the centre, with flowers in pots around the edge. It’s really adaptable – you can use it for playing, entertaining or just soaking up the sun. The traditional British garden of a lawn with flower beds around the borders is a good place to start with your plans. You’ll see your garden design plans take shape before your very eyes. Once you know the function of your garden, have a look through magazines and websites and tune in to gardening shows on TV ( Gardeners World and the RHS flower shows are great). What sort of garden?ĭo you know what kind of garden you want? Will it be a place for children to play, a beautiful floral display, a minimalistic outdoor space, a vegetable plot or somewhere to entertain in the summer? You need to know this before you start deciding what to fill it with and whether you’re going to need any groundwork or construction. Knowing this will affect which plants you put in, and where you locate any seating or entertaining areas. A south-facing garden will get the most sunlight in summer, whereas a north-facing garden will be in the shadow of the property. At the height of summer, the sun rises in the North East, then swings over the south and sets in the North West. Next, work out where the shady and sunlit areas will be. A scale of 1 cm to 1 m is usually good enough, but the bigger the better.

Get back inside and sketch out the garden shape on graph paper. Zoom in as far as possible and use the “measure distance” function. If you’re struggling, you can get a rough idea of the shape and size of your garden from Google and Bing Maps. Don’t assume your garden is rectangular – houses on crescents, end terraces and homes on curvy roads often have irregularly shaped gardens.ĭon’t forget to include immovable objects like sheds and patios (if you’re keeping them), as an accurate measurement is important. Get a pad and a pencil and a long tape measure and sketch the rough shape of your garden with measurements included. Your first task is to measure your garden. If this sounds daunting, here’s our simple step-by-step guide on how to design a garden. You have to work through it methodically and thoughtfully. Whether you’ve just moved into a new home or have just let your garden go, a brand new design could work wonders – but diving in with your spade and chainsaw rarely produces good results.

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