If you have more than a small town garden, then landscaping your garden will probably be one of your considerations. If you have just acquired the property, or you think that it is time for a garden make-over, there are methods of going about it. The easiest technique of going about planning a garden, is to first take a good look at the landscape of your garden. This can be difficult if the garden is established and in full bloom.
Therefore, it can be better to delay until autumn or winter, so that you can see the true lie of the land. You could make a plan of the garden on graph paper and take a lot of photos too. Identify the photos on the back of them and relate them to the grid on your graph paper. There may be bumps and hollows, potholes, rocky areas and even a marsh or a pond to deal with.
These are probably natural features and if you want to alter them, you will have to tackle the fundamental cause. The feature is only the symptom. Like freckles or spots! If you look at the state of affairs in this way, it makes planning simpler.
For example, a rocky patch probably means that the Earth is throwing stones up gradually and if you want to clean it up, you will be picking up rocks for the rest of your life. Likewise, if your wet patch is the result of natural drainage from higher ground, you will have to drain it and put in permanent drainage, because it is not going to stop raining for you.
So, you can either work with nature or you will be working against it for the rest of your life. Either that or paying someone else to do it for you. Another point is that the wildlife that uses your area does so because of how it is. If you change the landscape, your current range of wildlife might move on or just die. A lot depends on how much land we are talking about, but in general, I would say that the larger the plot, the more you should leave it alone.
On the other hand, you can add features more easily than remove them. For instance, if you have an area with poor soil, you could improve it with compost or put a pond there. Shade and existing fences or sheds should also be noted on your graph paper, although being man-made, these are simpler to remove or alter.
Next you should decide what type of garden you want, within the constraints of the existing landscape, how much work you are prepared to put into it and how much money you want to pay out on it. Enhancing the natural elements of the land is the easiest way of landscaping your garden.
If you have a swampy area, why not put a low wall around it and turn it into a pond? If you have a rocky patch, why not gather up the stones and create a rockery? If you have a few trees, try growing wisteria, honeysuckle or vines through them.
If you are in the shade, buy flowers that prefer the shade and vice-versa. It is a struggle to go against nature and unless you have a good reason to do it, it is not really worthwhile. Then build a patio or deck and sit outside and enjoy all the landscaping that you have saved yourself in your garden.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with outdoor heat lamp. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.