A beautiful garden starts long before the planting
One of the most exciting parts of creating a garden is choosing the plants, paving, furniture and finishing touches.
Unfortunately, it’s also where many people start.
I believe one of the biggest mistakes you can make when creating or redesigning a garden is jumping straight into individual decisions without first having an overall plan.
A garden is much more than a collection of plants and features. It is a space that needs to work as a whole — for your home, your lifestyle and the landscape around it.
Taking time to plan at the beginning can prevent some surprisingly costly mistakes later.
Mistake #1: Buying plants because they look beautiful at the garden centre
We’ve probably all done it.
You visit a garden centre during the summer, spot a plant looking spectacular in full bloom and decide it would be perfect for the garden.
Then you find another. And another.
The problem is that a collection of beautiful individual plants doesn’t necessarily create a beautifully designed garden.
Plants also have very different requirements. Soil, sunlight, shelter and exposure all affect whether a plant will thrive.
That’s why one of the most important principles in planting design is:
Right plant, right place.
Buying plants without considering their eventual location can mean replacing plants that struggle or fail — sometimes repeatedly.
I also prefer planting in groups rather than relying on lots of individual specimens. Groups of three, five or seven of the same plant can create considerably more impact and cohesion.
And don’t just think about what a plant looks like today.
Ask:
- How tall and wide will it eventually become?
- What will it look like in winter?
- What plants will surround it?
- Will it still work in this space five or ten years from now?
Which brings me to another common problem…
Mistake #2: Forgetting that plants grow!
I was asked to redesign an urban back garden that had become almost completely inaccessible.
It was fantastic for biodiversity, but the family could no longer use what happened to be the sunniest part of their garden.
The problem wasn’t that the original planting was necessarily wrong. The mature size of the trees and shrubs simply hadn’t been considered.
After more than ten years, the planting had taken over the space, with brambles and nettles making matters worse.
My design opened the garden back up, removing dense undergrowth and selected shrubs and non-native trees, and creating a patio and outdoor kitchen where the family could finally enjoy the garden’s sunny aspect.
A garden is never static.
Good garden design considers what a space will become, rather than simply how it looks when everything is first planted.
Mistake #3: Designing individual areas without considering the whole garden
Perhaps you decide you need a patio.
Then a path.
Later you add a shed, some borders and perhaps another seating area.
Individually, each decision might make sense. Collectively, they may not.
Without an overall vision, gardens can gradually become a collection of unrelated elements.
A design plan acts as a masterplan.
Importantly, that doesn’t mean you have to create the entire garden at once. A garden can be developed in stages as time and budget allow, but every stage contributes towards the same overall vision.
Mistake #4: Designing for appearance rather than how you actually live
This is one of the reasons I spend so much time talking to clients before I begin designing.
What do you actually do in your garden?
Do you entertain?
Do you have children or pets?
Do you want somewhere quiet to sit?
How much time do you genuinely have for maintenance?
How do you want to feel when you’re outside?
Sometimes what someone initially says they want isn’t quite what they need.
For example, someone may love the idea of a garden filled with colourful, abundant planting — but have very little time available to maintain it.
There is no point designing someone’s dream garden if maintaining it eventually becomes their nightmare!
The garden has to work for the person who lives there.
Mistake #5: Getting drainage and groundwork wrong
This is particularly important here in Northern Ireland.
Our rainfall means drainage needs to be considered right at the beginning of a project.
Poor drainage can result in waterlogging, damaged patios and failed planting — problems that can be expensive and disruptive to rectify once a garden has already been built.
Addressing drainage, levels and groundwork during the design stage is considerably easier than trying to correct them afterwards.
Mistake #6: Forgetting the garden belongs to the house and landscape
One of the first things I notice when I enter a garden is whether it feels as though it belongs.
Does it connect naturally with the house and surrounding landscape, or does it feel as though a completely different garden has been dropped into the space?
For me, the best gardens feel effortless.
They are peaceful, healthy, full of life and connected to their surroundings.
This doesn’t mean every garden needs to look wild or traditional. It means considering the character of the property, the surrounding landscape, local materials, planting and the way all those elements work together.
Good garden design isn’t about spending more
In fact, I believe the opposite is often true.
Good design is about spending correctly the first time.
It can help prevent unsuitable plants being replaced, patios being built in the wrong place, inappropriate materials being used and areas eventually having to be landscaped all over again. A clear plan can also help landscapers price and build a project more efficiently.
And perhaps most importantly, it helps ensure that the money you invest results in a garden you genuinely want to use.
Before you start, stop and think
If you’re planning changes to your garden, resist the temptation to begin with the garden centre.
Start with questions instead.
How do we want to use this space?
What isn’t working at the moment?
How much maintenance do we realistically want?
What does our site naturally lend itself to?
And how do we want to feel when we step outside?
The plants and materials come later.
Because the most successful gardens aren’t simply filled with beautiful things.
They’ve been thoughtfully designed to become beautiful places.
Planning a new garden or wondering what to do with a space that simply isn’t working? Great Green Spaces can help you see its potential and create a considered design built around your home, lifestyle and surrounding.
