Take a leaf from some of the best professional landscape designers’ blogs and transform your own garden into something really special. Think sun-soaked patios, pergolas trained with scented climbers, stylish summer houses and trendy outdoor kitchens, all surrounded by plants chosen for all-year round colour.
Whether you’re looking for ideas to implement yourself, or are inspired to hire a professional, there’s a wealth of dream garden ideas here to get you started.
Fran Dalziel Garden Design
If you’re not sure where to begin when it comes to planning a new layout for your garden, Leicestershire-based Fran of Fran Dalziel Garden Design has a great hack to get you started. She recommends using the sun’s journey across your garden to map your seating areas first. Fran suggests a morning coffee zone, a shady lunchtime dining area, and a west-facing sundowner spot that makes the most of the last precious rays of evening sun. From there, the rest of the design often falls into place.
Privacy is another tricky design challenge that can be hard to get right. Pleached trees are one of Fran’s top tips, but she also suggests creating focal points using things like benches, water features, arches or pergolas to draw attention back into the garden and away from the surrounding buildings. “How could you include a focal point in your garden?” she asks.
Fern & Pine Garden Design Studio
Founded by Alick Nee, Fern & Pine Garden Design Studio is based in Brighton and provides domestic and commercial designs to clients in Sussex. Whether you want to add a structural focal point like a pergola into your new garden design or you’re looking for ways to light up your outside space during long evenings outdoors, this team has a treasure trove of useful information on their blog.
Do you love outside entertaining? Check out this modern garden with a clever series of social spaces that make the most of the sun throughout the day. From the perfect spot to enjoy morning coffee to a late afternoon sun-trap, Alick’s design also includes layers of herbaceous plants that lend privacy, texture, colour and year-round interest to the scheme. The pergola is a clever way to zone the cosy outdoor lounge area – providing a little shade through the hottest part of the day and an atmospheric place to gather under string lights in the evening.
Victoria Wade Landscapes
Victoria and Joe Wade are an award-winning husband and wife landscape design team who live in South Wales. Documenting their own garden, as well as sharing successful design projects, the blog at Victoria Wade Landscapes provides a wealth of information for those looking to create something beautiful, natural and “a little bit wild”. Their helpful tips on building a wildlife pond are a great place to start.
And if, like the Wade family, an outdoor dining area is something you desire, read their comprehensive guide to planning an outdoor kitchen. In addition to the essentials like counter space, a sink and a cooking source, they also suggest adding somewhere to rest drinks, a simple structure to provide shelter from sun and rain, and an outdoor power socket. When it’s time to soften all the hard landscaping, Victoria’s guide to growing edible flowers is the perfect counterfoil.
Hendy Curzon Gardens
Delve into the image-gallery-blog from the Hendy Curzon Gardens team in Oxfordshire, and be transported on a sensory journey through colours, textures, shapes and styles. Their portfolio of projects provides plenty of inspiration, including an Oxfordshire family oasis (pictured above) containing a wooden cabin along with productive growing spaces, seating areas, privacy screening, water and fire. To get a cohesive scheme like this, consider all the ways you’d like to use your garden and nail down a definitive brief before you start.
Combining modern elements with traditional materials and plants, the Hendy Curzon team doesn’t shy away from colour, and says it’s a powerful communication tool in a garden. Read their fascinating post about ‘Peach Fuzz’, recently named colour of the year, and think about which colours would best tell your story.
Gardens by Anna Butterfield
A garden design team who put environmentally-friendly practices at the heart of all their projects, you’ll find plenty of inspiration at Gardens by Anna Butterfield. Their advice hub is filled with helpful monthly task lists, ideas for front garden makeovers, and tips on how to create a meadow lawn.
Anna and her south-east-based team recommend working a special seating area into any new garden design, but not necessarily by way of a traditional patio. Escapism is what they mean - somewhere quiet and secluded in which to “daydream…whilst taking in the sights and sounds of the garden”. They suggest using a simple wooden pergola in the middle of a lawn or away from the house to create an unusual and intimate seating area.
Garden Ninja Garden Design
Garden designer and TV presenter Lee Burkhill, aka Garden Ninja, is a great source of information on all things design. And he says that you don’t need a huge garden or lots of money to create something special. Amongst his top tips for gardening on a budget, Lee likes to repurpose old items like pallets, crates and tyres to create garden art. Another quick and easy way to brighten things up, he suggests painting your shed a bright colour to make it a special feature, and shares tips on how to fit a green roof to your shed, bin store or bike store to use all of your available space!
Are you a dog-lover like Lee? He says that chicken wire and tent pegs are a good way to secure a puppy. His full post on creating a dog-friendly garden is worth bookmarking if you’re hankering after some hounds.
Neil Sutcliffe Garden Designer
Over at Neil Sutcliffe’s Garden Designer, Nottingham-based YouTuber and professional designer Neil says that fire and water are two of the elements that really bring a garden to life. If you want to create a social space, he says that incorporating fire is a great way to draw people in and provide a mesmerising focal point. His tips on how to choose the right fire for the right space will make sure it looks equally good when lit or not.
If your garden is heavily overlooked and you’re after some privacy tips, Neil recommends building a pergola to disrupt the sight lines into your space. He says that adding a few hooks to the frame allows you to add a shade sail when you want a bit of extra cover, but then remove it through the winter or when you need a little more sun. Watch his video on 5 ways to create privacy for more interesting ideas.
The Garden Company
James Scott of The Garden Company shares seven secrets to creating a successful English country garden over on his blog. Framed views, secluded retreats, wildflower meadows and formal ponds are all important elements.
Based in London and the South East, many of James’s clients don’t have grand scales to play with, so his team also offers lots of design solutions for small gardens. In fact, James explains that even a courtyard garden can be spectacular provided you follow a few simple rules such as avoiding narrow borders around the edges and limiting your landscaping materials to less than three. His tips on outdoor kitchens are essential reading if this is something you’d like to incorporate into your own space. Pizza ovens are proving particularly popular with his clients.
So what’s stopping you? Get out there and design! And if you’ve already put together your dream garden, share your photos with us on Instagram or Facebook. We love to see your gardens!
Lead image: Shutterstock
