What are your expectations of your future garden design?
After researching the sensations you’d like to find in your garden design, then determining the style or atmosphere you’d like to find in your outdoor landscaping , we’re now going to define your expectations with regard to the use of this future landscaping.
Take a blank sheet of paper and NOTE down your answers – this will help you later.
Your garden or terrace should be just like you and, above all, adapted to your needs and availability. How would you like it to be?
>Showcase garden: for the pleasure of the eye only.
>Fun garden: with games for children and adults: pétanque, darts….
>Pleasure garden: where you can have a good time (have a drink, eat, relax, garden, for yourself or to share (cuttings…)…
>Collection garden (roses, geraniums, tropical plants, bamboos, desert plants…)
>Food garden (vegetable garden, orchard, herbs…)
>Animal garden (short-stroke, dog, cat, aviary, birds and wildlife…)
An exterior can be conceived as a series of interlocking landscaped areas.
Depending on the space available, you can have different associated gardens. Even when designing a terrace, we can have several universes, with, for example, a planter of herbs in front of the kitchen window, a convivial space with a table and a few chairs, and finally a pretty fountain with a few fish and a murmur of water. The only constraint you need to keep in mind at all times is to limit the materials (3) and colors (3) so that the exterior design is both homogeneous and aesthetically pleasing. If you find it difficult to do so as it is, don’t hesitate to paint certain elements in the same color that are not: pots, furniture, decorative objects, candle holders, children’s games… these days, there are multi-substrate paints, so let’s make the most of them!
Next, you’ll want to define different areas: a relaxation area, a dining area, a play area, a vegetable garden, a swimming pool…
What landscaping elements would you like to see in your exterior: planters, driveway, low wall, palisade, pond, claustra, pergola, terrace, deck, gazebo…describe them on your sheet.
Are you absolutely determined to have a lawn or not? grass, water-efficient creeping plants, or synthetic (ideal for small surfaces and balconies)?
What elements of garden decoration would you like to keep or add to the existing: fountain, bench, statue, sculpture, bouda, planter, garden furniture, deckchair, other: ….
In which material: ….
Remember not to use too many different materials and colors, as this can make a mess of things. Also remember that your exterior design is an extension of your interior, so it’s a good idea to use identical colors and materials, to give an idea of the continuity of the space and make both look bigger.
Now that you’ve defined the different uses and spaces of your future outdoor layout, the next step is to define the space you want to create and its constraints.