Landscape design: subtleties of landscaping a site

Recently, people have been trying to spend as much time as possible in nature. Natural fabrics, natural food, vegetarianism and other trends of naturalness are in fashion. Having your own country house with a plot is the dream of any city dweller.

As in any room and in the adjoining space, everything must be properly arranged so that every square centimeter of the area is beneficial and contributes to a harmonious aesthetic appearance. A design direction such as landscape design can help here. Let's try to understand its basics.

Like any project, the improvement of a summer cottage must first be presented in the form of a plan: you can do it yourself or contact a specialist. Conveniently, if the landscaping project will be performed using a special program (for example, Realtime Landscaping Architect, Complete Landscape Designer 3), then you can easily make changes, create 3D projects.

If you have an empty plot, then when preparing a plan, you should take into account all the details of the future plot: places for buildings (house, garage, barn, toilet, greenhouse, bathhouse), gazebos, pool, vegetable garden, garden, paths, irrigation and lighting systems. If on your site there are already some buildings or plantings, then before developing the landscape design of the site, they must be transferred to the plan.

Before planning plantings, it is necessary to collect all information about the site and surrounding areas, climate, etc. It is important to find out the condition of the soil (degree of fertility, acidity), the location of groundwater. All these data play a decisive role when planting plants.

And now, all the preparatory work has been completed. Now let's get down to the design of the site. It is important to understand, as in any design, landscape design has its own laws and rules, non-observance of which will lead to a pile of unnecessary details and a lack of rational use of the area.

It is better to design the entire site in a single style.

Let's designate the main ones:

• English or landscape. When decorating, it should not be clearly noticeable that the site is well-groomed and planned, as if nature itself had created the composition. An even and clean lawn is imperative.

• French. Unlike the English style, French assumes complete symmetry and precision in the location of all objects, be it plants or buildings.

• Scandinavian. This style is characterized by a chaotic arrangement of objects, but still united by some harmony. Natural furniture (logs in the form of benches, wooden and wicker furniture), an abundance of plants, and the presence of a large number of stones are usually integral details in such a design.

• Russian estate. The main feature of this trend is a skillful combination of functionality and picturesqueness. Mandatory details in this design are beds and fruit and berry crops.

• Japanese, Chinese. Although these styles differ in detail, the general idea of ​​Asian philosophy allows them to be combined into one group. The characteristic features of such styles are naturalness, unity with nature, lack of symmetry.

To create a beautiful landscape design on the site, it is not necessary to take special courses and receive diplomas.

It will be enough if you consider the basic principles:

• The rule of the dominant states that in any project it is necessary to choose one main object, and the rest of the environment will play a complementary role in the background.
• Another condition for creating harmony is simplicity and conciseness. Do not overload small areas with a large number of parts.
• The principle of three or the law of the triangle. The number 3 is ideal for creating any composition: a flower bed divided into three unequal parts, the use of three flowers when planting plants, three sizes of trees - there can be a lot of examples. It is important here that the three parts should be different (ideally, if there is subordination to the golden ratio or in a 9/6/3 ratio).
• The color wheel will help you choose the color accents.
• And the square rule will allow you not to forget about the existence of four cardinal points: on the northern side of the site there should be shade-loving plants, the southern side is better suited for a recreation area and light-loving flowers.

As noted above, the choice of certain plants must be carried out taking into account many factors: the stylistic idea, climate, soil condition, moisture, shade or sunny side, the possibility of care and processing. For example, it is impossible to plant a cactus (a light-loving and unpretentious plant for watering), a violet (loves shade) and an orchid (loves warmth and humidity, but not direct sunlight) on the same territory.

It is possible to identify the groups of plants that are most often used in garden plots.

Deciduous barren trees, such as maple, ash, oak, are best planted where you want to create cozy shady places: along the edges of the site (they will hide you from the intrusive glances of neighbors), on the playground and in the recreation area near the gazebo. Fruit trees are planted in harvest gardens or also in a recreation area (pear, apple, plum). Conifers are the favorite heroes of many design compositions, they are unpretentious and easily fit into the landscape.

Shrubs should definitely be planted on the site, they grow much faster than trees, but the benefits from them are no less:

• Gastronomic and medical, for example, currants (white, black, red, pink), raspberries, gooseberries, honeysuckle, sea buckthorn, bird cherry, irga - just a small list of tasty and healthy berry bushes.
• Aesthetic. Blooming and deliciously smelling lilac, hydrangea, acacia, rose, jasmine will delight you from spring to autumn.
• Disguise. Lianas - maiden and wild grapes, ivy, clematis, with proper support in the form of trellises, will help to hide all technological nodes.

The variety of types of perennial and annual flowers allows you to arrange a flower bed of any color, shape, size:

1. Free flower beds - outwardly they do not have a clear border (although in fact it is) and form.
2. Flower beds in our usual sense: a piece of land or a certain container, planted with flowers.
3. Rabatka - rectangular flower beds, most often they are arranged along buildings and a fence.
4. Mixborder - from the name itself it follows that these are such beds imply a multi-species mixture of flowering plants. Often, the flowering period of plants in such beds is chosen in such a way that the flower bed will bloom all summer.
5. Curbs used to decorate paths and paths.
6. Alpine slide - one of the most favorite types of flower beds by all gardeners: a multi-level flower bed with various flowers, stones and artificial fountains are used as decorative elements.
7. Vertical flower beds suitable for small areas - plants are planted in pots attached to some kind of vertical surface.

Having decided on the types and number of plants, it is worth adding a dendrological plan (proposed planting sites for trees and shrubs), a schematic arrangement of paths and areas, a list with a list of all plants, a proposed plan for the location of flower beds and artificial reservoirs to the general design plan of the site.

Above, we discussed the stages of defining the concept of the site: a preliminary plan, the choice of a design style and the species composition of plants. In order to organize all this at the proper level, you need to go to the engineering design of the future improvement of the site.

This stage can include such types of work as:

1. Strengthening the coastline and slopes from landslides.
2. Elimination of unnecessary landings and buildings.
3. Formation of a new landscape (it is especially important if vertical design of the site with the rise and fall of some zones or when the site initially has a noticeable slope), while it is necessary to provide for and organize properly the flow of melt and rainwater.
4. Drainage of wetlands and irrigation of arid zones.
5. Measures to protect soil from wind and washout.
6. Formation of sites for buildings and paths.
7. Electrical preparatory work for new lighting, irrigation and watering systems.

There are a few other things to consider when starting your journey to a beautiful design project:

1. The feasibility of using certain materials and plants. For a temperate continental climate, in which most of our country is located, it is better to choose frost-resistant and unpretentious plants, and materials for decorating houses and other outbuildings must be resistant to temperature extremes.
2. The safety of structures and materials should not be in doubt, especially if there are children and animals on the site.
3. The time and frequency of your stay at the summer cottage, as well as the predisposition to earth and construction work.

Here are some examples for inspiration and proof that any piece of land can be made attractive.

The small adjoining area is elegantly and functionally decorated: a recreation area is provided, but at the same time there is a sufficient number of different types of plants.

And here is an example of a successful garden design (different geometric shapes of squares, rectangles, which are original in appearance and easy to operate).

Vertical zoning with a seating area and flower beds.

Non-trivial design of flower beds for lovers of flowering plants.

For the secrets of landscape design of a narrow suburban area, see the next video