Do-it-yourself landscape design of a summer cottage

For many, a dacha is not only a place where tomatoes and cucumbers grow, it is a living corner where you want to come not to work in the beds, but to relax in nature. Well, since we love to spend time there, we must definitely develop a landscape design for a summer cottage and do everything with our own hands.

If you decide to seriously approach this issue and landscape design for you is not just a beautiful phrase, you must independently or with the help of specialists present the design of your personal plot. It doesn't matter how many hundred square meters the dacha takes - 20 or only 4, the first step in any case will be design.

The process is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. After all, you must carefully plan everything and create certain zones: for growing vegetables and fruit trees, a place for rest, flower beds, a playground, maybe an artificial reservoir or a mini-fountain, a bathhouse, a gazebo.

This is especially true for a small area where you need to design everything so that you can compactly accommodate the most necessary objects for you. Let's say you can completely do without a pool, but decide that an outdoor shower is simply necessary for you. It is possible that you will not have enough space for a separate gazebo, but you will definitely want to set aside a site for a small orchard.

Whichever direction you choose, you will be more comfortable and comfortable in the country if you yourself took part in arranging every corner of it, and before that you thought carefully about where and what would be located and what style to combine it with.

Regular style assumes one center, relative to which all other items are placed in a clear order. A distinctive feature of this direction is strict geometry. Flower beds are arranged symmetrically, lawns, trees and shrubs are neatly trimmed. The main elements are fountains and sculptures. All this requires not only considerable investments, but also space where all this can be harmoniously arranged, so this option is not suitable for everyone.

One of the natural, harmonious, pleasing to the eye styles can be called landscape. If you opted for it, you have every chance to experiment, show your imagination. You can place alpine slides and rockeries on your site. A small stream will fit into the big picture and won't take too much effort to create.

Easy to stick to and rustic style. A wooden fence, wicker furniture, a haystack, or a bundle of firewood are used as decoration. Despite the simplicity, there is also a place for fantasy to roam. You can build a flower bed in the form of a cart with daisies or cornflowers and even place a figure of a donkey or horse next to it. Baskets with flowers can be placed near the house.

If you want a more austere and restrained decor, choose the Japanese and Mediterranean style, where stone is the main material for creating compositions.And in fact, and in another case, you need to take care of a small reservoir. It will be a natural addition to your site.

If you want to add bright colors and unusual elements, choose an exotic or oriental design style. But in most cases, at a summer cottage, there is no need to adhere so strictly to a certain direction.

It is in your power to make the site cozy. If you are the owner of ten acres, then this space is quite enough to organize everything wisely, build all the necessary buildings, make beds, plant trees and equip a recreation area.

Schematically depict on a piece of paper where your vegetable garden will be located, what place you will allocate to fruit trees and shrubs, where you will place outbuildings, and where there will be a gazebo for tea drinking. But don't forget about the design elements - beautiful flower beds and maybe even garden figurines that will add personality to your site.

When planning, take into account your interests - are you going to do more vegetable growing or will you still use the dacha more often for recreation. Consider the composition of the soil, as well as where there is more shade, and where there is sunlight.

A summer house is, first of all, a corner of nature, where you can enjoy the fresh air, take a break from the bustle of the city. Therefore, everything here must grow, bloom and turn green. So most of the site must be allocated for landscaping.

Those who plan to be very active in homework will allocate most of it specifically for beds, greenhouses and shrubs. You need to make sure that there is enough light in that place, you also need to think about how you will ensure regular and timely watering of your future harvest. It will be more convenient if the water source is located next to the beds. A plastic wiring device for irrigation will come in handy. In this case, the area for the recreation area will be reduced. But nevertheless, you can arrange a flower bed, a small gazebo and place a bench with a table next to it.

And you can increase the recreation area by reducing the garden. You can plant a bed with strawberries, here you can place several raspberry bushes and a small flower bed. Plant greens in another place, and next to it a few more pieces of berries. Whatever you come up with, the main thing is that it is convenient for you first of all.

Vertical gardening will bring beauty and benefit to your summer cottage. With it, you can decorate a wall or fence, create a shadow in the gazebo or surround the bench with coolness with the help of greenery. For this purpose, grapes, hops, sweet peas are best suited. But clematis is considered the favorite in this area. The variety of shades and shapes of this plant allows you to choose what is right for you. It grows so well that its foliage can not only protect from sunlight, but also shelter from rain. You can place other plants next to it, they will look great at the same time.

Flowers are the main decoration of the dacha. They delight us with their colors from early spring to late autumn. And what could be more pleasant and exciting than making a flower bed with your own hands, choosing seeds, planting flowers. All this beauty with your own hands is not so difficult. If we settled on flower beds, we need to think about where they will be located, what shape and size they will be.

More often, annual plants are planted in the flowerbed, and less often perennials. In the country, regular flower beds are rarely used, on which you need to work carefully, to plant certain types of flowers in a strict order so as not to disturb the pattern.An irregular club does not require such scrupulous preparation, but it pleases the eye no less. Different types of flowers can coexist here, including those that bloom at different times.

Flower beds can be decorated in different ways, depending on the area of ​​the site and your desires. If you want to delimit space or make some accents, you can arrange rabatki or mixborders.

Rabatka - ribbon-shaped flower garden, which can be run, for example, along the garden path. More often, several types of plants are selected and planted in strips or in the form of geometric shapes.

In a mixborder, there can be many different species at the same time in any order, blooming at different times.

Borders of flowers are also used. They can protect any area, this will give a finished look to the composition.

Rockeries are becoming more and more popular. With the help of stones, small shrubs and flowers, you can create very beautiful compositions that will look natural and stylish. If possible, it is a good idea to put a small stream or even a waterfall there.

It is not necessary to create a front garden or a rose garden in the country. If there is not so much space, it is quite possible to plant flowers in containers or place pots near the house. They will not take up much space, but they will revive the local area. Moreover, absolutely any things can be used as containers, as your fantasy tells you.

Now many gardeners use perennials such as hosts on their plots. This plant has large beautiful leaves that look very impressive. You just need to consider that they love moisture and shade. You need to choose a place for them carefully, since the plant does not require transplanting for twenty years. And if you have chosen the right place, no special care is required. For many species, it is sufficient to receive two hours of sunshine a day.

Another decoration of the site will be a lawn. In order to properly equip it, you need to prepare well. First, we calculate the area to determine how much seeds and fertilizers we need. And, of course, we need a rake, a shovel, a seeder, a lawn mower, a rammer with a wide base.

We dig up the plot, fertilize, level well, compact. All this is done to keep the lawn perfectly level. Next, we distribute the seeds evenly over the site, preferably with a seeder. At the end of the work, the site must be covered with geotextile until the first shoots.

It is good if there is a place in the country for both fruit trees and decorative ones.

If we want to collect ripe tasty fruits and get vitamins, we need to take into account all the nuances. What kind of fruit trees to plant, you decide depending on your preferences, but when buying seedlings, be sure to specify what care is required for an apricot or a peach, an apple or a pear.

Coniferous trees will add a decorative component to the design of the site. This is the best option. In addition to the fact that these species are notable for their beauty, they will delight you with greenery in winter. From them you can create a hedge that will give you the desired shade in the heat.

Their assortment is amazing, but the most favorite among many are pine, spruce, thuja, juniper. If you are going to create compositions from thuja, study this tree well, since there are many of its types, one from another differs in size and shape of the crown. The choice will depend on what effect you want.

Some cannot imagine summer cottages without cucumbers and apple trees, while others seek to ennoble their summer cottage with the help of ornamental shrubs. And it is right.After all, nothing pleases us in spring and summer like greenery and the aroma of their flowers.

Now the choice of shrubs is very large. Barberry surprises with its color range. Depending on the variety, it can be green, yellow, purple, purple. Many people like mountain ash due to the fact that the leaves change color depending on the month. At first, the pinkish tint turns into green, and by autumn it becomes golden. Lilac gives a charming aroma, and the variety of species allows you to choose the one that suits you best.

Without exception, all gardeners want flowering shrubs to please the eye even in cold weather. Frost-resistant perennials include berry yew, sod, juniper, viburnum.

Fruit shrubs can not only be beneficial, but also become a decoration of the garden. A hedge of gooseberries, raspberries, currants will look good. Sea buckthorn and rose hips will look especially beneficial with their bright berries.

Since perennial plants will delight you for more than one year, you need to carefully choose the place where they will grow. Those who love shade cannot be placed in sunny glades, and those who need light have no place in the shade. Those for whom the wind is contraindicated should be protected by planting next to coniferous trees.

Now more and more you can find high metal or stone fences, even in summer cottages. Maybe they serve as reliable protection, but it is definitely impossible to say that they decorate the house. Meanwhile, there are many ways to protect your site in such a way that it fits into the overall style and becomes part of the design.

Everyone can build a wooden fencewho knows how to hold a hammer and a hacksaw in their hands. It is enough to show a little imagination, and your fence will become the highlight of your site. You can, for example, using bright colors, paint it in different colors.

If a picket fence is chosen, you can sharpen the upper parts and decorate. Such a funny fence made of "colored pencils" will look original. Concrete blocks can be decorated using textured plaster, resulting in a stone or masonry feel.

Nothing decorates a summer cottage like a hedge. When decorating it, trim the crown of shrubs and trees to get the desired shape. You can make a hedge from different trees and shrubs, depending on what height you need. If more than one and a half meters, thuja, juniper, spruce, cherry plum are suitable. For medium heights, use honeysuckle or lilac. If the function of the hedge is only to delimit zones, you can plant currants, barberry, boxwood.

The hedge decorated with climbing plants also looks very cute. It's easy to do, just plant any vines next to it.

Nowadays, fences are made of corrugated board more and more often. By themselves, they look boring. But you can also decorate them, for example, using airbrushing or using stencils. If you have artistic ability, you can draw pictures yourself. If you use special high-quality paints, the fence will serve you for a long time.

Above the arrangement of any reservoir in the country, be it a fountain, stream or pond, you will have to work hard. But if you study the theory well, then it is possible to put your knowledge into practice.

But first we need to find the place where our building will look harmonious. A good place - near the gazebo, terrace, in the back of the garden - where you can relax and admire the fruits of your labor.

The design of the reservoir should be combined with the overall style. If you have chosen Japanese, then stones of different sizes and conifers will become a decoration for your pond.

Choose a place for a reservoir so that the sun's rays fall on it for five to six hours a day.

The size depends on the area of ​​your site and how much space you occupy the rest of the buildings and plantings. If you plan to launch fish into a pond, its depth should be at least one and a half meters. You can simplify your task and buy a ready-made tank designed specifically for this purpose.

At the summer cottage, you can build a stream, but for this you will already need a pump. It is thanks to him that the artificial movement of water will be carried out. First you need to dig a ditch, compact the ground well, and then cover it with film or concrete. In addition, a groove is dug out where the hose will be located. You can purchase special equipment that is designed for the arrangement of reservoirs. This will simplify the task of building a pond or stream.

The final stage will be the design of the bottom and the coastal zone. At the bottom, you need to lay larger stones and small pebbles. You can also decorate the beach with stones and plant plants that love moisture. Ferns, incense, juniper, marsh iris will do.

No matter how much effort, time and money you invest in arranging your summer cottage, its design will not look complete without decorating garden paths. With them, the site looks well-groomed. In addition, they are needed for convenience, it does not matter what the path is made of - from simple squares of concrete or expensive paving slabs.

Paths made of natural stone look expensive and stylish. They will last a very long time. Warmth and homeliness emanates from the wooden paths. But in order for them to retain their appearance as long as possible, you need to cover them with varnish or special impregnation.

Brick paths will also look very harmonious, especially if you have a brick house. You need to use the sidewalk, and not the one that is intended for the construction of a dwelling.

Paving stones allow you to experiment and create patterns from them. Only you will have such a path. Gravel paths will look great in the depths of the garden, near ponds, flower beds.

It is not difficult to make concrete paths by purchasing slabs from this material in hardware stores.

The finishing touch of coziness, comfort and individuality of your site is lighting. Lanterns at the gates, at the entrance to the house and on the veranda are not only decoration, but functional lighting. It is more pleasant to walk along the garden paths if they are lit. The light by the pond will add some mystery to your garden at night. You can also experiment with lighting design, as with other design elements, and then you will be able to achieve the uniqueness of your little corner of paradise.

Festive lighting gives room for imagination. You can decorate trees, windows, figurines. These days, the garden can easily be turned into a magical forest.

You can decorate in an original and tasteful way not only a garden, but also a vegetable garden. At the same time, of course, it is important to correctly distribute where and what will grow.

Setting up a vegetable garden can captivate you no lessthan garden landscape design. After all, it is not necessary to dig up the usual boring beds to grow vegetables. There are many ways to make them beautiful and original.

Imagine the beds as geometric shapes. Cabbage will flaunt in the square, tomatoes will settle in triangles, and cucumbers will settle in rhombuses. Even caring for vegetables will be easier and more enjoyable.

The garden will sparkle with new colors if you plant flowers next to the vegetables around the perimeter - marigolds, nasturtium, marigolds. You can arrange low hedges with a height of no more than thirty centimeters, the effect will be simply amazing.

Even just painting the boards with which the beds are fenced is not difficult. And the colors - orange, blue, green, yellow - will create a mood for you.

You can plant vegetables in containers. Such mini-kitchen gardens will decorate your site. They can contain mint, parsley, rosemary, cumin, dill, strawberries, cherry tomatoes and small peppers. Guests will definitely appreciate your creative approach to decorating the garden.

As for the garden, in addition to its main decoration - trees and flowers, compositions from all kinds of materials in combination with a variety of plants can become a highlight. You can emphasize the pristine beauty of nature in your garden with the help of an artificial reservoir, alpine slide, rockery.

Don't be afraid to get down to business if you haven't done it before. Learn how to make a particular structure correctly, stock up on the necessary materials - and go! Everything will work out.

The garden is the perfect place to debut as a designer. Just keep in mind some of the nuances. For rockeries or alpine slides, prepare drainage. Pour gravel, broken brick, then sand and cover with soil to a depth of thirty centimeters. Only then proceed to laying stones and planting plants. This process is very exciting. It is good if the slide will stand the winter after laying, and in the spring you will start planting plants.

A gazebo or pergola will become a decoration of the garden. In the heat, you will hide in the shade with a glass of lemonade, and in the rain you will be happy to drink a cup of coffee here. You can also decorate these structures in different ways, using both vertical gardening and flowers in pots. Flower beds will look harmonious near the gazebo.

Avid summer residents usually do not throw anything away. It would seem that old unnecessary items are not clear why they are gathering dust in boxes in attics. But it is only at first glance that they are useless. You can make original crafts from them, the main thing is to use a little imagination.

By the way, this decor is considered a current trend today. So carefully study what is in your closets and chests and get down to business.

For example, old bicycles can be great flower stands. It is necessary to strengthen the structure well and place pots, flowerpots, baskets on it. When it all starts to grow and bloom, you will appreciate the beauty of this composition.

By the same principle, you can build a small well from planks or logs and plant flowers inside. Here's another original design solution for a flower bed. For crafts, the most unexpected things can come in handy: old furniture, rusty dishes, plastic bottles, car tires, barrels, tubs.

So do not throw anything away if you decide to start designing a summer cottage. At the most unexpected moment, any thing can be used. Who knows what you will want to craft next time: a lumberjack from cans or wooden ducks in brightly colored shoes?

The most unexpected objects can be used as flower beds: old dressers, buckets, chairs and even shoes. And if you have stumps on the site, you are lucky. This is an original solution for flower beds. Inside the stump, you need to place a flower pot, cover the ground and plant the plants. The composition looks original and nice.

On the trees, we can place hand-made birdhouses, paint them to our liking, and even a simple feeder for squirrels.

There are a lot of examples of sites where the original design was used. But if you don't feel like repeating yourself, come up with something of your own. After all, every novice gardener who is interested in design seriously wants his ideas to be exclusive.

Such an interesting solution looks great. You just need to make a wooden door, or rather, decorate an old one, place a bench next to it, plant flowers, add a few stones. And it seems that a fabulous gnome has settled in your dacha behind the fabulous door.

And here is a wonderful veranda full of flowers. Wicker furniture, tablecloths, vases, wooden floor - all this breathes with such coziness and warmth.

Is it difficult to build such a small bridge and a pond? And what a wonderful corner it turned out surrounded by flowers and trees!

You can decorate the courtyard so that your guests feel like they are in the village. So the old samovar, the trough, came in handy. It remains to build a wattle-bench and complement the composition with flowers and plants.

But the successful design of the beds. Such a garden looks much more attractive than a traditional and boring one. And it is more pleasant to work on it, and it pleases the eye. It remains to add two or three strokes, and a beautiful corner has been created at your summer cottage.

So a summer cottage can be arranged using expensive materials, and you can get by with improvised means. In any case, it will be beautiful, it all depends on your skill and desire to make your territory unique.

For information on how to create a fabulous landscape with your own hands, see the next video.