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       Assessing your requirements

       At first, the thought of tackling your garden properly may seem a daunting task, but this is where careful and considered planning comes in. Rather than rushing to sort out a small area of garden, and then deciding which bit to do next, it is much better to make one overall plan for the whole garden. After making a complete garden plan you can then gradually work through elements of it in your own time, and in a methodical way. This approach will also allow you to implement your garden design in separate stages. Not least, it will allow you to implement each stage as your budget allows. You can then plan for the expenditure required and fit your garden projects to your budget. Even if you only have a small budget available, there are still changes and improvements that you can make to any space.

       Enhance what you already have

      First, have a good look at your garden and decide what works, what you like that is already there and what you may be unhappy with.

      Overgrown areas: Depending on the variety, many overgrown trees or shrubs may be partially cut back and rejuvenated, retaining some height, maturity and privacy. Quite often wall shrubs and climbers may get out of control and fall out from the wall; cutting them back and tying them in is the answer here (see here). Large shrubs may have sprawled across a lawn and need removing or cutting back, too, and large trees could have their lower branches removed to allow more light and air into the garden; this is one job for a qualified expert.

      Hard landscaping: As hard landscaping is expensive, it’s worth looking at any existing paving to see if it could be retained. Old paving slabs may be pressure washed to make them look like new again, repointing can make a great difference, too. Paved areas could also have their shape changed by removing some slabs (for instance, taking out the corner slabs from a square or rectangular shape), perhaps replacing them with plants. Scrape away old, dirty gravel and replace it with new. If you have a large expanse of gravel or chippings, try planting evergreen shrubs or grasses to break up the expanse.

      Old fences: Old fences can sometimes be repaired, saving further expense, although old fence panels are best replaced. Fence panels are often made from poor quality, thin timber strips and just don’t last that long. Carefully remove them leaving the posts, which, if still stable, can carry a new closeboard style fence. Closeboard, or featheredge fencing, outlasts fence panels by years and creates a fence that I find more attractive, more robust and secure, and much easier to maintain than panels. A closeboard fence is also easy and simple to construct even if you only have basic DIY skills (see here).

       If you have a border that contains some mature shrubs, they can be cut back and rejuvenated if you want to keep them. It wouldn’t take long to get these shrubs back into shape, giving a much more coherent feel to the whole aspect.

       Developing your ideas

      If you have a generous budget to spend, you may wish at this stage to consider employing some professional help and advice. A good garden designer will be able to plan your garden to fit your needs, and money spent on this initially may save you making an expensive mistake in the future. Try to get a recommendation for a good garden designer from a friend or neighbour. Word of mouth based on personal experience is so much more useful than simply picking a business card pinned to the garden centre noticeboard.

      Costs can be minimized if you wish to engage the garden designer for an advisory visit only. But always be sure that you ask for an explanation of costs and that you know what to expect from any visit that may occur afterwards.

       Choosing a garden style

       Just as your own home will have a style of interior decoration, so your garden should have a particular style too. The look of a garden is partly influenced by where you live and the range of plants that will flourish in your climate. In England, a cottage garden style is very popular, whereas in Northern Australia obviously a tropical garden is more appropriate – but that’s not to say you can’t create a ‘tropical’ garden in a temperate climate or achieve a cottage garden style in Australia.

      Traditionally, houses and their gardens only used local materials, so gardens matched their houses and tended to sit comfortably within their locality. Nowadays, though, there are many strong influences both from other countries and from modern garden designers. At the same time, the range of plants that are available to buy has dramatically increased and construction materials have become more affordable and much more widely available.

      Whatever style of garden appeals to you, decide whether you would like to have a complete garden in that style, or just a part of it. If you use the design principal of ‘rooms’ in your garden, you could choose to include a few different styles. A Mediterranean style area, for example, would need to be in the hottest, driest and sunniest part of your garden, while you could have a tropical-style border in a sheltered spot, close to a patio or decking area. A wild area would be best situated at the bottom of your garden, as far away from the house as possible.

      Whatever your preference of garden style, like the inside of your house, the biggest influence on its character will be you. Be guided by the different approaches and design principles that are shown here and in other books and magazines, and don’t worry about making the odd mistake – even the most confident gardener does that.

      Graham Lucas

      Blue Aquilegia ‘Hensol Harebell’, double flowered buttercups (Ranunculus acris ‘Flore Pleno’) and the soft pink flowers of Pimpinella major ‘Rosea’ combine to evoke that romantic, cottage garden look.

       Cottage garden

      Even though modern gardens with shiny metal, glass and plastic have become features of many garden shows, the traditional cottage garden style is still very popular. It is certainly the most romantic, and also the most comfortable style to live with. The main element of this traditional style is its informal plantings, mixing together masses of perennials, especially spires of delphiniums, hollyhocks and verbascum together with annual flowers such as lavatera, sweet peas and marigolds and climbers like honeysuckle and jasmine and, of course, deliciously scented roses. Old clay pots and traditional garden furniture add to the charm of this style.

       Tropical garden

      Possibly the furthest away from the cottage garden is a tropical style garden. Even in a climate not especially associated with heat, a tropical style is surprisingly easy to achieve. However, it looks best in an urban situation and works very well with modern furniture and accessories. Tender plants such as bananas and cannas will require some extra care to overwinter them, but it is well worth the effort.

      The big impact for the tropical style comes from dramatic foliage. Large-leaved plants such as fatsia and paulownia work well with more architectural plants such as palms, bamboos and New Zealand flax. For flowers, fuchsias work really well, especially Fuchsia magellanica.

       Plants for a tropical-style garden

      Abutilon × hybridum (flowering maple)

      Arundinaria (bamboo)

      Brugmansia × Candida (angel’s trumpet)

      Canna (Indian shot plant)

      Eriobotrya japonica (loquat)

      Fatsia japonica (Japanese aralia)

      

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