Since a man started living in one place and started growing his own food, gardens are there. A garden may be kept for purely aesthetic purpose or for more practical purposes, like growing fruits and vegetables or other things. Complete look of a garden depends upon its designing. And the basic design of the garden depends upon its purpose, preparation, planning and planting.

Let us discuss the steps for a basic design of a garden.

The first and the most important step towards a better garden designing is preparation. Before you start designing a garden, you should spend some time for preparations, looking at the area where you want your garden to be. At this stage, you have to observe the pattern of shades and sunlight that cover your garden. Check the soil and take a note of all the details, like places where it is muddy and dry or potential areas of water run-off. Draw the current layout of the garden on a graph paper, using proper scale. Take a note of the location of current flower beds, walkways, patio, trees, bushes etc. This will help you to create your own image of the garden, using (or not) its existing features.

Designing of the garden largely depends upon its purpose. For instance, a cutting garden cannot be next to the patio. It should be in such area in the yard, where cut flowers can be seen from a distance. Then, if you want a vegetable garden, there should be pathways created between the plants to let you harvest them easily without spoiling the soil, or plants themselves. And if your garden is solely for the entertainment purpose, you should plan proper space for walking, seating, playing and lightening for the evening or weekends.

Other elements you need to consider while designing the garden are sunlight, soil and water supply. The beauty of the garden depends upon the growth of its plants, trees and flowers. The location of plants should be planned properly so that they could get their best to grow and bloom. You need to have in mind that different plants have different demands towards their growth. Some plants grow in the sun and some others need shade. Some plants, like Rose, need moist soil but do not like their roots to be submerged in waterlogged soil. Some plants like completely dry soil and full sunlight, like cacti. So you cannot place cacti next to lilies which need moist soil and shade. If you haven’t got proper knowledge of plants it would be advisable to do some research and check for the information on plants features and needs. Or simply ask a professional gardener for advice. That could spare you some time.

Also, in order to design the proper location of the plants, you have to consider their size and height. Taller plants should be placed in such ways that do not block the sunlight and the view of the smaller plants. Smaller plants look well in groups.

If you take care of all of these considerations while designing a garden, you will get a long lasting beautiful space around your house.