Having a beautiful garden can result in an amazing addition to your home that can both add value as well as create an outdoor environment that is both relaxing and functional for you and your guests.
Discovering some new and amazing garden design ideas can be tough: there are often so many ideas that it can be hard to pick which ones would work for your space.
We have narrowed the many garden design ideas out there down to 5 general ideas you can apply to your garden in any way you choose.
If you’re thinking of redesigning your garden, keep reading to see our top 5 garden design ideas that will definitely help you bring some new life into your garden.
Plan your plants well
This might seem obvious, but plants are one of the biggest parts of your garden, so it makes sense that they’re also one of the most important parts of your garden design!
Let’s break down the garden design ideas we have about plants into four separate parts.
Type
There are thousands of different plants you can choose from, but there’s no doubt that you’ll want variety.
Most garden design ideas propose a combination of more structural shrubby perennial species interspersed with herbaceous perennials. This will give your garden a balanced feel.
Besides structure, you should balance out the size of your plants. Imagine a garden with only huge shrubs and you don`t necessarily have to have all the large species at the rear of a border.
Aim for various sizes and textures shaped plants including small shrubs, larger trees, short billowing species with spire species such as Foxgloves and Delphiniums.
Also, think about how much time and effort you want to put into your garden.
If you don’t want to constantly maintain your plants, you’ll have to go for some low-maintenance varieties. If you’re up for a challenge, go for something more challenging.
Colour
Depending on your style and design choice, you could do a monochromatic look with all greens or yellows, you could pick one or two colours that complement each other, or you could have a variety of colours!
There are so many ways you can go with colour, and it all depends on your own personal style. Once you decide what look you want for your garden, that’s when you can decide on the colours and plants you will utilise.
When choosing what colours to use, think about where the plants will be placed.
Some contrast between pathways and your plants will provide structure and a more organised feel. For example, darker path materials look great with darker, richer colours like red and blood orange.
Season
No matter how great it would be to live in an eternal summer, that’s not how the world works.
While a lot of plants flower or bloom in the spring and summer, you don’t want your garden to look dead and dull during the late summer and winter.
Try to include some plants that are in their prime during the “off” seasons so that you’ll have some all year round interest.
Landscaping
Don’t forget that your lawn counts as a plant! Keeping your lawn maintained will make your garden look professional and well defined.
Lining your pathways with short flowers or herbs can add a nice touch.
One of the more unique garden design ideas is actually ditching the “lawn” altogether: fill in the spaces with foliage, water installations, stones, and paths.
Using the natural landscape of your garden can also add some great design elements.
Think about your surroundings and how you can blend your garden with the natural environment around you whether that is using naturally occurring plants, matching the colours, maintaining a more undulating landscape, or involving some sort of water feature.
Find Fabulous Furniture
As with the plants, we are going to break down our garden design ideas for furniture into separate categories: functional furniture and décor.
Functional
While plants are a large and important part of a garden, you want to be able to sit and enjoy your garden! That’s where furniture comes in.
Allow for enough seating to accommodate you and a couple of other people. If you have a bigger family or often have many guests over, you should be able to seat everyone comfortably!
The placement of your furniture can have a big impact on the look and feel of your garden.
Putting benches or seats at the end of a path or near the rear of your garden can make your garden look bigger and more spacious. The views from this position can also be quite unexpected.
Try surrounding some chairs or a table with plants to really give that seat the feel of being surrounded by nature and bring the plants in to your peripheral vison.
The material of the furniture you choose can also contribute some wonderful design elements to your garden.
For a more natural feel, try driftwood benches and wooden furniture. For something a bit more modern, you could try some metallic tables and chairs. And for a more casual theme, wicker is a classic option.
Décor
Having the right décor can make or break a garden design.
You don’t want to have a million things scattered around: that can look disorganised. But a couple of well-placed items can really complete your garden’s look.
When placing décor ornaments, try to scatter them throughout the garden and integrate them so they blend well with the plants and walkways.
A randomly placed ornament in the middle of your garden won’t look as good as ones that are thoughtfully assorted throughout the space.
When decorating, many great garden design ideas integrate multiple senses into the outdoor experience. If you want to enjoy your garden all day and into the night, lighting can also be a great addition to your garden design.
You could install lights along your paths or hang up fairy lights to create a great night time look.
Pick a theme
With all of the amazing garden design ideas out there, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with all of your options.
Not only that, but you could accidentally choose items and designs that aren’t cohesive.
For example, “harder” concrete landscaping and certain wild hard to control plants are both great and interesting design choices separately, but they might not fit too well together.
So to make it easy on yourself, you can pick a certain theme for your garden to have. This will do a couple of important things in terms of garden design.
First of all, this will make it easier for you to narrow down what type of furniture you want, how you want to design the landscape and lawn, what type of plants you install, the colour scheme, et cetera.
Choosing a theme will also give your garden a cohesive, professional and well-put-together look.
Let’s look at some examples of themes and what garden design ideas you can use to create them.
Contemporary
Contemporary gardens often focus on a more minimalist design with few colours (usually white and green), structured design, and great lighting.
For furniture, many contemporary gardens use natural materials to contrast the structure of the garden itself, like wooden chairs or benches.
Traditional English Garden
If you want a more classic style garden, then this might be the theme for you.
Start off with some box lined paths, some contrasting plant colours, and some structured hedges.
From there, you can have areas that are less structured by using a more naturalistic style.
Tropical
A tropical theme can be unique and exciting!
It’s all about the plants with this theme: various types of ferns, palm trees, tropical flowers, and even bamboo can grow perfectly well in the UK.
Combine those plants with a bright colour scheme, and you’ll feel like you’re on holiday every time you step outside!
Seaside gardens
For this theme, try using design elements like rope fencing, driftwood, wooden plank pathways, and decorative seaside grasses.
Combine these decorative items with a blue and white colour scheme and perhaps some seashells in your walkway, and your garden will look like it belongs next to the sea.
Mediterranean
Using red, orange and yellow tones within your garden can really help bring a Mediterranean feel.
You can also use herbs like rosemary to line your pathways, which will add a Tuscan feel and a nice aroma as well.
Mosaics, whether as part of a pathway or even in a water installation, are also a common design element in Mediterranean themed areas.
Garden design ideas depend on the space you have.
Obviously, not everyone has the same amount of space in their garden; that can certainly have an effect on what garden design ideas you can implement.
If you have a large amount of space, try not to go overboard with stuff. Often, a simpler and more organised garden will look better than a chaotic one with every square inch covered.
Proportions are something to take note of if you have a larger space. Smaller pots, plants, and flower beds can still be used, but proportionally it might look strange if that’s all you use.
Fill some space by using large flower pots or urns, and perhaps some colourful containers as well.
If you have a smaller area to work with, don’t worry! There are a few simple things you can do to make your garden appear to be more spacious while also making it look great.
One tip we already suggested was placing furniture at the end of the garden or walkway. This gives the illusion of more space.
You can also try adding mirrors to the garden. This will trick any viewer into thinking there is more space in the garden.
Another key aspect to a smaller garden space are the boundaries you have, whether those are fences, walls or hedges. In small gardens, these will be quite prominent, so make sure they look good!
Paint your fences different colours, or face the fence with another material such as split bamboo on a roll.
Climbers on fences or walls will really integrate those boundaries into your garden, making it feel cohesive.
As with a large space, be wary of proportions in a smaller garden. Having a single, huge container will be unlikely to look as good in a small garden compared to more appropriately sized ones.
Take a risk!
Some of the best garden design ideas are ones that aren’t used very often, are brand new, or are way outside the box.
Why not try something completely different and new?
You could find an interesting sculpture at a reclamation yard.
What about using a bright, exciting colour scheme? Hot pinks and lime greens might be intense, but they could be the unique touch you’ve been looking for!
In terms of plants, you could put in a fruit tree. While they might take a while to produce fruit, it could be a fun and interesting addition to your garden that would benefit you for years to come.
There are a million different ways you can go when you decide to take a risk with your garden design. It’s time to get creative and put your own personal touch into your garden!
Summary
Finding the best garden design ideas can be tough, especially considering that there are so many out there.
From furniture to plants to colour schemes, you have a lot to think about. But what it all comes down to is your own personal style and what you want out of your garden.
We have been creating beautiful gardens for decades; hopefully our advice can help you create the garden you’ve always desired.
If you have any more questions or want help redesigning your garden, feel free to contact us!