Mistakes in garden design cost effort and annoyance - all the better if you don't commit them. Learn how to avoid 10 common mistakes here.
You learn from mistakes, but unwise decisions are particularly annoying when it comes to garden design. No wonder - after all, the structure of the garden, the selection of hedge plants or the course of the garden paths can only be changed with a lot of effort once you have designed your garden. Many mistakes are only noticed a few years later when you realize how much extra work you have thanks to the unfortunate garden design. If you want to avoid this hassle, you should simply learn from the mistakes of others - we have summarized the most common missteps in garden design here for you.
10 common garden design mistakes
Mistakes can always happen - but in garden design they are particularly annoying because they are difficult to correct. But once you know which mistakes are particularly common when planning a garden, you can make sure you cleverly avoid them in your own garden.
1. Design without a plan
The sun is shining, the weather is good and the motivation for gardening is high. But anyone who carelessly grabs a spade is making the cardinal mistake of garden design: working without a plan. In fact, one regrets ill-considered conversions faster than one thinks, because in practice they prove to be cumbersome or cannot be integrated into the overall picture of the garden. Therefore, it always pays to act with caution. First take stock of your garden and ask yourself the following questions: Which areas should remain in the garden? Which corner do I want to redesign? And what wishes do I have for my garden?
Once you have a rough wish list, you can start sketching. The best way to work here is from big to small. For example, you first start by dividing the floor plan into different functional areas, then draw in large objects or beds and finally come to the placement of individual plants and furniture. Note thisalways also the local conditions: sunny and shady locations have a great influence on the choice of the right plants, but the solar radiation should also be taken into account when determining the seating areas. This also applies to existing water or electricity connections, so that they are easily accessible in the new garden.
Do you know the nature of your floor? In fact, many gardeners pay little attention to their soil, despite it being one of the most important factors in he althy plant growth. Even when landscaping (especially when choosing new plants), the soil condition is simply ignored - a serious mistake. If the needs of the plants do not match the soil conditions, it takes a lot of effort for the gardener to let his protégés thrive. A soil analysis can therefore be particularly useful when redesigning gardens. Once the soil type, composition and pH value are known, one can either use plants that can cope with these conditions or improve the soil in a targeted manner through fertilization or mechanical measures. This saves trouble and effort later in plant cultivation. If you want to upgrade barren soil and stimulate soil life, you can use a bio soil activator. This ensures more activity in the soil and enables the plants to absorb nutrients better.
3. Choosing unsuitable plants
First and foremost, of course, taste decides when it comes to choosing plants for your own garden. But here, too, it helps if you have a plan in place beforehand instead of just buying based on your gut feeling. If you want a garden that is as easy to care for as possible, other plants are suitable than in a design that is intended to correspond to the traditional cottage garden. In addition, design aspects must also be considered: Although flowering plants look particularly beautiful in spring and summer, if you only use them, the beds appear desolate and empty in autumn and winter. You should therefore always make sure to choose hardy leaf ornamental plants, so that the garden still looks great even in the cold season. Within the bed, differences in height between the individual plants and coordinated flower colors ensure a harmonious picture. With trees, on the other hand, care is required: Especially in small gardens, trees that have grown too big can become a massive problem- it is better to make sure when buying whether the tree has enough space in your home even when fully grown.
4. Underestimating the amount of workOne of the most common mistakes people make when designing a garden is overdoing it. A vegetable patch with a greenhouse, a rose garden and a trimmed hedge may sound great, but unfortunately they also mean a lot of work. The effort that one has to put into the care of the garden spoils one's enjoyment of it after a short time. Care is therefore required, especially when choosing the plants: a garden with many plants with different requirements, topiary trees and an English lawn needs a lot of care. On the other hand, you can create an easy-care garden if you rely on robust, native plants, minimize weed pressure with ground cover or sow an insect-friendly flower meadow like our Plantura beneficial insect magnet instead of a lawn. The careful planning of water and electrical connections also helps to save long walking distances and thus minimize working time.
5. Place garden paths wrong
Garden paths give the impression at first glance that they only serve to get from one point to another - for this reason they are usually put aside in garden design. In fact, they also have a design function that should not be neglected: small gardens can be optically enlarged with ingenious paths, in large gardens the path provides structure and cleverly divides the property into individual areas. But there are also practical aspects to consider when designing. Winding paths may look romantic, but in large gardens, they make for long walkways that become annoying in everyday gardening. Likewise, individual stepping stones or gravel are nice to look at, but can become a nuisance when working with the wheelbarrow.
Tip: Bark mulch is a decorative element for garden design. Anyone who relies on a natural pine bark mulch with a coarse structure - like our Plantura organic pine bark - does not beautify ornamental beds, paths etc. The mulch also protects the soil naturally from erosion, drying out and weed growth.
6. Don't plan seatsThe garden should primarily be a place of relaxation. The right choice and positioning of the garden furniture is all the more important - unfortunately this is often neglected.In particular, little attention is paid to the location of the individual seats, although it is of essential importance if you want to enjoy your garden to the fullest. If you are particularly looking forward to breakfast in the garden, you should choose a spot that is exposed to the morning sun. If, on the other hand, you prefer to sit in the midday sun in the garden, a place in the semi-shade or the possibility of attaching an awning are elementary if you do not want to suffer from heat stroke. You should also not forget the appropriate size of a seating area: A seating area for four to six people needs at least ten square meters and a well-paved floor so that nothing wobbles later. Finally, when choosing garden furniture, you should consider both practicality and comfort - furniture that requires constant maintenance is just as unsuitable for a relaxing day in the garden as a cast-iron bench that offers no seating comfort at all.
7. Select hedge plants inappropriate
Hedges are a great way to cleverly protect your garden from prying eyes and unwanted visitors, which is why they can be found in almost every garden. But there are a few things to consider when planting hedges - not every plant is suitable for every garden. The tree of life (Thuja), for example, is considered to be particularly robust and easy to care for, but does not tolerate full shade locations. If you plant the trees here in a row, they will never form an opaque hedge. The amount of work involved in hedges is often underestimated. Particularly fast-growing plants such as the privet (Ligustrum vulgare) need regular pruning to keep them looking tidy for years to come. If you don’t want to invest this time, you should look around for easy-care hedge plants or other privacy screens in advance. In addition, not every garden is suitable for a hedge. Hedges absorb light, especially in small gardens, and ensure that the property appears even narrower. Here you should rather rely on an airy privacy screen such as a fence. This can also be greened with climbing plants, which is also visually very appealing.
8. Use inferior materials
Remodeling a garden can be expensive fun. Especially offers from the discounter can then be all too tempting, after all they offer many things much cheaper than the garden dealer. But the avoidable bargains can quickly become expensive - often they arethey are made of inferior material and hardly last a season in the garden. The difference is enormous, especially when it comes to garden furniture: Cheap products often look weathered and old after the first rain showers if you don't always carefully cover them or even bring them into the apartment. Even with plants, stones or decorations, you quickly notice clear differences in durability and lifespan between the individual price categories. Here it is worth investing directly in high-quality products - otherwise you will quickly buy twice.
9. Chaotic mix of styles in the garden
In the past, there was a strict order in many gardens, but today mixes of styles and daring breaks in style are becoming increasingly popular. The composition of different elements of different design types offers a great opportunity to live out your creativity and is particularly suitable for gardeners who do not want to commit to a single style. But this freedom can only be enjoyed in moderation: if too many different styles are combined, the garden quickly looks restless and overloaded. Especially at the beginning it is advisable to stick to one style and only combine it with one or two elements from one style - this provides interesting contrasts without being overloaded.
10. Do not calculate costs
If you get ideas for your own garden design on the internet or in gardening magazines, you will quickly find some elements that should not be missing in the dream garden. Outdoor kitchens or large terraces with a sunbathing area may look fantastic, but they also have their pitfalls. In particular, the amount of work and costs involved in such dream projects is enormous and can quickly exceed the budget actually set aside. If you don't want a half-finished project to ruin the look of your garden, you should carefully consider the costs beforehand. However, not only the pure material costs, but also possible installation costs should be taken into account - a specialist is absolutely necessary, especially in the field of electrics. Other work steps such as paving or simple masonry work, on the other hand, can also be carried out well and inexpensively with the help of friends and thus make the garden dream come true.