What factors should be considered and questions asked before designing your garden.

If you have been looking out to your garden these summer holidays thinking to yourself that you would love to develop or give it an overhaul to get more enjoyment out of your garden, well, we can certainly help you in this area. This project comes with its own set of questions when working alongside one of our garden designers. Having the right garden design is vital to ensure that your garden will be an enjoyable experience that fits your lifestyle and create a beautiful addition to your home.

What style or theme should I have?
Choosing a style for your house depends on the atmosphere you want to create. You also need to ask yourself does it suit my home? Do some research. Also in terms of maintenance, is it realistic for yourself to maintain. It is much easier to start with hedging and then start slowly by bringing planting into your area instead of going full throttle and not being able to keep on top of it. Your garden designer will be able to make suggestions based on how you intend on using the space.

What's your budget?
It is really important to discuss costs based on your budget. Nobody likes to talk about it, but without setting this often, you can get through a project and realise it will cost a lot more than you thought. It’s easier to start small. Our garden designers will work within your budget and keep to that and talk more about it with you at your consult. It is about being open.

What foliage colours do I like?
One of the most important tips we can give you is to use colours and plants that you love. Lay it out at the start. Colour is normally the first thing that people notice about a garden. It’s what draws your eyes to certain plants and creates happiness for many. Warm colours such as orange, yellow and red bring energy and excitement to your area, whereas cool colours such as purple, violet and blue tend to be soothing and quiet. There are no rules around choosing the right foliage colours for you as long as you love it that's all that matters.

Ask yourself what type of environment do I live in?
Look at your soil first of all - is it clay or poor quality? Do I need to add nutrients and mulch to it? Check the aspect - am I north or south facing? Also knowing where the sun hits the ground will help you with what you decide to grow there.
For your site selection, you need to pick an area where the soil is nice and loose, rich and well-drained. Try to avoid low lying areas where the soil is consistently wet, and if this is the case then this will help you choose the right plants for the right spot based on the soil quality. This is where our garden designers know the right plants for different environments around New Zealand.

Do I need privacy?
What does this mean to you? It means something a little different for every person at every house. Do you want passers-by to stop peering in your lounge or do you want to create a divide and space between you and your neighbours? An obvious way of achieving all of this is to create a hedge, however, you also then need to make sure that it’s not going to mean that you're excluding light from the garden or the house.

Extensive research, books and garden shows will give you some great ideas before approaching our garden designers. Instead of thinking about the stuff that you want in your garden think about a space that you can’t wait to get to after a long day out. So before you meet with one of our garden designers jot down some ideas and answers to the above questions so we can all work together to create the perfect design and garden for you to enjoy year-round.

The Plant Store offers both onsite and remote garden design consultation services, which you can view here