Green haven for your home

Designing a garden is a combination of vision, expertise and a penchant for not letting mundane logistics discourage you. Surabhi Johri tells you how.

Great outdoor spaces are a reflection of one’s creativity, good taste and discipline. The most enjoyed garden is one that is meant to be used and not just looked at. It sooths a weary soul, and brings friends and family together. The hard work that goes into crafting personal, meaningful spaces becomes most rewarding if the planning is right.

The term garden is a commonly used word for outdoor space, but this should not restrict your imagination in considering any space that opens up to the sky and soaks in fresh air a garden. A backyard, courtyard, roof, balcony or acres of land, it can be anything. The dimension of such spaces should not discourage you from developing it.

The ones that are too big can be broken down and dealt with in smaller parcels, while the ones too small are always big enough to be made appealing.

It all begins with imagining what appeals to your soul. Close your eyes and let imagination be guided by your needs. Do this mental visualisation exercise with your family and speak out one by one.

I had an opportunity to participate in such a session while developing a concept for a garden at a rehabilitation centre in USA.

This garden was supposed to heal, enable and empower, recovering stroke and trauma patients. What came forth was a culmination of creative practicality and touches of whimsy in a space that appealed to patients and staff alike.

To take up any project, big or small, the lessons are the same. The goal is one — crafting an easy and functional outdoor space. Start with a scale plan of the area and a list of what you want from the space. Take inventory of existing features — which ones are for keeps and which ones have to go? From your wish list, identify the must-haves.

Think of ways the space can serve you both during the day and night. Expense is best justified when the garden is utilised. Treat the space as a plot on which many different rooms are built for different activities like relaxing, dining, meditation, cooking, play area, entertaining, orchard, vegetable garden, swimming pool, etc., and special features like fountains, pools, rockery, sculpture etc. Allocate optimum plus a little more square footage to these various functions in the order of priority.

Always keep the movement of the sun in mind. This is called spatial planning — the most relevant step of any garden job. You may wish to improve the functionality by adding night-time lighting arrangements or sprinkler system or speakers. Take such wishes into account too.

Judge your choices realistically. Smaller spaces must pick a theme and follow the discipline of choosing fewer but better pieces. There is little scope for flaws to get ignored or covered.

Your budget will guide you in material selection, breaking the project into smaller parts and deferring certain aspects for later time. The main expense is creating hardscape, i.e., construction-related jobs. A great design follows function and therefore it should never be compromised due to the daunting numbers. Only the material choices and timelines should be adjusted so that you stay within the budget.

Consulting a professional will help you avoid costly mistakes and might help you see the worth in something you rejected. Take small steps; better ideas may spring up or you may face an obstacle.

Baby steps allow room to accommodate both. Not everything has to be done at once. It should not be an expectation to go all out and install everything on paper. While deciding your budget, give priority to the foundation elements. After that come plants.

Plan future fixtures

In any outdoor job, plants are like the icing on the cake, but too often people plan backwards. Works like drainage, soil improvement, hardscape areas, rainwater harvesting, waterproofing, underground cables, pipeline for future gas supply (in case you want a kitchen), electrical points and water points should be addressed first. Postpone fixture installations but do make preparations for future installations.

When the foundations have been worked out and are in place, move on to the icing and the fun part, i.e., plant selection. Plan the planting locations in advance, colour-code it with suitable plant choices for a rhythmic and harmonious palette.

Discipline is important here because too many plant types without a sense of rhythm create more chaos than appeal. The systematic repetition of planting across the garden ties up the whole space and brings coherence.

Besides choosing the right type and right number, right size also needs attention. Practice discretion, as in know where money should be saved by purchasing a smaller plant and what deserves a mature piece. Allow some months for things to settle in; but you will start enjoying right away.

Outdoor spaces are long-term and labour-intensive investments. Proper planning, discipline and patience will continue to bring joy for decades to come.