10 common garden design mistakes

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.

It is well known that 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 Changing the course of the garden paths only takes 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 save yourself this trouble, 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 they are particularly annoying in garden design because they are difficult to correct. But once you know which mistakes are particularly common when planning a garden, you can make sure you avoid them in your own garden.

1. Create 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 do I want from my garden?

Once you have worked out a rough wish list, you can start sketching. The best way to work here is from big to small. For example, you start by dividing the floor plan into different functional areas, then draws in large objects or beds and finally comes to the placement of individual plants and Furniture. Always pay attention to the local conditions: sunny and shady locations have a major impact on the Choosing the right plants, but also when determining the seating areas, the sunlight should be taken into account will. This also applies to existing water or electricity connections, so that they are easily accessible in the new garden.

2. Ignore soil conditions

Do you know the nature of your soil? In fact, many gardeners pay little attention to their soil, despite it being one of the most important factors in healthy plant growth. Even when designing the garden (especially when choosing new plants), the soil conditions are 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 are cope with these conditions, or the soil specifically through fertilization or mechanical measures improve. This saves trouble and effort later in plant cultivation. If you want to upgrade barren soil and stimulate soil life, you can Organic soil activator use. 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 is decisive 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. Would you like one if possible? easy-care garden, for example, other plants are suitable than in a design that is traditional cottage garden should correspond. In addition, design aspects must also be taken into account: flowering plants do look beautiful in spring and summer particularly beautiful, but if you only use these, the beds will look desolate and desolate in autumn and winter empty. One should therefore always pay attention to that, too hardy foliage plants to choose 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, you need to be careful: Especially in small gardens, trees that have grown too big can become massive problem - it is better to make sure when you buy it that you have enough space for the tree when it is fully grown Has.

4. underestimate the amount of work

One of the most common mistakes when designing gardens 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. Caution is therefore required, especially when choosing plants: A garden with many plants with different requirements, topiary and English lawns require a lot of care. On the other hand, you can create a low-maintenance garden if you rely on robust, native plants that can withstand the pressure of weeds groundcover minimized or instead of lawn an insect-friendly flower meadow like ours Plantura beneficial insect magnet sow. The careful planning of water and electrical connections also helps to save long walking distances and thus minimize working hours.

5. Place garden paths wrong

At first glance, garden paths give the impression that they only serve to get from one point to another to get to others - for this reason they are usually the first to be used in garden design deferred. In fact, they also have a creative function that should not be neglected: Small Gardens can be optically enlarged through 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 a nuisance in day-to-day gardening. Likewise, individual stepping stones or gravel are nice to look at, but can become a nuisance when working with the wheelbarrow.

tip: A decorative element for garden design is bark mulch. Anyone who relies on a natural pine bark mulch with a coarse structure - like ours Plantura organic pine bark – does not embellish ornamental beds, paths, etc. The mulch also naturally protects the soil from erosion, drying out and weed growth.

6. Don't plan any seats

The garden should primarily be a place of relaxation. The right choice and positioning of the garden furniture is all the more important here - 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. After all, when choosing garden furniture, you should consider both practicality and comfort – furniture that is constantly that require care are just as unsuitable for a relaxing day in the garden as a cast-iron bench that offers no seating comfort whatsoever offers.

7. Select inappropriate hedge plants

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) is considered to be particularly robust and easy to care for, but does not tolerate full shade. 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. Especially fast-growing plants like the liguster (Ligustrum vulgare) need a regular cut to keep them looking neat for years to come. If you don't want to invest this time, you should look in advance easy-care hedge plants or look for another form of protection. In addition, not every garden is suitable for a hedge. Especially in small gardens hedges absorb light and ensure that the property appears even narrower. Here you should rather rely on an airy privacy screen such as a fence. You can also take this with you climbing plants green, which is also visually very appealing.

8. Use inferior materials

Completely remodeling a garden can be an expensive gamble. Offers from the discounter in particular 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 - they are often 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 like the first ones Rain showers look weathered and old if you don't always cover them carefully or even into the apartment get. 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

There used to be 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 types of design offers a great opportunity to express creativity and is particularly suitable for gardeners who do not commit themselves to a single style want. But this freedom can only be enjoyed in moderation: if too many different styles are combined, the garden quickly looks restless and overloaded. Especially in the beginning, it's a good idea to stick to one style and only one or two Combining elements from one style creates interesting contrasts, but doesn't work overloaded.

10. Don't calculate the 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 sunbathing areas 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 done with the help of friends can be done well and inexpensively and so the garden dream can still come true permit.