Designing and planning a gardening

When you begin planning a new garden its very easy to get really carried away with all the wonderful plants on offer out there. But a bit of simple planning will pay off in the end.
Many gardeners out there will have learned through trial and error that planning and hindsight are a wonderful thing!!

Whether you are starting out in a brand new garden or want to rearrange or maintain an established garden there are things you should consider before you hit the local nursery or consult with a designer. If your opting to hire a professional and paying them to do it these simply guidelines could save you time and money.
Run a small quiz by yourself and the other members of the household taking all occupants into consideration. Including the four legged and feathered varieties!

Things you should always take into account a

1. Who uses the garden and what for. Do you entertain in the garden, would you like a produce garden with a veggie patch or a simple low maintenace area to enjoy from the house.
   
2. Children, maybe you want an area for them to play. If you have small children you should consider the types of plants which would be suitable in a childrens garden. In Melbourne we have a childrens garden at the Royal Botanical Gardens which have some great ideas for kids gardens.
3. How much time do you want to spend in the garden maintaining it? This is something you need to consider carefully. If you are working parents with school age children chances are you spend a lot of time on weekends driving to cricket, or tennis lessons or music lessons, doing shopping etc leaving not a lot of time to maintain the garden ...take this into account.
   
4. When looking around the garden consider the climate in your area, the aspect of the garden and the views around the perimeter, try to make use of good and borrowed views and use larger plants to hid ugly views. Obviously if you have a view like this then you should make use of it!!!
5. Take into account what is growing on the other side of the fence in the garden next door, there is no point planting a young sappling next to a large established Eucalypt, it just won't work! Try to be a bit considerate too of your neighbours and what they have in their gardens.
   
6. Go to the library or search online for indigenous plants local to your area, these will grow happily and not require as much maintenance as something from a 2000 kilometers away! You can enquire at your local council for a list of locat plants .
7. Consider different themes if you want, and there are dozens out there. Here at my place, we wanted a rose garden but we also have children coming over and lots of pets. So.. the rose garden is out the front and is our pride and joy. It gives the entrance to our humble abode a bit of the WOW factor, in the backyard we have the veggies and chickens and fruit trees, and of course the dogs.
8. Colour schemes are a good way to simplify things, if you limit yourself to a particular colour scheme consider what plants come in which colours. Silver foliaged plants tend to be more drought tolerant than lush green plants. Many native plants have red and yellow flowers, while a lot of cottage type plants are in the cooler colours, so do your homework.
9. Good luck with your planning, there are many interesting and informative guides out there many of them local , I have today started a list of great references for garden design and other stuff so have a look at some of these. And let me know what you think!

Feed back is good!!