Achievable ideas from Garden Planning & Garden Design
'What I like about this 'chunky' publication is that the two authors manage to get an impressive amount in a small space with planting plans, excellent photography and easy-to-follow text all working together in a cohesive way.'
Plenty of Gardening.co.uk members are interested in garden design and garden makeovers, but don't know where to start.
Some, such as Christina Gill and Karen Davis have recently moved house and are faced with starting a garden from scratch. Others, including John Duffy and Twiggy own yards, rather than gardens proper, and are looking for inspiration.
One book I would recommend for well-presented, inspirational projects that look achievable is Garden Planning & Garden Design by Peter Mchoy and Tessa Evelegh, published in 2006 by Lorenz Books. The jacket advertises '500 ideas & professional plans for fantastic, easy garden improvement', which certainly sounds enticing.
Achievable goals
What I like about this 'chunky' little publication is that the two authors manage to get an impressive amount in a small space with planting plans, excellent photography and easy-to-follow text all working together in a cohesive way. A host of garden types and themes are introduced that should be relevant to most gardeners, and then each of these is split up into individual areas that will need your attention and consideration.
Small garden
The overall theme of 'small garden', for instance, looks individually at what you can do with garden boundaries, utilities such as drains and washing lines, creating the illusion of space, basement gardens and installing focal points. There's also useful advice on making the most of walls and corners, the importance of basing your scheme on a simple design, and plant recommendations for the tight space you have available.
What to do with a yard
Like most books on garden design, this doesn't specificallly mention yards, but I used to garden in a yard myself and viewed it more as a small garden that was rather dark with high walls and had an awkward shape.
Like Twiggy, I included lots of pots and climbers to cover the rather dreary walls. My yard had a useful shed that I used to keep my bike in, and all my gardening paraphernalia. I painted the shed bright blue to brighten the place up and it really made a difference. This book also includes some good ideas for using colour in the garden, and some of the projects here could be adapted to suit the average yard.
This book covers a number of different types of garden in detail. Take your pick from family gardens; gardens to attract wildlife; Japanese, water and kitchen gardens; low-maintenance plots; patios, balconies and roof terraces; and still more.
Working with a plan
I'd recommend
Garden Planning & Garden Design because it's an easy (and inspirational) read, the photography's wonderful and it's very well structured. Also, if you're the kind that likes drawing and working to plans on paper, you'll find plenty to guide you here. There's a simple, corresponding key for each plan of what to plant and install where.
Value for money
At £14.99 for a hardback, I would say this is also well worth the money and far less expensive than many gardening-design books that fall in the £25-plus bracket, but don't offer as much. Many of these look wonderful, but the designs are unrealistic, or way beyond the budget, for many. And, plenty on so-called 'small gardens' seem to present gardens the size of small parks. My little 'yard' was a mere 16ft long, 10ft wide at one end and tapering to 6ft wide at the far end. That's a small garden!
Submit your garden makeovers
Good luck with all your new projects. I'm always on the lookout for descriptions and photographs of garden makeovers, including 'before' and 'after' shots, to publish on the site and in
Gardens Monthly magazine. If your makeover appears in the magazine you'll win a great gardening prize – currently a set of
Expert gardening books written by Dr Hessayon worth £149!
Please email me with your digital images. By snail mail, you can send your text and photographs to Sarah Brocklehurst, Magicalia Publishing Ltd, Berwick House, 8-10 Knoll Rise, Orpington, Kent, BR6 OEL. Or tell us about your garden on Forum and upload images to the Gallery.
denotes Subscriber-only content | Wednesday 23 July 2008 | Help | Glossary 
