When you decide to do something about the grounds of your villa, your courtyard or your roof garden, the first question that occupies you is probably this: “Right — so where do I start?”
Landscape design is a process well beyond buying a few plants and putting them in the ground. It is an investment in the value of your property and in the quality of your life, and if you do not know its principles it will bring regret, and a great deal of money spent doing the work twice.
In this practical piece from the Giallery blog we set out the road map and the step-by-step stages of starting a landscape design, in plain language, so that the route ahead is entirely clear to you.
Step one: set the budget and put your needs in order
Before you go near ideas, two things have to be settled: the budget, and what the space is for. Ask yourself what you mainly want this space to do.
- A place for family gatherings and barbecues?
- A quiet, calming place to rest in?
- Or a minimal space needing as little maintenance and gardening as possible?
The answer to that question fixes the design style — modern, classical, tropical or minimal — and the materials you will use.
Step two: separating the space, or zoning
One of the most important principles in modern landscaping is the separation of space. You have to decide what each part of the ground is responsible for.
An architect's trick
To separate a courtyard or a roof garden you do not need to build suffocating masonry walls. Setting large decorative planters — fibreglass or concrete — in a line gives you boundaries between the seating area and the beds that are invisible and still good to look at. It gives the space depth and makes it read as something more expensive.
Step three: choosing the base materials (hardscape)
Before a single plant arrives, the skeleton of the landscape — the hard elements — has to be built:
- Circulation routes (surfaced in thermowood, exposed concrete or natural stone)
- Drainage and waterproofing systems (particularly on roof gardens and balconies)
- Shades, gazebos or pergolas
Step four: choosing plants to suit the climate — and choosing what holds them
One of the commonest mistakes in landscaping is buying plants with no regard for the local weather. The bigger mistake is choosing the wrong planter.
For your planting to have a long life in the landscape:
- Climatic fit: in hot, dry regions use drought-resistant plants; in humid regions use broad-leaved ones.
- Use planters built to standard: as well as looking right, a planter has to work as thermal insulation for the root. Giallery's modern planters are designed to keep thermal shock off the root through hot summers and cold winters, and their drainage system keeps the root from rotting.
Step five: sound lighting, to bring the space alive at night
A landscape without proper lighting loses half of what it has. Lighting should be done in layers:
- Linear light (LED): to mark out paths and the edges of steps.
- Point light (spotlights): to pick out particular trees, or large decorative planters, in the dark.
The last step: choosing a professional design-and-build team
Landscape design is specialist, engineering work. If you want the result to look exactly like the modern, magazine-grade ideas you have in mind, the work has to go to people who know how to do it.
At Giallery we combine the art of decorative design, landscape work and our own production of high-end accessories and planters, and we take the project on from nothing to finished. From the first site visit and the three-dimensional plan through to supplying the plants and the final build, we are alongside you to make the thing you pictured.