Making a garden plot: the secrets of arrangement with affordable means

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No one will deny that the best place to stay is a country house with a landscaped plot. And decorating a summer cottage with your own hands in the spirit of landscape design is an exciting activity for those who love work in the country..

To decorate your summer cottage, it is not at all necessary to purchase expensive garden decor.

One way or another, the land is constantly producing something, and it is worth letting everything go by itself – it will take a long time to fight with weeds, and the appearance of the site will not bring the expected joy. Using expert advice on how to decorate a garden plot, it is easy to achieve the best result at the lowest cost..

General recommendations for the design of a summer cottage

Since they came up with the general principles of landscape design, the initiators and home craftsmen have proposed new original ideas for decorating a garden plot with their own hands. It’s no secret that a lot can be done on a personal plot from scrap materials, using:

identical plastic bottles;
flat cuts of trees;
old stumps;
remnants of bricks;
trimming of metal and boards;
burlap soaked in cement mortar, etc..

You can make an original garden sculpture from a plastic bottle

There are simply no boundaries for fantasy

Agree, to create real masterpieces, you will need the same materials and tools as for the construction of an ordinary gazebo or bench. To create something special on the playground, in the yard or in the garden, you will need:

good idea;
detailed instructions or technique;
a little patience and free time.

Connect the two pallets, cut out the outermost board and secure the third pallet as a backrest – the original chaise longue is ready! It remains to cover the wood with a protective compound

For a high-quality improvement, it is recommended to contact a specialist who will help guide the light to any point on the site, punch a well or build a sauna. But to bring “to mind” so that all objects are perceived as a whole is the task of the owners of the dacha. If you really don’t have any skills at all, you can order a single plan-scheme from a landscape designer, which takes into account all the wishes of the customer. An alternative is to develop it yourself, using special programs for decorating the site with your own hands, the sample is in the photo.

The plan should note the existing buildings, the location of the paths and the placement of trees, shrubs and flower beds.

Advice. To make the backyard area look aesthetically pleasing and harmonious, adhere to the general stylistic solution.

Garden composition in Provence style

Agree, it’s ridiculous to make a country-style lawn in different places with flower beds in trolleys, next to it is something that does not conform to the rural stylist. For example, near the fabulous Russian house for a child to make a Scandinavian-style troll house, and then a Japanese rock garden and a bathhouse in the style of an Asian pagoda. Such “evil” eclecticism is inappropriate. It is advisable to complete all buildings in a single style solution:

garden;
awnings and sun canopies;
open hearth (oven, barbecue or barbecue);
cobbled alleys and lighted paths;
auxiliary buildings;
landscaping (cascading flower beds, rabatki, hedges, flower beds);
homemade pond (pond, pool or fountain);
practical places to relax (benches, gazebos, garden swings).

Garden decoration in oriental style – an abundance of stones and pebbles, interesting combinations of conifers and deciduous plants

If a lot has already been built, and there is no goal of adhering to a single style, you can visually generalize all objects using a common garden decor and painting in uniform colors. Garden trellises, partitions, forging gazebos and white garden furniture look very noble..

There are always old tires to paint and make bright garden sculptures

The cottage can be revived with the help of bright colors and spectacular decor from scrap materials. It is not necessary to redo and repaint everything. But take a critical look at what you would like to change for a long time – benches, fences and fences, gates or wickets. Any design should not be at the expense of comfortable rest.

Where to start transforming a summer cottage?

Don’t get started without a well thought out plan. It can be a sketch or a diagram, it is important to decide on the main objects.

A garden plot diagram can be drawn on a piece of paper.

It is better to divide the entire section into zones, which should be separated by barriers, but well-designed walkways and paths should lead to them..

1.	Outdoor cooking area.	On the site in the yard or in the garden. This is a grill (barbecue), barbecue, Russian stove or a cobbled fireplace with a spit. Away from trees and dead wood, should not get sparks from fire.
2.	A place for lunch and dinner in the open air.	Equipped with garden furniture. This is a gazebo, a covered terrace or an open veranda, a platform under a canopy or canopy made of polycarbonate, slate.
3.	Plumbing, sewerage, drainage, well.	Provide circulation and supply of water to the point of cooking, outdoor washbasin, pool, well-organized irrigation system for the entire site, it is important to consider drainage.
4.	Artificial reservoirs.	The choice depends on the size of the plot, access to the water supply (well) and the needs of the owners – an inflatable (children’s), mobile or stationary pool, a pond fountain, a waterfall, a cascade, etc..
5.	Bathhouse, summer shower.	The scale of construction depends on the seasonality, it is better to have a capital structure with waterproofing, firebox, drainage and insulation (all-season use).
6.	Toilet.	It is better to have 2 points – an internal toilet in the house and an external (street) toilet. It is convenient to equip with a septic tank so that waste does not fall into groundwater, the smell is removed with special neutralizers poured into the hole.
7.	Summer vacation spots.	Swings, benches, gazebos, awnings with upholstered or garden furniture. Better to do in the back of the garden, along the paths, under flower arches, in front of green spaces and flower beds, on the lawn.
eight.	Garden	Many abandon traditional cultivation in favor of ornamental beds and a cultivated landscaped garden.
nine.	Green spaces	Decorative flower arrangements of various types, hedges, flower beds, gazebos, arches.
ten.	Garden alleys, paths, trails.	An essential element for combining all objects, their lack is felt after the rain.
eleven.	Playground.	Sandbox under a canopy – the base, additions – chambers and tents, cars and rockets, sports obstacle courses, hemp and fences with decor.

The playground should be located on level ground and clearly visible

Having distributed the main objects, they plan landscaping, and not vice versa. It is difficult to replant trees and shrubs, large costs will be spent on the transfer of finished buildings. But it makes sense to remove a shed or cellar, which is morally obsolete, in order to move it to an extension to the house. It is important to think over where the seedlings will be grown and where to put the greenhouse, if it is needed at all..

A site with a slope must be strengthened with terraces, equipped with steps, bars and cascading galleries made of brick and stone. The masonry can be left “wild” or decorated with cladding. Wood scraps can also be used, but they will not last long..

A retaining wall made of stone will last for many decades

When organizing places of leisure, all the wishes of family members are taken into account. The playground is located in such a place in the garden, which is clearly visible from the yard and the windows of the dacha. And the decoration of the garden area with flowers, figurines and decor is secondary..

Important! Decide in advance which type of garden is closer to you – landscape, regular or wild.

With regular design, the priority is the geometric shapes of the main elements and flower beds, in preference a pool and a fountain. Everything is ordered and arranged compositionally.

Crisp lines and strong compositions
When decorating landscape compositions, natural forms are in priority, natural relief, curvilinear forms are played up, you can make a small pond.

Landscaping in Japanese style
Wild or Moorish style looks like an abandoned garden or wilderness, where a porch leads. Registration is appropriate if the site faces a lake or river. Then the most “cultivated” is the courtyard with a lawn and flower mixborders.

Abundance of vegetation and necessarily a pond or fountain

Advice. Do not forget about the design of the vertical space of the summer cottage when decorating the site – walls and fences, vertical gardening, hanging flower beds. All elements, regardless of the chosen style, should be in harmony, but do not forget about practicality and ease of maintenance..

The garden begins with a gate

Landscaping of the suburban area

Not all summer residents and amateur gardeners delve into the intricacies of growing flowers. Beautiful flower beds are years of effort and a decent investment..

Advice. If you do not know the secrets of professionals, try to decorate most of the garden with perennials. This is the best option and the proportion of those who visit the country only on summer vacation and on weekends, without having enough time to leave..

Tall perennials bring personality to any garden style

Use literature, magazines, photo examples and all kinds of garden ideas on how to decorate the site beautifully, adjusted for your capabilities. Another tip is to apply the principle of seasonality to make the cottage pleasing to the eye all year round. Throughout the warm season, something should bloom in the garden, and in winter the site will be decorated with coniferous plantations and rock gardens with stones.

In early spring, decorative crocuses and wild hyacinths, tulips and daffodils will delight. And in late autumn, until the very frost, chrysanthemums will bloom. The rest of the spring-summer flowers are selected according to personal preference. And try to exchange surplus bulbs, rhizomes and seeds to exchange with other summer residents and gardeners – so gardening is much cheaper.

Chrysanthemums bloom at fairly low temperatures and low light

In addition to green lawns, ground cover plants and hedges, the garden will be decorated with the following types of flower beds:

Rabatki – a narrow uniform flower strip along the foundation of a building, path, fence or fence.
Flowerbeds (geometric and freeform), consist of several types of plants, perennial or annual, where the higher ones are located in the center. Self-renewing flower beds are developed taking into account the seasonal principle – while autumn perennials and spring bulbs are sleeping, thermophilic annuals are blooming.
Rockeries and alpine slides are a spectacular combination of stones and plants of contrasting shapes. They are planted directly next to a cozy courtyard or to decorate a remote corner of the garden set aside for relaxation. They are equipped on a slope or flat area, complementing the flowers with low-growing conifers of dwarf forms.
Mixborders are a mixture of colors of the same season and size. Their charm is in variegation and variety, although such flower beds look a little careless. Suitable for “wild” gardens, landscaping remote areas or to visually separate the yard and vegetable garden.
Solitary plantations – small flowering shrubs, perennials with large flowers, planted to decorate a lawn or unoccupied area. A group of daylilies, large dahlias, cannes, hosts or yuccas in a row, selective irises and terry peonies look good.
Rosaries, collections of tulips and selective daffodils, and other group plantings are undoubtedly one of the best seasonal garden decorations. They can also be planted in the form of a cascade flower bed. This is an excellent solution for those who are fond of growing a certain type of flowers, but do not know how to decorate their summer cottage beautifully..
Vertical gardening is easiest to accomplish with climbing or climbing plants. Dutch breeders annually offer new large flowers and terry forms of the usual garden pets. Evergreen hardy ivy, ornamental curly beans, red wild grapes and ornamental pumpkin shapes can also be used for these purposes. They will cover an old fence or an unsightly-looking outbuilding. Lightweight structures entwined with climbing plants are a popular way to quickly decorate garden plots..

Plants climbing on trellises allow you to quickly and radically change the design of the garden

A light gazebo made of steel rods, a wooden rabatka, a wrought-iron gazebo or a row of arches along the path literally over the season will grow overgrown with decorative grapes, clematis or climbing roses. Mesh-netting on concrete columns, steel arcs or structures made of scraps of plastic pipes are also used as support materials. They even grow strawberries and seedlings..

How to plant trees and shrubs with maximum benefit?

If the dacha is already many years old, it is probably worth revising the trees and shrubs. Fruit trees are a priority, but they need to be pruned and cultivated by removing the infertile wen branches. Currants and gooseberries can be planted separately in the front garden or decorated with an alley.

The trunk circle of a fruit tree can be arranged in the form of a flower bed

Older trees can enhance the overall look of your garden or make an unpleasant impression. In addition, they create additional deciduous mass in the fall. The only plus is natural shading. If it is decided to leave a single old tree, it can be used profitably by equipping a bench or swing in its shade. A circular flower bed with sides around its trunk will add beauty.

Among the decorative forms of shrubs today, catalogs contain a lot of interesting proposals, distinguished by abundant flowering and fruiting. When deciding what to buy for decorating a plot in the country, do not forget about the traditional lilac bushes of different shades for spring, and garden rowan and viburnum will delight you with scarlet bunches in late autumn.

Lilac looks great both as an individual plant and as a group

Conifers and shrubs will not please with fruits, but in winter they will remain the only decoration of the garden plot. Breeders have adapted to our climatic conditions many conifers that were previously considered southern – thuja, cypress, pine with long needles.

Among all the variety offered in the catalogs, you can choose different forms of conifers:

horizontal;
spherical;
spiral;
weeping.

Any composition can be collected from conifers.

The shade of the needles also varies – yellow, light green, blue, dark green, reddish and bright green forms.

Green thorns can also be used as hedges and visual site dividers.

Paving the site: playgrounds and garden alleys

Well-planned paths are not only beautiful but also practical:

unite summer cottages;
simplify movement around the backyard territory;
complement the landscape design.

A step-by-step path is the easiest option for a garden path

The owners of the summer cottage decide for themselves how many percent to allocate for a garden, beds, a cozy courtyard with a dining area, flower beds and lawns. In the courtyard and in the parking lot of personal vehicles, you cannot do without a paved area.

Asphalt is convenient, but its laying is often difficult to organize on your site. Concreting is a good alternative, but today it is being replaced by paving slabs, which you can easily purchase in the required quantity or make yourself. She spreads the courtyard and garden paths.

Budget option – casting concrete tiles

Garden alleys can be laid out in different ways:

monolithic;
fragments of the same size (it is possible with the sowing of small grass between the blocks);
in bulk (a mixture of sand and gravel, granite chips, expanded clay, granulated slag).

An original combination of stone and pebbles

Garden paths can be simply tamped down with gravel and sprinkled with sand if used temporarily. Paved paths are more reliable, they will not be washed away by a downpour, they will last for many years. Decorative paths can be paved with sea pebbles, thin wood cuts, natural stone, brick or paving slabs. It is important that they do not crumble, are not slippery after rain and the first frost..

A track made of saw cuts will last longer if you saturate them with a protective compound and put them on the drainage layer of rubble

Complement the stylish and well-groomed garden with garden decor and park sculptures, you can even use a “dry” fountain. The ennobled territory is a joy for its owners, a delight for guests and casual visitors. More examples for decorating a garden plot – in the photo.

Expert opinion Alina Kvileva.