What Every Garden Should Have

I can’t stress enough that every family and every garden is different. But there are some qualities that I feel every garden should have. Here’s my list of must-have garden features.

I’ll wager that when you read the title of this blog you expected to find a list of ‘things’ that every garden should have.  Perhaps you thought I’d be talking about sheds, ponds, patios or pergolas….and those things certainly do appear in many of my gardens.   But to me, gardens are about the way they are used and the feelings they invoke. So my ideas for what every garden must have is a list of features with benefits.  The design of each feature, the materials used and the layout of the garden will always be unique to the household and the garden space.

• Relaxation Space 
• Shelter
• Destination
• Journey
• Focal Points and Views
• Plants
• Character

Relaxation Space

Each and every one of us has a different way to relax.  For me, it’s being outside, in the open air and away from crowds.  Other people may feel more relaxed in a more secluded spot, or they may feel most comfortable when surrounded by family and friends.

In a garden then, relaxation space may be a patio with room for comfy sofas and a gathering of friends. Or it may look like an arbour swathed in scented climbing plants.  It’s all down to the individual’s taste and style.

A glass balustrade provides extra shelter for this relaxing seating area. The perfect space to share a coffee with a friend or to listen to a podcast.

Shelter and Safety

Your garden should be a place that promotes wellbeing. To me, that means being able to ‘escape’ to the outdoors at any time of day and in almost any kind of weather.  Sunny days, breezy days, drizzly days, early mornings, late evenings – whenever you feel the need to take some deep breaths, and feel safe to be yourself.

A garden shelter needn’t be a dominant structure.  It could be a hedge to shelter you from strong winds and to provide shade on hot days. Or a pretty pergola beside a pool, or an arbour that can be gently lit at night time.  It may even be a simple bench nestled beneath an archway, somewhere that you can curl up with a book.

On the subject of shelter, my friend has just adopted the cutest puppy you’ve ever seen.  She says that at 2am while she’s outside in the rain waiting for pup to do his business, her garden shelter (with lights) is absolutely invaluable.

A Destination

“Destination” sounds like a very ‘designery’ word but I couldn’t think of a better one to use.  If you think about the inside of your home, every room has a purpose and serves as a destination for whatever you want to achieve.  There’s something about each room that gives you a reason to go there.

Need a snack? Your destination is the kitchen/fridge. Tired? Your destination is either the sofa or your bed.  Bored? Your destination is probably the room with the TV in it.  

Every garden should have destinations too.

When it comes to your garden, your destination is going to be whatever it is that entices you outside.  What fulfils your need at that very moment.  A seat in the sun? An outdoor kitchen for a different way to cook? The sound of moving water? The calming scent of jasmine? A piece of play equipment? A beautiful view? 

In my gardens I try to create at least 3 destinations. But I’m very aware that there is a fine balance between having enough to do and having too much to choose from. That’s where the art of design kicks in.

The destinations in this garden are the lily pond, the pergola and the entrance to the house.
I’ve used 3D design to show how the journey between them can be made more interesting with curvy paths, circular lawns and tree ferns as focal points.

A Journey

For every destination, there must be a pleasant way to reach it.  A straight path will lead you straight there and is ideal for purely functional features such as a shed or a bin store.  A meandering path with resting places will slow the journey down making it pleasurable and helping to lower those stress levels.

Focal Points And Views

Indoor rooms always feel more welcoming if they have a focal point.  Something that you can rest your eyes on to make you feel grounded.  A beautiful painting, a fireplace, a piece of art….maybe even a much loved teddy bear perched on a chair.

Outdoors, you have plenty of choices for focal points.  Try to make sure that each seat, resting place or viewpoint provides something interesting to look at.  Try lighting up a specimen tree so that it provides a focal point from your living room window after dark.  Hang a bird feeder so that you can see it from your favourite seat. Or screen off part of your garden and make an intriguing entrance to the next section.

Don’t forget the value of borrowed views.  If you are lucky enough to see beyond your garden towards coast or countryside – build a patio or deck where you can sit and enjoy the vista.  And remember, the sky is a borrowed view too.  Use vertical features such as trees to guide your eye upwards towards cloud formations and starry nights.

Plants

In my view, every garden should have plants.  Planting of course should be tasteful, in keeping with the overall style of the garden and, most important of all, manageable.

If you are a hay fever sufferer or you just don’t like the business of a traditional English country garden. There are innumerable planting styles that you can choose from.  Make the most of foliage plants, either carefully grouped or as specimens.  Topiary looks amazing in a contemporary garden. As do ferns, exotic looking cordelines or broad leaved fig trees.  Don’t forget to also play with textures, colours, light and shadow.

Enticing you out into the garden with a borrowed view framed by a sturdy structure which will eventually be cloaked in gloriously scented climbing plants

Character

Every garden should have a distinct character. And again, that’s something that is hard to express on a 2D garden design plan.  When we talk about character in reference to people or pets, we’re really talking about the way they make us feel and the things that make them stand out from the crowd.  We might describe someone’s character as ‘fun’ because they make us laugh or smile.  Or perhaps we’ll call them ‘quiet’ ‘interesting’ or ‘extraverted’.  

So what character would you like your garden to have? How should it make you feel?  Energised? Calm? Relaxed? Perhaps you need to create different zones in your space to reflect different feelings?

Take a look at my portfolio of work to see how every garden I design and build has features that not only look good, they make their owners feel good too.