An unqualified approach to landscaping a summer cottage and creating an optimal landscape design often ends with inconveniences for the owners of the same garden area and their guests. In order not to waste money and achieve the most positive decorative effect from planted crops, you should know in advance about possible mistakes and try not to make them in your practice.
Flower beds, trees and shrubs prevent walking
The layout of plants on the site is not in vain considered the first and main stage of landscape design, because after planting large trees and shrubs in inappropriate places, you can block yourself a convenient way of movement. For this reason, before you start working, try to figure out where the recreation area will be located, where you will arrange paths, and what place the outbuildings will take. The shortest route connecting these objects should always remain free.It’s easier to organize paths first, and only then plant bushes and flowers next to them. In the event that the problem is already relevant, you can solve it in several ways: either you completely remove the overgrown plant and plant a more suitable option in its place, or try to correct the situation by cropping an existing instance. The latter option is suitable for cases when only a small part of the bush gets on the path, and he himself tolerates a haircut. Of course, it will be much more difficult to transfer the already built flower garden than to cope with the bush, so such structures should be planned especially carefully.
Did you know? The concept of "landscape design" is relatively young, and was first used at the beginning of the XX century. in Europe. England, France and Germany developed so fast that in big cities they had to artificially create corners of nature with a lot of all kinds of greenery.
Shadow not where expected
Shady areas are the most valuable places on a large territory, because in summer heat it is here that children and adults gather, hiding from the scorching sun. When placing buildings and large plants, you can create more such places, but sometimes the shadow does not appear at all where it was required. If the arbor has already been built, and the tree has grown, then for additional landscaping of such zones, shade-tolerant plants can be planted, preliminarily calculating where the shadow from them will fall.
It is easier to do this in the following way:
- Having set a garden plan in front of you, mark the north and south on it, then put a small object on the south side (symbolizes the sun).
- Draw a straight line from it to the edges of the gazebo, and you will see the size of the shadow at different times of the day, determining whether it is too big.
In reality, the final values may deviate slightly from those obtained on paper, but the overall picture will still be clear.
Selected plants do not take root
If the planted crops almost immediately wither and dry out: it is likely that you placed them at your discretion, not taking into account the needs of the vegetation. The key points in this matter will be the intensity of illumination, soil acidity and the impact of winds. Planting selected crops should be done only after a thorough study of all the characteristics of a particular site. If the problem is already relevant, then try to choose another plant that is more suitable for this place in place of the dead bush once again.
Did you know? One of the first examples of thoughtful landscape design can be considered the hanging gardens of Babylon - an engineering structure in the form of cascading multi-level gardens with numerous types of vegetation that existed in Babylon.
Season not taken into account
Sometimes the basis for the appearance of problems in the design of a particular territory is miscalculations in the choice of plants for each season of the year. Most gardeners plant only crops whose maximum decorativeness occurs in spring or summer, which means that already in early autumn the garden may turn out to be dull and empty, not to mention the winter season.
Experiments in landscape design, which include planting not only summer deciduous shrubs, but also winter coniferous crops, as well as dwarf trees that retain their bright berries during most of the cold season, will help correct the situation. With their proper distribution on the site, even in late autumn, the garden will delight you with bright colors.
Erroneous prediction of plant size
A mistake can be made with insufficient study of the size of the selected crops. Some of them (for example, perennial aster or wild grapes) spread very quickly through the garden, and it is not easy to control their sizes in clearly defined boundaries. As a result, they act as weeds, drowning out the growth of other ornamental crops. Certain difficulties will arise if, underestimating the size of the tree, plant it in front of the window.
Having grown, it will not only prevent sunlight from entering the building, but can also support the cornice or damage the power wires. To prevent undesirable consequences, you will have to either constantly limit the growth of the plant by cutting the crown, or uproot the tree.
You can miscalculate not only in the height of the decorative green elements, but also in their width, for example, by planting a bush close to the footpath or at the entrance to the house. After the rain, walking next to it will be quite problematic, since the drops remaining on the leaves will probably wet your clothes, not to mention the physical obstacle to movement.
Some plants are not visible
Unusual and exotic flowers or bushes should be clearly visible from any part of the site: whether it is a recreation area or a balcony of the house. To this end, dwarf and ground cover crops are always planted in the foreground, and tall ones are placed in the background.For a smooth visual transition between them, medium-sized shrub plants can be planted. Undersized specimens are sometimes placed in curbs or on small cast pots, which also act as part of the overall design and are highlighted.
All flowers bloom and wilt at the same time.
Proper design of the flowerbed is not such a simple task as it might seem at first glance. Before planting, calculate which flower and when it should bloom on it, how long this process will last, and in what form the culture will remain immediately after it. For example, tulips, gladioli and irises, favorite by many gardeners, are generally not recommended to be grown independently or in a group with each other, since after the end of their flowering (periods coincide), the flower bed will remain naked and unattractive.
Important! Information on the growth rate of each individual crop is necessarily noted by the manufacturer on the package with seeds, so it’s easy to find out the basic data of the selected plant.
Choosing flowering crops, experienced gardeners recommend looking not only at the buds, but also paying due attention to the foliage of each specimen, since most of the year you will admire it. In this case, shrubs capable of changing the color of leaves in the autumn period are considered a highly decorative option. They will surely add color to the garden even after the flowers wither. Examples of such plants that are popular today are barberry, hawthorn, euonymus and even elderberry.
Video: what mistakes are made when designing flower beds
Empty areas overgrown with weeds
So that after planting and placing other decorative elements in the territory there are no empty areas, it is recommended to immediately think over the structure of the garden, with clearly defined planting areas for different types of plants.
The following zones are considered the most functional (relevant for a large area):
- recreation area;
- barbecue area;
- decorative garden;
- flower garden with benches;
- mini-beach with a small pond and a bridge.
In each of these cases, plants will be used to decorate the site: next to the recreation site, medium-sized flowering bushes and moderately tall trees that create a small shadow can be planted, a decorative garden is formed using ground cover or simply low flowers and berry crops, and the mini it is useful to supplement the pond with cannon, lobelia, placun grass or even reeds (based on its size).
Important! Marsh plants require special growing conditions. For example, they can grow well and develop only if they have enough moisture, and the soil at the growth site has an acid reaction.
Neglect of care
Without properly organized care, not a single plant will delight you with its appearance, which means that, considering all the features of landscape design, you need to be prepared for increased attention to all its elements. When choosing specific crops for a given site, try to plant them in groups, which will subsequently greatly simplify the task of feeding or moistening vegetation, since all instances will require the same amount of moisture and nutrients in the substrate. Without timely watering and proper nutrition, greens quickly turn yellow, flower buds fade, and in some cases the whole culture dies.
Uneven growth of the lawn and the appearance of spots on it
Growing a smooth and thick lawn is a painstaking task that requires considerable effort, and already at the preparatory stage. So, if the soil was initially unevenly treated, later on spots on the lawn will appear in the form of “bald patches”, since it was in these places that the plants might not have enough nutrition for growth and development. Uniform distribution of nutrients on the site, timely loosening and further ventilation of the soil will help to avoid such problems. In addition, for the juicy green color of the grass, it needs sufficient moisture, so you can not do without regular watering.When carrying out all the steps to care for the lawn, do not forget that they should be regular, that is, you can not treat the site once and no longer return to it during the season. If spots have already appeared on the growing lawn, try to level the terrain, make sure that the soil is moderately moist, and again sow the grass, which in the future will need to be cut together with the existing vegetation.
On average, you will have to use a lawn mower at least 2-3 times during the summer season, and with active growth of the lawn - even more often. Of course, it is impossible to completely eliminate the likelihood of mistakes in landscape design, but the more of their examples will be known at the initial stages of the organization of space, the greater the chance of avoiding most of them. Detailed planning of all your actions will only help you with this.