Gardeners Masterclass: How to Landscape your Garden

Be honest.What one of us hasn't dreamed at least once of waking up in a sun-filled room overlooking a garden in which everything is green, blooming - in other words, perfect? With a little effort, you can wake up in that sunny room, stroll outside to smell the roses, kick off your sandals to feel the cool grass under your feet, even pull up a wicker chair in a shaded corner to read The Irish Times or sip a cup of coffee and listen to the birds sing. 

As a professional garden designer, it’s not only my job to create the kind of dream gardens that my clients fantasise about - but also to envision every possibility of the mature landscape in years to come. Designing outdoor spaces can be enormously rewarding but it needs  planning to make it work properly. Firstly  take a look at the shape of your existing garden and what is already there. Do you have a long rambling garden? Or perhaps it's small and square? Is there a feature, such as a pond or large tree, that you would like to incorporate into the new design? Do you want to create something daringly different?

Take into account the areas of light and shade - are there sunny or darker nooks and crannies which you want to take advantage of? All these factors will help you create the style, theme and shape of your new design. However, one of the unspoken secrets professional landscapers have is using layers in their designs. If you have any doubts about that, go to some of the larger homes and gardens and become inspired by their efforts to create a seamless yet apparently effortless look of colour, texture and layers. Alternatively visit small well designed spaces and sunny courtyards . Where ever you go in successful gardens you will see layers of planting interspersed with interesting furniture or ornamentation.

Living in Co Wicklow, I'm never short of inspiration. Wicklow has a collection of some of Ireland's best Gardens. All are of outstanding natural beauty and diversity and each one distinctive in terms of mood and theme. At my doorstep, I have Mount Usher, Killruddery, June and Jimi Blake's Gardens and the glorious Powerscourt Estate and Kilmacurragh what do they all have in common? You guessed it - layers and planning.

Of course, there are many other factors to be considered other than just using layers of foliage, but this is the one that will help to give your garden a professional appearance. So if you think your humble back garden can't look cultured and elegant think again! You could start by using large shrubs in the background and don't forget to add height with tall trees, but in every part of the design there will be other shrubs and flowers in front of those.

One simple design that could be used in a smaller landscape and get a symmetrical appearance would be to have the tallest shrubs say, towards your back wall (maybe Red-Tipped Photinia or a Privet Hedge with 2-3 tall Cypress-type trees  or Thuja smarag either in front of the hedge or off to the side, and then in front of that could be some Japanese Boxwood, kept to about a 4-6' height (depending on the height of the hedges towards the back) and then to add contrast to the layers, maybe a statue or water feature surrounded by smaller shrubs (such as Ilex variegata or dwarf Pittosporum or Herbacious planting as an alternative).

Trees and hedging serve a number of obvious purposes in the garden. Casting shade, blocking wind, noise reduction, boundaries, and point of interest are just a few that spring to mind. Once I have decided where I’ll need trees for these purposes in a garden, I have a number of considerations before I can designate their permanant home. Planting without really thinking about the space that the mature full grown plants and trees will occupy can become more than just an inconvenience. It can be expensive.

While occasional deep watering, as opposed to regular shallow watering, will help stop top rooting trees, some trees are still determined to seek out other sources of water which may be on the surface or moist areas under structures.The seeking roots of large trees are an extraordinary force that can break paths, foundations, and even jolt walls out of place. This is the biggest and most costly mistake I see. One word of advice - know your landscaping trees before you plant them next to your house.

Next you want to create a point of interest. What about creating a spot for a waterfall?  With a re-cycling watefall,  Or a water feature. Pick interesting rocks or boulders of varying sizes, arrange them to cascade down a slope, add plants and water. Viola! Or, how about a a natural stone path winding through your garden? Or a dry stone wall of native stone to create interest?

I hope you have found my tips helpful and will apply it in your own landscape design. I think you will see an immediate difference! Always remember a garden is just a series of outdoor rooms awaiting decoration.