TIPS ON HOW TO DESIGN YOUR DREAM GARDEN

LOOK FOR INSPIRATION

Before you start designing your garden, look for inspiration. There are things available that you won't know about and may later regret not incorporating, so make sure you know what's there. It's also interesting to see what other people have done with their own gardens.

MEASURE YOURSELF

Before planning your garden, you need to take a few measurements to consider the layout and size of the area you have to work with. We recommend drawing a basic sketch of your garden and then using a tape measure, measuring wheel or laser to add dimensions to the drawing.

CONSIDER TEXTURE

When designing your garden, it's important to incorporate many different textures. You can use flagstones, gravel, rockeries, grassy areas, wooden sleepers or brickwork to create different elements in your garden and generally the more texture you add the better. For example, you can build an Indian sandstone patio with a gravel path leading to a raised deck that is surrounded by raised beds. Using texture will help create interest in your garden, so be sure to mix it up.

MAKE SURE THE PATHS ARE WIDE ENOUGH

When planning and building paths, you need to make sure they are wide enough to walk on or push a wheelie over if necessary. The standard width of the path is 900 mm (3 ft), which is generally wide enough for you to comfortably drive down with a wheelbarrow. The choice of material is also important, because paving slabs, blocks or concrete will be much easier to walk on than, for example, loose gravel. If there will be wheelchair users in the garden, we recommend creating paths at least 1 m wide. If it is necessary for the wheelchair to be able to turn on the track, you will need 1.6 m for manual wheelchairs and 2.4 m for electric wheelchairs.