I would like the plot located next to my house or dacha to look like a piece of paradise. For a city dweller, this is, after all, more of a place to relax, although, if there are beds, this vacation is very unique. Nevertheless, decorating a plot - a country house, a garden plot, a personal plot - is a concern for all owners. The range of possibilities is wide. There are even different styles, so they all look different, expressing the personality of the owner. True, this is the case if you decorated it yourself, on your own. Even if not everything follows the canons of landscape design... But for some reason it is precisely these areas, designed by amateurs, that are more comfortable.
Site layout
The first thing you should do when receiving a plot is to think about what and where you will have it. You decide where the house will stand - at the beginning of the plot, in the middle, closer to its far edge. Then you “arrange” the rest of the planned buildings. If you are planning to build, determine a place for a bathhouse, then place outbuildings - a barn, a chicken coop, a firewood shed, vegetable garden beds and greenhouses, and decide where the garden will be. Next come resting places - these are canopies and gazebos.
The main buildings are on the plan; now paths are being laid between them. Straight paths are needed only in one case, if the area is long and narrow. In this case, a flat path to its far end will visually make it closer. For all other objects, it is better to make them sinuous, with smooth bends.
Site plan - we place the house and main buildings + we decorate the garden plots
Now it's time to think about placing decorations for the area. First of all, these are flower beds and flower beds. They are built quickly, planted with annuals in the very first season will delight you, while everything else is still under construction and is still far from beautiful. A longer task is the construction of rock gardens and rockeries. Pulling and laying a couple of tons of stones is no joke; besides, they are planted mainly with perennials, and they take their final appearance only after three to four years. And then, only on the condition that you immediately selected all the plantings and planted them correctly, which without experience is an unprecedented success.
Do you want to surprise your friends and neighbors? Paint the flowerpots with luminescent paint. When darkness falls, they will glow, giving your lawn an unusual look.
Clay pots painted with luminescent paint glow in the evening no worse than lanterns
The second option for turning ordinary things into extraordinary is to use car paint with a chrome effect. Paint several stones or the same pots and get mirror stones...
Mirror balls are balls painted with chrome effect paint.
Another traditional type of decoration is small or large bodies of water - ponds and small ponds. Very small ones are built quickly - from a tire, in a couple of hours. Larger ones may take a couple of days to arrange. But there is no point in constructing ponds before the house is built and the paths are laid. Save this decoration for closer to the finish. Also, after the main construction, it’s time to install pergolas, arches, and canopies. And just at the end of the day, they begin to play with lighting, although there are very simple and original ideas. For example, take a tin can, make holes in it, but not just like that, but according to a pattern, creating a pattern. You can put an ordinary low-power lamp inside, and if there is no electricity yet, put a candle and place/hang it near the house.
A completely unsightly jar turns into a wonderfully beautiful lantern...
Place a candle inside
And hang it on the veranda or in the gazebo
This decoration of the site can be hung in the garden or on the veranda. It’s not difficult to do, it looks great, although only in the dark))
A little about styles
The most common style in our country is “Naturgarden”, although many owners are not aware of it. These are those areas that have everything at once - an entrance-front area, a garden-vegetable garden, a recreation area. Moreover, the areas are small and all, or almost all, zones are visible. Natural style allows, focusing on the existing topography and soil, to create areas with any landscape. Is there a swampy lowland? Equip it slightly by adding a pond or making a swamp, leaving natural plantings and adding decorative ones, beautifying the banks. You can make a dry stream or build a natural one. Is the area flat? Organize the area like a meadow, perhaps an alpine lawn. Put up a gazebo and plant ivy.
The naturgarten style strives to make the landscape as natural as possible
For romantic natures, the same style is more suitable. It is characterized by rose-covered arbors, manicured lawns, flower beds, which are adjacent to thoughtfully overgrown secluded places.
Cozy places and arches, pergolas, flower beds, climbing roses - signs of a romantic style in the design of the site
The rustic style is easily recognizable by its characteristic “household” decorative elements. Internal fences are wattle fence or picket fence, flowers are in tubs, cans, carts. Benches and garden furniture are deliberately rough, and if they are painted, it is with a dark tinting composition, and not with covering paints.
Some examples of a rustic garden
Lawn lovers can choose the English style. Any free area is sown with lawn grass. This type of garden can be described in two words: “all in a heap.” In English gardens, everything can really be mixed: a garden/vegetable garden is a single concept, besides, flowerpots are placed everywhere, and all free spaces are occupied by grass. Another feature is ivy-covered walls, a large number of roses, figurines and funny figures placed in suitable places.
Lush vegetation interspersed with manicured lawns - signs of an English garden
A classic garden is designed strictly according to the plan. This is the option when everything is clear, boundaries, shapes, height of bushes and borders. Everything is lined up and straight. Ornate benches are installed in strictly designated areas, next to which fountains are installed, decorative flowerpots with flowers, statues and columns are installed.
Clear geometry in everything is a sign of a classic garden
Original country decor from old vehicles and tires
Trolleys, wheelbarrows, bicycles, parts of retro cars and “bald” tires are constant garden decor used by designers and home craftsmen.
A cart without a team, as if lost by its horse, will best transform an unoccupied area of the estate. Do-it-yourself decor for a country house like this does not require much effort and time. It is enough to find the best place for the chaise, on which flowering plants will flaunt all summer. This could be a collection flower garden, where representatives of the same species show off in different shades, or a selection was made based on the principle of contrast.
It is advisable to treat old bicycles as decoration to remove rust with sandpaper, coat them with a metal primer and paint them. When the base is ready, the frame is securely fastened so that the bicycle does not collapse under the weight of the soil in the pots attached to it.
Advice. Old jeans and boots are suitable as containers for planting flower seedlings, but it is better to first pour the soil into garbage bags placed in your pants.
Unusual design of the cottage
Decorating a summer cottage with your own hands
“Bald” tires are traditionally used as borders for small flower beds. Entire compositions painted with paint look more attractive. A favorite design technique is cascading flower beds, where the widest rubber is located at the bottom, and the shallowest base is at the top.
DIY tire decor for your home and garden is another way to decorate “bald” tires. There are many ways to cut out animals and fairy-tale characters from an inverted tire.
TABLE
Ways to use unnecessary tires in site decoration
| 1. | Children's sandbox | Used as sides or a reservoir for sand, it is advisable to line the bottom with a tarpaulin and paint the surface in a bright color |
| 2. | Basis for a flower bed | Suitable for different sizes of tires, tires can be laid out in a slide, cascade or partition, no bottom required |
| 3. | Figures and sculptures | The choice of animals depends on the design tasks; more often an inverted base with cutting is used (swans and parrots, Masha and the Bear, baby frogs, etc.) |
| 4. | Country furniture | A base for a chair, an original bench, a stand for a table, etc. |
DIY country decor
Flowers in the design of a summer cottage
DIY cottage design
See alsoHow to design a summer cottage plot of 6 acres
Fences and picket fences
First of all, the area is fenced off. It’s understandable: building materials need to be produced, but how to protect them? It's easier behind the fence. If possible, it is better to immediately install a beautiful, solid, reliable fence. Not all of them cost much. Budget options can also be very attractive. The main thing in this matter is the idea, and they are in the photo. So, a combination of long and short boards can create an interesting fence, more transparent at the top and almost without gaps at the bottom.
An ordinary picket fence with a non-standard approach also looks good
If the boards are placed edgewise, the effect is even more interesting. Now, if you don’t see it, you won’t believe it...
Who would have thought that thin boards often nailed down would make such an interesting fence?
With thin, fresh boards you can make a beautiful fence that uses the principles of wattle fence. The boards are passed between the posts and bent.
Beautiful fence made of boards
You can make a unique fence from slabs. You'll have to tinker with it - treat it well against parasites, and match the boards one to the other so that there are as few cracks as possible. You may have to work on them with an ax or plane. But croaker is almost a waste material, its prices are low, so there is a chance to get a designer fence for little money.
A fence made of slabs is cheap and cheerful, but it’s a lot of work...
If funds allow, you can put up something monumental, such as a fence made of stone or brick. It will require a lot of work and money, but it will also last a long time.
My home is my castle…
For internal division of the site, such solid fences are useless. For a vegetable garden, you can install a trellis made of a thin bar, grow a hedge, or weave a wattle fence.
Internal fences for the site
If you are “lucky” and there is a blank wall facing your garden, you can also decorate it with a kind of fence along which climbing plants can be allowed to grow. An interesting option is presented below. When the ivy grows a little it will be very beautiful. Instead of ivy, you can plant clematis. In winter, the view is worse, of course, but in summer...
Ways to decorate walls
How to decorate a garden plot with flowers
This part of garden arrangement brings the fastest results. Annual flowers bloom within a few weeks after planting, perennials also delight, growing more and more every week. There is a separate article about regular flower beds, but here we will post some interesting ideas that can give impetus to choosing a garden style.
Decorating a site often consists of little things. For example, an ordinary wooden box can easily be turned into a garden decoration - interesting coloring and non-standard installation - hang on ropes that are shaped like hands. The pole is used as a basis for hanging pots with hanging flowers.
A little imagination and the most ordinary things become decoration of the site
Sculptures are made from ordinary pots. They select them in different sizes, fasten them with wire, add a little paint or plants - everyone has their own fantasies... the result is marvelous figures.
Man made from flower pots
Even leaky rubber gloves are useful. It's good that the colors are bright and the base is thick. They pour soil, plant annuals, tie them to trees or ropes, and nail them to fences. Fun and bright.
Hanging flower beds made from gloves
Everyone knows that flowerbeds and flowerpots are made from car tires, but probably few people know that you can make a wonderful flowerbed in the shape of a swan from planks. The result was such a wonderful swan: the “feathers” were cut out, fastened with wire, glued, the head and neck were cut out of a board.
Flower garden-swan made of planks
For those who are not afraid of difficulties, there is a more difficult option: a flowerbed in two tiers. We made an arch, laid out geotextiles and mesh, poured a layer of soil into which light-loving plants were planted. Shade-tolerant flowers grow in the niche formed below. This is such an unusual two-tiered flower garden.
Arch of flowers...
Creating lazy beds
The creation of such beds allows you to reduce weeding, increase productivity, and such beds will also allow you to increase the time for rest.
To create such beds, you need to make a box or rectangle from boards tightly packed together. Instead of wood, you can use building materials such as slate, sheets of metal and even permanent beds made of brick.
The size of such beds can be almost any, the main thing is that the plants in such beds are not crowded and they should be positioned so that they receive maximum sunlight during the day.
From the inside of the knocked together frame, scraps of PVC pipes are attached, in the corners of the structure, as well as in several places along the long side of such ridges. The ends of such pipes should protrude slightly beyond the top edge of the boards. Subsequently, these trimmings will serve to insert arches onto which the covering material will be stretched, if necessary.
The boxes are installed on the site in a pre-selected place; it is recommended to lay a fine-mesh metal mesh on the bottom of such beds, which in some cases can protect the plantings from rodents. Soil is poured inside such beds of boxes and after filling the boxes, plants are planted.
In the summer, such beds need to be watered almost every day in the morning or evening, especially in the heat. To facilitate this task, you can always install drip irrigation systems, which will allow you to water the plants not very often, but quite abundantly. This type of garden watering is easy to do with your own hands.
To plant plants, such beds are dug up in the spring, seeds or seedlings are planted, and then the soil is covered with mulch to eliminate weeds.
Read here How to make a barbecue oven and grill from brick in the country
Such beds quickly pay for themselves and when growing cultivated plants, such beds can produce a good harvest.
Highlights of our garden: ponds
Perhaps the second favorite decoration of the site after flower beds is ponds and small ponds. The picturesque combination of water and plants is mesmerizing and gives you coolness in the summer. Decorating reservoirs is a creative process and there are also many styles. You can make a flooring around it from boards. And so as not to have to worry about painting and impregnating them, they can be made not of wood, but of composite - there is a new material that looks very much like wood. The only difference is that it does not rot or change color. This material is called decking. It can be used to cover an open veranda or terrace near the pool. You can see an example of its use around a pond in the photo.
Flooring around the pond - it will be convenient to walk even after rain
You can also pave the space around with stone slabs. This arrangement will take more time, but many people like this option better. To prevent the entire finish from “floating”, you will have to remove part of the soil, fill it with crushed stone, compact it, and add a layer of sand on top. You can now lay slabs on it. The gaps can be filled with a mixture of sand and cement, the excess can be thoroughly swept away, and then either wait for rain or water the blind area - the cement will set, securing the slabs. The coverage will be reliable.
Beautiful red granite, and even a stream
Using the same technology, you can line the edges with boulders collected on the river bank (or purchased at a garden center).
Boulders are a great way to decorate the edge of a pond
If the paths in the garden are made of paving stones, it makes sense to decorate the shore of the pond as well. The technology is known, only the material is different.
Paving stones - no need to look for anything, everything is in the store
Decorating a garden or cottage with improvised materials
As you probably understand, you can make a garden decoration from any object or thing. The main thing is the idea, then a little imagination and work, and the decor is ready. For example, you can make a table, a small terrace, a bench around a tree and use this corner for relaxation.
Relaxation area around a tree
Often stumps remain on the site. It takes a long time to uproot them, in the process they will trample everything around them... They stick out until they become rotten and crumble on their own. And you can make very interesting things from stumps. For example, use it as a flower bed.
And even a stump on a spring day...
Or make an interesting figurine out of it for the garden.
Hemp garden decoration
Maintaining a vegetable garden without much effort
In the modern world, people are forced to work long hours during the week, and they do not always have the opportunity to care for their garden in a timely manner.
In order for plants to grow and develop successfully, it is necessary to cultivate the beds. To facilitate this process, an automatic or semi-automatic system for watering cultivated plants should be installed.
If greenhouses are installed on the site, they can also be equipped with similar irrigation systems and automatic greenhouse ventilation systems can be installed. All this will greatly facilitate the work of the amateur gardener and grow a good harvest.
It is advisable to make the beds in such a garden universal so that different plants can be planted every year. This will avoid soil impoverishment, and periodic planting of different plants in the same beds will avoid soil impoverishment.
About the prosaic but necessary - toilets
These buildings sometimes appear before fences, because without them it’s a disaster. Builders will develop all the nearby nooks and crannies, and who, I wonder, will like it. So, perhaps the most necessary building on the site is a toilet. Why are we talking about toilets in relation to decorating a site? But because this building can be made in such a way that it does not have to be hidden. Showing off is also not an option, but there is no need to disguise it either. For example, a standard birdhouse can be made from logs. You'll get a mini-hut.
Costs little, looks good...
Plant a plant around it, make a nice path, and this corner of the garden will also be attractive. For example, like the photo below.
Cozy corner
A few more options on the same topic. The same simple design can be designed in different ways. You choose the style depending on how the dacha or garden plot is decorated.
And just the roofs are made differently, and the windows are different
Well, if you need a stone toilet, then why not decorate it in the style of a medieval castle. Only crowds of tourists will need to be driven away...
An interesting embodiment in the style of the wall of the cross
Landscape design of the courtyard of a private house
A beautiful yard sets the tone for the entire property. If the space is limited only to the yard, then it can be decorated in accordance with the criteria of any style you like.
It is problematic to make a fountain or pond in a small area, but
- tiered flower beds,
- vertical gardening,
- original paths and decorative elements,
- pots of flowers near the porch,
- a small corner for drinking tea in the open air
no one canceled. By using every centimeter of space wisely, you can make your yard an example to follow and the envy of your neighbors.
Photo ideas for garden decoration
There are many ways to make your garden or summer cottage bright and beautiful.
Several of the ones we liked for their uniqueness were collected into a photo gallery. Maybe some of them will help you decorate your corner. A beautiful path made of slabs and a contrasting backfill of small crushed stone
Unusual gazebo - lawn grass is planted along the frame
Swing made of large stones
Figurine on a wooden fence))
Beautiful trellises for climbing plants
Variations on the theme of flower beds made from stumps
A cozy corner for relaxation - wooden benches covered with colored dermantine
Wicker canopy for relaxing on a hot day
Unusually made fence for a wooden gazebo
Even hemp can be useful on the farm - they made a bench out of it
We design low-rise outbuildings
When designing utility buildings that are present on each site, one should be guided by the principle: “if a defect cannot be hidden, do not hide it.”
Even unattractive compost heaps and bins can be turned into a spectacular piece of art. To give your compost heap a more attractive appearance, just plant pumpkins, zucchini or cucumbers next to it. Under the large spreading leaves, an unsightly but much-needed pit for composting plant residues will be successfully hidden.
The material on creating a raised bed in the African style will also be useful:
By planting cucumbers in a compost bin, you can successfully accomplish two tasks at once: to cover an unattractive place in the garden and provide yourself with a rich harvest of fresh vegetables.
You can turn concrete wells and boreholes into attractive decorative elements by decorating the walls of the structures. A mosaic made of colored glass and bright broken tiles, shimmering colorfully in the sunlight, will create an atmosphere of celebration and beauty on the site.
The same flowers will help you decorate technical wells and fertilizer barrels. An excellent solution for building a mobile flower bed is an old stepladder. Containers with flowers, displayed in several tiers on the steps of the stairs, will cover the object and create a picturesque cascade. In the event that it is necessary to open access to a well or hatch, the stepladder can be easily rearranged without much hassle.
Tall “green” beauties of mallow, tree peonies, hibiscus, sunflowers and Jerusalem artichokes can act as a decorative backdrop for an old rainwater barrel.
A work table is a necessary thing on the site. In addition to its direct purpose, it serves as an open “storage room” for storing leftover building materials, cans, improvised tools, pegs...
You can learn more about where else to store tools from the material:
You can give your old desktop a whole new look by simply painting it a bright and colorful shade.
