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))
Nuances of zoning
Having taken the list and the land plan in hand, you need to draw up a general layout diagram on the spot and only then begin to design individual elements of the garden. There is no general advice here. Each project is individual. An important role is played by the size of the site, its configuration, the level of groundwater on it, the type and composition of the soil. However, to simplify the task, the site is first divided into three zones.
Schematic arrangement of functional areas and landscape design elements Source sveklon.ru
The first is a place for a house and other buildings. It is advisable to use the northern diagonal line for the utility block and very compactly build a barn, bathhouse, firewood shed, garage and parking along it. This approach allows you to increase the area for arrangement of other zones, as well as save on laying utilities.
The second is the garden area, virgin nature or vegetable garden. It may not have clear structural boundaries. Trees, shrubs and groundcovers can be planted anywhere. But so that the garden does not look chaotic, it needs to be divided by paths. Tie them around the main buildings and play up the chosen style.
The third is a space for relaxation. It can be formed by building a separate gazebo or summer terrace near the entrance of the house. It is easy to equip a children's playground on the site, make a bridge over the pond and place a bench there. Here, much depends on the characteristics of the terrain of the site and on the material capabilities of the owners themselves. It’s easier and cheaper to make a paved area somewhere, put up a tent and use it throughout the warm part of the season. A portable barbecue can easily be created here.
Recreation area right in front of the house Source pinterest.com
See also: Catalog of companies that specialize in landscaping work on sites.
Lighting
It is an integral part of the arrangement of the local area. Properly organized lighting performs several functions at once:
- It illuminates recreational areas , paths, and reservoirs, creates safe conditions for movement in the dark and provides the opportunity to perform some work.
- Indicates areas that are in demand in the evening, or that pose a threat to hosts and guests (wells, gates, entrances, steps). Typically, self-powered luminous posts or solar-powered lamps are used for the designated purposes.
- Places certain accents , highlighting individual elements of landscape design, and is used only for aesthetic purposes.
- Provides bright illumination of the entire area in case of unauthorized entry. It usually works in two modes: guard and standby. The first one is triggered by motion sensors (bright spotlights turn on). The second provides minimal illumination of the main functional areas.
- Maintains light and thermal conditions in greenhouses, greenhouses, and rooms where animals live.
Driveway lighting Source diz-cafe.com
When creating a lighting project, you can use all of the listed elements or arrange individual types. The scheme is developed before landscaping begins.
Planting
Their choice should be guided by the stylistic concept of landscape gardening. Traditionally, in our geographical area, certain types of plants are used for planting in the country. It is with the help of them that experienced designers implement the chosen direction.
- Bulbs grow well in almost any area, in any type of soil, in the shade or in the sun .
- Marsh plants feel great near a pond in moist soil .
- To decorate flower beds and alpine slides, it is better to use plants that are often grown indoors .
- Biennials feel good in open ground .
- Annuals are planted as seedlings; after flowering and seed maturation, they die.
- Perennial herbals are well suited for landscaping borders .
- Roses are a decoration for any garden.
Bulbs and shrubs as a single whole Source pinterest.com
Of the large plants, barberry and Chinese lemongrass tolerate our climate well. There are many types of ordinary thuja, combining them, it is easy to create beautiful evergreen compositions. You can plant maples and fruit trees on the site. They also perfectly decorate the landscape. Unpretentious rhubarb helps cover open bald spots. You can try using lovage for decorative purposes. The general thematic concept of the garden will tell you how and where to plant them.
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
Let's bring up communications
When arranging each zone, you will need to provide the necessary communications: electricity, water, sewerage. It is with them that it is worth starting work on landscaping the site.
Of course, planting flowers or a young garden is much more pleasant than digging trenches for water or a foundation pit for a swimming pool, but the correct order of work will save you energy and save you from unnecessary expenses.
So, after you have decided on the list of functional zones of your property and the area that you are ready to allocate for each zone, we solve the issue of laying communications. This process is labor-intensive and costly, so everyone decides individually which communications are a priority.
For example, running a water supply to the bathhouse, if it is located some distance from the house, will save you a lot of effort in the future and will not spoil the pleasure by having to fill buckets of water. The same goes for supplying water to the garden. All plants need regular watering, especially in the first half of summer; carrying water in a watering can from afar makes the gardener’s work much more difficult.
It is clear that installing a swimming pool is a complex process that involves supplying water, sewerage, and electricity (to illuminate this area and heat the water). But everyone decides on their own whether they need to supply water to the summer kitchen area, as well as lighting the recreation areas.
If your financial capabilities allow, then it is better to lay out communications to the maximum at the initial stage, because your comfort for many years depends on these simple little things: cozy light, tap water, sewerage.
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...
Yard decoration
Many ideas have been developed for the design of the territory of a private house. Finding a suitable option is not a problem even with a modest budget. Many designs can be made with your own hands!
When beautifying the main part of the yard, use grass. Grass is planted in different ways. For example, grass seed mixtures are used to create lawns. Or a ready-made rolled grass lawn is laid on the free space.
Creating your own lawn will require time, effort and special care. Using the purchased option, it is enough to prepare the place: clear it, mark it, apply fertilizer, compact the soil and lay lawn sod. After laying the rolled lawn, it is watered every day for the first two weeks.
Composition of figurines
Decorative elements are used to decorate country and garden areas. For example: wooden or forged benches, original flower beds made from scrap materials, beautiful figurines. Unusual vases and flowerpots are constructed from boards, stone, concrete and placed on the ground, or small decorative flowerpots are hung.
Recommendations for arranging your site are simple. By following them, you can create comfort and beauty in your yard. By properly planning the garden, vegetable garden and recreation area, a luxurious local area is created! And without the help of landscape designers, whose services will be expensive. Using available tools and materials, a stylish and exclusive design is created, both for a summer house and a country estate.
We recommend studying: quickly and easily making a relaxation area in your dacha with your own hands
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
Choosing a stylistic direction
There are different options for arranging the site of a country house. It will be easier to implement your plans if you know in advance which thematic area to take as a basis. The following styles look most decorative.
Corner of a regular park in the country Source houzz.de
Regular
It is more suitable for those who love order and control, for those who have no place for spontaneity and carelessness in their lives. The implementation of such a concept for arranging the local area requires adherence to three basic principles:
- clear plan and careful zoning;
- symmetry in everything and the strictest geometry;
- rationality , expressed through pomp and theatricality.
Despite its apparent complexity, creating such a landscape design is easier than other stylistic concepts. And all because there are clear techniques that have been proven over centuries. The axis of symmetry is taken as the basis for the future composition. It starts at the entrance gate and divides the space of the local area into two parts. In the center of each is a square or rectangular lawn. In the center is a flower bed or sculpture.
Green labyrinth as part of the landscape Source yandex.ru
A green labyrinth, a small pond or a fountain is required. The main rhythm is set by the central alley and side paths. All of them must have strictly straight lines, all of them must be symmetrically duplicated. The family recreation area is located on the area in front of the house. The playground, barbecue, and outbuildings should be hidden behind the main residential building. Under no circumstances should they be visible from the entrance gate or from the central alley.
English
The main measure of this concept is impeccable taste. The natural landscape is taken as the basis. After processing, it should look well-groomed and orderly. To achieve the set goals, a free layout is chosen. It lacks strict lines and asymmetrical elements. The landscape turns out to be open, its borders merge as much as possible with the surrounding nature. Perfectly manicured lawns are welcome. They do not require additional decoration; they are the central objects of decoration in themselves.
English landscape at the dacha Source yandex.ru
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
Water features on the estate
Various artificial ponds, waterfalls, fountains and swimming pools become an effective design attribute on the site of a private house. For example, when a home owner designs a site in Japanese style, a pool, waterfall or fountain is a must.
You can create a small pond with your own hands. A super-thin but incredibly durable polyvinyl chloride film is laid in the dug trench. To give the pond a natural look, boulders, stones, and pebbles are laid on its banks. Plants that love moisture are planted next to the pond.
We recommend studying: the best ornamental trees for the garden with names and photos
Rock gardens, rock gardens and flower beds will be a beautiful addition to a pond, waterfall or fountain. Reservoirs should be used when arranging a garden area, because they promote relaxation and tranquility.
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
The situation in the house
You decide what will be in the house. Must have appliances: stove, refrigerator. You can’t do without a sink, furniture, and so on. If the electricity is cut off at your dacha during a certain period, you should take care of a generator. Those who dream of relaxing in a house during the cold season need to think about insulation, heating systems, and a well with a pump.
Landscaping a dacha is considered a labor-intensive process. But after all the work is completed, you will have your own corner of nature.
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
Video description
The video shows what accents you need to pay attention to in order to arrange a dacha in the English style:
Ethnics
Arranging such a garden involves serious intervention in nature. For the implementation of this direction, summer cottages with a completely clean local area, on which there are no plantings, are suitable. The Chinese style is considered ideal for landscaping a small plot of land. In the Land of the Rising Sun, gardeners compete in their ability to create the illusion of endless space within one small area.
In order for everything to work out, you need to form a center and push off from it. In the case of the Chinese style, this must be a source of water. This could be a pond with low banks without lining or a wide stream with a calm, slow flow. The I stone of Chinese mythology is the personification of the masculine principle. Their beautiful cobblestones are living creatures. They worship them, talk to them. Therefore, such natural material must be used in the garden. Mountains are built from stones near a pond. Paths and platforms are assembled from granite. It is also used in the construction of small bridges.
Chinese landscape on a personal plot Source stroikairemont.com
