Garden Landscape Design | Ideas, Tools & Techniques

As we’re sure you’ll agree:

A well-designed garden can serve as the apex of your home; a peaceful sanctuary for you and your family to enjoy the outdoor space your property has to offer. 

Similarly, as garden design and landscaping continues to surge in popularity, many prospective landscapers are looking to get started on the perfect design for their garden. 

However, if you’re brand new to garden design, it can be difficult to know where to start. 

Here at LSD, we’ve come across thousands of customers who are venturing into the world of garden design and seeking advice on how to get started. As a result, we’ve compiled this ultimate guide to garden landscape design! 

This guide breaks down everything you need to know to dive into the world of residential landscaping, from layout ideas to the tools & techniques you’ll need:

Garden Landscape Design Ideas

Residential landscaping is a subjective activity.

Your approach to designing a beautiful and peaceful garden will depend on various factors, including: 

• The size & scope of your garden 

• The purpose of the garden

• Where you live

• Your stylistic preferences 

To help you get started with planning & structuring your garden, here’s a list of common garden design layouts, detailing the advantages of each as well as the purpose they’re best suited to. 

Urban Residential Landscaping

With the fast-paced and social nature of city life, a well-designed garden can serve as a personal safe haven to relax and unwind. 

When based in an urban area, you’ll likely want to design a garden that:

• Makes the most of the limited space you have

• Serves as a respite from the hustle and bustle of city life

Here are a couple of common urban layouts to get you started:

1. Enclosed Balcony Layout

This layout makes use of long aspect paving, which creates the illusion of space & depth. The flowerbeds also provide a feeling of enclosure, making them perfect for both relaxation and entertaining. 

This layout is perfect for those looking for a stylish and social garden, offering ample space to entertain guests whilst offering privacy from your neighbours. 

2. Sandstone Terraced Layout

This wood-themed layout makes use of raised areas, creating a sense of depth. The combination of a sandstone patio and natural greenery is great for creating a peaceful atmosphere. 

This layout is perfect for those looking to build a peaceful sanctuary away from urban life. While it’s best suited to those in terraced housing, it also works well as a balcony garden for a flat. 

To browse more urban garden layouts, click here. 

Countryside Garden Design 

Landscape design and country living go hand-in-hand.

Whether you’re in a small country house or a large rural estate, you’ll no doubt want to take advantage of the incredible scenery surrounding you. Here are two common garden design layouts for those living in the countryside:

1. Contemporary Ceramic Layout

This spacious, modern layout makes use of ceramic copper paving and wooden furniture, bringing a rustic charm to a contemporary garden layout. 

The inverted flowerbeds sections off different areas of the garden, making it the perfect social hub of your property for entertaining guests. 

2. Traditional Modak Layout

This cosy patio space features a curved flower bed and hedgerow, creating a traditional and enclosed atmosphere. 

The orange to pink coloured Modak paving blends with the brick feature and wooden plant pots, which places emphasis on the vibrantly-coloured flower bed. This layout is great for those in modest-sized country homes or cottages, serving as a safe haven during leisure time. 

To browse more countryside garden layouts, click here.

Basic Tools for Garden Design & Landscaping

Once you’ve decided on a layout for your garden, it’s time to equip yourself with the things you need for landscaping. 

Here are our top four recommended tools for residential landscaping, with advice on what to look for when purchasing each one:

Gloves

A good set of gardening gloves are often the most crucial, yet most overlooked residential landscaping tool. 

Without a good quality set of gloves, you leave your hands vulnerable to injury and fungal infection, both of which are very unpleasant. 

When choosing a set of gloves for Garden Design they should be:

• Well-fitted

• Durable (but not bulky)

• Water-resistant

Secateurs

Secateurs (also known as pruning shears) are perfect for maintaining plants day-to-day. A good quality set of secateurs will feature sharp and well-angled blades, allowing for a clean cut on delicate flowers, twigs and branches. 

When choosing a set of secateurs, you should make sure they:

• Fit comfortably in your hand

• Feature a sharp and good quality blade

• Feature a catch that operates cleanly and doesn’t stick

The Bahco PX ERGO Secateurs come in three different sizes, with an excellent quality blade and a smooth catch, making them perfect for pruning. 

Hand Trowels

Hand trowels will serve as the backbone of your landscaping when you’re in the trenches. They’re great all-around tools that can be used for weeding, planting and transplanting. 

When choosing a set of hand trowels, you should make sure they:

• Are made from stainless steel

• Fit comfortably in your hand

• Feature a range of different sized blades

A full hand trowel set such as the Faithfull Soft Grip Handle Trowel Pack includes everything you need to implement your garden design, including a brick trowel and brick jointer. 

Rake

Debris and falling leaves are inevitable in a well-designed garden (especially if you followed our tip on enclosing your garden with hedges or plants). Similarly, implementing your new landscape design is likely to be a messy affair. 

A good quality rake can tidy up debris in a short amount of time, leaving your garden looking clean and organised. When choosing a rake, you should make sure it features:

• A comfortable, lightweight grip (which keeps the rake easy to use)

• Flexible steel tines (which prevents the soil from being damaged)

A lightweight aluminium rake such as the Bulldog Evergreen Lawn Rake should cover all bases for most gardens, with twenty flexible steel tines and a soft-grip handle. 

Garden Landscape Design Techniques

Now that you’re fully-equipped, it’s time to fine-tune your layout and start putting those plans into action. 

Here are our top four techniques for garden landscape design: 

Ensure Your Garden is Enclosed

Your garden should serve as an oasis; a beautiful refuge to enjoy the outdoors in the privacy of your own premises. 

Enclosing your garden creates a sense of separation from the outside world, allowing you to relax and enjoy your garden without any distractions. 

There are three main ways of enclosing your garden. 

• Fencing: The most common way to enclose your garden. You might also consider investing in fencing with an adjustable screen, giving you the freedom to ‘open’ and ‘close’ the outside world as you please. 

• Walling: Walling is a great option if you’d prefer a cosier feel to your garden’s enclosure. You might consider opting for traditional walling such as the Bradstone Old Town Walling, or something more contemporary such as the Stonemarket Avant Garde Walling.  

• Hedges & plants: Hedges and plants are great if you’d prefer a more natural feel to the enclosure. Shrubs are excellent options for garden enclosures, which also have the added benefit of providing a vibrant feel to the garden. 

Capitalize on ‘Borrowed’ Scenery

Before you enclose your garden, it’s worth taking note of any landmarks or views that surround your property. 

If your garden looks out onto a magnificent view (such as a large lake or a hilltop), the last thing you’ll want to do is block it off with walling or fencing. 

Similarly, if you have any interesting landmarks surrounding your property (such as churches, statues or historic buildings), it’s worth shaping the colour scheme and layout of your garden to incorporate them into the view.

Curve Your Flower Beds

Nature rarely grows in a straight line. 

Perfectly-straight flower beds can sometimes bring a slightly stocky and ‘assembled’ feel to your garden. Opting for curved flower beds creates a more natural feel and allows the different sections of the garden to blend together. 

Furthermore, it’s well-documented that human beings have a preference for curved shapes over angular ones, making your garden much more visually appealing. 

Use ‘The Golden Rectangle’

The golden rectangle is a residential landscaping technique that’s been in use for centuries. 

This mathematical ratio serves as the younger sibling of the golden ratio (which the Ancient Egyptians used to build the great pyramids). It’s used to achieve a sense of balance and structure in design and architecture. 

To structure your garden according to the golden rectangle formula, multiply the length of your garden by 0.618. The resulting number is the length that your short sides should be. 

And there you have it! An all-encompassing guide to garden landscape design. If you’re looking for more information on how to get started with residential landscaping, why not browse our garden design ideas.