Get my NEW Garden Design Guide – “The Garden Design Process” – NOW! – https://howtogardendesign.com/garden-design-process/
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Step Two in my SEVEN STEP GARDEN DESIGN GUIDE – a DIY Garden Design Guide that will take you from ideas in your head to a PLAN of action!
Learn more at https://howtogardendesign.com/
Sign up at the site for access to some FREE ‘Cheat Sheets’ and an additional video series (my Idea Generator series) on this specific step. The Cheat Sheets go hand in hand with the videos – easy to follow along and help you unpack your images.
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This video looks in depth at ‘Unpacking’ an image and defining what you like.
It covers:
• Breaking down an image into components
• How to describe what you like about the components (looking at physical elements and design elements)
• Changing it up!
• Summarise your findings – creating key criteria to follow during the design process
Part One (https://youtu.be/_jAT3QNc6bQ) looked at where you can find images. This video walks you through how to us them effectively.
The key to this process is to repeat it with multiple images. Over time, you will build a good flexible list of criteria for any activity or feature you want to include in your design. It may be slow at first, but you will quickly learn how to unpack any inspiration.
Why do we use this method?
Most people design their gardens in the following way:
1. Find an idea or image they like
2. Pick an area of the garden they think it should go
3. Try to copy and paste that image in that space
4. Repeat with another activity/ feature/ idea or image
They end up with a garden full of individual, separate spaces. There is no connection or relationship between each activity or space. In fact, people often do not get that far. They begin building or developing that one space. It is then too difficult or boring. So, they are left with a collection of half-finished ideas or spaces. After a few years they repeat this process again, tackling each space as an individual project.
We want to do the opposite of this.
Using this unpacking technique, you will develop a list of flexible criteria for each activity, feature or other space. These criteria are critical to your overall design. They:
• Are more flexible than copying and pasting from an image
• Allow you to collect ideas from many different sources of inspiration
• Let you know when you have ‘successfully’ designed an area
• Can adapt to changes in your situation – funds, materials, other expert adjustments
You will tweak and change your criteria for activities or features a few times. Every change is a chance to refine what you want in your design and backyard.
This step in the design guide is accompanied by a bonus video series – the Idea Generator guide. This series breaks down the step into specific pieces. Check out https://howtogardendesign.com/ to access FREE ‘Cheat Sheets’ that go hand in hand with this series.
If you’re not sure of what you’d like in your backyard garden, consider researching some of the following:
Specific activities – swimming pools, trampolines, backyard entertaining, outdoor dining, hammocks, cubby houses, playgrounds, basketball hoops, tennis courts, water slides, gyms….
Vegetable gardens – raised beds, companion planting, interior gardens, herbs…
Specific features – garden beds, feature trees, water features, ponds, bonsais, climbing trellis, sculptures, flower beds, pots, urns, feature walls, mosaics, flower beds…
These are some of many different options. I’m sure you can come up with many more.
This is before you even consider specific garden styles – Japanese gardens, French provincial gardens, English gardens, Cottage gardens, Mediterranean gardens, Modern gardens, Contemporary gardens, Native gardens, Formal gardens, Coastal gardens, Low maintenance gardens, Desert gardens, Tropical gardens, Drought tolerant gardens, Tuscan gardens, Country gardens, Xeriscape gardens, Colonial gardens, Southwest gardens, Spanish gardens, Winter gardens…
The list is literally endless.