Train plants as topiary – plants trained and clipped to ornamental shapes add an element of fun to the garden. Clipped bay or citrus trees are well suited as topiaries in the vegetable garden.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
Designing a garden using herbs and vegetables, as well as ornamental plants requires careful planning. Designing your own garden can be one of the most creative things you will ever do – a living sculpture that gives you years of enjoyment.
The secret to good garden design is a well thought-out plan. This involves carefully assessing and analysing the site, deciding what you want to include in the garden, then matching your ideas with the capability of the site to come up with a satisfactory garden concept.
The initial plan will help you decide whether you want to devote a separate area of the garden to vegetables and, if so, where it should best be placed for maximum sunlight, proximity to taps and compost bins, and ready access from the kitchen.
Further plans can be made if necessary. If you are planning a new garden, or revising your current layout, you may choose to create individual concept plans for different areas or ‘rooms’ within the garden. Some areas may require more detailed plans to provide information about planting schemes. To effectively build large or heavily constructed landscapes or to install a large irrigation system it may be necessary to have accurate scale plans of the site to ensure that the concept is properly translated into reality. In most circumstances though, the home gardener will not need to go into any great technical detail.
If you intend to design and construct the garden yourself it is also wise to keep the design within your capabilities. Start with a small space and extend once you have gained confidence.
Step by Step – Creating the Concept
Once you have made your site analysis and decided what you want, it will be much easier to develop your plan.
1. Take measurements of the garden. Include buildings, paths, important plants, etc.
2. Use graph paper to draw a plan of the existing garden features. Make a few copies so that you can try experimenting with different designs. On one copy, include the direction of the sun, the views from the house, location of taps for watering the garden, and any other important information from your site analysis. This will help you see the limitations of the site.
3. Decide upon an overall design style or styles. It could be a cottage garden in the front that includes vegetables, herbs and fruit trees. You may prefer a more formal approach with hedges and knot gardens enclosing vegetables, herbs and ornamentals with topiary as focal points. Alternatively, you could try a bold romantic garden with brightly coloured foliage, grasses, roses and vines enclosing vegetable and herb spaces within an ornamental framework. Or a courtyard garden with traditional plants, herbs, fruit trees and vegetables in pots and raised garden beds. The possibilities are endless. You need to decide what style of garden suits the house, the site conditions and your expectations.
4. Take a long look and try to visualise the garden in your mind. Where do the segments or rooms that make up the different garden areas belong? If there is a semi-shaded area behind the house, this could be used as a fernery and an area to grow shade-loving herbs such as mints and chervil. Other vegetables or herbs of course need a sunny position.
5. With a pencil and eraser use your graph paper to make drawings of possible garden designs. Don’t be afraid to experiment. The idea is to see what will work and what is impractical.
6. Look at the drawings you have made and choose the best ideas. Combine these ideas into one final drawing.