Best of Gardening and Design

We dedicate plenty of time and money creating a perfect home for everyone to enjoy, but there's an additional 'room' outside that with a bit of effort can be an extension of your indoor living space. Learning the basics of gardening permits you to let your imagination run free and develop your garden into an 'outdoor room' that can suits your needs, your personality and those of your family.

Structure what shape do you want your 'room' to be?

The first thing to think about when gardening is what space do you have to work with and how would you like to lay out your outside room. What activities are going to take place in your garden should it serve as an additional dining area for al fresco dinner parties or would you prefer a garden that still serves a traditional purpose and reflects planting as much as usable space?

Thinking about the structure and design is your starting point for any gardening project. If cash to fund your project is limited, think about how you can keep your existing layout but perhaps create new points of interest through the use of spotlight planting, eye-catching ornaments or paths that create routes through the garden to and secret surprises.

Colouring your garden for all seasons. Colour is what makes many gardens interesting. The beauty of a cottage garden style with colour and freedom or the deceptive simplicity of a 'white garden' can reflect your personality and your own design preferences. In the same way that paint can alter the mood of a room, colour in a garden can reflect the changing seasons or make a bold, brash statement. Blocks of colour work well, but think about how each bed will look throughout the seasons and consider how the garden will look in autumn and winter, not just spring and summer.

With some careful planning, you can create an outdoor room that changes with the seasons. Bold yellows and purples of daffodils and crocuses in spring give way to swathes of multi coloured borders as summer arrives. In the autumn flowers often give way to larger plants and bushes providing structure and offering a tapestry of golds, reds and browns and during the winter months evergreens and late flowering plants such as hellebores can surprise those who have no winter expectations of a garden.

Creating a living space in your garden is something many gardeners aim for. Your garden doesn't just have to be an illustration of your gardening skills. It can also be a space that can be enjoyed for different hobbies by creating separate areas. By sectioning off your garden you often create an illusion of having more space ideal if your garden has a limited footprint. A decked area close to the house is perfect for al fresco dining or enjoying summer evenings with friends, while a separate section can be set aside as a play area for children.

How you use this 'outdoor room' is limited only by your own imagination. In forthcoming reviews we'll consider ideas to help you get the best from your gardening and to create various outdoor rooms, ranging from traditional cottage gardens through to ultra-modern urban settings.