Designing a garden

A new garden design starts with the people who will use it. It helps to think about the sort of garden you want, and also about what you need from the space.

How the space will be used

Gather pictures of gardens you like, from books, magazines or an online board.

For a front garden, work out how many cars need parking there.

Sun and shade

The direction a garden faces is called its aspect. It changes how much sun and shade the plants get.

The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) describes south and west facing gardens as usually warm and sunny. East and north facing ones are colder and shadier.

Knowing the soil

Knowing your soil type helps you choose plants that will do well. There are six types: chalk, clay, loam, peat, sand and silt.

To find out which you have, pick up some soil and roll it in your hands. Wet clay is sticky, and you can roll it out into a long thin sausage. Sand is gritty. It slips between your fingers and won't hold a sausage shape.

Soil pH is a number that shows how acid or alkaline the soil is. A pH of 7 is neutral, lower is acid and higher is alkaline. Test it before you design or plant a new garden. Home kits are easy to use.

Planting for wildlife

The Wildlife Trusts say hedgehogs, bats, sparrows, song thrushes and stag beetles are all declining in the UK, and that a garden looked after with wildlife in mind gives them a refuge.

To bring in pollinators, grow a range of native plants that flower through the year. Putting out water helps wildlife too. So does a pile of logs or a patch of long grass, left alone all year.

The trusts count a pond among the best features for bringing new wildlife into a garden.

Front gardens and paving

A permeable surface is one that rain can pass through. Gardens soak up rain, while paving, tarmac and concrete send more of it into the street drains.

In England, a driveway needs no planning permission if it is permeable, whether it is new or replaced and whatever its size. Gravel, porous asphalt and permeable concrete block paving all count. So does a driveway that sends its rain onto a lawn or flower bed to soak away.

A new driveway of more than five square metres that rain can't pass through needs planning permission, unless its water drains to a permeable area. These rules cover most houses. Flats follow different rules.

Working with a garden designer

The Society of Garden and Landscape Designers is a professional association for garden designers. Before you choose a designer, the society suggests looking at their past projects, asking lots of questions and taking up references from earlier clients.

A typical design process begins with a first meeting about the brief, meaning what the garden needs to do. A plan showing the layout follows, and then construction drawings where they are needed.

Water butts and peat-free compost

A water butt is a large tank that collects rain from a gutter downpipe. The RHS calls rainwater the best water for gardens. You can catch it off the roofs of houses, garages, sheds and greenhouses. Keep a close-fitting lid on the butt.

Peat is made of plants that decayed slowly in wet places over thousands of years. Choosing peat-free compost helps to protect peat bogs and to fight climate change.

The RHS warns that compost labelled "environmentally friendly" or "organic" is not always peat-free. Traditional John Innes compost contains peat, so a peat-free version must say so on the bag.

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