We’re slap bang in the middle of garden and flower show season and if you’re anything like us you’ve been glued to the TV – if not planning or managing to visit every show in the country in person – watching Monty and co bring Malvern, Chelsea and the rest a tad closer to home.
Being garden designers we love looking at show gardens; there’s always something new and exciting to see in the wide variety of plots ranging from the mouth gapingly gorgeous to the bizarrely bonkers gardens on show. We have to admit though that being garden designers for real people, we do often seem to find ourselves forever standing in front of beautiful show garden creations asking ‘where would you hang your washing’ or ‘where would we put the bins’ if that was our garden?
Let’s face it, ‘real’ life tends to have its logistical challenges and your garden is no different to the rest of your home when it comes to having to find ways of accommodating those everyday needs. In order that you don’t end up with entirely impractical garden space we thought it’d be worth highlighting some of those real life everyday garden challenges that is worth thinking about when considering a garden design...
The washing
Whilst some of us do invariably have a woman (or man) that ‘does’, the vast majority of us have to deal with our washing ourselves and washing (as every washing aware parent is bound to have told every child at some point in their lives) is so much nicer when it’s been dried out on a line. Garden designs generally do not accommodate washing lines well – that’s probably why you rarely see one in a show garden – but they do tend to make life so much easier when they exist. Try to think about practicalities when considering your outdoor drying needs: quantities, frequency, weight are the main things to think about in terms of your washing and mobility and access issues covered later will also make your life easier if you can think about them at the point of design rather than as an afterthought!
Storage
When we talk about storage we’re generally thinking about things that need to be kept under cover. You may be lucky enough to have an accommodating garage or loft space that can be used to house many things but even then there’s still a high probability that your garden will need to provide some sort of storage space too. While most of us have sheds in our garden they’re not the only type of storage that can be sited in a garden. Storage solutions come in many shapes and sizes so do try to think about your storage needs before you purchase anything and definitely before any garden design happens. There’s nothing worse than designing your garden only to have to ruin the whole thing because you need an enormous shed or similar structure to accommodate your life’s worth of accumulated ‘stuff’. Knowing your ‘stuff’ isn’t just about depth and breadth of subject knowledge – in garden storage terms it can save a lot of headaches to know your stuff intimately too!
Utility
That area of storage for things that can be kept outdoors... you know, the old slabs, the wheelbarrow, the water butt you haven’t got around to setting up yet, the kids’ old trampoline, the bits of wood and piping you’re keeping ‘just in case’ – we all have them. Indeed, there are lots of things that would benefit from being kept ‘tidy’ and maybe even out of sight... Be realistic and honest with yourself about how much you have; you might need to find a sizeable space to accommodate it. But generally if you’ve got ‘outdoor stuff’ it’s best to try and have tidy and preferably hidden outdoor stuff.
The bins
Wheelie bins seem to be a stalwart of the Great British way of life these days but let’s face it, they are both unwieldy and somewhat lacking in aesthetics. Whether you keep them at the front of the house or at the back they do tend to need ‘somewhere’ to live. It may be that they can be kept with your other outdoor ‘stuff’ but wheelie bin requirements are often different to many other utility storage requirements. Wheelie bins are used regularly for instance and they can often do with being kept fairly close to the house... It may sound daft, but consider how you currently ‘use’ your wheelie bins before you design your outdoor space – that way your garden design can accommodate a designated area and obstacle-free route before it is developed rather than afterwards.
Mobility
Mobility definition: the ability to move or be moved freely and easily. Real people have mobility needs: will you be able to move around your garden design freely and easily or will it all be a bit of a trek and an adventure? If you’re a person with a penchant for super-high stiletto heels for instance, super-smooth marble floor surfaces or potentially sink-into gravel-only pathways and patios may not be the best option for you. Mobility needs aren’t limited to people either: everything we’ve mentioned so far has mobility implications. A wheelie bin journey, for instance, could do with no steps and no cobbles, and gravel alone can be difficult if a bin is heavy. A tree canopy can wreak havoc with a delicate material flapping in a brisk, drying wind. Whatever and wherever things are being stored, think too about their journey (i.e. your journey with them) to and from their storage places as well as their function – is there enough mobility included in your garden design?
Access
Defined as the means or opportunity to approach or enter a place accessible garden design accommodates the needs of real people and their everyday lives. The practicalities of living demand accessibility. Simple things matter like having wide enough pathways and gates or enough space to open your garden shed door (and actually get things through it!); pathways also being wide enough to accommodate wheelie bin wheel widths and other wheeled equipment as well as foot traffic; gates and arches being wide enough to get people and maintenance equipment from a storage space to a place of use; these and others are the things that make real people’s lives easier and more accessible in their garden.
Seasonality
Whilst many show gardens seem to be built for a tiny window in time, we’ve found that real people tend to still look out of their window during the winter months too! As such seasonal interest becomes one of those key ingredients of a garden designed for real people, but not only do you want to see something interesting throughout the year you may also want to be in your garden throughout the year too. In this regard seasonality can also be about being able to get from A to B without needing wellies or a safety helmet; or having somewhere to sit without having to break out the delicate patio furniture! When thinking about your garden design try to think about the ongoing yearly use of your garden too.
Cats & Dogs
Real people love their furry friends in the UK and many people think that pets and garden design don’t really mix. While it’s true that cats and dogs have the potential to create havoc with a flower border and a lawn with a bit of clever pet friendly garden design, often the worse catastrophes can be averted. Don’t forget your pets when thinking about a garden design – a happy co-existence between a new garden and a beloved pet stands a much better chance if the garden has been designed with a pet in mind.
Future proofing
It’s hard to know what will happen in the future but if you can approach a garden design with a forward thinking head on it can save both money and effort further down the line. Real people’s garden needs change and constantly evolve and it is a great skill to be able to think about how to accommodate some of those potential changing needs at the point of design. That’s not to say that we think a garden design needs to remain static forever, but elements within a garden design can sometimes be designed for now, while being able to be adapted and changed for a future use without needing a whole new garden design later on.
Sitting – eating/drinking/looking/listening
We’re not going to spend much time on this one since this is the thing that most people have usually thought about when first considering a garden design but there are things to consider about your seating areas that can improve the practicalities of them and thus make them more workable for real people. For instance, having somewhere nearby for storing patio furniture cushions and covers makes it easier and faster to get furniture into action or stashed away when the British weather can’t make up its mind and canopies and other covers can render the weather less influential in terms of sitting out too, offering both shade and shelter. Ledges near to sitting areas can double up as extra, impromptu seating or places to put table and BBQ overflows; clever lighting can extend a sitting out or just looking period; the choice of surface materials will make all the difference between a level, steady table or chair and a rocking, unsteady one.
Hobbies/Activities
We love beautiful looking garden designs but there must be functionality built into them too and we’ve found that real people tend to ‘do’ things; and that sometimes the garden needs to be able to accommodate those ‘things’ or aspects of them too. You might not be able to accommodate everything but at least thinking about the requirements of those activities can help result in a garden design more suited to you and your real requirements – and that’s the moral of the story really...
It’s easy to think about a garden as just somewhere to look good and sit and relax in, but life – real life – has its requirements too, and if your garden design can be developed with a prior awareness of what those requirements are, it means that the end result is much more likely to be fit for your very specific and very real life. This list certainly isn’t exhaustive, but these things are the ones that tend to crop up more than others when we’re designing gardens for real people. Your list might be completely different but whatever’s on it do think about them before you start to design your garden – it will save an awful lot of headaches later!