Garden Design and Construction 101
Get out your note pad! We’ll be covering the basics of designing and building a garden:
Learning about your environment
Planning your space
Doing the groundwork
And the best part, plants!
1) Site Analysis: Learning About Your Environment
The best gardening advice out there is right plant, right place, and you need to learn about your “place” before you start planning the space. A site analysis can be as simple as jotting down notes, or more complicated like transferring all of the environmental information you’ve recorded onto a property survey or site plan. The important part is that time has been taken to understand the site and environment you will be growing plants in.
A site analysis is the best way to save time, energy and money. Slowing down to take the time to learn about your environment is the best way to ensure success in the future.
Soil
What is your soil type? Is it rocky? Does it have a lot of clay? Is it sandy? Silty?
What is your soil profile like? How deep is your top soil? Sub soil (which is beneath the top soil) is the material you want to excavate to if you will be installing a patio, so knowing how much top soil your garden has will help you to anticipate the cost of hardscaping.
How moisture retentive is your soil? How dry does your soil become in the summer? Is your soil freely draining? How wet is your soil in the winter?
To grow the widest variety of plants the soil requirement is usually “well-drained and humus rich”. Many plants grow well in this and few of us have this, but you should know what your starting point is.
Other things to consider are:
Is your soil acidic or alkaline?
Is the soil native? Is it subsoil excavated from a new build? Is it building fill? Is the soil compacted from machinery and building?
How moisture retentive is your soil? Is your soil freely draining?
There are a couple of tests you can do at home to learn about your soil:
Jar test: This is a test that determines what kind of soil texture you have (the percent of clay, silt and sand). For step by step instructions click here.
Soil drainage test: This is a test to help you determine how well drained your soil is, which will help you to understand how to better prepare your site for planting, and what plants will thrive. For step by step instructions click here.
Light
The other environmental factor that will play greatly into your garden planning and building is light levels. Is your space sunny? When is it sunny? Morning only? All day? Afternoon only? And if it’s shady, how is it shady? A general rule of thumb is:
Full sun: Six or more hours of direct sunlight each day.
Part shade: Four to six hours of direct sunlight everyday.
Full shade: Less than four hours of direct sunlight each day?
If the site is shady, what is causing the shade? The north side of a building? The canopy of existing trees?
Water
What is your access to water? Are you on a well? Are you in an area that regularly has watering restrictions?
Do you want to plan to irrigate your garden? Where is the nearest water source? Where is the nearest power supply or electrical source?
Deer
Do deer frequent your garden? Do you see deer damage on plants? Or deer droppings?
Will you ever be willing to build a fence?
What do your neighbours say? If your neighbours can only grow the most deer resistant of plants, then plan on using only deer resistant plants in your garden. Check out our deer resistant plant list here.
Lastly, you may have a very windy site, salt spray, or a garden exposed to noxious weeds. If you do have noxious weeds, then tarping or pesticides may be a required step before you move ahead with building your garden
You should still be here. No gardening has actually begun. You’ve just been learning about your space. Once you’ve taken the time to learn about your site, the next step in building a garden is to plan your space.
2) Designing and Planning Your Space
Example of a functional analysis
Functional Analysis
A functional analysis is when you begin to think about how your space will function. At this point a rough sketch is useful to determine “zones” in the space. A professional garden designer would use a design questionnaire to ensure they cover all topics. The functional analysis includes discussing the following topics:
Activities you want to do in your space: Entertainment? Recreational activities? Vehicular or pedestrian considerations? Patio? Utility areas?
Maintenance: What is your expectation of garden maintenance? Are you hoping to maintain your garden yourself? Will you be hiring anyone to assist with maintenance?
Design mood
Priorities: Privacy? Budget? Instant gratification or delayed gratification?
Concept Plan and Final Design
You’ve learned about your site. You’ve learned about what your goals are for your space. Now it’s time to make a plan. At this point a professional would draft a plan, but for the do-it-yourself home owner some notes, spray paint, and rope may be all that’s needed. If you are opting out of drafting a plan here’s our favourite tips and tricks to help plan your space:
Use rope and stakes to mark out garden beds. A hose can work as well.
Chalk can also be used as a temporary garden bed edge.
Identify grade changes with a string line and a bubble level.
Make a mock garden with empty pots.
Walk around the space and view it from different angles. Sleep on it, and change it up.
Good gardens have good lines. Don’t be afraid to use wide curves.
3) Groundworks
At this point groundworks can begin. Groundworks comprises of any excavation, hardscaping and irrigation. Groundworks should be decided on in the planning stage, but we’ll be reviewing possible groundworks required and their implication here.
Irrigation
Should you irrigate?
If you are planting in the spring, the first year (regardless of how drought tolerant plants are) supplemental water will be necessary to establish plants. A fall planting can help to reduce the need for watering the first year.
Having irrigation greatly increases the plant palette to choose from.
Irrigation is ideal for people who travel and don’t want to rely on hand watering.
Drip and micro irrigation is highly recommended. Drip is best for the health of plants because it only waters the root zone, keeping foliage dry.
Drip can be used during stage 3 water restrictions so it’s ideal for Cowichan Valley gardens. Note: Micro or drip irrigation uses less than 20 gallons per hour at less than 25 psi.
You can install it yourself or you can hire an irrigation company.
Main irrigation lines should be installed before planting, while drip lines should be installed after planting, but before mulching.
Soil
Biggest soil decision is whether to a) amend soil or to b) excavate existing soil and bring in new soil.
Amending soil
Always preferable for soil health
Reduces compaction
Less expensive
Labour intensive
Not always possible depending on quality of existing material
Excavating existing soil and bringing in new soil
New builds often have minimal existing topsoil, and only fill from the excavated building site. If you have a space you want to turn into a garden, then fill is best excavated
May need to be considered if an existing garden or lawn is failing
Requires machinery and increases compaction on site
More expensive
If you are bringing in soil be sure it is weed free
A note on excavation: If soil will be excavated, then be sure to have the machine back out of the area and de-compact or scarify the area as they back out. This will help to create a gradient between any soil brought in and the remaining fill.
Hardscaping
Hardscaping helps to establish good lines and bones in the garden. It increases the usability of a space and the hard elements of hardscaping can enhance appearance of a garden.
Some hardscaping such as flagstone patios and concrete paver patios can be done by homeowners, but an incorrectly installed patio can result in drainage and erosion issues and will not last. Hiring a professional can be well worth it, and is highly recommended when doing any interlocking brick or retaining walls.
4) Plants
You know your site. You understand your soil, light levels, and water. You’ve thought about whether or not you want to incorporate hardscaping, and you’ve decided how you’ll irrigate your space. Now it’s time to start planting! Here we’ll review our top tips for plant selection:
Select the plants that will be the largest size at maturity first, and work down from there. A planting plan should begin with trees and hedging, then shrub selection, and finally perennials.
Trees are the plants with the biggest impact in the garden so do not rush the decision. Ideal planting time for trees is October to March.
Shrubs are a great low-maintenance way to add flower and foliage interest to the garden. Evergreens are best planted in February to April or September/October. Deciduous shrubs can be planted September to April.
Conifers are a great way to add contrasting textures. They are low maintenance and frequently deer resistant. Follow the same planting schedule as trees and shrubs.
Perennials and grasses are great for adding colour and texture to the garden. Many are drought tolerant and deer resistant.
There are multiple traits and characteristics plants bring to a garden. Here’s our checklist to ensure you have all of your bases covered:
Evergreen foliage
Conifers
Spring flowering shrubs
Spring flowering bulbs
Summer flowering shrubs
Fall foliage colour
Berries
Winter/ early spring interest
Grasses
Perennials
Vines
Groundcovers
Annuals for filler
