Mindful Garden Design

Do you ever feel like you’re working so hard on your garden, that you never get around to enjoying it?

It was Alan Titchmarsh who once said, ‘gardens need a good dose of looking at’, and it’s all too easy to get so involved with planning, planting and shaping things in the garden, that you never find the time to contemplate your creation.

If you slow down and take it all in, here are some of the things you might notice.

1. Orientation

It’s important to take time to look at orientation in a garden; the areas of the garden which face north, south, east and west. This will determine what times of day there will be sun and shade and how you might want to use different parts of your garden, if you are lucky enough to have a large outdoor space.

2. Using the space

Once you have spent some time observing the orientation of the garden, you might want to consider how you will use different areas at different times of day. This might be for entertaining in the garden with family and friends, or for quiet observation and remaining in the present.

Ideally, where you sit for breakfast might be different from where you to sit for supper, depending on where the sun is. In mid-summer in the middle of the day you might seek a shadier spot, whereas at breakfast time you may want to sit in the full sun.

In the evening you might want a sundowner terrace where you can watch the sun disappear over the horizon.

Seating areas of all shapes, descriptions and sizes from a balanced plank to a beautifully carved swinging seat, garden bench or a lump of stone, are all incredibly good places, allowing you to contemplate gardens and sometimes just contemplate life.

3. Nature in your garden

Gardens for some people can be about taming nature, or for others are a chance to welcome nature into our lives. Some people like totally manicured gardens, and others like quite wild gardens, but we all have an aspiration of how a garden should be.

The environments you create will also link with the plants you select, both where they thrive and the aesthetic they create. Often plants will look different in the morning from the afternoon, from the shadow they cast to the shape of the leaves and the flowers that might be out for different seasons.

There will also be plants which thrive in shade, or those which will suffer without full sun.

All of these are important things to consider when creating a garden but also thinking about where you want to sit to admire your garden in its entirety. 

With Many thanks to Sandstone Design

Sandstone Design is an award-winning design and landscaping company that undertakes projects of all sizes and styles, from small courtyard gardens to large country estates.

You can find out more at www.sandstonedesign.co.uk

Twitter: @SandstoneDesign

Facebook: @SandstoneGarden

Instagram: @SandstoneDesign

If you would like to contribute a blog, please contact Siobhan at siobhan@sittingspiritually.co.uk