6 Place to Find Inspiration for your Garden

If you’re planning a garden makeover it’s never too early to start collecting inspirational reference images. When we speak to a client who has these as a starting point it means we’re on the same page from the first meeting and can get straight to the fun part of working out how to make it happen. If you’re stuck for where to look, here are 6 ideas for where to find garden inspiration:

🌿 Pinterest - the ultimate site for inspiration, search by trends, garden styles and materials and get pinning to a dream garden board .

🌿 Magazines - go analogue and get mood boarding, or see if your local library offers free digital magazines (Dundee City Council does). Check out Modern Gardens and Home & Garden.

🌿 Instagram - if you know roughly what you’re looking for then you can search by that hashtag and see lots of real-world examples e.g. #timberpergola. Save or screenshot the ones you like for later.

🌿 Take a Walk - have a look around your own neighbourhood or a nearby area and see if you can find any inspiring gardens. If you do take pictures be mindful of the owners' privacy.

🌿 Gardening TV Shows - there are plenty to choose from, you’ll often find out about new trends and can research these elsewhere

🌿 National Trust/Historic Scotland/Open Garden Schemes - These gardens may well be a lot grander scale than your own planned makeover but it doesn’t mean you can’t take inspiration from them! Whether you find a little seating area that you love, a herb garden or a colour of stone paving take a photo and add it to your inspiration folder.

If you're planning a garden makeover, a new border or working with a garden designer, you may have come across planting plans and wondered if they are worth investing your time or money into.

If you're creating your own one, you'll need to survey your garden, draw up a plan, and research potential plants.

Planting plans, or planting schemes, are used to determine which plants should go where in a garden. These can be simple and practical, to elaborate and decorative. There are many benefits of using one:

• Your plants are more likely to thrive as they are carefully chosen to suit the soil type, sunlight and shelter of an area.
  
• You can get the most from your budget by comparing the prices of different plants while considering the scheme as a whole.
  
• Planting for the seasons means you can plan for a garden that blooms in different stages for year-round interest.
  
• If you're looking for a low maintenance garden, spending time researching plants at the start will save time gardening in the future.
  
• You can fill your garden with beautiful colour combinations to compliment your hard landscaping and accessories.
  
• Dramatic beds and borders can be designed with structural plants and contrasting textures which make a wonderful focal point.
  
• If you have pets or small children, you can be sure not to accidentally use any plants which may be harmful to them.
  
• You'll know that you have the right amount and size of plants to fill the spaces in your garden as they grow - no gaps or overcrowding.
  
• Once planted, you can use your plan as a reminder of which plant is where so you can care for them properly.

These are just a few reasons to use a planting plan when designing your garden. We offer planting plans as part of our garden design services if it's something you need help with.

Maybe 2021 is the year you're going to get your garden makeover of dreams, if you aren't a fan of DIY then you're going to need a landscape gardener. ⁠⠀
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Where to start? You'll ask your friends and family, perhaps your neighbour had work done on theirs recently, you'll do some googling and might ask for recommendations on Facebook. ⁠⠀
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That's great, now you have a list of names! ⁠We would definitely recommend getting in touch with a few to see which is right for you. You'll want to check if they all offer free, no-obligation quotes but price isn't the only important factor. Here's 4 things to think about when making your decision:⁠⠀
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1. First impressions. Of course, you should check their reviews and examples of work online. But then how easy was it to make contact with each company? Did they return your call/email at a reasonable speed or did you have to chase them up? Go with your gut on this one, you're looking to invest in this project so you want someone who's keen to work with you and presents themselves professionally from the start.⁠⠀
   
   
2. Site visit. Did they give you a time and show up when they said they would? Reliability is such an important factor, you need to be able to trust your landscape gardener so you can know your project will run smoothly and to schedule. If they can't get one appointment right, what hope is there for a whole garden makeover?⁠⠀
   
   
3. Do they share your vision? Garden landscaping has a lot to it, you might need a landscaper who specialises in one particular area or who offers additional services. If it's a big makeover then that could be project management and garden design, if they offer this in-house then that saves you a lot of work. You want someone who really listens to your brief to create a garden you'll love for years to come.⁠⠀
   
   
4. Read that quote and read it again. Check the terms and conditions, is it a fixed price or hourly rate? If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. You ideally want to know what you're paying from the start so there are no nasty surprises later on. If you accept the quote can you book a specific date or does it seem a bit vague?⁠⠀
   

So there you have it, 4 things to think about when choosing a landscape gardener - and no, we aren't saying "choose us!" - there are many great landscape gardening businesses in Dundee and the surrounding areas. You just want to make sure you find the right one for your project.
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