Our life is very multifaceted. Even adherents of comfortable apartments change their views and acquire a summer cottage. The decision is made for various reasons, but no one can refuse fresh air, colors of lush grass and flowers, murmur of water and singing of birds.
After the first hassle, it's time to think about the improvement of your summer cottage. The most important condition that every summer resident should know is not to complex! If you have never planted flowers, did not build a pond or bench, then this is not a reason to stop. The improvement of a summer cottage is a creative business, not so difficult (albeit a little troublesome), but grateful.
To make a professional landscape design of the site, you may have to contact a specialist. And if you are familiar with design, then your own knowledge for landscaping will be quite enough. Consider two options for improving the site, which are most often encountered.
Starting from scratch
This option is suitable for those who are purchasing a new plot on which there are no buildings yet. Before decorating and landscaping, you will have to carry out construction work. During this period, it is necessary to follow some recommendations:
- Be sure to take a plan of the wind rose (cardinal points) and natural relief. This will come in handy when planning planting, marking elements for landscaping.
- Document any construction work. This includes the laying of water supply and sewerage, electricity.
- It is necessary to clearly delineate your site plan to create a harmonious landscaping plan and its relationship with the surrounding landscape.
Why do you need to pay attention to such nuances? Beautification of a summer cottage with your own hands will require this knowledge in order to correctly plan everything - the width of paths and paths, a pond, a bathhouse, a gazebo.
You must be sure that at the time of construction you will not touch the life support channels. After all, there should be enough space for a car and then watering will not have to be pulled from one end of the site to the other. Some plants do not tolerate well the proximity to power lines, groundwater. In any case, this knowledge in the improvement of the site will be useful.
Try to put your plan on paper, taking into account all the nuances. All objects need to be approached, therefore, the tracks, in addition to decorativeness, should have a functional purpose. Each zone is created taking into account lighting, materials and existing natural elements.
Be sure to make a list of the plants you want to plant.
They also need to be placed taking into account the illumination and the need for water. Read the characteristics of each plant. You may want to change something. Use all the ideas for landscaping the site. Even in swampy and waterlogged areas, "their own" plants grow.
Break the area into zones... You can make a project for the improvement of a summer cottage in different styles. It is good to decorate a Japanese garden in one place, and Art Nouveau in another. Your best bet is to tie your home improvement styles to your home. Then the entire site will take on a finished look.
We redo in our own way
This information will be useful to those owners who purchase a residential plot or inherited it.
- Pay attention to the trees growing in the country, especially the very old and large ones. Choose those that can be healed or trimmed. If it doesn't work at all, then leave one for a wide, large stump.First, it will take some time before the trees you planted grow. And the old-timers will be able to give shade and serve as a decoration for the zone. And in a large stump, flower or juniper beds look great. The main thing is not to leave sick and rotten plants.
- Try to adapt to the terrain of the site when planning the improvement of the site. It is not necessary to rake and level everything. Often, in secluded corners, a natural landscape has already been created in which plants feel comfortable, grow and bloom well. The stones that have grown into the ground will serve for the design of a slide, a waterfall, an original flower bed border.
Do not rush to change everything at once. It is better to tie your ideas for landscaping a summer residence to existing objects.
Before you start your big renovation, have a family council. Write down the desires of adults and children in order to compare them with the financial capabilities, the structure of the site and the purposes for which it was purchased.
Where to begin:
We start to embody ideas
Professionals advise to start with the design of the tracks. This element is very important for any site. Walkways help to reach any object or deliver building material.
For children, this is an opportunity to run, roller-skate or ride a bike. The mysteriousness of the garden paths leading to the gazebo or pond adds romance to walks. It is not necessary to invite a construction team to work. It is important to consider that:
- the soil needs to be leveled and tamped;
- choose the material depending on the purpose and degree of load on the track;
- you need to carefully adhere to the markup.
The tracks on the site can be of any material. For areas with heavy loads, stone, brick, concrete are suitable.
In other cases, wood and ceramics are used. When landscaping a site, you can make garden tiles with your own hands. Fragments of glass or mosaics are placed in a suitable container, poured with concrete. After hardening, take out the workpiece and lay it on the ground (you can dig it up a little for stability). "Tiles" are made of different or the same size. The same "tile" can be made from wooden blocks.
This element of accomplishment is on the shoulder of any summer resident. The path can be played up with a beautifully braided arch.
Vines, climbing roses, clematis, and other climbing plants will do.
Landscaping of the site is equally important. This is one of the most popular site improvement techniques using plants. If not everyone can make a path, then everyone can plant a plant. This includes various flower beds, discounts, mixborders... And here is another idea that combines usefulness and decorativeness - a hedge.
It is difficult to overestimate the advantages of such an element of landscaping when landscaping a site:
- A plant fence will reliably protect the site and hide unnecessary elements beyond the border of the site. Looks much more natural than any fence.
- Green plants are a good source of oxygen.
- The hedge will play another important role. Protection from dirt and dust in residential areas has always been carried out with green spaces. Embody this idea in the improvement of your site.
- The choice of plants for the hedge is quite large. Conifers, flowering shrubs, climbing plants are suitable.
The next option for improving the site will be occupied by gardeners. Practical and harmonious vegetable beds will help decorate your garden as well as a recreation area. Are used:
- brick;
- slate;
- wood;
- live plants.
A great trick is to grow a flower bed from ornamental cabbage.
She can claim a place of honor in landscape design when landscaping a site in the garden area.
There are a lot of ideas shared by summer residents. Do not neglect the experience of seasoned designers and the recommendations of professionals. But embody your ideas without hesitation. If you don't like it, you can do it differently. There are rules for arranging each element.Therefore, before starting the construction of a parking lot, a reservoir, a bathhouse, a garden gazebo, read the recommendations of specialists. Add your ideas and get started.
Examples of ideas:
