Tired of noisy cities, many city dwellers rush to the countryside, closer to nature. Someone perceives the cottage as a place where you can relax and fry a barbecue, someone has the goal of gardening. In all cases, homestead land requires landscaping. How to create a unique landscape design for a summer cottage with your own hands?
Features
Experienced landscape designers are advised to find out the area of the site before starting work. After all, there is a difference in the design of 6 acres, half of which is occupied by a house, and 10-12 acres.
In order to get the most beautiful, you need to draw up a detailed plan of the site and draw the markup. This is necessary in order to clearly understand where which plants will be planted, as well as paved paths.
Building a fence
It's hard to imagine a summer cottage without a fence. It is necessary not only to protect yourself from prying eyes, but also to create the boundaries of personal space. Fence selectioncarried out not only according to its external characteristics, but also according to the financial capabilities of the owner of the site.
Of course, many people like high brick fences with forged elements, but not everyone can afford such a luxury. In this case, it is recommended to pay attention to more budget options from the grid, picket fence. They will look no less impressive if you put them on vines of delicious grapes or ornamental plants such as honeysuckle, hawthorn, clematis, climbing roses.
Zoning
Planning plants in a summer cottage will be much easier if you divide the yard into functional areas:
- entry;
- recreation area;
- a place for outbuildings;
- garden.
The number and function of zones may vary depending on the needs of residents.
The entry zone is the hallmark of the entire site, as it is visible in the first place. It usually consists of a lot with a parking space and paths leading to the house.
The recreation area should be located in a convenient place, since it is there that you will receive guests and arrange family gatherings. It must meet the following requirements:
- The ideal location for relaxing in the backyard of the house, away from the entrance.
- It is important that a beautiful view opens up from the terrace or pergola, because this is the only way to fully enjoy nature.
- In total, 10-15% should be allocated to the recreation areafrom the total space of the plot.
Outbuildings should be placed as follows:
- Their appearance should be in harmony with the residential building and not attract much attention.
- Location should be as convenient as possible for use.
- If possible, it is recommended to hide them with ornamental shrubs or other plants.
For lovers of the garden, it is very important to have it on your site. However, its appearance should be in harmony with the rest of the territory. It is recommended to arrange comfortable paths between the beds and regularly fight weeds to maintain an attractive appearance.
It is important to place all zones on a preliminary plan before starting landscaping a summer cottage.
Tracks
All areas in the garden should be interconnected by paths for ease of movement. The most popular option is the formation of paths from natural stone or tiles. A more budget option is the use of crushed stone. However, in this case, curbs should be provided so that small pebbles retain the shape of the path.
A good example of landscaping a summer cottage is the design of paths with green spaces. These can be low-growing seasonal flowers planted along the sides of paths, small shrubs or ornamental herbaceous plants.
Selection of trees
How to start landscaping a summer cottage? In most casesThere are old trees in the yard. It is necessary to assess their condition, trim, treat. If this is not possible, then cut down or uproot.
Sometimes it happens that in the country there are coniferous trees. Landscaping a summer cottage with pine trees can turn out to be very beautiful, if you take into account the features of the soil topography and plants that will be planted next to coniferous trees.
In the garden area, the planting of fruit crops is welcome, as they will not only give a good shade with their crowns, but will also delight with flowering and fruiting.
The entry zone is decorated by many with thujas and for good reason. They look great, require minimal maintenance and have a long lifespan. When choosing undersized crops that will grow next to coniferous or fruit trees, it is important to select those that are compatible with each other. For example, it is worth abandoning the idea of planting next to a sprawling tree that gives a lot of shade, light-loving plants.
Lawn
Greening options for a summer cottage can be either with or without lawn grass. There are two options for getting a beautiful lawn:
- acquisition of turf;
- growing grass from seed.
The second option is more energy-intensive, but also more budgetary. It should be expected that in the first year after sowing it is unlikely that a beautiful lawn will turn out, as in the picture. Grass requires no less care than other garden crops. Forso that it maintains an attractive appearance all season long, it is important to water, fertilize and mow the lawn in a timely manner.
It is also important to pay attention to the type of grass:
- shade-tolerant;
- sports;
- drought tolerant;
- tread-resistant.
It is important to study certain characteristics of the variety before planting in order to ensure the most correct care.
Flower beds
When planning the planting of flowering plants, it is necessary to pay attention not only to their appearance, but also to the characteristics of flowering, caring for them, height and other equally important parameters. The most popular options for green spaces are:
1. Rutarium is a composition of roots, snags, decorated with flowers. The composition resembles an alpine hill, where driftwood plays the role of stones. Rutarii are also quite budget-friendly, as the materials can be found in the nearby forest. It is important to choose the right place for the arrangement of the composition. Places for its installation by the pond, next to the gazebo, near the entrance are considered ideal.
2. A tapeworm is a composition in which the main role is assigned to a single plant. A large peony, lilac bush, stonecrop, mullein, castor bean can act as a solo plant.
3. The array is a continuous flower plantation of a large size. Such flower beds are most common. The nuance is that a large space is needed to create such a flower garden. Particularly impressive floral arraylooks out of tulips, delphinium, lilies, marigolds, carnations.
4. A border is a long planting that is used to frame something. To create it, marigolds, chrysanthemums, ageratum, night violets are used.
5. Bouquet planting - the creation of small separate flower beds in the form of flower bouquets. It is not necessary to use shrubs, densely planted daylilies, petunias, phloxes, astilbes are suitable for this purpose.
6. A hedge can be used in place of a fence or to separate and decorate outbuildings. Landscaping of a summer cottage with a hedge is carried out using undersized or medium-sized shrubs, which can also bloom.
7. Flowers on the lawn look no less impressive. Daisies, chamomiles, Turkish cloves, petunias, snapdragons, pansies are most often planted.
8. Alpine slide is a combination of flowers, herbaceous plants and stones.
In addition, potted plants that stand in the garden look no less impressive.
Helpful tips
Greening and landscaping of the territory of a summer cottage is impossible without studying information about plants and methods of zoning space. It is also recommended to follow these helpful tips from experienced landscape designers:
- Don't blindly copy the flower beds that you can see in the pictures. You should take into account the features of the soil, relief and other nuances when choosing plants for planting.
- When choosing decorative elements, one shouldstick to the same concept. In addition, their number should be moderate. The abundance of decor creates some chaos on the site.
- When using the cottage only on weekends, you should choose plants that do not need careful care and daily watering.
- Decorative elements can also be practical. For example, have lighting fixture functions.
You should also remember that gardening a summer cottage requires some financial and time costs, so you need to adequately assess your capabilities.
Conclusion
It is important to create a certain concept and stick to it. Landscaping a summer cottage without a preliminary plan can rarely be successful. If it is impossible to independently create the cottage of your dreams, it is better to seek help from qualified landscape designers who know exactly how to do it. It should be remembered that such services are not cheap.
