If you’re taking your first steps into landscaping, garden design, and outdoor transformations, we’d like to extend a warm welcome to you.
There are many paths that lead people to landscape design – perhaps you’ve moved into a new home with a garden crying out for reimagining, maybe your current outdoor space needs fresh life breathed into it, or you might even be considering landscaping as a career path.
Whatever your reason, you’re about to discover the joys of landscape design.
This creative field offers countless rewards: unleashing your imagination to craft unique outdoor spaces, learning fundamental design principles, understanding which plants thrive in different soil conditions, and exploring the special features that can transform an ordinary garden into something extraordinary.
With so much to discover, your enthusiasm is understandable!
However, the team at Intreeg Landscapes wants to share some important guidance before you dive in. Many newcomers to landscaping make similar mistakes that can be easily avoided with the right knowledge. That’s why the experts at Intreeg Landscapes have compiled three essential landscaping principles that can help set you up for success.
Intreeg recommend reviewing these key points before starting your first project. Following this advice from Inner West’s trusted landscaping professionals will significantly increase your chances of creating a stunning outdoor space you’ll be proud of.
#1: Planning Is Essential
The first point we want to make is probably the most important one, and that is that landscape design should never be something that you make up as you go along. Given that so much of a landscaping project depends on several individual elements, you must plan it properly.
We are not just talking about the layout. Still, other examples include planning the purchasing of plants and features, what building or assembly work might be required, and even if you need any planning permission to make the changes to the garden in question. You do not want to spend large sums to start making changes only to be told that the local authorities do not allow them, for example.
#2: Establish Your Budget In Advance
Another reason many beginner landscapers end up never completing their first project, or it takes way longer than they ever expected it to, is issues around their budget. This often arises because they do not follow through on point #1 concerning planning. By planning, you can research what costs you need to apply for all the work that is going to be done and then compare that with the funds you have available.
If the initial estimate is more than you anticipated, then you can either find additional funds or change the design so that it falls within the budget you have. What you must not do is carry on regardless and then find you cannot proceed further due to a maxed-out credit card or an empty bank account, leaving your garden in what is sure to be an unsatisfactory state.
#3: Start Simple, Then Expand
The third piece of advice we want to impart is that you do not have to make your very first landscaping project something akin to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. In other words, it is unnecessary to make it a massive project that costs a fortune and takes the best part of a year to complete.
If you are starting, there is nothing wrong with starting with a relatively simple landscaping design that might challenge you in terms of learning what you need to do but which does not overwhelm you. The beauty of landscaping designs is that they can be added to and enhanced over time, allowing you to take stock of each stage before you plan the next one.
