Being blessed with sprawling land in the country provides you with all kinds of possibilities to create the life that you have always wanted for yourself and your family. You can build a house that is stylish as well as a source of convenience and joy.
However, aside from a building structure that meets your aesthetic preferences and functional requirements, you also have the opportunity to cultivate an outdoor space to complement your home and make the country estate your true happy place.
Here are some garden ideas to consider for this purpose.
1. Create a walled garden
If you have a vast outdoor space, why not create a walled garden? Think “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett — an enclosed piece of land covered with beautiful flowers and other types of vegetation, and a sanctuary for birds, butterflies, and other adorable wildlife.
According to a reputable landscaping company in Dubai, a walled garden can serve as a quiet retreat of grandeur and beauty for meditation and even intimate gatherings, such as tea parties among friends. And just like in the book, it can likewise be a place of healing.
But to make it an even more enjoyable and visually appealing place to be, think about installing furniture, seating spaces, a fish pond, and even well-chosen decor such as a fountain, birdhouses, arbors, and so much more. You can work all these out with your landscaping contractor.
2. Build a playground
Dedicate a portion of the yard for play. Take a cue from the Duchess of Cambridge’s garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. Even a small patch of land can be developed as a venue for nature study and play for young children.
Create an abundance of green with local plants and flowers. Grow fruit-bearing trees and install features for play such as a tire swing, a human-made stream, a fort, bridge, treehouse, and more. This is a fantastic idea if you have small children or you enjoy having kids over at your property. A garden playground can contribute to your family’s health and the young ones’ proper development.
3. Cultivate an ornamental garden
It is also common for charming country estates to have an open, ornamental garden. This garden is all about beauty instead of function. The best venue for this if you have acres and acres of outdoor space is by the entrance to the estate, where a garden’s purpose for existence is to impress visually.
For an ornamental garden, typically, everything is carefully chosen — from the ornamental plants to the decor, and the few necessary utility implements such a freestanding letterbox. Also, another principle to uphold for this type of garden is symmetry. There must be a sense of balance in the visual appearance.
And most importantly, maintenance is a must. As mentioned earlier, the purpose of this garden is beauty; therefore, it only makes sense that consistent work should be devoted to preserving its lovely appearance. Lawn care should be carried out regularly to prevent weeds and maintain the manicured look of turf. Cleanup is a daily task as well to prevent pests.
4. Grow a kitchen garden
An edible or kitchen garden is the opposite of an ornamental garden. Its primary goal is to make the household more self-sufficient by being a direct source of food.
In a small section of the estate, you can grow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Perhaps, you can even take care of a few animals such as goats, chickens, ducks, sheep, and turkeys.
However, experts on edible gardens advise growing a kitchen garden slowly. It’s best to get a feel of it and observe for small results first. It’s essential to see how successful your initial efforts are to avoid wasting money. So, test your interest first, secure success, and then add on as your needs for new ingredients grow.
5. Try a vertical garden
There are different ways you can try growing a vertical garden, but most people find success by dedicating one exterior wall of the house to growing vines and climbing edibles.
A vertical garden is usually a space-saving solution for homes in urban locations. But, over the years, more and more country households have cultivated them due to the European style and interior climate benefits. Studies reveal that homes with thick, low-growing foliage on their walls stay cool in the summer and warm and cozy in the winter.
6. Build a garden in the sky
If your home has big verandas and a rooftop space for entertaining, do think about building a garden up there, too. This is actually an easy project to consider because sky gardens usually do away with the typical concerns of “on the ground” gardens such as pests.
According to Jon Carloftis, a rooftop garden designer, the isolation of a sky garden from other vegetation prevents bugs and diseases from taking hold.
The only challenge that you can encounter when growing a sky garden is the weight. Avoid planting heavyweights because they may prove too much for the structure of verandas and roofs to bear.
7. Let a wild garden thrive
To maintain the endemic vegetation and some of the original components of the property, allow a wild garden to thrive. Here, all kinds of flowers and plants will flourish even without much care. You’ll be surprised at how thick all of these will be in no time and how not taking care of them actually gives them their own unique beauty.
Plus, it’s worth noting that letting a wild garden thrive in your property may provide you with rare edible berries, edible weeds, and mushrooms, all of which grow better without any help from humans. It’s nice to have these along with the harvest from your kitchen garden.
These are excellent garden ideas to consider for your estate. Indeed, gardens are wonderful property features that can benefit your quality of life in so many ways. So, if you wish to take full advantage of your country property’s massive outdoor space, consider these garden ideas, which can make everything from self-care to self-sufficiency possible.
Author Bio
Rachel Hennessey manages the Pools and Landscaping Division of Hennessey LLC. She also works on Tender and Pre-Qualification and brings in new business to the company’s Construction, Interiors, and Civils Division.