Styles of plots — basic rules when creating landscape design for a plot or garden (130 photos)

Who among us didn't want to create something truly unique in their lives? Such a chance is presented to people quite often, but, as a rule, someone simply does not notice, and someone unknowingly misses it. This chance is the development of unique styles for your own suburban area.

So why is it that even now, when landscape design has ceased to be the exclusive prerogative of professional designers, it is impossible to become at least on the same stage with masters from the past, to imitate the great gardeners who created royal and imperial gardens without special equipment, a team of workers and 3D programs?

The answer to this and many other questions can be found in our article. We will tell you how not to make a mistake when designing your own world, and how to find the very unique style that people have been striving for for centuries.

Your garden is not just a pile of flower beds and plantings, it is your own reflection, and therefore must have a "face". Do you remember how Chekhov's Cherry Orchard became not just a grove, but the main character of the work? But it was he who personified the inner harmony and tranquility of the passing past, which the comedy heroes lacked so much.

So you have to create your own cozy little world where you can enjoy peace and abstract from any worries, vanity and problems.

Summary of the article:

Have you ever wondered why a plot with ponds and ditches, mismatched paths, streams, fountains, alpine slides and even floor vases looks completely absurd, while an almost empty green space with a strange "ikebana" in the middle invariably attracts the eye?

So, this part of the article is devoted to the main mistakes that people make when creating the style of their garden plot.

The most important mistake of any designer, even for the first time trying himself in such an unusual kind of activity, is the lack of a specific idea. No, no one can say for sure in advance exactly what his garden should be, but it is still worth at least approximately getting acquainted with a wide range of possible solutions before placing an alpine slide opposite a weeping willow, under which a children's pool is already located.

Do not use too bulky elements in the design – this will create a feeling of stiffness and limited space.

Do not try to use all the styles you like for garden design at once. Their mixing is permissible, but only in certain proportions and subject to strict zoning (so, the dining area can be made in a regular style, and the area for rest and relaxation – in a landscape, as if making you even closer to the pristine natural beauty).

It is strongly discouraged to "combine the incongruous" when you work with nature. This rather destroys the composition than makes it unique, because it is not for nothing that the layout of the area is so closely connected with drawing and mathematics.

If you are creating a children's area, take care in advance of its isolation from the rest of the garden. Often a children's table looks extremely comical in the middle of a cypress alley or near an elegant Victorian gazebo.

Determining factors of style selection

Creating a stylish design of the site is not as easy as it seems. Even if it seems to you that the project is perfect, it is worth considering some circumstances beyond your control, because of which the resulting garden will not meet your expectations. Let's mention the main stages of choosing a particular style: this will not only save you from having to "rebuild" plans on the go, but also significantly reduce the number of possible options.

Determine which basic elements you want to use. It is not necessary to bind yourself to a certain style, but remember that light and transparent Japanese motifs are inappropriate in combination with majestic classics, its wide paths and ideal geometric shapes.

Evaluate the terrain of the site: for some styles, only flat terrain is suitable, and a mandatory element of others are small hills or even huge boulders.

Think about whether you have the time and opportunity to take care of the garden properly, to maintain it in pristine condition. So, the "idealized" classics require constant attention, while a landscape-style garden (that is, close to the type of natural landscapes) can safely flourish without your help for quite a long time.

Decide on the zoning of the garden plot, its location relative to the house, fence or vegetable garden: all these zones should be in harmony with each other. So, it is better to separate the vegetable garden from the recreation area with a hedge, and a mansion made in the colonial style requires an appropriate type of garden in the backyard.

Do not forget to design the site in advance on paper or with the help of special computer programs. If you are going to make a garden in a mixed style, we recommend that you first assemble a collage on your computer (on the Internet you can find many photos of plots of very different styles, so it will not be difficult to find the right material).

The main range of styles

Before creating your own garden, you will have to get acquainted with many different styles that have their own characteristic features and traditionally accepted elements.

Remember that any style you choose for landscaping a suburban area should first of all reflect your worldview and worldview, a unique understanding of natural, but man-made beauty.

And in order for your garden to amaze the imagination of both a simple layman and a seasoned designer, it is worth knowing the main directions characteristic of landscape art.

Regular style – style ideals

It is characterized by regular geometric shapes, excessively pedantically trimmed bushes, perpendicular high walls and hedges, wide straight paths.

The main attribute is a round pond or flowerbed, which are usually located in the very center of the plot. It is from the center that all paths diverge – this style assumes the presence of a centralized composition.

This style is also called classical, and therefore antiquity becomes its prototype. Sculptures and round balls, flowerpots, classical columns, wrought-iron gates, high arches and large stone benches. The color scheme usually assumes the predominance of gentle, unobtrusive, pastel shades: blue, sand, gray, beige.

This style is suitable for wealthy people who have a country house with wide flat spaces next to it. Gardens in the old days liked to complement small labyrinths, dim lanterns and canopies – it was there that receptions, dinners and dances were held, intrigues were woven and destinies collapsed. And nowadays the classics speak of refined taste and adherence to traditions.

Landscape (English) style

The landscape (English) style of the suburban area is radically different from the regular one. On the contrary, it expresses the desire for pristine natural beauty: soft and smooth lines, winding paths and hills, uneven terrain, gazebos lost in the depths of the gardens, overgrown with age–old ivy - all this is a reflection of the natural power that conquered the garden.

The motto of the English style is naturalness. No deliberately created forms, no sharp transitions and neat flowerbeds. The garden should merge with the environment, and the house and other buildings should be lost against its background.

All shades of green, dirty yellow, brown are suitable here - any unobtrusive colors that can be borrowed from nature itself.

This style was typical for Russian noble estates. It provides the host and guests with privacy, relaxes the mind and allows them to achieve inner harmony by spending time alone with their thoughts and experiences.

The "landscape" is suitable for people whose plot is located on the edge of the forest or somewhere near the forest, or if tall coniferous trees grow in the garden, and most of the space is shaded. It is within these large groups that it is worth highlighting some of the most interesting design solutions:

French Garden

The French garden is one of the garden options that can be organized even in the backyard of a small house. It does not imply the presence of a vegetable garden or flower piles, most often it is an empty lawn with a recreation area somewhere in the depths of the territory and a path leading to a house that does not stand out against the general background.

Plants are often low, mostly deciduous. It is simply not accepted to plant bright flowers here.

Rural country style

Rural country style is a solution ideal for any gardener. Ease, a pile of tools and sometimes completely ridiculous accessories, deliberate negligence and, of course, a vegetable garden instead of a recreation area, because we are dealing with imitation of peasant tradition.

Umbrellas on trees, pots and horns on fences, painted chairs and a lot of bright plants randomly scattered here and there, the absence of smooth paths and lawns – all for the benefit of naturalness. Plantings of fruit plants, ornamental trees or climbing roses in small quantities are welcome

Provence

Provence-style plots seem to be created for very small houses, the owners of which decided to fence off a very small recreation area. Usually, in relatively small spaces, preferably as uncomplicated furniture as possible is located, which should look light, natural and even airy (small round tables and chairs and wrought-iron backs).

Wooden benches look great in combination with narrow winding paths going somewhere in the distance. Planters and potted flowers, as well as flowers with an unobtrusive smell, delicate colors and many inflorescences on one stem are a characteristic element of this style.

The house corresponds to the general atmosphere of the plot: pastel shades, wooden shutters and rocking chairs on the porch.

Japanese Garden

The Japanese garden, without a doubt, is not just a plot, but a real work of art. Each element is verified, each unit has a special place in the philosophical interpretation of the significance of a place created specifically for relaxation.

Its integral part is water in any form: bowls. Fountains, waterfalls or streams. Another attribute is stones: from small, allegedly accidentally found themselves on the site, to huge boulders. The composition is asymmetrical, complemented by moss, step-by-step paths and hilly plant crowns.

Warm colors, bright plants, a lot of colors give out a Mediterranean style. Light wicker tables, chairs, planters and armchairs, flower pots on the veranda of the house are appropriate here.

Small ravines and artificially created glades are all a reminder of sunny Italy. It is also appropriate to add man-made decorations: wooden toys, antique furniture or accessories suspended from trees.

Alpine style

Alpine style is an imitation of the aesthetics of mountain landscapes. It is characterized by minimalism in all its manifestations, the correct geometric shapes of flower beds. Cold colors and shades are familiar.

More often, small ornamental trees are planted instead of flowers. This is an ideal option for people whose plot is located on the slope of a mountain or hill.

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an elegant, modern style. Attention here is paid not to plants, flower beds and reservoirs, but to small architectural forms. An important element of such a site is the need to repeat the same pattern (in paths, flower beds, sculptures or house design).

Another important component is the need for a special harmonious combination of the landscape with your home, because a house in the Art Nouveau style will be a wonderful solution and an excellent addition to such a garden.

Eco-design

Eco-design is a design that involves minimal intrusion into natural processes and minimalism in execution, so most often it is not too neatly trimmed lawn with plantings in the form of small bushes or plants growing in the wild, unpretentious in care.

Another interesting solution can be a variety of thematic styles – here everything depends solely on your imagination. Choose a country whose culture and atmosphere you particularly liked, and try to imitate them in your projects. Feel free to experiment!