Landscape design Australia - Tips for your outdoor spaces

Spending more time at home has changed the priorities of property owners. There are more reasons than ever before to invest in landscape design and make good use of your outdoor space. Especially after going through so many lockdown restrictions, having a pleasant haven of peace in your garden has become the topmost priority.

Our team of landscape design in Australia has collected different tips and tricks to trigger your imagination on possible uses of your outdoor spaces. The best part is that you don't need much space to try one of these ideas. You can live in the city and still create your little haven at home. The goal is to refresh your existing garden to the best quality possible.

If you can't go sideways, go up

vertical garden

Vertical planting is the best solution to save ground space. A living wall is not only beautiful, but they are effortless to maintain, especially with a good irrigation system. In the picture above, there was not much space around the pool for green areas. Nevertheless, the living wall on the right end of the image gives the feeling of a big garden, making the pool area a more natural and pleasant spot.

This is not the only way to make vertical gardens. You can make them big or small, or even use herbs to add a fresh fragrant scent to your space. For instance, you can hang baskets on the wall to better use your vertical area. It looks even better if you hang them by the back door or another access area. You could also use baskets on the side of your fences to save ground space for flower beds.

Interestingly, hanging baskets are a good opportunity for growing plants and strawberries or tomatoes. This allows you to have your own little produce despite the limited space.

If you do not want to modify or drill your walls, there are solutions like ladder shelving, which is still compact and gives you perfect room pots, herbs, and planters. You could even try this solution on a rental property!

fewer pots, but bigger

outdoor tips big pots

Bigger pots have a more significant impact compared to many small pots. Actually, using many small pots, even though they adapt 'better' to the available space you have, make your outdoor space feel cluttered. In the picture above, we see an example from a Mediterranean deck. The big pots make a difference while keeping everything tidy. If you use lots of tiny pots instead, it will immediately look busy and make deck space feel smaller.

The same principle applies to furniture. Again, it is better to have one large piece of furniture than to collect smaller items.

Do not plant in even numbers

Interestingly, our brain likes unity, and this is why it is better to plant in odd numbers. However, even numbers are instantly divided, and it is not aesthetically pleasing unless you are doing a fully formal garden design.

Along the same line, make sure that your flowers and plants have a variety of shapes. This mixture is nicer for smaller spaces. You can mix balls, umbrellas, and spires to achieve this goal.

The variety of flowers and shapes create the impression of an entire garden while keeping it all the same isn't appealing to others.

Rethink your furniture

When space is limited, you want to keep your essential furniture only and have different purposes in mind. This is better than adding more furniture that will make your outdoor space cluttered.

Make sure that your furniture is weatherproof, not only waterproof, but it should also be able to handle the sun without decolouration. For example, if you want to have an outdoor sofa, you will need a safe storage box or room to put the pillows in and take them out only when needed.

If you have a paved path or hard landscape feature like a deck, you want to keep it clean from slippery algal that could build up during the winter. Pressure washing is the most effective way to remove it and keep it clean. It will also make it look more spacious after it's washed.

invest in blue

Pale colours make things appear further away than they are. They are recessive colours. Blue is one of them, and while it is not that simple to find and use blue flowers, you can use other pale colours, such as silver and grey. All this will give the visual effect of being in a more significant space.

Following the same principle, you would not want to paint your fence with a dark or primary colour. Bright colours make things appear closer than they are.

More design tips

Julian Saw and the team at Dapple landscape design have accumulated hundreds of ideas and solutions for your garden. They won't just do what you say, but they will improve your ideas with their expertise. You might be surprised by how many things you can do on your property. It just takes the right person to figure out the options. Thanks to our clients, we now enjoy the reputation of the best team of landscape design in Australia. Do you want to find out more? Call us today at 1300 DAPPLE (1300 327 753) and tell us your situation. We offer garden designs for low prices, and we can even do it online all Australia-wide!