How to structure a garden

When you start to plan a garden it can be difficult to resist going straight for the plants. However a garden’s success will depend more on the underlying structure, with the flowers being the ‘icing on the cake’.   

The structure of a garden is the framework that creates the backdrop to it’s seasonal elements, and the bit that largely persists throughout the year. It is the skeleton that provides strength and holds everything together. Thinking in 3-dimensions is something we take for granted inside the house but it is equally important in the garden.

The backbone of a garden consists of trees, hedges, evergreen shrubs, walls, fences and other built elements, essentially those parts that give a permanent and vertical dimension.  In addition there are secondary structural elements such as paths and paving that have a major impact on how we use the garden.

A well-structured garden not only ensures year round shape and interest (avoiding the dreary winter ‘flatscape’) but also allows you to control the space and enable it to be used in the way intended. This does not necessarily mean that the garden will be formal and rigid as the intention is to overlay softer layers of planting, furniture or sculpture that will imbue the space with the desired style and atmosphere.

The first stage of planning a garden’s framework is usually very practical. It involves deciding, for instance, what the main routes need to be (i.e. from the garage to the front door or from the back door to the shed or patio) and where a good place to sit to enjoy the morning or evening sun, or to create a shady terrace for eating, would be? Routes around the garden do not necessarily need to be straight from A to B, but where you want curves or corners in paths to add interest it is important to bear in mind our natural instinct to take the most direct route. We have all seen the tracks in parks cutting corners like animal trials, and these are known as ‘desire lines’. To avoid this, a path can be combined with hedging, perhaps low, or solid areas of planting that block and control the direction of movement.

Hedges are perhaps the most powerful tool available for giving a garden definition. They enable a space to be divided into ‘rooms’ (a commonly used analogy these days but a good one), and channel or block views. Low hedges can act as physical barriers (to movement) without blocking views. They can also provide a backdrop for sculptures, shelter from the wind and a ‘des-res’ for small birds. 

Finally, any discussion on structure in the garden would not be complete without mention of trees, and vertical components such as pergolas. These can not only frame views, channel movement and ‘anchor’ a space but also provides, with their ‘leafy’ canopy, a subtle and welcoming atmosphere.