Site layout
It is most convenient to draw up a site plan during a visual inspection. To do this, you just need to go out into the yard, walk around the territory and analyze its condition. The most illuminated and shady places, lowlands and hills are taken into account. Inspecting and highlighting the features of the land plot will help to divide it into main zones: vegetable garden, garden, auxiliary buildings (garage, barn), recreation area and other objects necessary in a particular situation.
How to plan regarding the degree of illumination:
- On the north side, shadows fall from tall trees and buildings. It is better to allocate such areas for a garage or utility room;
A hedge of trees will protect the area from the wind - Sunny areas should be allocated for the vegetable garden and garden, since plants develop better in good light;
- Places with diffuse shade are ideal for organizing playgrounds and recreation areas during the day.
Most of the land plot is allocated for a garden and vegetable garden, and the rest of the territory, free from technical structures, can be occupied by recreation areas, surrounded by flower beds and decorative landscape details.
Benches and gazebos
In order to fully enjoy nature and the surrounding landscape design, it is necessary to install a place to relax, which can be used as an ordinary bench or a full-fledged building - a gazebo. As for the bench, you can make a classic wooden or metal structure. So that the bench does not look so strict, it can be made in the form of a car axle, installing old tires on the sides.
If there is a fountain or an artificial pond on the dacha plot, then you cannot do without a bench. An artificial pond is an original and attractive solution, and by adding a bench with a canopy or a swing, you can create a recreation area that attracts not only household members, but also their guests.
Drawing up a work plan
To get a clearer picture of the upcoming work, it is recommended to start by clearing the area of debris, dry grass and weeds. Freed from unnecessary things, the area seems more spacious, and it is easier to draw the future landscape on it. Next, you should act according to the plan, and in order not to rack your brains every time about what to do next, you just need to make a list of tasks in the order in which they should be performed.
Work plan:
- Leveling uneven areas, that is, cutting off hillocks and moving excess earth to lowlands;
- Planting fruit and ornamental trees, berry bushes;
- Construction of a garage and technical structures;
- Construction of canopies or gazebos in recreation areas;
- Construction of raised flower beds and vegetable beds;
- Designation of boundaries between zones;
- Laying paths;
- Laying out flower beds.
Advice. Terracing with the construction of retaining walls is quite labor-intensive and costly, so it should be done when absolutely necessary, when the site has fairly steep slopes.
Stone retaining walls
Fences and hedges, children's playground
Another simple and inexpensive method for creating a beautiful dacha plot is to design the area using hedges and fences. Thanks to them, you can not only improve the area, but also divide the territory into several functional zones, which will add coziness and comfort.
A bolder and more original option is to decorate the gazebo with plants. With the help of weaving vines, you can make a living gazebo that attracts with its beauty. Inside such a structure it will be cozy and comfortable, because wild grapes or Chinese lemongrass will create a shady space, hidden from noise, dust and prying eyes.
In addition, special attention should be paid to the organization of the playground. Children are the flowers of life, but it is better that they are under constant supervision and do not do anything. To do this, the playground must be located in an area of the site that is clearly visible from all sides. To organize a playground, you can make a sandbox, a couple of magic houses and swings, and labyrinths. You can complement the children's playground with sculptures in the form of fairy-tale characters.
Where to get inexpensive materials for landscaping
In order to carry out landscaping of the site at minimal cost, building materials are purchased at a low cost. In most cases, these are used bricks or building blocks, or both floors. You don’t have to pay money for some materials at all - this is what is stored in sheds and storage rooms, taking up useful space.
Flowerbeds and beds made from used materials
The lumber remaining after the construction of a residential building is used to create raised beds for growing strawberries, herbs, herbs, and vegetables. Boards of the same width are selected, a rectangular box is knocked down right on the ground, filled with fertile soil, and any garden crop is planted.
This method of growing crops has its advantages. Due to the fact that the beds are at a certain height, they are easier to care for. Raised flower beds are arranged using this principle: a place near a fence or porch is fenced off with boards, and annuals, perennials, ornamental shrubs or trees are planted inside.
What else can you make a flowerbed from:
- Slate is flat, wave;
- Ceramic tiles, cement-sand;
- Building blocks: foam concrete, cinder block, shell rock;
- Brick, you can use halves.
Cheap tracks
You can make garden paths from old building materials. The best choice is brick left after dismantling buildings. The fact that it has been used speaks in its favor - it has already withstood difficult climatic conditions for several decades and has proven its durability. It will still survive the next 5-10 years, until funds are accumulated for a new coating.
You can make flooring from the boards. Wooden blocks are laid across the future paths at intervals of 60–90 cm. Their length is equal to the width of the track. Boards are placed on top of the bars, and the rustic-style path is ready. When selecting boards, you should check their strength so that an “accident” does not happen while walking on them.
Advice. If there are no boards, but there are logs, you can make cross cuts and use them to make paths. It will not be possible to lay the round pieces close to one another due to the roundness of the configuration, and this is not necessary. The main thing is that you can walk on them after the rain without getting your shoes dirty or wet.
Paths made from plastic bottles look original. You need to select bottles of the same capacity, fill them with sand, and dig them in (necks down) in the form of a border on both sides of the path. The internal space is filled with sand or gravel and compacted - and walking is smooth, and the water drains quickly, and dirt does not accumulate.
Fence made from scrap materials
For the construction of a fence, you can use what is available in sufficient quantity. Budget material is thin branches of forest trees. Pegs are driven into the ground, the height of which is equal to the height of the fence plus 20 - 30 cm (this amount will be in the soil), and braided with flexible rods, preferably willow. If the rods are very thin, it is better to take several of them. Thicker branches are 2–3 cm thick; they are woven in one at a time.
Each subsequent transverse part should be located on the opposite side of the vertical post. Thanks to this alternating sequence, the weaving will be more durable. For reliability, some rods are secured with wire.
Fences made from used car tires are very popular. They are dug into the soil in the form of a border or laid flat one on top of the other in 3 to 4 rows. Using the second method, you can combine the fence with the flowerbed by filling the top tires with soil and planting vegetation in them.
Important. A fence made of tires or wattle fence is not suitable for large-scale fencing of an area, but it can be used for zoning a site.
Ideas for a vegetable garden: saving square meters
A real dacha simply cannot exist without a vegetable garden. But the square footage of a garden plot often dictates its own conditions. Let's see how you can save on working space in an original and practical way:
Using two tiers
Planting small garden crops, such as lettuce, greens, sorrel, does not require a large soil depth. Therefore, an interesting option would be to use a wooden or metal frame with boxes for soil. On the lower tier, the summer resident is free to plant any shade-loving crop, and on the upper floor, place boxes with herbs. An original and practical idea.
Hanging or cascading beds
Growing strawberries not in a large-scale plantation, but in individual bushes in hanging pots, will significantly save space in your summer cottage. The cascade principle of arranging beds is also not inferior to the use of flower pots in terms of efficiency.
Application of modular blocks for vegetable crops
Such designs will not only save a lot of space, but will also allow you to conveniently work with each crop separately. Wide paths between the blocks provide easy access to any plant.
Valuable tips for creating original garden ideas can be found in the public domain. Many experienced gardeners and summer residents share their ideas, posting photos of finished garden landscape details.
There are also extensive interactive forums where a novice gardener can receive valuable advice on decorating and practical management of a summer cottage. But don’t forget that the most original ideas for the garden are born in your head!
Old utensils in landscape design
When buying something new for your home, sometimes you have to rack your brains about where to put the old thing. It’s a shame to throw it in a landfill, but I don’t want to store it, taking up useful space. Such items can always be used to decorate the landscape.
Flower beds and flower beds
Unneeded baby strollers, furniture and plumbing items can easily be turned into a flower bed. The easiest thing to do is with furniture equipped with drawers: soil is poured into the drawers of chests of drawers, cabinets and tables, and flowers are planted.
Unexpectedly, a washbasin or toilet acts as a flowerbed. In the case of a toilet, you don't have to wait for the seeds to sprout and then the flowers to grow. You can simply place a pot with an already developed flowering plant inside.
A flower garden cart installed on a green lawn looks very original. It is a worthy decoration of not only an economical, but also a sophisticated, elegant landscape.
Rubber shoes make excellent hanging flowerpots. A layer of expanded clay and fertile soil are poured inside, and an ampelous plant is planted in the finished “pot”. Such an improvised flowerpot is hung on a hook driven into a fence, the wall of a barn, or simply on the lower branch of a tree. All you have to do is remember to water the flower on time.
Water
Decorating the landscape with a pond is not the prerogative of richly decorated estates. You can make a pond from an old bathtub or other vessel, for example, a large basin or plastic barrel. The container is dug into the ground, filled with water, and lined with stones. Moisture-loving vegetation is planted around the reservoir.
If there is no suitable container, simply dig a pit of the required size, its bottom and walls are covered with thick plastic film, the ends of which are brought out and pressed down with stones. Water is poured inside, and the reservoir is ready. In order not to buy garden figurines, you can throw children's water-themed toys into the pond: ducks, frogs, boats. Even a rubber ball or inflatable swimming ring will do.
Resting-place
A recreation area is needed in any case, since you need somewhere to receive guests or gather in a narrow family circle. If there are no plans to build a permanent gazebo in the near future, you can get by with canopies and homemade pergolas.
The easiest way is to attach a canopy to the house. For construction you will need two pipes and metal crossbars (angle, square, reinforcement with a cross-section of 15 mm or more, strip). The length of the crossbars depends on the size of the canopy.
How to make a canopy:
- Stepping back about 2 m from the wall of the house, pipes are dug in to serve as supports. Their height should be 20 cm below the roof so that there is free flow of rainwater;
- The upper corners of the supports are connected to the house by transverse beams, the opposite ends of which are placed under the roof;
- A sheathing of reinforcement is welded onto the crossbars;
- The slate roof is being laid and drains are being installed.
In a similar way, it is not difficult to make a canopy from wooden blocks.
In this case, the sides are decorated with trellises along which climbing plants are allowed to grow. The interior is furnished with inexpensive plastic furniture or stationary benches and a table made of wood. If there are old sofas and armchairs in the house that you don’t mind putting outside, they will be very suitable for decorating a relaxation area.
The best place to attach a carport to your home is in the backyard near a wall without windows. Here you can create a cozy hidden place by decorating it with thin curtains and hanging flowerpots with hanging vines of ampelous flowers. You can put a barbecue nearby or make a fireplace for a barbecue.
Simple ideas on how to arrange a summer house with your own hands.
The veranda is used from early spring to late autumn.
Everyone loves to gather around the large dining table on the veranda, because... In summer you can open the wide double doors and feel like you are in a garden. Because Grandchildren often come to the dacha, so there is room for everyone on this large veranda.
Updated bathroom.
Small garden pond with frogs.
The lupins liked the sandy soil in the garden and are actively spreading throughout the garden.
The kitchen corner is everyone's favorite place at home.
Delphinium broke its previous record of 480 cm.
The climbing rose Flammentanz grows under the windows of the veranda - this is much better than just planting it near the wall of the house - this way it can be admired from all sides.
Beautiful dacha photo: rose and astrantia near the house.
Gladioli are very easy to grow. Dig up in the fall, wrap the bulbs in newspaper and put them in a cool place, plant in May, and you have a sea of flowers. One bulb can produce 20-30 babies. These are great cut flowers.
Zinnia provides a colorful rainbow of colors all summer long.
Flowers, mostly inherited.
