Post #39B Garden Design Series Part 2
Post Description: How to design your South Florida forest garden. Part two of a three-part series.
Okay, now that you’ve spent some time planning the structure and style of your garden in the first post of our garden design series, it is time to focus on the needs and interests of everyone who will benefit from it.
How do your friends and family members factor into your garden spaces? Your pets and the local wildlife? Or are you looking for a secret garden to find solace? Even so, you might consider the public spaces, outlined below.
Main Garden Areas
Consider these areas and how to best create a space to suit your family and house member’s needs.
- The Public Area
- This generally consists of the front area between the house and the sidewalk.
- First impressions on neighbors and visitors happen here, so keep it well-maintained to create lasting, positive impressions.
- Front-yard plantings should frame and draw attention to the building and the front door, rather than themselves.
- Keep front yard plants short to showcase the house itself.
- The Private Area
- Think of this as an outdoor family gathering space, a place where kids, adults, and pets alike congregate.
- Make it an easy and comfortable spot for everyone and they will come.
- Ask each member of the household if there is a feature or activity they would like to have or do in the garden. Try to include as many of these as possible, or at least one thing each person really wants, in the final plan.
- Make a master list of all these features. The area for each doesn’t have to be very large, and some areas can have more than one feature. Not everything on the list will make it into the final design, but at least your decisions will be well thought out.
- The Service or Utility Area
- This is the smallest area and no one but family sees it. It’s where your garbage cans are stored.
- Your potting bench and compost pile can go here too if there is room.
- It is convenient if the utility area is near the kitchen and garage or carport. Often the sprinkler box and at least one water spigot and garden hose will be located here as well.
- If space allows, this is also a good spot for a child’s play equipment.
- If you have dogs, this could double as a potty yard by putting up an additional interior fence within the space to keep your garden (and play area) free of nasty surprises!
Ideas to Get You Started:
- Integrate some lawn space for yard games such as bocce or cornhole, and as a romping area for dogs and kids to tumble around in.
- Consider family members or friends with mobility issues when creating pathways. Wheelchairs generally need a 5 foot wide pathway, while those unsteady on their feet need a flat pathway free of stones or pebbles.
- Are raised beds of annual vegetables important to you? Or an herb garden? Choose a sunny spot for these, preferably close to the kitchen. It can be made attractive all year round even if you aren’t always growing vegetables there.
- Does someone love to read in the shade? Provide a shade tree or pergola and a chair. Maybe a small table for taking tea or coffee.
- How do you like to spend your evenings? Would the family spend more time together if there were a grouping of chairs around a fire pit? Do you like to barbecue? Have parties? How about a little tiki bar with a couple of stools?
- A feature that gets crowded out of the private area may fit in the public one. Closely supervised, children and dogs can play on the front lawn. Footballs and baseballs can be thrown there as well.
Whether you reside on a 1/1oth of an acre or enjoy a larger slice of heaven, these zones and areas can be applied similarly, just on differing scales.
Take a walk around your neighborhood, or a neighborhood you admire for their use of garden space. Visit a community garden space. Get inspired and take some notes or pictures or both! If you see a gardener out working in their yard, introduce yourself and ask some questions. Fellow gardeners are usually happy to talk shop.
I hope the first two parts of this series have given you plenty of food for thought. Check out the third and final part of the design series for tips on getting a plan in place.
How is your garden coming along? Drop us a line to let us know how it’s going. Ask questions if you’ve got them – we’ll find answers!
Happy Gardening!
Mary