8 Ways to Add Character to a New-build Garden
Facing a completely blank garden canvas? These clever design ideas will help you add style and interest
When you buy a new-build property, the garden can often be a completely blank slate. While this can provide an exciting canvas on which to design your dream outside space, it can also offer a few challenges. Poor soil, an uninspiring layout, and a lack of established features are common problems. If you’re wondering where to begin with your own new-build garden, take a look at these ideas for introducing character.
2. Enrich the soil
One of the biggest challenges with a new-build garden can be the quality of the soil, so before you start planting, you’ll want to enrich it as much as possible.
Begin by digging through planting areas to look for any buried rubble or rubbish left over from the house build, as this will need to be removed. Heavily compacted spoil may also need to be loosened up to improve drainage. Once you’ve done this, you can work on enriching the soil by adding compost, manure or a thick layer of mulch.
If your soil is very poor, you might want to consider installing raised beds, as these can be filled with good-quality soil and planted up immediately.
One of the biggest challenges with a new-build garden can be the quality of the soil, so before you start planting, you’ll want to enrich it as much as possible.
Begin by digging through planting areas to look for any buried rubble or rubbish left over from the house build, as this will need to be removed. Heavily compacted spoil may also need to be loosened up to improve drainage. Once you’ve done this, you can work on enriching the soil by adding compost, manure or a thick layer of mulch.
If your soil is very poor, you might want to consider installing raised beds, as these can be filled with good-quality soil and planted up immediately.
3. Add height
It’s easy to focus on ground-level planting when planning a new garden, but it’s also important to consider ways to add height to the space.
Bringing in vertical structures, such as pergolas and arches, will help to create instant character in a small space, and plants can be grown up them to eventually provide shade and privacy, which is very useful if your garden is overlooked.
Obelisks and decorative plant supports are another way of adding height to a border, providing a useful frame for climbing plants in the summer and structural interest in the winter months.
It’s easy to focus on ground-level planting when planning a new garden, but it’s also important to consider ways to add height to the space.
Bringing in vertical structures, such as pergolas and arches, will help to create instant character in a small space, and plants can be grown up them to eventually provide shade and privacy, which is very useful if your garden is overlooked.
Obelisks and decorative plant supports are another way of adding height to a border, providing a useful frame for climbing plants in the summer and structural interest in the winter months.
4. Plant trees
Another way to add height in a garden is to plant a tree or two. Trees offer so much, providing the privacy, shade and interest that many new-build spaces lack.
Planting trees is a long-term investment, so the sooner you get them into the ground the better. They will also create the bones of the garden, so choosing these early on will allow you to design the rest of the space around them.
Research the eventual height and spread of your tree carefully before planting and think about choosing a variety with more than one season of interest, ensuring it provides enjoyment year-round.
More: 10 Trees That Would Work in a Small Garden
Another way to add height in a garden is to plant a tree or two. Trees offer so much, providing the privacy, shade and interest that many new-build spaces lack.
Planting trees is a long-term investment, so the sooner you get them into the ground the better. They will also create the bones of the garden, so choosing these early on will allow you to design the rest of the space around them.
Research the eventual height and spread of your tree carefully before planting and think about choosing a variety with more than one season of interest, ensuring it provides enjoyment year-round.
More: 10 Trees That Would Work in a Small Garden
5. Get expert advice early on
Facing a completely blank canvas outdoors can be a daunting prospect. If you’re also trying to decorate a new home at the same time, the garden can be a secondary thought, with plants bought here and there on a whim.
Getting professional design advice at an early stage can help you to set a vision for your outdoor space from the start, saving you time, money and stress and ensuring you don’t waste cash on short-term fixes.
A professional garden designer will be able to think creatively about the space and offer expert planting advice tailored to your local conditions. If you’re also working with an interior designer, the two professionals should be able to collaborate to ensure your garden scheme complements your interior.
Find a local garden designer on Houzz today.
Facing a completely blank canvas outdoors can be a daunting prospect. If you’re also trying to decorate a new home at the same time, the garden can be a secondary thought, with plants bought here and there on a whim.
Getting professional design advice at an early stage can help you to set a vision for your outdoor space from the start, saving you time, money and stress and ensuring you don’t waste cash on short-term fixes.
A professional garden designer will be able to think creatively about the space and offer expert planting advice tailored to your local conditions. If you’re also working with an interior designer, the two professionals should be able to collaborate to ensure your garden scheme complements your interior.
Find a local garden designer on Houzz today.
6. Invite wildlife in
One of the quickest ways to make a new garden feel established is to encourage local wildlife in. When planning your space, prioritise wildlife-friendly features from the start, such as pollinator planting, nest boxes and insect habitats, and make sure to provide fresh water for birds and animals in the hot weather.
If you have solid fencing all around your garden, cutting a hole at the bottom to allow hedgehogs access will also open up your plot to the wider landscape, connecting you to the wildlife highway in your area.
More: How to Have a Wildlife-friendly Garden That’s Also Stylish
One of the quickest ways to make a new garden feel established is to encourage local wildlife in. When planning your space, prioritise wildlife-friendly features from the start, such as pollinator planting, nest boxes and insect habitats, and make sure to provide fresh water for birds and animals in the hot weather.
If you have solid fencing all around your garden, cutting a hole at the bottom to allow hedgehogs access will also open up your plot to the wider landscape, connecting you to the wildlife highway in your area.
More: How to Have a Wildlife-friendly Garden That’s Also Stylish
7. Nurture some long grass
Newly laid turf in a neat rectangle is a sure giveaway of a new garden. Add visual interest by letting some areas of grass grow long, or replace a patch of lawn with a wildflower lawn seed mix. This will create a valuable wildlife habitat, as well as providing a pleasing visual contrast to any neatly mown areas of grass.
If you’re designing your garden in spring and want instant impact, you could buy wildflower turf, which comes rolled up like regular turf and provides faster results than seed when laid directly on prepared ground.
Newly laid turf in a neat rectangle is a sure giveaway of a new garden. Add visual interest by letting some areas of grass grow long, or replace a patch of lawn with a wildflower lawn seed mix. This will create a valuable wildlife habitat, as well as providing a pleasing visual contrast to any neatly mown areas of grass.
If you’re designing your garden in spring and want instant impact, you could buy wildflower turf, which comes rolled up like regular turf and provides faster results than seed when laid directly on prepared ground.
8. Consider removing grass entirely
If a lawn just doesn’t inspire you at all, it isn’t the only option. If you want to prioritise planting over grass, you could remove the turf and dedicate the space to planting beds instead, with practical access paths running between them.
Another alternative to a lawn is to plant an ‘outdoor carpet’ of sturdy, low-growing plants, such as creeping thyme, which can spread out to fill the space between paving stones, creating a tough green ‘carpet’.
Planting like this allows water to drain away between areas of hard landscaping, as well as ensuring your garden has plenty of visual interest without the upkeep of a grass lawn.
More: Can I Have a Lawn-free Garden That’s Kind to the Environment?
Tell us…
Which of these ideas would you try? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
If a lawn just doesn’t inspire you at all, it isn’t the only option. If you want to prioritise planting over grass, you could remove the turf and dedicate the space to planting beds instead, with practical access paths running between them.
Another alternative to a lawn is to plant an ‘outdoor carpet’ of sturdy, low-growing plants, such as creeping thyme, which can spread out to fill the space between paving stones, creating a tough green ‘carpet’.
Planting like this allows water to drain away between areas of hard landscaping, as well as ensuring your garden has plenty of visual interest without the upkeep of a grass lawn.
More: Can I Have a Lawn-free Garden That’s Kind to the Environment?
Tell us…
Which of these ideas would you try? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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Many new-build gardens will be uniform in layout, often with a central lawn and a narrow planting border along one or both sides.
If you’re faced with this arrangement, consider widening narrow borders further into the garden or softening the angles by cutting them into a curve rather than straight line. This will instantly break up the uniformity of the space, giving you a larger planting area to play with, which will allow you to add more colour and visual interest.
The orientation of your garden will also play a part in deciding how and where to extend your borders, so look at where the sun falls and design your planting scheme around this. Essentially, shady border will need a careful choice of shade-loving plants, while a sunnier border will be better suited to plants, flowers or vegetables that need a lot of sun or partial shade. So consider the type of planting scheme you want and extend your borders accordingly.