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image of renovated queenslander garden and pool are view spring gardening

Architect Explains – Why You NEED a Gardening Area This Spring

Lifestyle, Renovations, Tips and Advice

Spring has sprung! It’s time to get out the gardening gloves and get in the garden again. Gardens are beautiful, almost magical places. Time seems to move more slowly in a garden. It is a space of visual and olfactory stimulation, where stress gives way to peaceful clarity.

It’s easy to forget in our busy lives that we are part of nature. Often, we lock ourselves away from it, denying ourselves its healing qualities.

Too often an afterthought when it comes to home design, your garden deserves to be every bit as well planned and crafted as your home itself.

“To plant a garden, is to believe in tomorrow.”

Audrey Hepburn

The benefits of a garden

We could just look at your garden from a passing visual perspective and discuss its potentially positive impact on your future resale value. But that would be to do your garden a grave injustice.

The COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing lockdowns and restrictions continue to take their toll. It’s easy to feel alone and vulnerable, isolated from the outside world, with nothing but negative news headlines to fill your time. This has, according to some sources, lead to an increase in feelings of depression and declining mental health in many parts of the community.

But not if you have a garden.

Gardening can give you a sense of achievement. You take a seed, or a small plant, and grow it into something beautiful. In a time where there is so much talk of death and illness, you are creating and nurturing life.

image of renovated hawthorne queenslander garden and pool area

Hawthorne Queenslander Renovation – A beautiful garden to compliment a beautiful home. A well-thought-out garden design can perfect your outdoor area and create a whole new feel.

Your mind is focused on the task at hand, freeing itself from the other pressures that might be at play in your life. The sunlight can give you a wonderful dose of vitamin D, while the act of digging, weeding, and carrying plants, pots, and fertiliser helps give you physical exercise, which is particularly important to anyone who works inside most of the time. Fresh air is filling your lungs, along with natural aromas. What could be better for your physical and mental wellbeing?

A garden to suit your needs

Not everyone wants to spend hours in a garden. Nor does everyone necessarily have that much time. But the beauty of creating the perfect garden is that we can create the perfect garden for YOUR needs. It can be as high or as low maintenance as you choose. Being time-poor doesn’t exclude you from the benefits of having a healthy, productive garden space.

image of renovated hawthorne queenslander landscaping and garden ornaments

Hawthorne Queenslander Renovation – The home’s streetscape and garden design contrast beautifully against the black, art deco style of the home.

Growing your own

If you love cooking, then you will no doubt love the idea of cooking produce that you yourself have grown. You know it’s healthy because you have grown it. You have chosen the soil, the fertiliser, and any other products that your food has come in contact with.

It might actually surprise you to find out how little space it takes to create a productive food garden. Your food can be grown outside, in a semi-covered space, or completely enclosed in a greenhouse.

image of renovated hawthorne queenslander vegetable pavilion

Hawthorne Queenslander Renovation – A beautiful addition of a vegetable pavilion, providing an abundance of fresh, homegrown produce for family meals

The vegetable pavilion shown above is a great example of an enclosed space, that still allows plenty of natural light to pass through, whilst keeping birds and other animals away from your produce.

Watering systems can make life easier when it comes to keeping plants correctly hydrated, while planter boxes can be used to elevate the plants for anyone who has trouble bending over.

Great design skills are crucial

Anyone can lay down some pavers and plant some flowers and call it landscaping, but there really is a lot more to it than that.

It starts by asking yourself what type of garden you really want. Do you want a flower garden or an organic garden? Or perhaps you would prefer a water garden or a Japanese garden? Would a formal garden suit your property and gardening needs more, or are you after something more tropical? Or maybe you want a combination of styles?

The design of your garden must work with your home and your lifestyle needs. For example, will part of your garden be used for shading or privacy purposes? What outlook do you want from different parts of your home? What type of access will you need?

The type of plants you intend to have in your garden will influence the design as well. Do you want bright, vibrant colours, or something more muted, with different shades of green?

Depending on the size and layout of your yard and your desired outcome you may wish to incorporate feature elements like fountains, archways, pavilions or firepits. If you have a swimming pool, then your garden design needs to work around that as well.

 

Your perfect garden is just a phone call away

I love gardening and the health benefits it offers. Regardless of whether you’re a complete green thumb or someone who just likes to dabble here and there, we can help create the perfect garden for your needs.

If you want the best outcome, it’s important that you work with someone who understands how to make all elements come together. We offer the full range of services – architectural design, interior design, landscape design, and garden design. We even offer a plant selection service. So, you know when you engage us that all elements will work as one, blending together to create a beautiful oasis that you’ll never want to leave.

Call us today and let our passion for design help you achieve your home gardening and landscaping dreams.

 

Looking for some more landscaping tips and tricks?

Read 7 Top Tips for Landscaping Around Your Home

Dion Seminara Architect

DION SEMINARA, DION SEMINARA ARCHITECTURE

We are experts at home design, renovations and new homes and ensure good value for money outcomes.

Hi, I am Dion Seminara, practicing architect and licensed general builder for 30 years as well as an environmental sustainable design (ESD) expert. I graduated from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) with honours, QLD in 1989. Registered as an architect in 1991 and registered as a builder in 1992, I am also a fellow member of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA). Having received 12 ArCHdes Residential Architecture Awards, LJ Hooker Flood Free Home Design Award and the 2016 AIA Regional Commendation for Public Architecture, my expertise with both residential renovation (to all types of houses, especially Queenslanders, 50s/60s/80s), new contemporary homes and luxury residences has earned me a reputation as one of Brisbane's architectural specialists in lifestyle design architecture, interior design and landscape design.