Contemporary gardens have become increasingly popular in recent years.  They are designed for low maintenance, look great in built-up areas and are perfect when you have limited space such as a courtyard or rooftop garden.

Design Considerations

Streamlined and minimalist is the look to aim for, with clean lines and bold shapes.  Use a graphic pattern, define your spaces and put in a path to create a flow.

This type of outdoor space is more about hard landscaping than planting.  Most contemporary gardens are primarily made up of hardscape materials and have limited vegetation.  This includes terraces, patios, paved or decked areas and pathways made from simple materials such as wood, gravel, stone, tile, pebbles.  There are trendy alternatives available too, for example glass or metallic gravel and volcanic rocks and coloured pebbles.

The key to a successful contemporary space is to introduce different heights.  This can be done with decking, raised beds, stepped planters, oversized urns, or a metal gazebo or pergola which will create a sheltered area too.

As the focus is on the hard landscaping materials, the design shape is much more noticeable.  Whereas, in traditional style gardens you can hide a multitude of sins with a good planting scheme; you won’t have that luxury.  Expect to spend more as a lot more time and skill goes into creating this style of garden.

The Essentials

Metal Garden Furniture – A modern garden is all about bold, clean lines, making metal garden furniture perfect.  Metal can be sculpted to form the bold, striking designs and it’s low maintenance – which fits in very well to the modern lifestyle.  If you’re feeling daring metal gives you the opportunity to go for a bright colour or you can play it safe with black, grey, chrome or silver.

Outdoor Lighting – a modern garden must look just as good after dark as it does in the day time, use contemporary outdoor lights such as built in, colour changing LEDs or fibre optics to set the mood.  You’re literally spoilt for choice these days from designer outdoor lamps to trendy Japanese style lanterns.

Statement Piece – statement wall-art or an abstract sculpture will create a focal point and really help to set the theme whether that’s contemporary-elegance, informal chill-out, industrial or tropical.  Everything you put in the garden will have to be carefully chosen so it helps to have a theme/colour scheme in mind from the outset.

Planting

Using fewer plants means that their selection is even more crucial, use structured plants with strong forms to create a modern look.  Exotic plants with large, irregular shapes are ideal.  Here’s a few modern favourites -

Black bamboo

Lily turf

Mountain Flax

Agave

Black Magic

Japanese Silver Grass

Indian Shot Plant

Japanese Sedge

Flax Lily

Miniature Papyrus

Accessories

In a minimalistic space, accessories should be kept to a minimum.  To avoid cluttering it’s often best to choose a statement piece, as mentioned above a piece of wall art, mirror, a cool water feature or an abstract sculpture.

Oriental styled accessories are popular in many modern gardens.  Asian urns, oriental rock gardens or fire pits provide an eye-catching focal point.

It is important to incorporate non-traditional materials like plastics, synthetics, stainless steel and other metals to give a modern feel to the outdoor space.  Do this with chic metal garden furniture, shiny metallic planters, a bright synthetic designer chair or a cool chrome light fitting or vase.

Avi Reisman

Design Considerations

This garden design is natural and attractive, akin to a country-cottage style garden.

No rigid layouts and colour co-ordination necessary -it’s all about creating a rich, bio-diverse environment to attract wide-ranging species. This means a colourful, relaxed space that will provide hours of enjoyment.

Is achievable on a relatively low budget, you don’t want anything exotic –simply to replicate habitats that occur naturally in the UK.

Just invest in a choice piece of vintage metal garden furniture and a new digital camera to capture some great wildlife shots.

The Essentials

Pile – This could be a log or wood pile which is a natural habitat for many creatures in the wild, offering a sheltered space for small mammals. Include leaf litter too and invite hibernating toads and hedgehogs. Similarly you can use a stone or rock pile, use lots of different sizes and dig a hole in underneath to attract larger creatures seeking shelter.

Pond – Nothing will increase the biodiversity in your garden more than a pond. Frogs, toads, dragonflies, snails, newts and even small mammals like hedgehogs and birds use ponds as watering holes.

 

Planting

A diverse range of native plants will attract a variety of insects, birds and small mammals. Flowering plants will attract the birds and the bees while shrubs and hedges will be a refuge for small mammals. Here are some ideas.

Hawthorn – this tree offers a home to many species of insect, bird and small mammal and is a valuable addition to your wildlife garden.

Bramble – plants with berries will attract birds throughout the year, blackberries are a good choice but there are many others.

Sunflowers – provides food throughout the winter when seeds are left to ripen. Or choose other pants that seed such as marigolds or poppies.

Buddleia– Butterflies are attracted to nectar and the buddleia is a firm favourite. There are many other flowers which offer a great source of nectar to the butterfly, the need to be accessible, shallow flowers.

Nettles – One of the UKs most important plant species, a magnet for birds and other insect eaters.

Ivy – grow climbers up walls to provide a home for many insect species which enjoy hiding in the brickwork cracks.

Pond Plants – Safe marshy areas in your pond will attract a variety of wildlife.

Accessories

Bird Tackle – houses, feeders, tables and baths – can be stylish accessories too. You can also buy bat boxes, insect habitats, hedge-hog houses etc.

Planters – containing a variety of flowering plants, will decorate your patio and enable you to include even more species.

Furniture – Choose something natural looking to fit in with this garden. Metal garden furniture is great as it’s low maintenance. Choose a vintage wrought iron bench, an antique style table and chairs or a comfy lounge set that’s perfect for bird or butterfly watching.

 

Avi Reisman