Ways to beautifully improve your summer cottage and suburban area

Buying a suburban land is a great idea. There will be a place to rest from the mundane bustle after hard workdays. Nature is the best healer of all known to mankind. But in order to fully relax, recharge with the energy of life and return to the orderly ranks of the townspeople, the improvement of their site should be organized at their best. Be sure to study all the important nuances that will help to equip a suburban piece of land so that the neighbors gasp.

Land improvement is a creative process, rather laborious and requires considerable financial investments

All the detailed information on the design of the street of your cottage is collected in this review. Here you will find:

• expert advice;
• design tricks;
• visual tricks;
• Hand made;
• and much more.

Be sure to read the article to the end. It will be a shame if you miss the excellent tips selected by landscape design specialists with 20 years of experience.

Features of landscaping

For high-quality and competent design of the land, first of all, you need to draw up a plan. This is a kind of scheme that contains approximate images of the main elements in the territory. It is necessary to apply:

• the borders of the earth;
• fence from four sides (if available);
• house according to size (keeping proportions);
• plots allocated for garden plantings;
• approximate locations of additional household buildings and structures (greenhouses, sheds, toilet, bathhouse, gazebo, etc.);
• areas of location of small architectural forms (MAF);
• recreation areas and games for children;
• to mark roads, sidewalks and paths;
• apply preliminary places for planting flowers, green bushes, decorative trees, flower beds and mixborders.

It’s convenient to use graph paper to draw up a chart, which is very easy to scale

The process of landscaping a personal plot is right to start with a sketch of several schematic plans for future architecture. Without this step, it is impossible to qualitatively organize the landscape, to present a picture of the future courtyard.

After you have made several options for the landscape, you can start painting work. Color your schemes to visually see what awaits you in reality. The more objects that fall under a colored pencil, the better. So you can decide on the most successful option of landscaping the site, without spending a lot of effort.

Orientation of buildings and plantations relative to the cardinal points helps to plan the plot as profitably as possible.

In order to simplify your task, look at a selection of photos of ennobled suburban areas. But do not strictly follow their example. Make your corrections, make changes, come up with your own rational decisions. In a word - do it.The most unusual, exclusive and memorable courtyard creations are created precisely thanks to imagination and reasonable improvisation.

In landscape design, there are distinguished styles for the design of plots. However, we can safely say that all theoretical foundations are just a “skeleton”, to which our own ideas and solutions are added

Observe the requirements of building codes. Household buildings and buildings should not be placed close to the fence. This is especially true for cesspools, places for animals and birds (chicken coops, pigsties, etc.) and other objects that can negatively affect the surrounding atmosphere, soil and groundwater.

Norms for placing objects on a suburban area

Small architectural forms

To bring freshness and liveliness to the improvement of your summer cottage, to make a decent and luxurious courtyard of a huge and expensive cottage out of it, pay attention to small architectural forms (abbreviated as IAF). These objects can change the garden beyond recognition. The right choice of shapes, colors, types and accents will decorate the street space according to the most famous canons of landscape design of the French, English and Italian nobility.

Flowerbeds are an important element of any site. Even on the smallest courtyard you can find a place to organize a flower garden

Let’s finally figure out what applies to the IAF:

• Flower plantings. A large selection of shades, varieties, shapes of garden, street flowers will give freshness.
• Trees, shrubs. The absence of green spaces is out of the question. Plant more trees of different species. Hedgerows will add a touch of aristocracy to your garden. Most importantly, do not forget to align the bushes in time.
• Fences, fences, partitions. Interior zoning of the yard with small fences is an excellent solution.
• Outdoor lights, lamps and lanterns.

Proper lighting will make the garden attractive and functional not only in the daytime, but also at night.

• Fountains, pedestal statues, busts and other architectural forms.
• Garden benches.
• Bridges.
• Artificial ponds, streams.
• Playgrounds for children.
• Pergolas, trellis.
• Terraces and verandas.
• Pergolas, baths and much more.

Before the device of the reservoir it is necessary to determine for what needs it will be used - as a decorative pond, for watering or for breeding fish

It is important not to overdo it using MAF. Of course, I want a pond, a fountain, and a bridge across it. But measure the territorial possibilities of your allotment. Also, the price of MAF noticeably bites.

Central fence

The design of the garden begins with its main entrance - the central fence. To make the design catchy, noticeable and unique, create contrast. This is done by alternating dark green and light green shades. Here's how it looks with an example.

Blue Christmas trees look great against the background of other conifers - Western thuja, juniper and Canadian spruce

The lawn in front of the fence is seated with lawn grass of a light green hue. Round the perimeter of the lawn, circular indentations are made in the ground. Here you will plant Christmas trees, arborvitae or other conifers. It is important to provide for contrast here. To do this, spruce and thuja are selected in a dark green hue.

The surface of the soil under thujas is better to close with organic mulch or pebbles

In the photo on the left is a blue spruce, on the right is a mountain pine

Be sure to lay in a circle under the trees a string of decorative natural stones. The latter can be made as neat rounded cobblestones, as well as rough, broken stones. The choice depends on the individual preferences of the residents.

The fence is best done from masonry, natural stone. Brick / stone pillars also look great, between which sections of wooden structures are installed. The tree itself perfectly decorates any functional element. And with proper processing, layout and painting, wood is a true work of art. Plots arranged in this way are allocated for several hundred meters. And their owners are happy owners of a great mood.

The smart solution for the front part of the plot is a fence on brick poles with forged wooden sections

Along the fence from the side of the road, you can plant climbing plants or the same thuja. The composition arranged near the fence in the form of multi-tier mixborders that do not have clear boundaries will look beautiful. The edges of such MAF are laid out with natural natural stone. Inside, multicolor plants of various shapes and motifs are planted.

On the columns of the gate you can hang garden lanterns

When equipping a site with mixborders, it is best to provide a stone or brick blank fence. This will give the required emphasis to the front door of the house and remove all sorts of flaws made during the construction or planning of architectural landscape design.

The combined fence with wooden spans and gabion sections looks attractive and modern.

Recreation area and barbecue

Before you begin to equip the site, be sure to draw a separate barbecue area. This is a recreation area, the beauty of which depends on the choice of elements of the IAF. Here should be:

• gazebo;
• BBQ / BBQ;
• tables and chairs;
• comfortable chairs and deckchairs;
• hinged flower pots;
• pendant and wall lights;
• large flowerpots with green spaces;
• comfortable, wide path approach to the gazebo.

The larger the canopy, the more convenient and comfortable it is to accommodate guests. The gazebo must be spacious and spacious. This is a place of relaxation, rest and meditation. But also the gazebo should accommodate noisy companies.

The recreation area is located away from the main entrance and is hidden from prying eyes.

Barbecue and barbecue is best placed under a canopy in the gazebo. So you can fry a piece of meat in any weather, bake delicious vegetables and sit in a warm, cozy place with your family or noisy company. Be sure to make an exhaust pipe if you do not want to spend the rest of the picnic on the street.

If desired, you can organize a full summer kitchen in the gazebo

The gazebo looks beautiful, the supports of which are made by the combined method of stone and wood. The lower base, on which the load is distributed, is made of concrete, lined with natural stone. Further, a thick wooden beam treated by aging is placed on these supports. Be sure to make a contrast. Pick up the lower stones of a light brown, sand shade, when the wood should be dark brown.

Be sure to hang old-style lamps on the pillars, as in ancient castles. Elements of forged steel will add gothic motifs to your idea.

It is better to cover the area in the recreation area with stone or ceramic tiles.

Look at a selection of beautification of a summer cottage whose photos are given below. You are able to realize excellent decisions of a barbecue zone, without resorting to big expenses. The main thing in this business is the desire and ability to work with your own hands.

Recreation area on the terrace attached to the apartment building

A cozy place for privacy in the farthest corner of the garden

Fairy garden

The most interesting and mysterious place on your site is the garden. Its arrangement is a true act of creating art. To get an amazing place, you need to follow all the tips below:

1. Plant different trees. It can be as decorative arborvitae, Christmas trees, creeping arborvitae, and fruit trees, and shrubs. It is important that several varieties are located in the garden at once. This will add diversity, multicolor, freshness and unusualness to such a wonderful place.
2. Lay out beautiful strings of stones around each tree. Pick up different natural stones. Everything is important - size, shape, color and laid out figure. Give each tree special attention. Do not design cliche garden landscaping. Everything should be unusual here.
3. Highlighting trees. The most ideal solution for creating a fairy tale effect. Choose directional ground-mounted luminaires that will illuminate plants from below. There are LED multi-colored lamps with adjustable color illumination. Pay attention to this.
4. A pond in the middle of the lawn. Who did not dream in childhood to have their own pond. So make your dreams come true. Organize an artificial pond right in your garden. The shore can be laid out with the same natural stones. Make a decorative bridge over the pond, equipped with a street lamp. If the size of your estate allows, make a trickle. To do this, equip an architectural hill of stones, flowers and small shrubs above the pond, lay out the bottom of the brook with stones, put the pump and that's it. The creek is ready. Enjoy the true beauty of nature.
5. Arrange decorative houses right in the garden. This may be the estate of Baba Yaga, or the house of Leshy. If you have small children, they will thank you so much for such a place.
6. Be sure to make decorative paths. Large-format cobblestones are just right for this. Tracks can not be made full bore. That is, it is not necessary to lay a solid carpet of stones. It is enough to lay the cobblestones with a certain step, leaving gaps of lawn grass in between.

Garden paths are not only an element for moving around the site, but also a way of zoning the territory

Choose trees and shrubs suitable for your climate for planting.

In addition, in the garden you can organize alpine flower slides, put flowerpots with green spaces, arrange mixborders and much more. The fountain made in the ancient Greek style with a statue in the center will look great here.

Hand made

Do-it-yourself home improvement is a great idea. To do this, you do not need any transcendental skills, materials and spells. All you need is:

• glass and plastic bottles;
• old rubber tires from cars;
• assembly / construction foam;
• glue and paints;
• metal wire.

Flowerbed for petunia from a plastic bottle

Neat beds with sides in a small area

From the bottles and wheels you can make great flowerbeds and mixborders. But polyurethane foam with metal wire is useful for the manufacture of more complex architectural compositions. For example, you can make a figure of a forest beast, or make a small bird.

Funny lamb made of mounting foam on a wire frame

Original flowerbed in the form of a mill

View a selection of photos of landscaped garden plots. Perhaps you will find something that will appeal to you.

Video: Arrangement of beds in the garden area

50 photo ideas for designing your site