planning…

LET’S START WITH YOUR CURRENT GARDEN

photo credit danielle macinnes

Make your morning brew (or favourite tipple - no judgement, it’s 5pm somewhere…). 

Consider your outdoor view through the window while you wait for the kettle to boil. 

Now take a wander outside and stand in the middle of your garden space. Take a sip. 

What’s the first thing you think of when you see your current garden?

What things catch your eye? Why?

Is there anything you can’t bear to look at? 

Ask yourself, do I enjoy being out here? Do others?

Kids are generally brutally honest. Ask them what they think about the garden?

NOW, WHAT DOES YOUR "IDEAL" GARDEN LOOK LIKE?

photo credit ryan parker

What sort of garden makes you say "yes, this is it …"?

You might need to brew another cuppa. Thinking takes time.

Make a wish list of "stuff" that you think you’d like. Put it aside for a minute. We’ll come back to it later.

Now make another list of how you’d like the garden to make you feel - relaxed, productive, active, immersed, proud, ________ (insert your own).

Who will you share this garden with? 

Importantly, what is your budget? Have you given this some thought? Money can be an awkward subject to discuss, so let’s just rip the bandaid off and bring it up right off the bat. It may surprise you to know the real cost of labour and materials (or maybe not), but trust my Grandpa when he says "do things right the first time and you’ll save money in the long run". 

Some suggestions to help you put a wish list together - 

photo credit - jeshoots

Good old fashioned cutting-pictures-out-of-magazines (ones that you own, don’t do it to those in the waiting room, that’s not cool).

On your daily walk around your local area - remember your distancing rules - make a note of what you see that you like - plants, trees, structures, finishes etc.

Make a digital file of images found on the interweb; add notes of what you like about them.

Disappear for hours down the rabbit hole that is Pinterest - it’s fun, you can streamline what you’re looking for and you can save the images in files for future reference. 

Let your imagination run riot - write it down, draw it, build it out of toothpicks. Go nuts!

Remember that wish list you jotted down earlier? This is where you start to refine that list, try to imagine it all in the space you have available and who will make use of it. 

At this early stage put E-V-E-R-T-H-I-N-G on the page. There’ll be time to reconcile exactly what is needed later in the process.

Above all, this process can be immense fun. It’s full of anticipation, discovery and creativity (and occasionally disappointment when reality sinks in, let’s be honest). 

Enjoy!