Create garden rooms

Accommodating different garden functions and elements that make up your garden within distinct spaces does more than just separate the garden’s contents; it also adds intrigue, anticipation and a sense of excitement to the overall design.

The idea of creating “rooms” within the garden is as good as it is necessary.

Just as the house is divided into separate areas for sleeping, eating and lounging, you will get the most out of your outdoors if you divide it up into different spaces.

Even within small gardens, a sense of subtle separation, say between areas of sun and shade, can create substantial impact on the final outcome.

Planning

In order to create garden rooms, it is important to develop an effective site plan that organises the garden into appropriate spaces for different outdoor functions. In a typical urban project, the space in front of the house usually serves as the parking space and the entrance space.

The sides accommodate a service area adjacent to the kitchen while the back of the house usually serves as the main garden space for multiple functions such as outdoor living, kids play and family recreation off the main lounge.

In some cases, the main garden space may occupy the front of the house, producing an extroverted garden space off the living room and entrance space. In such cases, it is usually necessary to create a physical separation between the garden and the street or driveway to enhance privacy.

This may take the form of anything from a dense live fence, an earth mound or a lattice screen, depending on the available space and the desired outcome.

Separating elements

Separation elements need not always be obviously fences and lattices. The house itself always acts as a separation between the front yard and the backyard hence its location and orientation should be carefully planned.

Other less obvious separating elements are garden structures (gazebos, pools, water features, and pergolas), earth mounds, changes in levels and flowers beds.

These should be planned so that they mark the outlines of different garden rooms and define their limits, edges and degree of separation from one another.

Different rooms require varying degrees of separation. A private space may need screens higher than the eye level to be effective.

The degree of separation is also determined by the density of the screening element.

A perforated wall offers glimpses, drawing a visitor inwards, whereas a completely closed separation has a dramatic, entirely surprising impact.

Continuity

To create successful garden rooms, it is important to effectively divide up the garden. Yet in creating separate spaces, a sense of continuity between them is still critical.

While a different themes can be designed for each ‘room’, the containing element - be it walls, fences or hedges - can provide the much-needed continuity.

Paving surfaces too, may provide a link, even if only one component of the paving extends through.

For instance, brick may be used as a paving frame to gravel, natural stone and concrete-pavers in three different garden rooms, establishing a recurrent theme.

-— The writer is a landscape architect

Photo: Hosea Omole/Standard