Do you have a garden that is significantly larger than the “towel” in the terraced housing estate? Then you should use it purposefully. We will give you helpful tips on how to divide up and work on the large area in a sensible way.
Such gardens are easily filled. But what if you own a garden that easily exceeds 1000 square meters? Then we will give you inspiration on how you can use this space sensibly.
Why should you do anything differently here?
Maybe you’ve considered sowing grass everywhere . A few more plants to protect your eyes from the neighbors and you’ve got it all done with the least amount of planning, work and expense. However, that would be a waste in several ways:
1. Lots of lawn space means a lot of work to create and maintain. Do you really want to push a lawnmower for hours every two weeks at the latest, maybe buy an expensive ride-on mower and scarify that much area every spring? Of course, robotic lawnmowers could make your work easier if you choose a model that can handle so many square meters.
2 . Every garden is a biotope that is urgently needed by countless living beings , especially in populated areas . But a well-groomed lawn is not a particularly natural growth. On the other hand, you can really create something of importance for flora and fauna in that much space.
3. There are so many ways to use a garden. If you only have grass, you can only soak up the sun and play ball on it – the latter only if you don’t want to ruin the green.
Do not remove the old stock headlessly
If you buy such a property – whether there is already a house on it or not – it is rarely an empty space. Typically, there are already trees, shrubs, maybe even beds and the like.
Although this may not work as planned and can sometimes be a bit wild at first, you should absolutely refrain from unpacking your brushcutter and chainsaw to make a clean sweep – and not just because you would sometimes violate conservation laws. No, because it is well known that trees in particular need many years to grow. If you cut them, you put yourself in a predicament – because a large garden needs trees because they represent a visual enrichment in the third dimension. Maybe they also deliver delicious fruits.
It is therefore better that you only remove what cannot grow back within two or three years. As far as the trees are concerned, you are welcome to thin them out (or have them cared for). But you should only remove them if they really bother you at this point and then only occasionally.
Divide up the space sensibly
If a garden reaches or exceeds 1000 square meters, then most of the options for planning it as a layman in your head no longer work. So much space wants to be designed with a certain amount of landscape architecture. Otherwise, it quickly happens that the area is not used sensibly or that there is a great commotion that just looks chaotic.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a landscape architect or park designer. But you should really think about it. You are welcome to get specialist literature for garden design and look around on the Internet – there are so many different approaches here that it is hardly possible to give general answers. However, you should definitely do one thing: divide this area into different zones. Whether and how you separate them is up to you. But the room layout has the enormous advantage that…
1. …you can devote yourself to the system bit by bit. So you can create all zones one after the other. This saves money and nerves, and something already looks “finished” with the first completed zone and can be used – whereas an undivided garden only looks finished when it is completely finished.
2. …there is no one-sidedness. Each zone has a different focus and look. However, if you pay attention to a connecting element (and that can also just be paving slabs of the same type and colour), there is a common thread.
3. …you can cover many scenarios. For example, a completely natural biotope zone, a barbecue corner, etc. This is how you get the most out of the area.
4. …you make the care work easier for yourself. Your large garden consists of several small parts, so you can devote yourself to them more specifically and have less work there and overall.
Of course, you have to decide what the division should include – if you don’t have children, you don’t need a play corner with scaffolding and a sandpit. However, there are some items that your garden should definitely include.
The pool and sunbathing area
A garden should of course serve your relaxation. Accordingly, it makes a lot of sense if you integrate a zone in which there is a pool and an adjoining sunbathing area.
There are several approaches to wet garden fun , but if you’re a real water lover, consider stable and/or even built-in variants. You also have to think about the lying zone. Although grass is the first choice in many outdoor pools, it also means that you have to take a shower before swimming so that no dirt gets into the water.
Maybe that’s why it’s better to build a sun deck out of wood . Sun loungers can also stand on it better and constant climbing in and out does not create mud – unlike on a lawn. Tip : Make sure that there is shade here as well and set up the zone in a garden area that cannot be overlooked.
The vegetable beds
You like dirt cheap food from guaranteed organic cultivation? Then there is no way around a garden zone that is dedicated solely to the delicacies of nature, from aubergines to onions. However, you should proceed very carefully here:
1. Divide the zone into four equal areas. Vegetables are divided into high, medium and low consumers according to their nutritional requirements. You also need a fourth field, which is fallow for a year, because you want to operate a real crop rotation – vegetable gardening doesn’t get any better than this. Also set up at least one corner for perennial plants, such as raspberries or gooseberries.
2. Arrange the bed zone so that it is not shaded by the other areas. Everything should be clear to the south, ideally also as far east and west as possible.
3. Divide each bed into strips no more than 120 centimeters wide. So you can work comfortably from both sides without straining your back.
The biotope zone
Would you like a wide variety of animals to feel at home in this garden? Then you should design a zone in such a way that it only serves the animal residents of the property.
A small pond as a source of drinking water and additional living space should definitely be part of it, and no neophytes (= non-native plants), but a wildflower meadow, dead wood, heaps of rubble stones or walls. Even on a small area, a lot can be done that literally makes hundreds of thousands of creatures happy, from ants to cicada.
The seating and lounging area
Even if you’re not a big fan of “barbecue sports”, would you still like to be able to use the garden to just relax in it, maybe have breakfast on sunny mornings or spend quality time with friends?
You should think about how you want to do this. This zone can certainly be in the form of a terrace right next to the house. You can also set them up at the other end of the garden – and imagine yourself in the middle of the deepest nature. In any case, make sure that you can use this corner in any weather. So there should be at least a roof, maybe even a real garden house or a permanent pavilion. Also:
- Definitely a power connection
• Weatherproof subfloor
• Connection via fixed garden paths
• Lighting
In fact, we can even recommend that you integrate a cooling option in a relaxation zone that is far away from the house – then you don’t always have to transport everything from the breakfast sausage to the beer between the house and the corner.
The water connections
In small gardens, all water requirements can be easily met with a tap, a hose or watering cans. In large gardens, on the other hand, you would need many meters of hose.
If you are going to create a new garden anyway, you should make it much easier for yourself: Lay a main cold water line through the garden from easy-to-work-on plastic pipe. From there, branch a line into each zone and install a (perhaps hidden) faucet there. This makes it much easier for you to connect a hose everywhere and water everything as needed and even use a huge garden and care for it with ease.
