Home Landscaping Course

EXTRA READING

Read the article on Coastal Gardens in this site.

Read the other articles on this site to see if they stimulate ideas that you might use in your design, such as choosing plants or creating new landscape features.

SET TASK

(Do not submit)

1. Have a look around your neighbours' gardens and note what plants are growing successfully there.

2. Create a simple design brief for your (or someone else's) garden (on an existing site) that sets out what you would like to achieve with your design. Include a list of your preferences, such as the types of plants, functional areas (play area, BBQ, clothesline, paved entertaining area, etc), and other features you would like to retain and add.

OPTIONAL QUESTIONS (You are not required to answer these questions).

The following questions are not part of this course, but are provided as an optional enrichment exercise.

1. After reading the article on Coastal Gardens , answer the following questions:

(a) What environmental conditions of coastal areas would have a significant effect on the types of plants you grow, and the way you design your garden if you lived in such an area?

(b) How will your local climate impact on the types of plants, and the style of garden you choose?

2. Answer the following questions about your proposed garden (the same garden planned in Set Task 2).

(a) Would you include garden art (e.g. statuary) in your garden. If so why, if not - why not?

(b) What would be the role of water in your garden, if any? Are there any parts of your garden already suitable for a water feature, such as low lying or boggy areas?

(c) What type of garden access (e.g. paths) do you want, and what do you want to construct them out of?

(d) Do you have existing shade trees? Would you like to have more? What problems may already exist (e.g. falling leaves, low light) due to the presence of existing trees? What potential problems could arise from planting trees in your "new" garden?

(e) Do you want to provide shelter in your garden? If so what type and how big?

(f) How much watering are you prepared to do? Will you install an irrigation system? What type of irrigation system? Is water readily available to you?

(g) What resources are available to you to construct this garden? (Consider human resources and time as well as other resources).