I’ve always been into DIY, possibly because I’m sucha creature of impulse that when I want something done, it has to be now.
But when I was living on my own a few years ago, I realised I couldn’t do everything myself, and certain tasks that “Somebody Else” had previously taken care of, such as lawn mowing, did not do themselves.
I wasn’t much interested in mowing lawns then, so I hired a young woman, who came with a zero-turning circle mower and zero attitude problem.
She didn’t have to give the mower counselling to get it to start. She didn’t shout at her equipment, or throw it on the ground when it ran out of petrol, nor suck her way through a Steinlager per acre and throw the bottles into the bush.
Hiring people for mowing and weeding is unlikely to break the bank, but taking on a landscape architect to revamp the garden is a more serious spend, albeit a worthwhile one.
Functional: Elements such as paths and steps are important, for aesthetic and safety reasons.
If you’re on a limited budget, keep the costs down by doing some preliminary work yourself, and your first investment, advises Hawke’s Bay landscape designer Jamie Macphail, should be pencil and paper.
“First, write a name for your garden,” he says. “Coming up with a working title, such as ‘Tropical Mess’ or ‘Symmetrical Outlook’ will focus your ideas and stop you getting off track, or muddling up several styles in one.”
The sub-headings should be “Functional” – a list of the practical elements, such as parking, clothes line, paths; “Semi-functional” – perhaps some screening to hide a neighbour’s garage, or a terrace to create a level lawn; and “Wouldn’t it be great” – things you’ve seen in other gardens that epitomise the perfect outdoor space.
Armed with this list, and possibly a few sketches of how your revamped spaces might look, you can engage a professional and know you’ll both be on the same page.
Skilled designers can make a significant difference to your efforts by refining the scale and proportion of hard landscaping elements, suggesting materials you hadn’t thought of, providing lists of suitable plants and adding in the decorative items, such as water features and sculptures. It’s that kind of input that’ll likely paste a big smile on your face when you see the working drawings.
Wish list: You may have to wait for a classy outdoor shower, but while the work is being done, at least you’ll have time to ponder whether a bath might be better – or even both.
Just to bring you back down to earth, you might need a fourth sub-heading that says, “Budget”. You can keep costs down by prioritising and being very specific about what you need your professional to do.
If you enjoy a drink on the terrace most evenings, getting that area in shape may be more important than paving the path to the compost bin.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t all have to be finished at the same time. A garden is, by nature, an ever-evolving project – whether you like it or not.
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