Designing to suit your needs
The first step to creating a beautiful garden that is attractive and water efficient is to work out your needs for the garden.
Plan your garden to meet your family’s needs and to allow for flexibility for changing family needs over time.
A home garden should be designed to reflect the personality of the people who live there, suit their needs and lifestyle demands and match the design of the home. It should be flexible enough to allow for changes as children grow up or as elderly members become less active.
Careful planning saves costly mistakes later on if parts of the garden have to be uprooted for house extensions, or plants require large quantities of water to survive.
A water efficient garden can be just as stunning and beautiful as an expensive water guzzling garden. To minimise your water usage, keep the amount of lawn and keep annual and perennial plants that require plenty of water to a minimum.
To plan your garden, start by determining the ideas, feelings, likes, dislikes, and present and future needs of all the members of your household. Write down everything, as the information you gather will provide you with a basis for your garden design.
Use the following questions and discussion points to give you a guide to your options.