The design of a garden usually begins in the imagination of the owner and is most often based on themes seen in photographs or on television shows, places that have been visited, or several different ideas from various sources. 
During my years of landscaping I’ve spoken with many people about the vision for their garden and soon realized that many people believing they shared the same ideas as their partners were in fact completely opposite in the way they imagined it would be.
I’ve made it a practice during my first visit to discuss the landscaping requirements for a project, to always ask all persons involved to separately draw a rough sketch of how they see the end result. Where they see the patio area, paths, lawn area. utility area. garden beds for example. It still amazes me how different those end results can be.
As a DIY landscaper it’s well worth the time to ask your partner and family do some rough drawings of how they see the finished garden, their thoughts and ideas could surprise you, even if you think that you’re all ‘on the same page’ when it comes to the end result.
The garden you imagine provides the concept you can follow for your design, although you may be required to adapt your concept to the reality of your site space, the local climate, and your family needs. Its also important to determine as accurately as possible the amount of time you will have or are prepared to spend to work in your garden each week, and depending on where you live water can also be a deciding factor in the style you choose.Large heavily planted gardens with lawns can take many hours to keep maintained.There is nothing more disheartening than designing a beautiful garden only to see it become overgrown with weeds,spend precious hours mowing, trimming, weeding and feeding a lawn, or watching your cherished plants die from lack of water.
Gardens are meant to be enjoyed, to be a place of relaxation, not to spend every spare hour having to work in them. If you have limited time to spend maintaining a garden learning about low maintenance gardening is a must.
This does not mean abandoning your dream of a beautiful oasis, but it will mean learning more about the growth habit of plants and their individual requirements, and giving attention to details during the planning stages.
Plan to relax and enjoy your garden.
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