Modern Landscape Design Ideas, Trends, Types, and Solutions

Modern landscape design involves the decoration of large land areas, park areas, and individual plots. It stands at the intersection of crop production, architecture, and construction. Previously, this way to dignify the allotment was available only to wealthy homeowners, but today the situation has changed. Landscape design ideas allow you to create a comfortable and beautiful area for everyone, without exception. At the dacha, you can plant cucumbers or take care of flower beds and create whole works of art from plants and decor items. Moreover, landscape design does not imply the arrangement of huge land plots. You can even decorate a dacha on a traditional 6 acres in a stylish and modern way if you use the advice of a designer or information from encyclopedias.

What are Modern Landscape Design and its Features

Landscaping is practical gardening and honoring of a suburban garden area. Its main task is to illustrate the harmony of beauty and functionality of the land. Thanks to these activities, both the site and the private residential building and other structures have the same design style. As part of landscape design, usually, all plants are grouped and planted in a certain proximity to each other. They typically do not plant in a straight line, stopping the formation of business in them. When developing a modern landscape design project, you should consider climatic factors because some plants cannot be grown in a short summer. However, the design of the site involves not only crop production but also the decoration of the backyard territory:

• Lawns
• Flower beds
• Tracks
• Fountains
• Artificial reservoirs, etc.

What to Consider when Designing and Planning a Site

When developing a landscape design project, you need to consider all corners of the backyard territory. Arrangement of the allotment should lead to the fact that a beautiful view of the site opens from each viewpoint on the backyard territory. It can be both entrance gates and greenhouses. You can not ignore Even garden beds. Many paths should be laid on the site so that you can reach every corner of the garden not through thickets of grass but along well-groomed trails. Also, landscape design involves a balance on the site between buildings and green spaces. The mass of plant crops must compensate for the abundance of the dwelling house and outbuildings. A massive garden with a small house in the center will not look perfect. The same can be said for many cottages in small areas. They don’t look aesthetically pleasing.

Zoning

If you do not divide the territory into functional zones, it will not look nice and neat. Competent zoning of a land plot allows you to increase its functionality and make the most of all available land resources. Before zoning a site, you need to determine all the design features of the allotment: relief differences, the contours of the distribution, the location of the electric cable, green spaces already available on the territory, etc. One should note all this on the plot diagram, and only then should the region be zoned considering the available information. The area should have the following zones: the owner’s or the zone of the residential building, the guest (gazebo, barbecue), children’s, garden, and entrance group (a place near the entrance to the territory, decorated with flower beds and attractive decorative elements) if there is a free-standing bathhouse on the site.

Environmentally Friendly Materials

It would be best if you used a wide variety of materials for a stylish design of a land plot, but today more and more attention is paid to their environmental friendliness. Most often, the stone is used for landscape design. It can be limestone, marble, sandstone, pebbles, gravel, river stone, crushed stone, or granite. The type of stones used depends on the financial capabilities of the homeowner. Also, mulch is used to decorate the plots, laying out floorings under trees or playgrounds. If sculptures are placed on the territory of the allotment, then most often, they are made of copper. It is an inexpensive and environmentally friendly material, but it requires special care. Subject to corrosion. Often the garden plot is decorated with wood products. This material remains in demand for many years because it is environmentally friendly and resistant to mechanical damage.

Saving Natural Resources

The modern design of garden plots contributes to the restoration of human contact with wildlife. Some part of the territory of the allotment is left mainly untouched, and the cottage is included in the natural interior. This approach allows you to seriously save natural resources using the energy of the sun or wind. Of course, solar panels or windmills are not yet prevalent among garden owners, but that will soon change. Also, you can save electricity on your site with the help of unique luminous artificial stones. They are poured into paths or decorate the facade of a building, i.e., no need for electric lights when using them. And today, scientists are busy breeding a class of plants that glow in the dark. While such plants were grown only in laboratory conditions.

Modern Components of Landscape Design

Landscaping is a complex of works on the improvement of the backyard territory in various available ways. It is necessary to consider all the constituent elements of the composition carefully. They must obey a single project. The designer on the site should smooth out all clear geometric lines, making them smooth and blurred to look as natural as possible. All objects in the backyard area should look like components of wildlife. Put on should be decorated with spectacular flower beds and stylish front gardens. The shapes and sizes of flower beds depend on the style and size of the site. An essential element of landscape design is the lawn, which you must cut promptly. And, of course, tall trees and small shrubs should be left on the site.

Trees, Shrubs

Modern landscape design assumes maximum environmental friendliness. Therefore, it is not recommended to cut trees and shrubs on the site. Exceptions are old dry trees in terrible condition. It is best to create paths between existing large crops. It is also worth planting new trees. There should be a lot of green spaces, and they make the garden a full-fledged garden. They emphasize the exciting layout of the territory, combining all the site’s details into a single system. It is necessary to plant shrubs and trees on the site in those places where they can emphasize the shape of the relief and elements of structures on the landscape. Green spaces look spectacular near stairs, retaining walls, bends of garden paths, and gazebos.

In the backyard in a variable climate, you can plant:

• Apple tree;
• Cherries;
• Mountain ash;
• Linden;
• Maple;
• Lilac;
• Barberry;
• Larch;
• Cedar;
• Spruce, etc.

Types of Reservoirs

It isn’t easy to imagine a modern site without a high-quality reservoir. Of course, few people manage to build a pool on their backyard grounds, but most homeowners can design an elegant pond. If there is a natural reservoir on the site, then it can be refined and somehow beaten. But most often, an artificial pool is made on the territory. There are many types of such reservoirs, here are just a few of them: ponds with fountains, small reservoirs in a barrel, ornamental swamps, natural mini-waterfalls, children’s pools, etc. Each of these reservoirs has its characteristics, design reasons, design rules, and purpose. For example, a decorative swamp is typical for plots located in lowland, and mini-waterfalls look spectacular on areas located at an angle.

Decorative Architectural Structures

Decorative structures are essential details of landscape design. They are subdivided into small elements, small architectural compositions, and significant design objects. These structures should harmoniously combine with other decorative elements (reservoirs, flower beds, trees, etc.). Decorative architectural structures on a garden plot are standardly presented in any plant elements and artificial components. It can be figuratively trimmed shrubs, living walls made of plants, unusual hedges in the form of labyrinths, and benches made of various materials, arches, and decorative bridges. There are a lot of constructions that can improve the garden plot. It is necessary to select items that will effectively fit into the existing design project and install them in the backyard area.

Tracks

Beautiful garden paths are a must-have for any landscape design. Their size and number depend on the area of ​​the territory. The tracks are practical and decorative, so they need to be beautifully and appropriately designed. You must select the material for the road surface based on the specifics of the site and the type of soil. The paths should overlap with the facade of the residential building so that the landscape composition looks complete. If there are many hollows and hills on the site, you should include steps in the roadway configuration. The path on the site should not bump into the wall. It is better to make up a whole network of small ennobled trails that smoothly go around and penetrate all the landscape elements in the backyard area. Also, the roadway can lead to some crucial architectural detail: a fountain, a statue, or a bench.

About a Modern Vegetable Garden

It isn’t easy to imagine a garden plot without a vegetable garden. Flowers and unusually decorated shrubs play an exclusively decorative role, but the dacha should be of some kind. In the context of recent events and the fashion for environmentally friendly products, it is absurd to abandon the cultivation of a small vegetable garden. Vegetables and fruits will not spoil the appearance of the garden but will only complement it. Garden design should start with proper planning. It is necessary to think about where the beds will be located and what vegetables will grow on them. It is better to take the sunniest part of the allotment with a vegetable garden. Then it must be carefully restricted for a neater look and ease of planting. All beds must be the same size and rectangular. The beds should not be too broad. Otherwise, it will be inconvenient to reach the middle of them while on the path. You can even lift them. This will not only bring order to the landscape but also improve yield indicators.

Plants for the Garden

The choice of crops to be planted in the garden depends on the climatic conditions of the region, the composition of the soil, the personal preferences of the homeowners, and even fashion trends. When planting crops, it is necessary to take into account the orientation of the allotment. Tall plants should not shade low ones. But you shouldn’t plant the same crop in the same place for more than two years in a row. This will drain the soil and result in a poor harvest. When planting vegetables, you need to remember that the tops of carrots, beets, or potatoes are attractive in their way. It does not need to be hidden, and it is only enough to weed the beds often. One of the beds can be occupied with herbaceous plants: dill, parsley, fennel, etc. For best yields, you need to locate similar and well-compatible crops with each other.

They require the same maintenance, which is convenient for watering and weeding. Well-compatible vegetables include:

• Cabbage and cucumbers;
• Peas and celery;
• Onions and parsnips;
• Potatoes and beans;
• Carrots and tomatoes;
• Beets and radishes.

Lighting

Landscaping allows you to make the site beautiful both day and night. The spectacular appearance of the backyard area in the dark is achieved by well-chosen lighting. There are many types of landscape lighting. Standard vertical lanterns can be placed near flower beds, gates, and building structures. But the illumination from the bottom of the garden object will allow you to spotlight its silhouette. If you place a spotlight of uneven glow on the tree, the entire area will be illuminated by soft diffused moonlight. Ponds on the site also require different lighting. Their lighting should be in harmony with another lighting of the area. As for communications, then within the framework of landscape design, you must reliably hide them from prying eyes. Utility networks that need to be beautifully decorated include the following systems:

• Lighting;
• Drainage;
• Irrigation;
• Downpour.

Conclusion

Modern landscape design of a site of any style requires a high-quality design of the entire backyard area. You need to take care of the vegetable garden, small flower beds, and garden paths. All elements must be in harmony with each other. At least one detail falling out of a single landscape can significantly spoil the perception of the whole picture. You can partially hide the utility network under the ground or in specially equipped shields and racks on the site. Landscaping is aimed not only at decorating the territory. It allows you to make the allotment as functional as possible. Even the decoration of the garden beds can improve yields every year. Before landscaping the summer cottage, you need to draw up a detailed plan of landscape work and only then proceed to landscape the site.