Landscape design plot of 20 acres: 75 examples in the photo

Recently, people have begun to rapidly leave the stifling "jungle" of megacities and develop new territories outside the city limits. The choice in favor of the hinterland has a lot of advantages. First, you can forget about the floods from above, loud quarrels between neighbors and repair-disco noise until late at night. Secondly, in their own possessions can do gardening, horticulture or raising domestic animals. At the cottage usually has its own garage and home "spa complex" in the form of a bath, and in the summer and to the river is not far. Gone are the days when, when designing a plot, only functionality had weight. Now beauty and aesthetic appeal come to the first place, therefore, when decorating country houses with adjacent territories, special attention is paid to decorations. To get a landscape design project of a 20 hectare site, you can go two ways:

Turn to a professional and pay for the finished work of the designer.
Make a project with your own hands.

The second way looks more attractive, as it guarantees savings and will cause spiritual thrill among creative individuals who like to realize themselves in new creative professions. Let's try to understand the sequence of actions in the preparation of the project and consider a number of original ideas.

Design features and preparatory work

To make the project literate and easy to implement, you need to have not only good taste, but also the skills of a gardener, a designer, knowledge of landscape architecture and even engineering. Do not despair, if already at this stage it becomes scary and there are doubts in their abilities. Punch Home Design, Sierra Land Designer 3D, ArchiCad 17, FloorPlan 3D 12, Expert Landscape Design 3D and a dozen more visualizers working both online (cloud) and without the presence of the Internet are ready to help beginners.

Thanks to such assistants, you can forget about the layout and drawing. The planner will do the boring work instead of the designer, besides, they usually show a lot of examples of successful design projects that will become the inspiration and source of creative ideas. Some of the programs are completely free, while others have only a limited version available without purchasing a sample license. Before creating a project, you need to prepare:

To take measurements, note the slope, the relief of individual zones of the site (elevation, hollows), calculate the specific sites. Independently cope with the task is difficult, so you have to invite surveyors to conduct a topographical survey of the area.
Find out the depth of groundwater.
Sketch on a sheet of paper the form of possessions. Square is considered the most advantageous, but with a triangular and multi-faceted will have to suffer greatly. For private plots with an area of 20 acres, typical forms of a rectangle are typical, where one edge is 50 m and the other is 40 m. This greatly simplifies the work on a landscape design project.
Set soil type. This knowledge will be needed not only to create a garden and a vegetable garden, but also when choosing the type of foundation for buildings or a local sewer system (drainage, cesspools).
It is also necessary to make a note about the nature of the insolation on the site (the distribution of shadow and sunlight). This will affect the choice of site for the garden, garden zone and the location of the windows on the facade of the future house.

If you got an “overgrown” piece of forest, glade or heavily neglected land, then invite a specialist (a pathologist) to yourself who can accurately determine which areas are potentially promising, where the flora needs to be preserved, and which are already subject to decay and the best way to save the soil from the final depletion will be cutting down all life on it.

Stylistic directions

It is easy for a beginner to get lost in a stylistic variety, therefore, to make the choice easier, we’ll give you some of the most popular and (we will not prevaricate) beautiful directions:

Dutch. The site, despite the external solidity of the house, has a slightly sloppy look, due to the variegation of colors. In the Dutch style, trees are rarely planted, as preference is given to shrubs and low plants. Along the garden paths of stone mixborders flourish in bloom, and the parterre lawn is decorated with elements with rustic motifs. A great addition will be a real wagon, which, after the skillful work of the designer, turns into a flower bed.
English. This sleek style does not have the famous stiffness of the inhabitants of Albion. The main credo of the direction is the preservation of the natural flora to achieve complete unity with nature. The English style is characterized by the use of vertical plantations, stone paths with lush growing grass on the seams, “carpet” flower gardens and free flowerbeds (rock gardens, rockeries) without fences planted with perennials. Also a mandatory element is the presence of a pond and well-groomed lawn in the garden.
Colonial. One of the most beautiful mix-directions, which retains its relevance for several centuries. In the colonial style, the Old World culture and native customs organically merged. The direction is characterized by the use of large tubs as flower pots for flower beds, a low stone or wooden fence and a combination of green plantings of different heights to create a light welter on the site. In the colonial landscape, the terrace must be used as a “step” to the garden, which is divided from its threshold.
Mauritanian. Oriental style was used in oasis gardens, which were hidden from the views of outsiders and amazed with wealth and luxury. The Moorish plot will be like a fairy tale in which lush thickets of exotic trees hide quiet corners for solitude with the singing of paradise birds. Special attention will be paid to the garden, which is designed according to the “chor-bak” principle, when the main zone is not divided into four mini-platforms.
Provence. The direction is characterized by white paved paths, an abundance of fruit trees and flower beds with pastel shades, wooden arbors, pergolas, sculptures and topiary on the lawn and in the garden. Instead of a traditional flower garden, beds with Provencal herbs are laid out in the courtyard of the house, and the center of the recreation area will be a fountain or a stone well.

Also use Japanese, Chinese, Alpine, Mediterranean, Spanish, classic, rustic styles and minimalism, modern, high-tech, eco-direction.

Proper zoning - comfort and beauty of the site

To make it convenient to move around the site, it must be divided into functional zones. Those of them that have a similar purpose, combine or purposefully placed close to each other. The full list of zones includes:

"Center" of the site - the house. The design takes into account the slope, insolation, the possibility of an access road, the type of soil for selecting the type of foundation.
Parking for cars (garage, parking under a canopy).
Place for communication.
Platform for passive recreation (gazebo, barbecue grill or barbecue, hammock).
Area for active recreation (tennis court, dance floor, ball game field, playground).
Bath and summer shower.
Pool or pond.
Outbuildings (barns, woodsheds, equipment storage facilities).
Garden.
Horticultural land.
Summer cuisine.

The best option is the combination of the garden and areas for recreation. A beautiful landscape view will make the pastime even more pleasant. Outbuildings, summer kitchen, bath are also combined into one large functional sector. Separation can be done using garden paths, decorative fencing, mixborders or flower borders.

Garden paths, steps and flower beds around them

Garden paths not only divide the site into zones, but also give it a neat, tidy look. They are made of stone, brick, wood, concrete, cobblestones, PVC, crushed stone or pebbles, bottle caps and even pieces of tile. To create a non-trivial landscape composition or to revive a dull, flat relief using steps. They are also vital to simplify recovery, if the property is located on a slope. Steps can be stone, brick and wood. They contribute to the aesthetics of the landscape and complicate the geometry of the site. The most common type of flower beds - flower beds. Plants for them need to pick up, based on the characteristics of the climate. For example, gentle, sensitive flowers that fade in the conditions of northern climate (short summer, late spring) easily take root in southern latitudes. Also, when choosing plants should pay attention to the period of their flowering. Follow the principles of Carl Linnaeus, who created a unique flower clock, in which the buds opened at a specific time. Then the flower beds throughout the season will be pleasing to the eye.

Landscaping plot

Landscaping is carried out on three levels:

Trees They are divided into deciduous, coniferous, fruit species.
Shrubs. Some of their types are used to create hedges and topiary ("live" figures).
Flowers Planted in flower beds and are considered the basis of the summer decor of the territory.

Among designers, the creation of rockeries and alpine slides or rock gardens is popular. Behind the first name is hiding a stone garden, broken on a flat platform. In rockeries, a small amount of cobblestones are used, which alternate with flowers. The gaps between the plants are filled with pebbles of small fraction. According to the rules, this composition is devoid of volume, therefore protruding boulders are partially buried in the ground. In the Alpine slides use a larger number of cobblestones, and it is they who are the center of the composition, and not the plants, as in rock arias. Rock gardens mimic the mountain landscape, so they have volume.

Popular decorative techniques

To decorate the suburban area there are lots of interesting ideas and techniques. If a pond is arranged on the territory, then a bridge can be laid through it and a walkway can be made on both sides. Perform it more often from wood or metal and stone. A similar design can simply decorate a flat landscape. This solution looks stylish and exotic. Those who miss the water, but do not have the opportunity to organize a real pond on the site, will approach the so-called dry stream. It imitates the channel of a water vein that was once filled with liquid. The bottom is lined with small pebbles and planted with rare bushes of plants. To create the effect of "water ripple", they select smooth, round and oval pebbles, which are laid in rows "ribs" down. Among the general neatness will be the neglected garden, in which the riot of vegetation has managed to take its toll. Of course, you still have to take care of him, but only in order to keep the aisles free to move. For additional illumination, the tracks are sprinkled with luminous stones. Most often it is marble chips, covered with special fluorescent acrylic paints, which give a soft, green or blue glow at night. Mills and lighthouses will be another unusual decoration of the site. The second element will complement the maritime theme, embodied in other details of the decor. Mills can be ordinary or watermills. Not bad they are combined with country, Russian and Dutch styles.

By the way, luminous pebbles can be made independently, if they are required in large quantities and the purchase will be expensive. It is enough to collect pebbles and purchase special paint in the art supplies shop.

Artificial reservoirs, fountains and cascades

Water decor is necessary to obtain a complete design picture on the site. All reservoirs are classified into two types:

Natural. Brooks, ponds, sources.
Artificial. Fountains, cascades, pools.

Eastern culture and the eponymous style, which in recent years only gaining popularity, attach particular importance to water. By the way, the direction gave rise to minimalism. Water is considered a symbol of harmony and balance. Included with the earth, it forms a tandem, which helps to unite with nature and achieve a special “zen”. If the site has a natural water vein, then it can be ennobled or complicated using artificial stone cascades. When you need to create a pond yourself, you need to carefully study the characteristics of the soil and correctly choose a place that will allow it to become part of the design composition and form a secluded corner for philosophical reflection.

We think over the lighting

Proper lighting on the site - a question not only of beauty, but also of safe movement around the territory at night. Functional lighting devices (main ones) are recommended to be placed in such a way that the main building and all the tracks diverging from it can be seen. Also be sure to equip the "dangerous" areas with light bulbs: sharp turns, steps, approaches to obstacles that can be overlooked in the dark. Decorative lighting devices emphasize the beauty of the decorations of the territory. They give little light (usually tint) and are set near important art objects: rock garden, flower beds in a wagon, a well, a pond, a fountain, garden gnomes or sculptural compositions.

Conclusion

Creating a landscape design project is a complex, multi-step work that not everyone can handle. Owners of a “technical” mindset will have to discover their creative potential, and “humanists” will be forced to master the basics of the exact sciences. A properly executed project does not guarantee the quality of the design, as the thorough implementation of every detail of the plan will require additional control. If you are not confident in your abilities, then pay for the check and proofreading of your work with a professional. In any case, it will be cheaper and will help to avoid mistakes.