Country landscape design of a seasonal dacha: project, lighting, stylistics

The modern world is rightfully considered urban, at least in developed countries. People, leaving the countryside, seek cities for comfort and prosperity. However, over time, a process began, which experts called suburbanization, that is, the development of a suburban area. Urban people began to build and equip cottages outside the city, fed up with such urban "charms" as smog from industrial enterprises and automobiles, a characteristic landscape made of glass and stone, noise, lack of flora. The people were drawn to nature, on that Wednesday, where he came from. But since the situation at the dacha site did not always meet the aspirations of the builder (forest, grass, flowers, stream, decorative shrub), it was necessary to embody these aspirations with their own hands, as they say, out of the blue. A person at a summer cottage wants to have “two in one bottle” - urban conditions in the apartment and beautiful nature around. Experts call the process of translating this desire into reality the urbanization of nature, that is, the creation of an artificial natural landscape. This is exactly what will be discussed in this article. We will try to acquaint you with those elements of landscape design that will help make the site original and beautiful.

Design project - the basis of the basics

Everything that is created must have a project. This is an axiom. Impromptu is not an assistant here, the entire design of the site can result in something awkward and ugly. You can, of course, seek the help of landscape design specialists, but judging by the fact that you are reading these lines, this option is not for you. Most likely, you are a person with a creative mind and skillful hands, accustomed to do it yourself, and the project of a summer cottage, its design is no exception for you.

The easiest way to design is to sketch out all the planned objects on a piece of paper. But this method is good at the first stage when zoning of a summer cottage is done. The second stage of your project should be the landscape design of your site. Only here you can visually evaluate what and how it will look. Anticipating your next question, I immediately answer: this can be done using special design programs, for example, X-Designer, Sierra Land Designer 3D 7.0. Thanks to them, you can look from the side at the creation of your hands. Previously, one could only dream of it.

But in order to create a project, you need to decide what you want to see at your summer cottage. Maybe one green golf course will be enough for you, or maybe you want to create a small reserve of exotic plants on the site at the foot of the Alps.

Therefore, we will try to acquaint you with some interesting elements of landscape design.

Pond - the heart of the landscape of the site

Ask any person what he would like to have a summer cottage, the answer will be one - on the banks of a river or lake, in extreme cases, with a small reservoir. If you are lucky, and your site is located on the banks of a river or lake, then this greatly facilitates the issue of its design, since there is no need to build this reservoir.

You just have to equip and ennoble the approach to water.

But what to do for those who were unlucky with the natural body of water on the site, but really want to have something similar to Lake Ritsa on the site, but to a lesser extent? Otherwise, of course, landscape design will be incomplete, and the feeling of nature without a reservoir will be inferior.

Everything is not so hopeless. We build a man-made pond. Of course, this pleasure is rather troublesome, requires care and certain costs. But it's worth it.

The organization of several types of water bodies is practiced, starting with an ordinary two hundred liter capacity and ending with a large concrete pond. It all depends on your requests and financial capabilities. An important role in this is played by the area of the site and its relief.

Of course, a pond from a barrel is unlikely to suit you, but if you use a PVC container (sold in specialized stores that have a shape resembling the outlines of a small pond), you can get a wonderful mini pond. Having designed it to your taste with plants, stone masonry of the shores, you will receive a wonderful corner for relaxation on your site.

If you equip your reservoir with the most elementary fountain, or a waterfall, the effect of it will increase one hundredfold. The noise of pouring water affects a person better than any sedative medicine.

There is another kind of ponds - concrete. This species is used if you want to have a full body of water with fauna and flora on your site. Therefore, its device is quite laborious and expensive, requires strict adherence to the technology of its construction. But at the same time, you will have exactly the pond you want on your site. Its shape and structure of the coast, bottom topography and other features will depend on your imagination.

Any corner of nature cannot be imagined without representatives of the fauna. Of course, here we are not talking about roe deer, deer. But here you can have representatives of the underwater world. This will be perhaps the last point in the design of the reservoir.

Alps at your doorstep

Alpine slide, or composition with stones, will make the landscape of your site more original. At the same time, this is a rather complex element of landscape design. In the original, an alpine hill is planted with alpine plants, edelweiss is one of them. But often, in the absence of the latter, ordinary low-growing perennial plants are planted from the local flora.

The slide is made either of stones of the same color, but of a different shape, or a stone of the same shape, but of different shades, is taken. The slide should be no more than fifty centimeters and have a drainage layer at the base, at least in regions with severe winters. Otherwise, winter frosts will destroy it. It is also important to know the place where you can arrange a slide. The slide is not being built on level ground, since in this case its appearance will be unnatural. It should begin with some kind of hill or wall. Unfortunately, the man-made slide is not an eternal construction. Five to six years later, there is a need for its restoration. This is the removal of weeds, replacing plants, adding soil and other work.

Garden as a design element of a summer cottage

Please do not be surprised at this subtitle. Yes, in skillful hands and vegetable beds can turn into a wonderful part of the landscape design of your site, which will delight you and will delight your neighbors and guests. How to do it? This will be discussed later.

In order to harmoniously include your garden in the overall design picture of the landscape, you do not need to philosophize slyly, at least at the beginning of the design project. A simple alternation of different crops in the beds will be a great design element, especially if these crops are of different colors or shapes.

The next version of the decorative garden is more complex and more beautiful than the previous one. Here, a preliminary layout of the shape of the beds is already required. The rectangular shape of the beds is no longer the only one; beds are added to it in the form of a zigzag, star, hexagon and other shapes.

Perfectly looking bosquet-beds. Their peculiarity is that a low-growing shrub is planted at the borders. This method is also suitable for a flower bed (bosquet flower bed). Of course, the bush should be cut periodically.

If the land area is small and you do not have enough for your plans for flora, you can use the beds for planting flowers or just ornamental plants along with vegetables and salads. Such a combination of "pleasant with useful" will only decorate your site.

Stylistics of landscape design of the seasonal dacha

Landscaping, like other types of design, implies its design in certain styles.

Country style

It is characterized by simple forms, simplicity. There are no clear boundaries of the zones, such as their blur. Traces of human activity, its interference in the environment are almost imperceptible. This is the whole charm of a country cottage in the country style. The view of the pristine nature is just what a person needs for a good rest.

English style

It is characterized by the arrangement of flower beds, beds in the form of regular geometric shapes. The same applies to laying tracks. Necessarily present antique accessories, which allows, as it were, to plunge into past centuries. Well, how can you do without a golf lawn.

If we talk about the landscape version of the style, then here you will not see the geometrically correct lines. Paths meander between flowerbeds and lawns. Flowers are planted in dense groups, should be lush in shape. A mandatory design element is mowing lawns and shrubs. Also for this style is characterized by an abundance of flowers directly at the threshold of the house and ivy curling along its walls.

Mediterranean style

This style will help you feel the Mediterranean nature around you, an atmosphere of relaxation and romance. To design the site in a Mediterranean style, you can use thuja western, chestnut, decorative fruit trees. Of the shrubs - this is decorative honeysuckle, boxwood. Grapes fit perfectly. And of course, flowers. No style can do without flowers. For the Mediterranean style, dahlias, hops, marigolds, all kinds of clematis, salvia are usually used. The pearl of your site can be made lavender, which will fill it with an excellent aroma.

Japanese style

The Japanese flora dominates here. Without sakura, Japanese cherry, this style is unthinkable. She is like an emblem of this style. Will give your summer cottage special beauty of the spring. A similar symbol of style is the Japanese maple. This is a wonderful decorative tree. It takes on a special charm in the fall when its leaves turn orange-red. The beauty is extraordinary. On the site in the Japanese style must be present antiques on the Japanese theme.

Landscaping Lighting - Real Magic at Night

With the onset of dusk, your summer cottage should not lose its daytime beauty. To do this, you will have to take care of its lighting, and not simple, but enhancing this beauty, representing it in a completely different way. See for yourself.

But this can be achieved with a creative mindset and certain knowledge. Everything is in order with your mindset, and “certain knowledge” follows a little lower. Get to know each other.

The first thing to do is take care of lighting the paths, steps. This can be done with the help of both built-in lamps and lamps on racks of different heights.

The lighting of the reservoir should be approached creatively. It should be organized so that the lamps illuminate not only the surface of the reservoir, but also highlight the surrounding shrubs, flowers, trees with rays coming from the surface of the earth. To achieve a greater effect from lighting the reservoir itself, waterproof fixtures are used that are installed under water. The highlight of the composition will of course be the luminous fountain.

Finally

It seems that this knowledge will be quite enough to perform a decent landscape design of a summer cottage, although this information is basic. We did not address the issue of arranging flower beds - this is a separate and very extensive topic, but any woman who loves flowers copes with it, not only accepting them as a gift, but also taking care of them. In general, look, go for it and you will have a paradise where you can relax with your soul and body (no one has excluded the garden from this paradise). Good luck to you!