Reading time ≈ 7 minutes

Beautiful garden capable of transforming and decorating a summer cottage beyond recognition. You can create an original design for a vegetable garden with beds on the territory of a private house by studying examples with photos of modern courtyards and landscaped landscapes. There are several design methods, the main thing is to successfully plan the location of structures and decor.

Stylishly decorated summer cottage with green spaces

Smart planning

Everyone wants the yard to be comfortable and cozy, and the surrounding area to be attractively landscaped. It’s worth starting the design with proper planning and creating a diagram.

What is important to consider:

Designers highlight several of the most popular landscape design options:

Landscape stylistics

It is extremely important to choose a single style in which the landscape of the garden and vegetable garden adjacent to the dacha will be decorated. The green area should not only be comfortable and homely, but also carry with it a certain idea.

Popular styles:

Techniques for designing beds

When the territory of the dacha is decorated with a motley cap of foliage, greenery and flowers, it is more pleasant and comfortable to be there. A beautiful and neat frame of the beds looks attractive at any time of the year, so it should be given special attention.

Modern summer residents have adopted the fashion of decorating a vegetable garden - these are tall structures that make it easier to care for the soil and plants. The advantages of such structures:

1. Warm up well in the sun.
2. They are easy to care for.
3. They tolerate wintering easier.
4. They look neat and are not washed out by rain.
5. Compatible with any style.
6. More reliably protected from rodents and weeds.

Smart beds with wooden fences square shape

Design Tips:

If you take the design of a vegetable garden with beds seriously in your own private home, studying examples with photos of modern courtyards and stylish landscapes, you can create a real oasis in the territory of your dacha. You just need to wisely choose the landscaping option, style and harmoniously arrange all the elements.

More and more often, owners of garden plots are shifting their emphasis from the possibilities of growing vegetables and fruits to decorating their land, design garden plot. They earn money in the city, and come to the dacha to relax. Of course, fruit trees and shrubs, vegetable beds - all this may be present, but they are also subject to the rules of landscape design. Entrusting a project to a professional seems great... but professionals often end up with overly ordered, cold landscapes. Self-designed gardens, although not ideal, are much more comfortable and you feel much better in them.

Where to start: planning

It all starts from the stove: you need to correlate your desires with reality. To do this, first sit down and write down what you need on the site. Just a list of what you and your loved ones want to have. Then you take a site plan with dimensions and begin to place what you simply cannot refuse. Usually this is a playground or carport, some kind of vegetable garden - at least a few beds, if there are children - a playground.

Place the carport closer to the gate - less space will go to the driveways, the playground in direct visibility from the windows, and most likely from the kitchen windows: it’s not all the time to sit with them, and so, the children are under supervision, and you get the job done. You will have to be smart with the placement of the playground: it needs to be free of drafts, and some of it should be in the shade, some in the sun. To have the best conditions.

Therefore, there is no need to hide it. It will still be a decoration for your site and you will be proud of it. For this you will need a sunny piece of your site.

Now we need to find a place for technical and auxiliary premises. You will definitely need, and also a compost pit. They can be taken to the backyard, but it’s better to be closer to the garden. If you plan to heat the house, you need a place to store firewood. They do this for this purpose, and they can be attached to the barn, or they can stand separately, and some specimens can also be a decorative element. Somewhere in secluded corner You will also need to install a shower. The toilet is also a hassle: you need to take into account the distance to neighboring areas (at least 2 m), and also the prevailing wind direction - so that odors do not bother you.

Next comes the turn of what you really want. Usually this is a gazebo or fountain. A pond and a fountain can be combined, and a gazebo can be placed nearby. To the point that one of its edges can hang over the water. On the other bank, you can put a bench by placing an arch next to it or building a pergola (the same arch, but more solid). Near the gazebo, you can make a small canopy and place it, as per your choice. It is best to allocate the lowest area under the pond or where the groundwater is closest. Everything else will fit into the free space.

A pond and a gazebo nearby are a good combination

It seems that these are all the main objects. If you managed to fit them all into the site plan, great: you can plan. You need to manage and make a minimum number of paths, but they must connect all the main buildings. Paths may lead to auxiliary structures. It's even more romantic. And along the way, look for places for flower beds, flower beds, rock gardens, and decorative slides. You can even specially bend the paths to fence off the space for the flower garden. This, by the way, is one of the favorite techniques of professionals. They almost never use straight lines. Only in elongated areas to visually bring the far edge closer.

Don't forget about trees and bushes. By the way, they can serve as a screen for an unsightly fence. And you will have it all around the perimeter. It can be partly decorated with hanging flower beds, partly covered with trees and shrubs. While the trees are growing, you can put a lattice in front of the fence on which to grow climbing roses, clematis, or any other similar plant.

Garden plot design: choosing a style

In most cases, the garden design style is very difficult to determine. Most often it can be described as “modern”. Are used interesting solutions different “nationalities” and different style trends, and sometimes these combinations are very, very successful and interesting. The good thing about independent design is that you can intuitively create beautiful landscapes. But to register a plot in a certain style in a way it’s simpler: you know for sure whether this idea will work or not. Let's look at some design options for a garden plot in a specific style. The easiest way to work is with ethnic trends.

Oriental

Chinese and Japanese cultures have significant differences, but regarding the design of a garden plot, it is difficult, almost impossible, for a non-specialist to distinguish between these two directions. For ease of perception, we will combine them into one style: oriental.

Decoration in Japanese style - an abundance of stones, interesting combinations deciduous and coniferous species

Achieving maximum harmony is inherent in these cultures. What is good about garden design in Japanese or chinese style, is that they use a lot of crushed stone and pebbles. If it is difficult or expensive to get pebbles in the right quantity, then there are much fewer problems with crushed stone. Maybe you’ll be lucky and you’ll even be able to agree on the color - the meticulous Japanese use pebbles of the same size and the same color when backfilling, or form them into different shapes.

Great idea for decorating a yard near garden house: crushed stone and pebbles, slabs as a path - dirt will not rush into the house

Large stones, near which boxwood bushes are planted, a small fountain in the traditional shape. A very interesting idea with a border made of painted crushed stone. Only if you do something like this, make sure that the water that drains from the plant has somewhere to go: under the pebbles and crushed stone there should be dense soil with a slope towards the plantings or an exit to the drainage system - this is how the water drainage is organized.

A small fence is made extremely simply. Another good thing about bamboo is that it doesn’t rot.

To make your Japanese-style garden design truly traditional, you can use bamboo. A small fence and gate are extremely simple to make. A couple of stakes are driven into the ground, bamboo crossbars are tied to them, and thin bamboo is tied to the crossbars. It turns out to be a bamboo picket fence.

The paths are very typical - rounded stones at a distance of a step from each other, slabs of stone, or even concrete slabs, but they are not square, as we are used to, but long. Please note that the gaps between the stones/slabs are overgrown with grass, moss, or filled with pebbles.

Often in Japanese gardens there are fountains. But these are not pompous structures with sculptures and upward jets, but combinations of bamboo and stone through which a small amount of water flows. It’s easy to make them even yourself, but read how here.

Several photos of Japanese-style garden design are collected in the photo gallery. Eat interesting ideas, which are easy to implement with your own hands. Moreover, the costs are minimal))

The right selection of plants is half the success. Japanese maple - how can you ignore it? Slabs, stones, crushed stone, plants - all this against the backdrop of a lawn

Rustic style (rural or country)

The more urbanized our cities become, the more we want something simple, natural, without clear lines and edges, which are already boring in the city. That’s why many people began to build houses from logs: they exude comfort. If your country house built from logs, a natural continuation of the idea would be to design the site in a rural or rustic style. In this case characteristic features- usage various kinds old utensils and its elements in the decoration of flower beds and flower beds, wattle fences, simple, often deliberately rough, made of logs.

The design of a garden in a rustic style can be easily recognized by the presence of wheels from carts, baskets, ceramic dishes, old barrels, logs and flowering stumps

On a village plot, there’s no way everything can be too smooth and orderly. The paths are overgrown with grass, with stones laid for convenience, and boardwalks thrown in. And to make the “boards” always look like new, you can use decking - this is a wood-composite material that looks and feels very similar to wood, but does not rot, does not darken, and retains its original appearance over the years. appearance.

Fences inside the site can be made from dead wood cut from the forest. Fences made of birch or okha with its light green bark look very decorative.

Wicker fences are traditional for this style. They can be made for beds, flower beds, to fence off areas inside the site, and even as the main fence, separating the garden from neighbors and from the street.

You can decorate a pond in the same vein - a small mill or bridge next to a long pond wouldn’t hurt. And if there is a difference in height on the site, you can make a cascade of watering cans and buckets - a very original idea.

A waterfall along the steps, only in an unusual design: a fountain made of watering cans and buckets

Even the toilet can be made in the same style. Of course, it’s unlikely that anyone will bring it to the fore, even in a stylish design, but you won’t have to worry too much about making sure the building is not visible.

This kind of toilet is a hut that you don’t have to hide very much

The design of a garden in a rustic style is not demanding on geometry or selection of plants. It is important that you feel comfortable and cozy and that the plants feel good. Then even the simplest compositions will delight the eye and heart. See the photo gallery for several design ideas for different zones.

Unusual flower bed - a flower stream Carts and wooden wheels - traditional elements of a country style garden A gazebo covered with reeds and sculptures from ceramic pots- interesting design finds in garden design Wattle is a good fence, and the style supports the design of the well

Garden plot in modern or modern style

The design of a garden plot in the Art Nouveau style is international. It contains elements different cultures. The main rule is a harmonious combination of shapes and shades. Most often, straight lines and rounded shapes are combined.

Is it difficult to create such a corner in your own garden? Tiles can be replaced with concrete or stone slabs or wooden flooring, the main thing is that the geometry is preserved. Flowerbeds of unusual shape - smooth edges both at ground level and high. Between two high flower beds seats are installed, and to make it really convenient and comfortable, you can make the curb higher and nail a board on the back. All this cubism is broken up by a round ceramic plant pot. Instead of a pot, you can make a small fountain in the form of a stone ball through which water flows.

This fountain is not difficult to make. The main thing is to find a suitable stone and drill a hole in it

As you can see, the fountain is close in style to Japanese style. Slightly modified, it fits perfectly into modern design garden And this is not the only stylized element. For example, wicker furniture is often used. But it has a different shape - either cubic or with curved surfaces, but only in one plane. Looking at the photo below, you will understand what we are talking about.

And again, pay attention, hard straight lines are broken up by round ones: in the bottom photo these are pyramidal thujas, in the top photo there is a round flowerbed table ( extraordinary solution, by the way) and the curved lines of the chairs.

This is where lovers will find freedom raised beds, so it is precisely when designing in this way: it is more convenient to set straight lines using high boxes. They are made from wood, stone, concrete. The material should be combined with the main finish or be an addition.

It is decorated in approximately the same traditions local area and areas near the reservoir. Make a flooring from boards, plank or decking, install characteristic furniture - part of the garden is decorated.

By the way, you can make a gazebo in an unconventional manner.

There are a lot of ideas, and they are all interesting in their own way. Check out some photos in the gallery below. Maybe something will be useful for your garden.

Practical design of the pond - you can even sunbathe on the decking Smooth paths are a sign of style, but the execution is unusual

Ideas for decorating fences and walls

Whatever one may say, there is always a fence. And it is not always a decoration of the garden. More often than not, it’s quite the opposite: it’s headache owner: how to disguise it or give it a more acceptable appearance. There are actually quite a lot of solutions, and for different tastes.

If you know how to draw, and the fence is at least relatively smooth, paint it with some scenes. It is clear that choosing a suitable plot is not easy, but you can rely on general style site design.

The funky fence and site design style are easy to guess))

You can use the fence as a space for a vertical flower bed or vegetable garden. It's beautiful and useful. This idea will especially please owners of small plots. But this can only be used if the summer in your region is cool. In all other cases, the plants on it burn.

Approximately the same idea will be useful for decorating the wall of a house. Only here flowers are planted more often, and mostly hanging ones, but nothing can stop you from planting, say, aromatic herbs or just beautiful flowers into the lower tier, and at the top let there be hanging hanging lashes.

Wall design option - metal baskets lined with jute fiber, inside - soil

Very often simple decorations or some unusual elements distract attention from the not-so-attractive surface that the fence represents. These can be homemade flowers made of colored plastic or a whole cascade of different boxes in which you can either plant flowers or put them in pots.

Simple decorations, but they serve their purpose - they distract attention from the unsightly surface

Ideas in photo format

Don’t want to invest in your dacha the old fashioned way? Then why not turn your garden beds into a work of art. Let's see what the landscape design of a modern vegetable garden can actually look like, how to organize beautiful beds, what exactly to plant there and other subtleties of gardening.

Modern vegetable garden and its design

A well-designed vegetable garden can become a real decoration of the entire site. Such a garden will be able to please everyone not only good harvest, but also by its appearance. In order for the plot to look unusual and stylish, it is necessary to think carefully about the design of the vegetable garden, where ordinary vegetable beds will look no worse than bright flower beds.

The term landscape design implies original design not only the garden or recreation area on the site. There are several simple rules with the help of which even a novice gardener will be able to plan and design a modern vegetable garden.

The location of the utility, front and recreation areas must be provided at the site design stage, when there are no utility buildings on it yet. In this case, the area for vegetable crops must be well lit. Largely cultivated plants demanding of soil and lighting. Therefore, placing the beds in a sunny area with fertile soil Crop rotation work can be made easier.

If the owners' primary task is not to produce large quantity preparations for the winter, it is better to limit the number and size of beds. Several neat, well-groomed, small beds will bring much more benefit to the owners of the site and their guests than several dozen ordinary beds. When designing decorative vegetable beds on your site, you should take into account not only the appearance of the plants planted nearby, but also their requirements for growth conditions. Slightly raised shaped beds geometric shapes or waves, are not always suitable for landing moisture-loving plants. The fact is that moisture in such beds dries out quite quickly, which can lead to slow growth and drying out of crops.

As a rule, standard beds are approximately 1-1.2 m wide. Farmers across Europe are of the opinion that the width of vegetable beds should not exceed 70cm. Narrow beds are easier to care for, they have a neat appearance, which also leads to an increase in the quantity and quality of the harvest.

Examples of a modern ornamental vegetable garden

Here are some ideas for landscaping your garden and creating an attractive appearance for your beds and whatever you plant there.

Framing beds

Every gardener wants his plot to have a beautiful appearance not only during the growing season, when the beds are decorated with an abundance of greenery and flowering plants, but also when the beds are completely bare. Small brick walls framing the beds will help to slightly raise them. In addition, such site decor always looks neat and beautiful.

Many people use various curves, patterns and smooth lines in the decoration of the site. To decorate beds in such an area, you can use ready-made modules. If you show a little imagination, you can decorate a modern garden using plastic bottles, small diameter stumps or other available materials. Decorated paths between the beds will also give the site a finished look. It is better to cover the paths with a small layer of crushed stone or line them with tree cuts.

Modern city in containers

Vegetable beds planted in containers will not only give the site an aesthetic appearance, they are portable. If necessary, such decorative beds can be easily rearranged to another place and create interesting compositions. Decorative beds in containers with herbs or various herbs will help decorate your terrace or barbecue area.

There is no need to buy special containers. Various types of beds can be used as beds. flower pots, old dishes, large barrels, baskets. You can use whatever your imagination suggests for planting plants, the main thing is that the selected containers are harmoniously combined with other decorative elements on the site.

Varieties of decorative eggplants, peppers or cherry tomatoes are perfect for planting in small containers. IN large containers You can even plant several varieties of plants, thereby creating interesting compositions.

Rich green lettuce leaves will look interesting in combination with chard leaves, which have a burgundy-red color. You can decorate such vegetable beds by planting some annual plants. It could be marigold, majora or calendula.

Mixed flower and vegetable beds in a modern vegetable garden

The main trend in the modern vegetable garden is to create mixed beds. To design proper flower and vegetable beds, various variegated plants are used, which form unique multi-level compositions. Using various plants By combining them correctly, you can create real works of art. It is better to plant such compositions in small islands. Greens are used as the bottom tier; peppers and tomatoes are middle-tier plants. background mixed beds can be corn or sunflower. It is recommended to plant green beans next to the sunflower, which will twine around the stable stems, thereby creating additional decor in the beds. Such mixed flower and vegetable beds can be turned into real decorative flower beds.

Design of a modern vegetable garden in English and French styles

As a rule, a modern vegetable garden is designed in French or english style. The peculiarity of the French style is that all the green spaces on the site form a well-thought-out, complex pattern consisting of various geometric shapes. All the beauty of such a vegetable garden opens from the highest point on the site. To decorate beds in the French style, only low-growing plants are used. Such plants do not grow, thereby not violating the strict geometry of the composition. Low plants are also planted along paths that are lined decorative bricks or garden tiles.

The design of a modern garden in the English style is more natural. The choice of plants for such a site is much wider. To plant in such a garden, you can use any vegetable crops, supplementing them with various flowers and herbs. In summer, during flowering, a well-designed English-style vegetable garden resembles a miniature park with an abundance of flowers, the role of which is played by zucchini, ornamental cabbage and lettuce.

If there is very little space for organizing a vegetable garden, you can make several non-standard small beds in almost any part of the site.

Rules for choosing plants for a modern garden

Selecting plants for planting in the garden must be based on the composition of the soil and climate zone in which the site is located. However, there are also several general rules, observing which you can choose plants suitable for the garden.

First of all, when planting plants, it is necessary to take into account the degree of illumination of the area. tall plants need to be planted so that they do not block more sunlight from low plants. Also, the same crop should not be planted in the same place for 2 years in a row. This can make the soil infertile, thereby reducing the yield. Watering is also very important for plants. When designing a garden, you need to take into account the watering regime for each crop.

And of course, you can’t just plant the plants you like together, because not all crops tolerate being next to each other well. Properly selected plants can repel insect pests and protect their neighbors from infection by various diseases.

The design of a modern vegetable garden is a close interaction between man and nature. In order for the vegetable garden to become a real decoration of the site, it is necessary to experiment. The result depends on the desire and imagination of the person. A decorative, well-kept garden where vegetables grow in combination with healthy herbs and ornamental plants, can become a subject of admiration and the highlight of any site.

Modern vegetable garden - photo

From this article you can learn how to create beautiful garden beds with your own hands: photo good options, which can be used as inspiration, instructions and rules for designing, as well as making structures for growing vegetables and herbs on the site. The text outlines the basic principles of design development taking into account the landscape features of the site, advice on choosing crops and creating decorative designs.

A garden bed is a relatively isolated area of ​​soil where plants of a particular species are grown. Summer residents grow many crops that have similar cultivation characteristics or, conversely, contradict each other. By zoning a site using beds, you can separate incompatible plant species or combine those that have the same care system.

Interesting ideas for decorating a summer cottage and greenhouse. Using scrap materials to create unusual beds.

How to make beds in the garden: photos of the correct placement options

At the planning stage, the type of beds, the nature of their placement on the site and the dimensional parameters of the structures are also selected. The choice is based primarily on the characteristics of the soil, the specifics of the plants that will be grown and the presence of buildings on the territory.

Helpful advice! In order not to rack your brains over the design for a long time, you can use your favorite photos of dachas with beds and lawns from gardening magazines as a basis from which to design your garden in the future.

Based on magazine photo garden beds in the country or pictures from the Internet, it is advisable to draw up a plan for the future garden on paper in advance and use general recommendations to create optimal designs:

• raised beds that do not have a frame in the form of a box are recommended to be built in areas with black soil. In this case, there is no need to purchase soil;

• designs of high beds can be considered as an analogue of flower beds. They look decorative and at the same time are able to provide plants with protection from rodents;
• heat-loving plants need special conditions. Growing them will require construction. warm beds. This product option will be optimal if the site is located in a region where a climate with low temperatures prevails;
• if the summer cottage is located in an arid region of the country, it is recommended to plant plants in pits;

• lowlands and areas with clay soils It is better to use for organizing high beds;
• areas of the site located in the shade are good for growing greenery;
• You often come across photos of beautiful beds against a wall online. It is allowed to place structures along the walls of stationary structures, for example, a house, summer kitchen, barn, gazebo or garage, but with one condition - the rows must be placed on the south side. At the same time, the walls will protect the plants from the wind.

Creating beds at the dacha with your own hands: photos of successful solutions

Taking into account general principles design, you can evaluate the site for organizing a vegetable garden and plan not only the shape and type of beds, but also the dimensional parameters.
General standards for the size parameters of beds:

1. Height - an indicator in the range of 40-60 cm is considered optimal, taking into account that the beds need regular weeding and watering. For carrying out these works, the specified height is considered the most convenient.
2. Width - the maximum allowable value is 1.2 m. Otherwise, caring for seedlings and cultivating the soil will be extremely difficult.
3. The width of the passage between plantings - the minimum permissible value is 0.3 m.

Note! If it is intended to have a frame, at least 0.6 m should be left between the structures. With such a width, a wheelbarrow can easily pass along the passage, which can be used for harvesting, transporting fertilizer, etc.

How to make a beautiful bed using lettuce

Each plant is unique and beautiful in its own way. Combining certain crops in one bed will create an amazing plant design. The composition can consist not only of vegetables, but also of herbs and flowers. Some plant species can provide vegetable crops protection from pests and diseases.

Lettuce is a frequent guest in beautiful photos; many summer residents know how to make garden beds using this plant. It is decorative and comes in a wide variety of varieties. This type of green can have different shapes leaves and even colors.

1. The Zabava lettuce variety is suitable for creating contrasting accents in the garden bed. Its leaves have a red tint and combine well with other plants.
2. The Assol variety is a head variety of lettuce. This version of the plant has a green color and a red border along the edges of the leaves. The high decorative value of the variety allows it to be used as a garden bed decoration.
3. These varieties can be combined with vegetable crops. Successful combinations are obtained with cucumber, carrots, strawberries and radishes.
4. All varieties of lettuce look impressive next to basil or parsley.

beds with herbaceous plants need shade. By growing such crops, you can provide yourself with fresh herbs and decorate shaded areas of the yard where most flowers cannot grow.

Creating beautiful beds in the garden: photos of unusual solutions using cabbage

Cabbage is another variant of the plant, the beauty of which is not always appreciated by those who are unfamiliar with the characteristics of its varieties. There are many technologies that describe how to beautifully make beds in a vegetable garden; photos of structures planted with cabbage look no worse than flower beds in the yard.

On sale you can find several varieties of red cabbage that can be successfully used to create a decorative bed. These varieties include “Mikhnevskaya Krasavitsa”, “Langedeyker”, “Rodima F1” and many others. In addition to external beauty, they will give bountiful harvest at the end of the year.

Cauliflower with purple heads of the "Purple Queen" variety will be a real decoration

The cabbage variety “Amethyst F1” has a stunning purple color that will add bright accents to boring green plantings and make them attractive. There are also unique varieties. For example, cauliflower"Cheddar F1" is painted in an orange tint and can easily compete with flowering plants in terms of decorativeness. Other crops can be planted next to cabbage: dill, beets, onions, celery.

Helpful advice! Cabbage can also be used to make a frame in the garden beds with your own hands, photo of plantings in a fence made of white cabbage look attractive while creating a unique structural design.

How to make beautiful garden beds at your dacha: photo examples of decorative fences

Living fences are the most environmentally friendly way to design beds in an ornamental vegetable garden. The difference in the structure of plants or their colors can be effectively played up in the design by creating a natural frame around the plantings. This technique is also used to decorate the bed with geometric patterns or rows. different heights and colors.

Frames for beds can be made with your own hands from any available materials. For these purposes, vine, stone, and wood are suitable. Even the use of beds without framing is allowed. In this case, the design relies on an unusual shape of the structure.

To create a natural border for the bed, it is best to use a lawn. Green grass is easy to handle, obedient and allows you to create even the most complex shapes. The result looks stunning, giving a special design to the area.

This technology also has disadvantages:

1. Lawn grass grows quickly and spreads well. Such a fence requires regular maintenance, otherwise the lawn will spread to the garden bed. To prevent this, it is recommended to do weeding from time to time.
2. A green lawn does not provide protection from pests and rodents, which can cause serious damage to the crop.
3. A bed framed in the form lawn grass loses its shape over time. You need to monitor its position and correct it if necessary.

Helpful advice! To prevent pests from getting to your vegetable crops, you can buy beautiful plastic beds. These products are strong, practical and durable. Available for sale decorative options imitating wood or stone.

The advantages of lawn grass framing include excellent decorative characteristics, simple system organization and further maintenance.

Popular options for decorative design of beds

Options that do not have a frame look interesting. Such beds have beautiful shape, they are raised above ground level. Crushed stone, stone or sawdust are used to create passages between them. The last option can be dug up in a year and you can get fertilizer for the soil. To prevent the edges of the beds from crumbling, it is not recommended to raise them more than 20 cm above ground level.

Low-growing shrubs will be an excellent replacement artificial materials. By similar technology large vegetables (for example, cabbage) or herbs are planted. But in this case, the beds will need regular maintenance. Boxwood shrubs, apical pachysanthra or lavender are suitable for organizing a living fence. These plants can be successfully used as frames, but given their high cost, most summer residents decorate beds with them located at the front facade of the building.

The design of beds can be very diverse, it all depends on your imagination. To diversify the appearance of plantings, you can add flowers to vegetable crops, for example, marigolds. Their bright orange flowers will brighten up boring greenery and protect plants from aphids.

Glass or plastic bottles, blocks of wood, pieces of slate, bricks, etc. can be used as decorative frames. ceramic tile and other available materials that could remain on the site after construction or renovation.

To make a garden plot beautiful, you don’t have to come up with complex design solutions. It is enough to rationally arrange ordinary beds and combine plants correctly. Vegetables can be supplemented with ornamental plants and decorations.

What is an ornamental garden

A decorative garden combines vegetables, flowers and fruit crops. Each plant not only bears fruit or greenery, but also acts as a decoration and becomes part of the overall composition.

Such vegetable gardens began to be established in France in the middle of the last century, and the fashion for them quickly spread. In each country, the landscape design of plots with a vegetable garden began to acquire its own character traits. Nowadays there are even festivals of decorative vegetable garden design.

Where to begin

First of all, you need to draw up a plan for your garden. To do this, it is worth answering the following questions.

• Will the vegetable garden occupy the entire area of ​​the plot, or will there be a flower garden, fruit trees, lawn, swimming pool or something else next to it?
• What crops will you grow, what conditions do they need?
• How they fit together: Keep in mind that some plants do not grow well next to each other or may infest each other with pests.
• How will you design the beds, what materials will you use?
• What materials are needed for walkways?

The plan can be drawn up on paper or using a computer. The method is not so important, it is important that in the end you have a detailed landscape design scheme for your plot with a vegetable garden. The plan diagram may look something like the figure. Below, write what each number corresponds to.

You need to mark everything on the plan: the size of the beds, the width of the paths, materials, decorative elements, plant species. If you are drawing up a plan on a computer, attach a photo to get an idea of ​​what your garden should look like.

It is important to think about which crops will bloom and bear fruit in different seasons, as well as their interchangeability, because as they are used for food, plants may lose decorative look or simply end.

It is also necessary to provide comfortable paths to all areas of the garden. It is better if they are paved with hard material.

Make an estimate for setting up your garden. Consider not only the price of plants and materials, but also the cost of delivery and labor.

Zoning of the site

In the garden plan, it is advisable to highlight several functional zones:

• front - area near the entrance with shrubs, conifers and other ornamental plants,
• household - it is usually located in the shaded part of the garden, away from the recreation area,
• recreation area - can be adjacent to the house or located in the depths of the garden,
• orchard - fruit trees are most often planted on a hill and in the depths of the garden,
• children's playground - if you have children, you need to provide this too; it should be located at a distance from the vegetable garden and flower beds.

Perhaps not all of these zones will be in your garden, but in any case it is necessary to highlight areas with different functions in the landscape design of the garden.

Plant selection

When choosing plants for your garden, consider your region, humidity, lighting of the area, and soil composition. It is best to choose zoned varieties. When buying seedlings or seeds, pay attention to their quality.

Combine plants into groups:

• vegetables,
• greenery,
• aromatic herbs,
• flowers for cutting,
• decorative foliage,
• shrubs and others.

As vegetables are used for food, some areas of the beds will be freed up. To prevent them from looking empty, sow herbs on them, for example, dill, parsley, basil. Its leaves can also decorate the garden bed.

Some varieties of cabbage and beets have beautiful leaves. Flowers of potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and peas can also be decorative. Different shades of foliage will be beautifully combined in beds with leafy and aromatic herbs: parsley, dill, spinach, lettuce, oregano, mint, lemon balm, basil, sage, fennel, different kinds Luke. Some herbs that can be used to make tea or as medicines also bloom beautifully: marigolds, St. John's wort, cornflowers, yarrow.

Separate areas of the garden can be divided by a hedge of shrubs, in which rose hips, willow, viburnum, and mock orange are used. Along the fence and in certain areas you can plant unpretentious flowers and decorative foliage plants: daisy, decorative cornflower, cornflowers, red-leaved plantain, yarrow, foxglove, daisies.

Important! When placing plants, keep in mind their compatibility with each other. Not all of them grow well nearby. The table shows successful and unsuccessful combinations of garden plants.

It is important to seat horticultural crops taking into account their requirements for humidity and light. Tall plants should not cover short ones. If you plant, keep in mind that they will spread out over a few years, so leave some space between them.

You should also consider:

• color and texture of leaves,
• size, color and time of fruit appearance,
• flowering time.

Styles of decorative vegetable garden

Most often, garden landscaping is done in one of several styles.

Flowerbed is the most traditional. It differs from the usual one in that vegetables are planted not in beds, but in flower beds, where they are combined with other plants.

Modular landscape design will suit for large areas. In this case, the beds are correct geometric shape They are arranged at some distance from each other, and wide paved paths are made between them. This landscape design looks strict and beautiful, but maintaining the garden in proper condition requires a significant investment of time and labor.

Vertical style will suit for the design of hedges delimiting zones of the site. In this way, you can use fences and walls and rationally plan a small area.

The potted option is suitable if the plants need to be moved, for example, to free up a seating area. This mobile garden looks unusual. You can use a variety of suitable sized containers for planting plants.

Rustic style is well suited for decorative gardening. The charm of a quiet village life is emphasized by the combination of vegetable beds with irregular flower beds, fruit trees and simple decor, which can be, for example, gardening Tools, bird feeders. Moorish lawns will fit into the rural style of the garden, climbing plants, hedges. The main thing is that in this style a clear layout and excessive neatness are not allowed.

The Art Nouveau style combines beds of abstract shapes, on which vegetables can be planted in rows or in separate clumps. The beds are separated by paved paths, borders made of logs, bricks, and planted low-growing plants. They will fit well into such a garden original solutions, for example, plants in containers or vertical beds and flower beds, wooden terraces and small architectural forms.

French style implies a special color palette. It is dominated by shades of green, blue, white and purple. Neat symmetrical elements are used here: flower beds, lawns, borders. In some places you can place flowerpots with plants. Stone is used for paving paths, borders and terraces, and the paths are also sprinkled with gravel. Hedges will also work. Required element — cozy area resting with a bench among the bushes. A French garden requires attention and care.

English landscape design implies well-groomed lawns and at the same time a natural appearance. Trees and shrubs are located in small groups. Favorite plants are roses, crocuses, hydrangeas, daffodils and other bulbous plants. Climbing plants are a must in an English garden. Also welcome artificial ponds and streams.

One of the original options for designing a decorative vegetable garden is a container or flowerpot. This landscape design of a summer cottage is suitable for small area, plants can be moved with ease. A vegetable garden in containers can be divided not only into summer cottage, but also in the city, because it needs very little soil.

You can use anything as containers: tubs, buckets, barrels, even plastic bags. Flowerpots can be decorated in different ways, for example, wrapping them in burlap or painting them.

Using containers you can also make vertical beds. They can be mounted directly on the wall of the house or other support, thus significantly saving space. In addition, vertical beds are better protected from rodents and other pests. For such beds you can use barrels, plastic containers, or make them from boards.

Important! Plants in containers and vertical beds must be fed and watered on time, and the soil must be changed from time to time.

Another option is pyramidal beds. To create them, 4 triangular troughs are made, which are installed in the form of a pyramid, separated by horizontal slats and filled with fertile soil.