Designing your own garden can be daunting. Here are 8 common mistakes to avoid.

Mistake number 1.

Not allocating sufficient budget towards renovating your garden. This is a common one. You’ve overspent on the internal renovation and are left with a miniscule budget for the outdoors, and your husbands still not convinced that having the garden designed professionally will add value to the property, and so you’re going to try and do it on the cheap. Top Tip- you’re better off waiting until you recover from the overspend on the house and doing it properly when you can afford it.

Mistake number 2.

Allowing your main contractor or a pool builder decide where your pool goes, without designing the garden as a whole. This to me is like allowing a kitchen supplier to build your kitchen, and then asking the architect to design the house around the kitchen. Ok, it’s a bit of an extreme example, but it makes the point.

Mistake number 3.

Rushing into it because you suddenly realise that the nicer weather is just around the corner and your garden is not how you’d like it to be. This inevitably leads to regrets, compromises and mistakes.

Mistake number 4.

Having realistic expectation about how long designing and building a garden take. Allow plenty of time for design & planning. It’s a process. Embrace it.

Mistake number 5

Using the same builders who are doing the works on the house to do the garden. You wouldn’t dream of letting your landscape contractor fit your kitchen or bathroom, so please don’t allow your interior contractor to install the garden. Yes, this includes the hardscaping (pool, paving, steps etc). Use the appropriate tradesperson for the job at hand.

Mistake number 6.

Getting swept away with design trends you’ve seen on Pinterest & Instagram and using too many different materials that don’t complement each other. This can make a space feel cluttered, and uninviting.

Mistake number 7.

Not thinking about planting, particularly space requirements for trees, at the start. Treating the planting as an afterthought usually means you end up with narrow, skinny borders running the length of the boundary wall garden. This will end in regret when you realise that the outdoor space is not going to feel like a garden if you’d only got space for a thin row of plants.

Mistake number 8.

Wrong plants in the wrong place. Sun loving plants need to be in the sun, many of them require 5-6 hours of full sun to thrive (and flower). And then of course those that prefer partial shade, or full shade cannot be in full sun, unless you want to torture them and likely have to replace them.

Which mistakes have you made in the past? Which tips did you find most useful?