Landscaping your garden does not always require hiring a professional landscaper. You can design and landscape a garden your neighbours will be envious of with some planning, effort, and time. Create your dream garden with our step-by-step landscaping guide and use Stihl Cape Town power tools from B&S Commercial Power to make clearing your garden space quick and easy.

 

 

Landscape Design Elements and Principles:

 

Read through our quick summary on landscaping design elements and principles before you start your landscaping project so that you have the tools to design an inviting, functional, and visually pleasing garden.

 

Landscaping Design Elements:

 

These are the basic elements of landscaping design that will have a great impact on the aesthetic of your garden.

 

Colour: Colour is necessary for a garden to create flow and draw attention. You can achieve colour in your garden by using a variety of plants, flowers, and colourful hard landscaping features.

 

Line: The use of line in landscaping design is to aid movement in a garden space. The clever use of lines can draw the eye to key features in your garden. The type of lines you use will also impact the overall feel of the garden. For example, the use of curved lines will create an informal and organic feeling.

 

Texture: Adding layers of texture helps create dimension in your garden. Texture is achieved through using a variety of soft and hard features, such as leafy plants and hard wooden landscaping features.

 

Form: Form describes the shape of the plants and hard landscaping features you are planning to have in your garden. How you combine form in your garden will add to the interest of the space. For example, you can choose to have a structured form with neatly cut bushes and angular hard landscaping features.

 

 

Landscape Design Principles:

 

To create a garden that has synergy, you need to pair your design landscape elements with these landscape design principles.

 

Order and Unity: Order and unity can be achieved through careful consideration of the combinations of forms and texture. If you had to select too many different hard landscaping forms and use a too wide variety of plant types, your garden will not appear to have been designed with intention.

 

Rhythm and Repetition: Select a key colour palette and use of line and repeat this throughout your garden to create a sense of rhythm.

 

Balance and Harmony: Balancing your forms, lines, and textures is the easiest way to create a harmonious garden space.

 

Scale and Proportion: Ensure that the scale and proportion of your forms and lines are compatible to help create a balanced, peaceful, and inviting garden space.

 

 

Steps for Landscaping Your Garden:

 

We have created a simple step-by-step guide for you to landscape your garden.

 

1. Assess Your Garden and Think About Your Wants or Needs:

 

Whether you have just bought a new home or have lived in your home for many years, you need to take the time to walk around your garden and assess it. We have listed a few key aspects to keep in mind when examining the condition of your current garden.

 

Ground: What state is your garden ground in? Is it flat or will certain spaces need levelling?

 

Soil: The soil is the most critical part of your garden, as it is where your plants will either thrive or wilt away. Check the condition of your soil and decide whether you will be needing any extra topsoil.

 

Existing Plants or Trees: Examine your existing plants and trees. Do you like them? Do you like the position of them? Is there enough diversity? Are they indigenous? These are important questions to consider as this will impact the amount of clearing and plant purchasing you will be doing at a later stage.

 

Existing Features: Explore your current fencing, hard landscaping, pathways, and garden lighting for any damages, faults, or simply decide whether they will suit your new landscape design.

 

After assessing your current garden, you can then begin thinking about all your wants or needs for your new garden space. Do you want to have a play area installed for your children? Are you looking to create an oasis to escape into with a cup of tea and a book? Do you need easier access from your kitchen to your vegetable garden? You need to think about all your wants or needs so that you can incorporate these aspects into your landscape design plan.

 

It is important to pair your wants and needs with your assessment of your garden. You may want a pool, but your garden may be on a slope, and levelling a piece of ground may be outside of your scope of skills.

 

 

2. Plan:

 

This is where you bring your understanding of design elements and principles, your assessment of your garden, and your needs or wants together to create your dream garden! Your landscape design plan needs to be done before you begin working on your garden. An accurate, well-designed plan will save you time, effort, and money in the long run.

 

We have some suggestions to consider when creating your landscape design plan.

 

Inspiration: From novices to professional home gardeners, everyone needs inspiration from time to time. Purchase landscaping magazines, look online, watch landscaping shows, or talk to professional landscapers. There may be a plant or landscaping feature you never knew about or considered that could work in your garden.

 

Window Shopping: Head to some plant shops and see what they have to offer. This is helpful as you can then have visual images and an understanding of the size and sunlight requirements when planning the placements of your plants in your garden.

 

Put Pen to Paper: It is important to have a detailed sketch of your landscaping design before you start digging and trimming. Depending on the scale of your project, landscaping can be a time-consuming project. The last thing you want is to start forgetting which plants or pots go in which area.

 

 

3. Purchase Essential Tools:

 

If you are completely new to gardening, you may not have any of the essential gardening supplies on hand. We have created a general list of gardening tools that will be needed when you start your landscaping project.

 

• Gloves.
• Outdoor shoes.
• Rake.
• Spade.
• Fork.
• Bucket.
• Power tools.

 

B&S Commercial Power is a Cape Town-based supplier of power tools. When it comes to landscaping in a garden, we highly recommend selecting the Stihl Cape Town power tools for your clearing, trimming, and cutting needs. Stihl Cape Town power tools are robust, high-performance, and easy to use, and will be an investment for maintaining your finished landscaping project.

 

B&S Commercial Power stocks a wide range of Stihl Cape Town power tools suited to creating the garden of your dreams.

 

• Stihl Cape Town Trimmers.
• Stihl Cape Town Brushcutters.
• Stihl Cape Town Chainsaws.
• Stihl Cape Town Blowers.

 

4. Clear the Site:

 

Clearing your existing garden to make space for your landscaping plan is where the hard work begins. Luckily, there are Stihl Cape Town power tools that will make your clearing work quicker and easier.

 

Cutting Long Grass or Weeds: To create a clean slate for your new landscaping design, you need to cut any overgrown grass or weeds. The Stihl FS38 Trimmer is perfectly suited to making easy work of your grass or weeds. The Stihl FS38 Trimmer is especially recommended if you have existing plants or hard landscaping features you need to trim around.

 

Trimming Bushes: You may have some existing bushes that have grown out of control and need to be trimmed back. The Stihl FS160 Brushcutter is ideally suited to cutting bush branches or thin trees.

 

Cutting Down Trees: You should always avoid cutting down established trees in your garden, but in some cases, they are simply positioned in an area that is no longer functional for your landscape design. Stihl Cape Town has a wide range of chainsaws that are perfectly suited to cutting down different tree sizes and densities.

 

When you are finished clearing your site of any plants or trees, you will need to tidy up the space. The Stihl Cape Town blowers will make quick work of blowing away any leaves or grass clippings. Stihl Cape Town blowers come in a wide range to suit the scale of the plant debris you wish to clear. You can also use your Stihl Cape Town blower to keep your garden maintained and beautiful when you are finished your landscaping project.

 

 

5. Select and Install Hard Landscaping Materials:

 

Now that you have a blank canvas it is time to start adding your hard landscaping materials. It is suggested to add your hard landscaping materials first as it is easier to plan around these features. We have listed a range of hard landscaping ideas that you can incorporate into your garden.

 

• Decking.
• Gazebo.
• Pathways.
• Lighting.
• Sculptures.
• Seating.
• Firepit.

 

6. Plant:

 

Planting is the fun part and ultimately where your landscape design truly comes to life! It is important to remember your landscape design elements and principles when selecting the plants for your garden. You also need to pay attention to the amount of sunlight, water, and type of soil your plants will need to thrive.

 

When doing your initial planting, you need to leave adequate space between your plants to allow for growth. Your garden may look a little sparse in the beginning, but within a few months your garden should be fully established and your landscaping design will be actualised.

 

7. Tidy Up:

 

Give your grass edges a trim with your Stihl trimmer, blow away any fallen leaves with your Stihl blower, and return your garden tools to the shed. This is the moment you can dust the dirt off your hands, pat yourself on the back, and admire the effort and time you have put into creating a beautiful garden space.

 

8. Add Final Touches:

 

Throw some scatter cushions on your outdoor chairs, turn on your outdoor lights, move that pot plant around just one more time, and you are finished! The final step is to invite your friends, family, and neighbours over to “ooh” and “aww” over your landscape design.

 

About B&S Commercial Power:

 

At B&S Commercial Power, you can find a wide range of reputable branded power tools, such as the Stihl Cape Town power tools. We pride ourselves on providing you with access to power tools of exceptional quality and performance at an affordable rate. Whatever your power tool requirements are, B&S Commercial Power has you or your business covered.

 

Create a beautiful garden with our step-by-step landscaping guide and make quick and easy work of your garden clearing and maintenance with Stihl Cape Town power tools.