It’s great to be ambitious about your garden. The garden might be your place of tranquillity, a space to reflect in, or even just a natural playground for your children, but either way, it is necessary to ensure that this important space reaches its design potential. When your garden plans become too ambitious to realise with your own two hands, it may be time to consider upgrading to a ride on mower, and for larger garden designs, a ride on mower can guarantee swift landscaping and convenient maintenance. If you’re in need of inspiration for your new estate, look no further than these landscape architecture ideas for new mower owners.
Selecting a precedent for your garden with your ride on mower
If you want to achieve a cohesive aesthetic for your garden, it would be prudent to first select an overall precedent for the space before designing its finer details. This precedent can be informed by any of your design ideas, but what we find makes the most sense is to model your garden off existing natural areas such as forests, jungles, or even semi-arid deserts. A great place to start would be analyse the natural features of your home’s climate region – as this will be both easier to maintain and immediately appropriate as an aesthetic. For forest-inspired designs, there is an abundance of interesting grass types to choose from that will serve as the hero of your garden.
Research what the most prevalent grass-types in your area are and select that one that best meets your design requirements. For tropical spaces – plants such as monsteras (or swiss-cheese plants), ferns, and palms give any garden a rainforest feel independent of your actual climate region.
Juxtaposing order and nature with your ride on mower
One of the most effective techniques for styling a contemporary garden is to create contrast between the natural vegetation of the space, and a clean-cut lawn. To maximise the effect, be sure to create a gap of soil between the lawn and the rougher foliage of the garden. The perimeter of the lawn should have a sharply defined edge that drops off into richly-coloured soil that serves the rest of the garden’s vegetation. To attain further interest with this effect, natural boulders and large stones can be a tasteful addition to the space.
Another way to emphasise the chaotic natural side of your garden is to increase the variety of the plants, bushes, and trees. Of course, you first ensure that the plants can grow harmoniously together. The more eclectic the biodiversity of your garden is, the more natural the unrestrained areas of your garden will appear – increasing the contrasted effect.
The right trees for your garden
Naturally, trees serve as some of the most pivotal features in any landscaping project. They have the potential to make or break any garden. This is why it is imperative to put time and effort into the selection of trees for your property. As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the most logical approach to tree selection would be to assess the tree population in the areas surrounding your site.
This will indicate which trees are the most contextually appropriate in a design capacity and which trees are best suited to the climate of the region. On top of this, you need to thoroughly consider the desired aesthetic for your space – the devil really is in the details. Out of the trees that meet the requirements for your desired aesthetic, which ones are easiest to maintain? Which ones can grow fruit?
Are they deciduous or evergreen? The former question refers to whether or not the trees will lose their leaves annually. Both deciduous and evergreen trees can grow in a variety of climate regions, so this choice is dependent entirely upon aesthetic. Traditionally, evergreen trees are used in landscape design as they allow for a consistent look all year round.
It makes it easy for landscape architects to predict and present to clients how their designs will look throughout the seasons. This, however, may not necessarily be the correct choice for your garden! For many people, the colour-changing of leaves from season to season plays a major role in their tree selection. A tree has the potential to completely immerse you in a season, which some people find very compelling, and sometimes it is comforting to enjoy your coffee under the stark trees of a pale winter morning!
The built environment
Some gardens are entirely natural – completely devoid of any built structures. Although there is nothing wrong with this approach, adding some architectural features to an otherwise entirely organic space can be both aesthetically pleasing and functional. However, we recommend designing and building these features into the landscape itself, rather than simply placing vaguely appropriate outdoor furniture in the space. This may be the more expensive option at times, but it will certainly improve the design of the garden, as well as last for far longer.
Good examples of these structures include in-situ concrete benches, low stonemasonry walls, timber pergolas, and water features such as ponds and fountains. To ensure that these structures complement the rest of your garden, decide on a materiality that responds to the plants and trees found in the space. For example, if your garden has trees with dark-coloured bark, select wood with a darker tone for all of your timber elements. If you live in a mountainous area with an abundance of rocks and stones – use them for all your stonemasonry structures (this is not only more contextually appropriate, but it is also both more affordable and environmentally friendly).
It is also possible that you may not want to appropriate the natural aesthetic of your home’s exterior, and instead wish to juxtapose it. To do this, we’d recommend using synthetic materials such as stainless steel to contrast the organic environment – making your structures appear even contemporary! However, these structures should not only be built to serve an aesthetic purpose – they should be functional. Gardens are the perfect hosts for outdoor living spaces. People need to be connected to the outdoors – we need direct sunlight, fresh air, and natural beauty.
So naturally, we spend a lot of time outdoors. Therefore, it is only fitting for us to design and arrange outdoor spaces to eat, relax, and socialise in. Fortunately, it’s all too easy to arrange the aforementioned structures into a successful outdoor living space. Low stonemasonry walls are used to demarcate the space harmoniously in the garden, timber pergolas can be placed directly above this space to allow for shading and further spatial interest, and water features can be placed in the area adjacent to this area to provide a constant tranquil atmosphere.
Be sure to furnish this space with table and chairs that match the materiality of the surrounding structures. Features such as timber boardwalks and deck areas can be used to connect these living spaces and provide effective circulation around your garden.
Farming with your ride on mower
On the topic of functionality, if you have the extra space, why not cultivate your own little farm? Subsistence farming is not only an ethical and affordable way to grow your own food, but it also a great way to achieve that highly desirable cottage aesthetic! Your ride on mower would make quick work of preparing the garden for both crop growth and maintaining the grounds for effective subsistence farming procedures. There are an overwhelming number of crops to choose from, so if you’re struggling to decide – we recommend first assessing which crops you would eat most frequently, then which are best suited to the area, and finally which crops will best physically suit the overall aesthetic of your garden (this could be informed by the architectural style of your home, or even just the colours of the crops!)
Ornamentation and decorative plants
Unlike the sections on built environment and farming, this section is chiefly concerned with your garden’s aesthetic. Most schools of thought concerning contemporary landscape architecture outright reject ornamentation and ideas of “decoration”. However, we believe this is somewhat flippant, as ornamentation can have significant cultural meaning, and decorative plants can be a valuable asset to the overall biodiversity of your garden. When deciding on ornamentation for your garden, consider your family history.
For example, if you are Irish, consider using ornamentation with Celtic or Gaelic imagery and symbolism. This not only adds aesthetic pleasure to your garden, but it also gives its design another layer of depth and meaning specific to you! Another great way to automatically lift the appearance of your garden is to employ flowers throughout the design. Flower arrangements instantly improve the vibrancy of any outdoor space, so it only makes sense consider their use.
Once again, make sure that the flowers you choose are contextually appropriate, work with your overall design, and can grow harmoniously with the other vegetation in your garden (which you cultivated using your ride on mower). If you are struggling to discern which flowers meet these requirements, you can always enquire as to your options at your local nursery.
Choosing from the best ride on mowers
So which are the best ride on mowers to help you realise your garden dreams? BS Power stocks only the best in landscaping tools equipment. Here are three of the best value ride on movers currently available through the company’s website:
Husqvarna TS 138 ride on mower
The TS 138 ride on mower is an intuitive tractor perfect for homeowners with small to medium sized gardens. It is an effective, energy-efficient tractor with side ejection, sleek appearance and ergonomic design. The mower has a robust Husqvarna Series engine with – choke-less start and easy pedal-operated transmission. The mower also has attachments for a ‘collector’ and BioClip® cover.
Husqvarna TS 242D ride on mower
The TS 242D ride on mower is most suitable for property owners with large gardens needing a durable, comfortable tractor with great manoeuvrability. It is an efficient tractor with side ejection to help with challenging lawn maintenance. The cutting deck ejects clippings, allowing for maximum capacity, even over areas of the lawn with thicker grass. The ‘locking-differential-transmission’  provides traction in wet conditions and on steep slopes.
Equipped with a strong Kawasaki V-Twin engine and pedal-operated hydrostatic transmission make for convenient, problem-free landscaping. Once again, a ‘collector’ and BioClip® kit are available as accessories.
Husqvarna MZ54 Zero Turn ride on mower
The MZ series zero-turn ride on mower from Husqvarna sees some of the greatest optimisation of performance, efficiency, and comfort in any ride on mower to date. The user-friendly operator interface, muscular steel frame, powerful hydraulic system work together to provide the user with the best mowing experience possible. The MZ is also both mulch and collection capable, making it the smartest choice for all your landscaping needs – and that’s before mentioning the comfort of the high back seat with armrests and adjustable steering.