When planning a new look to your garden it is important to think hard before you start.
Sometimes we see gardens on the television or get ideas form other people and think that they would work well in our garden and are then disappointed when they do not look right or work how they had imagined in their own garden.
There are some things that it is worth thinking about before you start.
Firstly the location of your garden with regards to sun and shade and the soil type will determine the position of garden furniture and the types of plants which will thrive there.
It is important to find out about plants before you buy them so that you know whether they will grow well in your soil.
It is not just the acidity or alkalinity that are important but also whether the soil is sandy or clay and whether it is well drained or boggy.
If you soil is not good for the plants that you want to grow then maybe instead of landscape edging you could have some raised gardens which have the correct compost in for the plant types that you are interested in growing.
These could also save you a lot of bending when you are weeding and maintaining the garden and so they could be especially helpful for older people.
It is a good idea to think about the future and how well you will maintain the garden in later life.
It is also worth thinking about your own lifestyle and whether the garden that you like the look of will fit into that.
Think about how much maintenance there is and whether you have the time to do that work all of the time.
If you want the garden to look nice all of the time, you will need to work in there a lot, weeding, pruning and cutting grass if you choose to have grass and flower beds.
It is worth thinking about using bark chippings or stones to cover the soil to try to prevent the weeds from growing through.
It can also make things look very pretty as well.
You can buy certain grasses which do not grow as quickly as others and this can be a good way to stop you having to mow the lawn as often.
You also need to think about how the garden will look after a while.
Will the slabs, decking and other features discolour with the weather and if they do, what effect will that have on the look of the garden.
Is there anything that you can do to prevent it.
Also you need to think about all of the family members and whether they are catered for in the garden.
If you have children, for example, you need to think about where they will play.
It is no good having no where or just a few sandboxes as they are likely to mess around in the smart bits of the garden and may spoil it.
So think hard when you are planning.