Some gardens have all the right elements – lush garden beds, a sparkling pool, and a manicured lawn – yet they feel ordinary. Others, with the same features, feel extraordinary, drawing you in with a sense of atmosphere and charm. The secret to a truly stunning garden isn’t just what’s in it, but how it all comes together to create an immersive experience. The good news? You don’t need a landscape designer to achieve this. With the right approach, you can transform your outdoor space into a visually captivating and inviting retreat.
Setting some boundaries for a garden is the first stage, as the parameters of a space set the tone for all that is held in-between them. When trying to create atmosphere everything between these boundaries must be in the same theme to create an impact. Larger gardens can be split up into “garden rooms” and you need to be confident with your theme in a smaller space.
Hedges and green boundaries make for great backdrops to many styles of garden, clipped hedges suit formal gardens and loose mixtures of planting can be used for tropical relaxed affairs. Hard structures such as stone walls or pergolas will be more arresting on the eye and help focus you around a space.
The boundaries of your garden should also consider the space above your head. Do you want the sky open to the elements for start gazing or are you trying to create the feeling of a dining room experience where you have a built structure above your head. Deciduous trees make for an amazing roof and a living way to bring atmosphere to a space. You can train trees to be like a living pergola over a dining table, adding interest and difference to your garden.
A garden should be about all the senses not just the look of it, so plant fragrant flowers, surprise yourself and guests with edible plants, plan noisy water features, have tactile surfaces to touch and draw you to a certain viewpoint in the garden. By having all of your senses put on alert you’ll be more immersed in the garden space and the atmosphere will be heightened.
At night using illumination to create drama is a great way to add an extra layer of atmosphere to the space and make the garden feel like a completely new space. When lighting a garden there will always be an element of practical lighting, that is lighting steps, trip points and areas where a lot of light is needed. Once this is taken care of rather than thinking about lighting features think about highlighting them by creating shadows off them. This way of thinking will not only make the space look better, but it will make it more comfortable to be in. For entertaining spaces fairy lights and festoon lighting will supply just enough light to make the space usable but not be too overwhelming.
Candlelight on tables will add a sense of romance and make your garden have a point of difference over other outdoor spaces, placing a cluster of candles on a table is a lovely way to highlight and draw you to an outdoor table.
If I had to have one trick for creating atmosphere for any size garden it would be to be obsessed with detail. Consideration to the scale and proportion of each feature element, how hard materials meet, how fixings are covered or set as a feature in themselves, the plant selection and how they grow together, everything and all you can think of should be cohesive with each and every possible element to the space and its design. It’s this level of detail that will take your garden from nice yet average to a show stopping wonder you’ll never want to leave.
