7 of the Best Resources for Garden Design & Landscaping Ideas
Whether you’re working with a large grassy area or a small courtyard, a well-designed garden can make all the difference. However, coming up with creative ideas that are practical, within budget and complementary to your property can be a challenge. Especially if you are new to landscaping! So to help you out, we’ve compiled a list of useful resources packed full of patio and garden design ideas. Discover tonnes of inspiration to inform for your own project below.
Where to find garden design ideas online
Garden Design.com
With over 900,000 social media followers, GardenDesign.com is a highly popular online resource for planting and garden landscaping ideas. The website houses galleries with photos of gardens from around the world, alongside numerous articles and webinars offering expert advice. Browse a range of garden styles, current trends, design rules, how-to guides for planting and solutions to common problems. Plus an entire landscape design section with ideas for outdoor spaces of all sizes – think pathways, water features and plant suggestions. And if you’d like to stay up to date, you can sign up to their free weekly e-newsletter.
Houzz
Home to a community of millions, Houzz is the leading website for home and garden design ideas. On it, you’ll find countless images with the option to filter by garden, terrace, patio and more. You can then further narrow your search by garden size, preferred style, colour and hardscaping. For example, brick, gravel or natural stone paving, to see what each option looks like in situ. A great way to figure out what you’d like to incorporate into your own space! Check out the AWBS Houzz profile for lots of garden and product ideas boards.
Additionally, you can search images of gardens featuring specific elements like fountains, firepits and flowerbeds to see how different elements work together. Need further advice? Houzz has a plethora of articles and a forum for asking questions and gauging opinions. Plus, they can put you in touch with trusted contractors in your area – what more could you need?
Another similar resource where over 1.5 billion images are ‘Pinned’ (aka saved) each week, is Pinterest. To search its expansive image library, all you need to do is enter some keywords – a bit like using Google. For instance, you might look up ‘garden patio ideas’ or ‘paving ideas’ for pattern inspiration. Your search will bring up related images (known as pins), which you can bookmark (pin) to your own mood board to refer back to, check The AWBS Pinterest profile for product and article links.. Or, if you click a pin, it will bring up a link to a blog post or website where you can find more information. You can also follow themed boards or those by publications you like, e.g. The List by House & Garden Magazine.
Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
As the UK’s biggest gardening charity, the RHS is well known for its visitor centres and flower shows. But did you know that its website is also a hub of knowledge too? In its garden design ideas section, you’ll find tips for planning a layout, advice for successful planting and various how-to guides. You can also filter inspiration articles and video guides by garden style, from low-maintenance to cottage-inspired designs. And if you’re not sure which will work best for you, there’s also a breakdown of different garden themes to help you decide. From space-saving ideas to pet-friendly setups, urban to Mediterranean styles, there’s something for all!
Ideal Home
Founded in 1920, Ideal Home Magazine expanded into the online world in 2016. Since then, its garden design features and landscaping advice articles have become a go-to resource for many. In fact, the website offers garden and outdoor living inspiration for a host of preferences and budgets. There’s a devoted landscaping section with ideas and how-to guides covering everything from borders and paths to fencing and decking. What’s more, their expert writers answer common questions, offer maintenance and growing tips and highlight trends as they arise. They even test and review gardening products to help you select the best ones for you!
Pavestone
As a leading supplier of paving, driveway and stone products, our partners Pavestone are well-placed to offer garden landscaping ideas and advice. As such, their website features installation videos and downloadable patterns for laying patios. Plus tips for creating garden features and problem-solving common issues. You’ll also find videos dedicated to different paving materials and colours, and where best to use them, and articles on choosing slabs, planting and more. What’s more, Pavestone has multiple ‘fly-thru’ video tours of stylish garden projects hosted by celebrity gardener David Domoney. These showcase different products, helping you to visualise how they can work together and might look in your own garden.
Explore garden design and landscaping ideas at AWBS branches
Want more garden design and paving ideas? You can find exactly that at all three of our AWBS branches in Oxford, Swindon and Yarnton. Each store has its own display area featuring hardscaping products like paving slabs, block paving, decorative gravel, fencing and more. All of which are installed to demonstrate how they’d work in a domestic garden to help you choose. Our team can also offer tailored advice and samples upon request.
Interested in composite decking ideas or fencing which requires minimal upkeep? Our Oxford branch is also home to a 35m x 10m composite display area showcasing products by market leaders Millboard and Trex. And if you find something you like, we can arrange free delivery!
You might also like to pop over to our sister store – Oxford Garden Centre – during your visit. Here, you can browse our brand new Feature Garden with wheelchair-friendly resin-bound walkways which transport you through different seasons. Enroute you’ll come across unique seating areas, privacy screens, garden structures, water features and planters. With each element handpicked to provide garden design ideas to inspire your own outdoor upgrade.
