Strictly speaking, your garden is an extension of your own home and it is good advice to consider your garden as another room of your home.

If your house is decorated in a modern, contemporary way then your garden should reflect this as it should if you own a Victorian property which would be more befitting to a Victorian cottage garden.  Steel, modern structures look great in a contemporary garden whilst using cobbles for pathways and chimney pots as planters fit perfectly with a Victorian theme.

The best way to begin designing your new garden is to put all your ideas on paper, marking the scale of your proposed ideas clearly e.g. measure the size of the path you want and draw it to scale.  Mark clearly on your drawing where the soil varies and where you know that your garden falls mostly into shade for realistic planting ideas.

Train fast growing ivy with wire to grow in interesting patterns on unsightly walls.

For pot plant ideas floating hyacinths look fabulous in waterproof containers.

Use a square of wooden timber and 4 castors to create a movable plant stand allowing you to move larger plants to different positions in your garden.

Hang fairy lights or wind chimes on over stretched tree branches.

Solar powered lights are very popular now in the summer.  Light pathways with solar upward lights and for cottage gardens shepherd crooks holding solar lanterns can look fabulous.  Another favourite that fits with most garden designs are the flat solar powered pathway lights.