Dividing a garden into sections can have lots of benefits. It can make your garden look more varied and striking, plus it can allow you to explore different functions with different parts from entertaining to growing your own produce.
Choosing the right partitions between each area can be important too. A barrier between each section may help to prevent plants intruding onto other sections or may help to provide shade, wind shelter or privacy to a certain area. Below are 7 of the different types of partitions you can use to divide your garden.
Edging
Edging is the most basic form of partition. Such partitions are usually no higher than 1ft and can help to prevent grass, gravel or mulch transferring between areas.
Many gardeners choose to create a lawn border with edging - it can stop grass growing out into a flower bed or gravel blowing out onto a lawn. Steel edging tends to be the most effective option and one of the simplest options. However there are many other edging options including bricks, log rolls, cinder blocks or rocks.
Terraces
If you’ve got a sloped garden, one way of dividing your garden could be to level out individual sections into tiers (or ‘terraces’). Each terrace could be separated by small steps or ramps. This can be particularly effective in a long sloped garden.
It’s worth hiring a professional landscaping company to level out these tiers for you as it can be a big job. When it rains, water may have a tendency to flow down to the lowest tier - consider using this to your benefit by placing a pond in this section or using it as a vegetable patch.
Hedges
Hedges can serve as living barriers. While they require a lot of maintenance, they can be an effective way of partitioning your garden.
A waist high hedge could allow you to still look out on other sections. Alternatively, you could opt for taller hedges that provide total shade and privacy to an area. It’s worth researching into different hedge plants - you should consider whether you want an evergreen hedge, whether you want it to be fast-growing, whether you want it to produce flowers and the type of soil that your garden has.
Fencing
Fencing is commonly used around the exterior of a garden, but it can also be used to divide individual sections within a garden.
Picket fencing is a popular option when dividing sections. Knee-high picket fencing could serve as a decorative form of edging around flower beds or a lawn area. Alternatively, you could use waist high picket fencing or full height picket fencing for creating more clear sections.
Panel fencing could be a better option if you want a complete barrier from wind and sun. However, it may look slightly odd when paired with panel exterior fencing. Metal fencing could also be an option that is likely to pair well with metal outdoor furniture.
Walls
Adding walls to your garden could be a way of effectively separating it into ‘rooms’. Walls are certain to provide the most protection against wind and could be useful for partitioning a social area from the rest of the garden, giving it a cosier sheltered feel.
You could opt for a small waist-high wall or a tall wall that provides a complete barrier from the rest of the garden. This wall could be used to grow creepers on or add hanging baskets. Building a wall in your garden is likely to require planning permission, so bear this in mind.
Screens
You can also use screens to section off parts of your garden. Screens are typically decorative alternatives to walls and fences that allow some light through, while still providing privacy and a barrier from the wind.
A screen could be made of metal, wood or fabric mesh. Structures such as gazebos typically have fabric screens around them that can be rolled up, serving as a temporary partition. Folding bamboo screens are another option if you're looking for a temporary option that you can take away if you no longer need privacy or wind shelter.
Archways
You may also be able to use archways in your garden as doorways between garden ‘rooms’. They can be very eye-catching features that could serve as the perfect entrance to a ‘secret garden’ area.
Wooden and steel arches are the most common example of this - climbing plants may be encouraged to grow around these archways. Archways can also be carved out of hedges or built into a wall.
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