• First of all decide on what you want your garden to do for you. Your priorities will no doubt help you to decide whether you want a vegetable garden, an ornamental garden, a formal garden, a water garden, a roof garden, a container garden, an herb garden, a rose garden or a cacti garden and the list can go on and on. 

• Develop a plan. Having decided on the type of garden you want, you will get down to developing a plan for your garden. How much space is available to you will decide what you want to do to make best use of it. A wild garden can certainly be nice, but try not to clutter it. But some times I do like an organized mess, accompanied by bird talk and lively flutter of myriad colours flitting from colourful blossom to bloom. It can reward you with endless hours of entertainment. Don’t forget the bird bath! I have to refill it at least three times a day in hot weather!

• Get started... start designing! Say supposing you want a water garden, you will want a pond and spots that will be conducive to growing marsh plants and ornamental grasses. Gather up the material you want for this. You will want to have a pond shape cut out in the ground. Measure the area and get to work.  Remember to reserve the top soil separately when excavating. This is good to make your raised beds. When you have the right shape and size you will want to use some heavy grade pond liner to line the base and sides of your pond. Remember to create a marshy area on one side by laying the liner at different levels, closer to the surface and outer edges of the pond. Make it in a depressed form making room to add soil and plants, by tucking some of the excavated soil under the liner and shaping it. Your marsh plants will go here. Another way is to place potted marsh plants and conceal with natural looking boulders. These can even be moulded fibreglass boulders which are easier to handle. Arrange boulders over the liner tucking away the excess under them. You may even use the excavated soil to form undulations and even cover potted plants.  Arrange the plants around your pond and leave it in their pots for a day or two to help you decide if that’s the final arrangement you want to have. Now you have the basis from where you can build on to improve your water garden.

• Collecting water plants can be quite exiting. Don’t get carried away, stick to much of your plan. 

• The next step is adding life to your pond. Colourful fish is a good addition and it has its uses as well in keeping away mosquitoes breeding in  yourpond. 

• Flowering pond plants are also nice additions.

• Next prepare the ground around the pond. Adding turf and ground cover and plant up the rest of the garden to blend with your main garden feature, your pond. 

(Text by Sylvia Page)