How to decorate a summer cottage

Are you interested in the question of how to decorate a summer cottage? You have acquired a large land ownership and want to create a landscape design that would make a splash on every new person? Then read the article and finally deal with all the nuances thanks to which your cottage will not yield to the royal estate in landscape design.

Turn your site into a place where you want to return with great pleasure

In our country, land design has been playing an important role in the organization and construction of country houses and summer cottages for more than a decade. And this is no coincidence. Beautiful design rightfully takes a leading place. This is due to the current pace of life, which make people work and achieve their goals in the shortest possible time. But do not forget about the rest. A well-maintained summer house is that wonderful place where a tired person is able to gain strength. Nature and man are perfectly created for each other. If you invest some effort in building towards nature, it will fully reward its creator with peace of mind and new forces to conquer great heights.

The decor made by love with your own hands will fit well into the design of the summer cottage

Landscaping cottages: the basics and features

Before you start decorating a summer cottage, you need to understand the basic principle of the general arrangement of elements and small architectural forms. To do this, it makes sense to divide the household area into several separate zones that would perform different functions. Their number depends on the individual wishes of the owner of the suburban area.

You must decide the number, type and size of the functional areas. It all depends on individual preferences - some need a sports ground, while others need a farmyard

The following are the main and most common areas in the landscape.

1. The space in front of the front fence of the cottage. This is a business card and the face of your estate.
2. Plot of land in front of the facade of the house. With the correct arrangement of flower beds and elements of mafs (small architectural forms), a complete picture of the cottage is created.
3. Landscape area located behind the house. This usually places a garden, a gazebo, as well as a recreation and leisure area.

These basic elements are given for the frequent location of the building of a summer house on the site. When building a house at the end of the plot or from the neighbor’s side, the internal landscape will change accordingly.

Front fence of a summer residence

Usually, when dividing land and selling it to the public, the boundary of the plot is a fence. The space in front of the fence, although it belongs to the owner of the land, it is impossible to erect structures (and especially buildings) on it. Therefore, it is advisable to green and refine this piece.

The main fence is the first to welcome guests, which means that the general impression of the owners of the house begins to take shape

The design of this zone must begin with the choice of fence. It is made by:

• brick;
• stone;
• metal;
• wooden.

From a practical point of view, the first two are the best options. The use of natural stone, although expensive, is very reliable, beautiful, and most importantly, eternal.No atmospheric anomalies can change the natural structure of the stone.

Such a construction cannot be called just a stone fence, it is already a work of art

The option is simpler, but also very attractive.

In addition to these options, the combined use of building materials is also possible.
Before the fence, it is a good idea to make a certain step from the curb stone. And in the resulting pocket, you can plant thuja or other trees and plants used for these purposes. If the fence is “deaf”, then you do not need to part with the plantings - this will clog the big picture and create a visual load. But for the fence of wrought metal fit dense plantations, hedges and climbing plants.

An interesting solution would be to create a ceremonial fence entirely from decorative trees planted closely. But do not forget about security. In this case, it will be necessary to install a metal mesh to exclude the possibility of animals entering your site. The fence gate should be bought in a garden store made of artificial vegetation, which will be a continuation of the green hedge.

The easiest way to make a wooden gate

The front lawn grass is selected depending on the color of the vegetation. If your arborvitae is dark green, then the lawn should be closer to the light green color, and vice versa - lay a dark lawn with light green tones of vegetation. Leave the arrangement of flower beds on the interior space of the site, and plant flowers in front of the fence with small bushes laid out around the circumference with the same natural stone.

The passage to the gate can be distinguished by planting bushes of hedges along the edges. For this, a Kalinolny vesicularis suitable. It belongs to the category of fast-growing, has good resistance to Russian winters, is immune to various diseases.

It's nice when fresh flowers meet you at the gate

To create an accent of the ceremonial platform, plant bushes of blossoming lavender of bright lilac color along the path. This will bring a certain softness and pleasant smell emitted by this beautiful plant.

Along a metal fence, it is also worth planting a curly five-leaf girl's grape. It is characterized by its green-red color of the leaf, and the density of growth.

For the first year after planting, girl’s grapes will fill the fence and arch above the gate

Answering the question: how to decorate a summer cottage site with your own hands - focus on the "invitation" zone.

Landscaping of the land plot

Cottage area implies a small area of ​​land. Therefore, the further pleasant stay and pastime depends on the correct approach to using this space. The standard plot that the state sets aside for sale is square or rectangular. So it’s more convenient to keep records of acres and hectares of land. But for landscape design, the square has no value. Nature at its core is smoothness and harmony, bordering on strength and beauty. So is the landscape design. In order to decorate any summer cottage, you must first create complete harmony with nature. Smooth lines, asymmetric shapes, light and sometimes, at first glance, inappropriate, random accents. This is something worth paying attention to the newly made "green" designer.

The square fence of your cottage creates the effect of being in a box. Such boundaries are inappropriate in a summer cottage, the task of which is complete relaxation and “liberating” space. To eliminate this effect, tall trees of rounded elongated shape are planted along the fence. They are located not in a continuous strip, but in groups. This decision will remove the square borders of the fence.

Thuja along the fence

Panicle hydrangea hedges

The semi-wild mixborder partially hides the wooden fence and helps visually change the geometry of the site

The initial stage is the creation of a project, namely the drawings, which will allow you to visualize a pre-selected arrangement of landscape elements. First of all, the boundaries of the plot should be applied to the drawing, as well as all existing buildings and structures. The second stage marks the planned structures, such as:

• gazebo;
• bathhouse;
• children playground;
• pool;
• rest zone;
• plot of land for gardening;
• fountain.

It is worth considering that the location of these elements plays a significant role in the placement of the house. That is, the pool should be located on the sunny side of the site so that the water warms up. The recreation area, on the contrary, is in the shadow of the house.

Make a layout of buildings and large plantings, taking into account the growth of plants

The third stage of design is the marking of the paths that will connect the zones, as well as the placement of flower beds, trees, as well as elements of small architectural forms. In order to understand how best to decorate the garden and summer cottage, it is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on the choice of maf.

Small architectural forms of a summer cottage

Maf includes all the structures that were described earlier in this article (pools, gazebos, etc.). In addition, the elements of small architectural forms are:

• flower beds and flower beds with flowers;
• decorative and artistic structures such as wells, mills, garden gnomes;
• sculptures;
• bridges;
• ponds and streams.

Old bike as a stand for flower pots

This list goes on and on. Gardening goods stores offer a wide range, which is replenished every day with new products. But in fact, everything that is offered on the market of national goods can be made from the means at hand. Fortunately, the Internet is accessible to everyone. On its open spaces you can find a lot of interesting ideas, thanks to which you will get your own original approach, and you will develop an individual style for the design of a summer cottage.

Materials that are perfect for creating your own mafs are:

• old tires from cars (which you can get for free at any service center, they will also thank you);
• polyurethane foam for construction;
• glass bottles of various color palettes and shapes;
• plastic bottles.

Sculpture from an old stump

MAF from polyurethane foam

Polyurethane foam - the perfect assistant in creating a maf. Due to its resistance to precipitation, as well as lightness and strength, a springboard is created to create any element of architecture. It all depends on you.

For example, consider a craft in the form of any animal (deer, hare, etc.), which you can do yourself with your own hands. First you need to make a frame. It can be made from wooden and metal parts using old plastic bottles. After that, mounting foam is applied to the frame, which is sold in any hardware store. The raw workpiece is obtained in the previously selected form.

Assembling a frame from plastic bottles and water pipes

We wrap the frame with isolon, which is sold in any building materials store

If you do not have time and desire to bring your hare to a perfectly even state, you can make a sheep instead. The waves of foam are just like fleece. The product will only have to be painted.

We apply construction foam to the structure

After the foam has hardened, the excess is removed with a clerical knife, and then the surface is processed with sandpaper to a smooth state. Next, the product is impregnated, and painted in the desired color.

It is advisable to apply the putty first. This will give strength and durability to the animal.

Apply facade putty

We paint with acrylic compounds, wait for drying and place the handsome man in his summer cottage

DIY garden decor

To give the summer cottage an atmosphere of coziness, it is landscaped with flower beds, bridges, lighting fixtures and lampposts.

An old thing and a little imagination - and you will create an original craft

Illumination of decorative trees and a cascade of flowers at night will pleasantly surprise you with their exquisite and sophisticated beauty.

In the garden of the cottage it will be beautiful to make a small pond, lined with stones around the perimeter. Through it, it is worth making a decorative bridge, on the handrails of which lamps will be placed. Also, the backlight is installed directly on the bottom of the reservoir. This will create a glow of the entire mirror surface at night.

Looks great a small pond from an old bathtub, if effectively pebbled

Wooden ducks to decorate your pond

If the area allows, the pond is arranged relatively large. Such water expanses make it possible to arrange a Venetian gondola, the mast of which will be crowned with an oil lamp.

If you have the makings of a sculptor, then make a gondolier from polyurethane foam. If none are available, purchase a mannequin and dress it in the boatman's outfit. Be sure that such an exclusivity will not be found within a radius of 1000 kilometers from you.

Garden flower beds should be diluted with green shrubs. When choosing a color, you need to be guided by the table of compatibility of scales. In order to evenly distribute the fullness of the architecture, the summer cottage should be filled with flower beds and lawn grass. The latter creates the effect of spaciousness, when like flowerbeds, on the contrary, attract attention and heavily load the observer.

A successful combination of colors of shrubs planted on the porch of a country house

Make some large flower beds around the entire perimeter of the site. The composition of plants should be selected, paying attention to the combination of different types of plantings.

A relief flowerbed will look interesting. Her device is possible in any terrain of the country. To do this, at the planning stage, you need to determine the location of such flower beds, and before planting the lawn, preliminarily carry out land work on the device of the hillock. Stony sections are arranged between the stands, in which, if desired, small fountains can be made.

Even simple brick beds look interesting

The device of landscape design takes more than one year. This is a voluminous and laborious work. But, with due zeal, your summer cottage will be transformed from a standard and familiar Russian garden into a cozy and pleasant place, in which you will feel the calm and alluring beauty of nature. Create with us!

Expert Opinion

Alina Kvileva

Landscape designer

Ask an expert a question

Hello, my name is Alina and I am a landscape designer, if you have any questions regarding landscape design, please answer them with pleasure.

Video: how to beautifully arrange a flower bed in front of the house

Pictures of the original garden decor