Designing a garden: Alexandra Lehne, landscape architect, explains how to do it.
Alexandra Lehne studied landscape architecture at the Oxford College of Garden Design.
Claudia Stranghöhner
Alexandra Lehne is certainly no stranger to garden design, in fact, she is a veteran of the sector. The landscape architect has already designed over 600 gardens in the last 13 years and his first garden shown at the Southport Flower Show was awarded a medal. Today he designs gardens of all types with Soulgarden Landscape Architecture, from private gardens to city courtyards and roof gardens. True to the motto “designing a garden is the attempt to transform nature into an ordered chaos”, the combination of art, people, places and nature is at the heart of his projects. The result is timeless and natural gardens, but above all unique. According to the landscape architect, this last aspect is essential, because the garden must be experienced in the best possible way by those who live in the house.
A successful garden is one that continues the internal space outside the house.
Alexandra Lehne
Designing a garden: 6 useful tips
Alexandra Lehne explains to us how to design a garden and what aspects need to be considered with 6 tips.
1. Define the functions and create the project
As with interior design, outdoor space design begins before you put your hand to the spade. “The most important thing when designing a garden is a good basic idea,” explains Lehne. As far as possible, all residents should be involved in the design process, because only then it is possible to determine which areas of the garden are fundamentally necessary and desired, such as the terraces, the swimming pool, the greenhouse or the brazier. These functional areas are then used to create a conceptual sketch, which in turn takes into account the position of the sun, surrounding buildings, soil quality and visual and acoustic protection. The aim of the planning phase is therefore to combine all the desired functional areas in the garden so that they are practical for today, but also for many years to come.
2. Include your surroundings
“Good garden design is characterized by the fact that the house fits gently into its surroundings,” says Lehne. “The living space extends from inside to outside and distinct spaces must also be created in the garden.”
