Bring house and garden into harmony
Many garden designs are developed from two basic shapes; circles and rectangles. Rectangular designs are particularly suitable for smaller sections and can be used to link the house with the garden. Some houses have circular features such as bay windows or pillars, which could be repeated in the form of circular garden shapes to establish such linkage. On large sections a progression from rectangles close to the house to circles in the middle to free-form shapes near the boundary, allows the garden to gradually change from obviously man-made to more natural.
Currently the house and garden are two separate entities. The curved garden beds do not relate well to the strong straight lines of the house and the patio. Some height is needed in the garden to make the transition from indoors to the outdoor environment less abrupt.
By using a rectangular pattern in the garden, the house in the photograph becomes an integral part of its surroundings. The shapes of the garden beds loosely follow the rectangular shapes of the house and patio. A small clipped hedge adds definition and structure. It basically forms a larger repetition of the shape of the concrete patio, with the corners lining up with each other and with the corner of the L-shaped house.
A couple of trees, and possibly a third depending on the available space, are needed for some privacy and for the garden to also link with the height of the house.
The lines in the lawn are in-ground railway sleepers. They could be used to direct the view from the gate on the left to a feature, such as an ornamental pot or a sculpture, in the planting near the fence on the right.