Gone are the days when land was purchased exclusively for horticultural needs. Modern owners of suburban areas believe that a summer cottage of 10 acres should be not so much a battlefield for the harvest, but a place of good rest.
But in order to have a good rest, you will have to work hard on the layout and design of the land that has fallen into your hands. Agree that sitting in the middle of an empty plot gaping with black uncultivated land and waiting for peace to come to you is pointless. The world will delight with colors only when bright flower beds appear in the country house, trees whispering with the rustle of leaves, a secluded corner against the backdrop of a small pond, or, on the contrary, a huge area with a barbecue area and a fountain. Each owl has a vision of comfort, but the implementation of both modest and grandiose plans will follow one standard scenario.
Summer cottage 10 acres
10 acres is not that small. On such a site, you can try to “walk around” and create an interesting landscape full of unusual elements. Enough space for this. Just be aware of the global scale, because your possessions turned out to be a thousand square meters of land and they must be used with maximum benefit. Here's how to do it and we'll talk.
back to index ↑What is important for planning?
When considering a site breakdown plan, you must certainly consider:
- Relief features. Not the fact that you will come across a flat area. Your suburban area of 10 acres may turn out to be mountainous, hilly, or even with a ravine. This will certainly affect the location of the house and other buildings you have planned, the layout of engineering networks, and the planting of trees.
An example of a hilly suburban area
- The form of the land allotment. The land that has departed to you will not always have a strict rectangular or regular square shape. The site can be with rounded borders, L-shaped or any other arbitrary type.
Suburban area with rounded borders
– Soil type. The soil on the site can be:
1. Sandy.
2. Heavy clay.
3. Light and fertile.
4. Medium loamy.
Soil Type Table
Poor soils will not allow you to grow a lush garden. Plants will be uncomfortable there and you can only dream of rich harvests. Importing good black soil will help change the situation.
– Presence of natural reservoirs and the height of standing groundwater. It may be necessary to organize effective drainage.
– Geophysical location and local climatic features. The latter will help to select plants with suitable vegetation characteristics that can bloom and bear fruit in a given region.
back to index ↑What can accommodate a summer cottage of 10 acres
On your hundred parts, it is quite comfortable to combine:
one.The residential area where the house will be located, perhaps even with a terrace and a garage extension.
Country plot of 10 acres with a residential area
2. Recreation area. She is pushed deep into the territory, away from prying eyes.
Relaxation area in the shade of trees
3. Garden and garden area. With proper planning, there is a place for compact beds, spreading trees, and fruit-bearing shrubs.
A small garden on a summer cottage 10 acres
4. The utility part, where sheds for inventory will be built, as an option - a summer kitchen, or buildings for keeping animals.
Hozblok for country inventory
Where and what will be located, the owners decide for themselves, the main thing is that the actual features of the summer cottage do not interfere with the implementation of ideas. In difficult situations, it makes sense to invite a specialist who will develop a plan for arranging a country estate for you. If you are ready to take the risk of doing it yourself, then grab a pencil and paper and start acting.
back to index ↑How to draft
You need to start by sketching a plan for your summer cottage of 10 acres. That's right, do it on an adequate scale, so we draw on graph paper. You can choose the scaling unit arbitrarily, the main thing is that it is convenient for you to convert everything to real numbers if necessary. On a plan of a larger scale, you can draw everything to the smallest detail, which is important in your case.
Plan of a suburban area 10 acres
On such a sketch should be absolutely everything. If this is a house, then the entrance to it should be marked, similarly to the house, outbuildings are fixed. Break the grid of alleys and paths, depict the fencing of the territorial perimeter.
Detailed plan of the suburban area
If the garden plot will be planted with vegetables, then you will also have to focus on the wind rose when choosing a place for planting them. This will lead to good yields.
Also, one cannot do without clarifying the active zones of insolation. To find them, you will need to display all the shaded corners on the plan, leaving the clock area at 8 in the morning. This is done by shading. Similar actions are carried out at lunchtime and in the evening.
Determination of insolation zones on the site
Attention! The direction of the hatch changes each time. The thickest shadow will be where the intersection of all hatches is formed. In places of moderate shading, hatching of two types will occur. Accordingly, the barely shaded zones are shaded in one row, but the sunny ones are generally free from marks. The procedure is painstaking, but from the category of necessary, if you really want neighbors to look at your summer cottage of 10 acres.
Detailed site zoning plan
Further, the plan is supplemented by geodetic indicators. Paths for laying engineering communications are applied to it and places of high standing of groundwater are marked. What for? Yes, so that you don’t plant some tree right above the water pipe, which will destroy it with its root system. In the case of germination of roots in the ground stream, the tree will die on its own.
Site drainage plan
The level of soil location will also be important in this aspect. If this is a lowland place, then the soil there, even with good lighting, will still be characterized by high humidity. It has its own microclimate. Exactly the same situation with the elevated areas, only the characteristics of their climatic conditions will be diametrically opposed to the lowlands.
You can not dismiss the objects located outside the territory of the suburban area, limited to 10 acres. Well, let's say, a terrible neighbor's fence on the boundary. It cannot be carried, and it is impossible to leave it as it is. We'll have to get out of the situation with decorative techniques. You can hide it behind the weaving greenery, turning it into a pretty green wall or hide it behind a row of dense shrubs. If the landscape outside the cottage is quite picturesque, then do not block the view of it, no matter what the objects.And again, everything we just talked about needs to be displayed on paper.
A green hedge will help hide an unsightly neighbor's fence
Drawing up a plan will not be as easy as you think, not only because every little thing is drawn on it, but also because there are standards for removing objects from the boundaries of the site, according to which:
1. The garden house should be 3 meters away from them.
2. Buildings for keeping living creatures - by 4 meters.
3. Sheds - 1 meter.
4. Tall trees - 4 meters.
5. Shrubs - 1 meter.
Standards for the removal of objects from the boundaries of the site
To solve this charade, you have to rack your brains. You will be able to start radical actions to improve a summer cottage with an area of 10 acres only after bringing your vision of landscaping in line with regulatory indicators.
back to index ↑Zoning area
“It will be necessary to give the northern part of the summer cottage of 10 acres to the garden, then it will not obscure the area where the vegetables are planted, and will close the territory from cold winds”
What it is? This is the process of breaking down the entire available territory into functional parts. You must determine for yourself where you will have a recreation area, where there is a place for chicken coops, where you will put a pool. On ten acres, you can place a lot of things:
1. Arbor.
2. Rock garden.
3. Fountain.
4. Greenhouse.
5. Bathhouse.
6. Playhouse for kids.
7. Sports ground.
Distribution of functional zones in the summer cottage
Thinking about creating the listed, consider their characteristic features. It will be more rational to place a reservoir at the lowest point of the site, and children's objects - on a well-viewed site.
Under the garden, it will be necessary to give the northern part of the summer cottage of 10 acres, then it will not obscure the area where the vegetables are planted, and will close the area from cold winds.
The garden is recommended to break in the northern part of the site
Take the most even places for flower beds and flower beds. This will make it easier to care for them, in particular - watering. Winds will not blow moisture out of the soil, and rain and irrigation water will not be absorbed by the earth, and will not flow down, taking away the fertile land layer with it.
The south side of the local area will be properly planted with shade-giving plants. They will protect from the heat. Not too aesthetic appearance of outbuildings in the utility block can be decorated with wild grapes.
Tall trees will shade the southern part of the summer cottage
Making out the cottage, be guided by the fact that any piece of land should be used for something. This rule also applies to the most shaded places. It may be dark and cold there even on hot afternoons, but this will not become an obstacle to creating a moss garden in them. Don't like lichens? Replace them:
1. Periwinkle.
2. Ostrich.
3. Hosts.
Periwinkle grows well in shady places
Places of light-shadow borders, and there can be a lot of such in a summer cottage measuring 10 acres, this is an excellent area for organizing:
1. Mixborders.
2. Rabatok.
3. Flowerbed.
The afternoon sun does not heat as much, but its light will be quite enough for the lush flowering of rose gardens and clematis.
Flower mixborder in the country 10 acres
Land must be used efficiently, but at the same time - systematically. Consider the growth perspective when determining the interval for planting trees and bushes. Too dense planting is fraught with getting, instead of an attractive garden, impassable plant thickets, which cannot be cared for in principle, because it will be simply impossible to approach the plants.
Planting ornamental bushes should not be too dense.
Do not dismiss the economic question. When planning to fill a summer cottage of 10 acres with objects, estimate the approximate cost estimate for their acquisition and construction. Now add here the amount that will be needed to maintain the country house and its surroundings in proper order, and you will get a complete picture of the expense item.
Zoned parcels must be separated by physical boundaries. The latter may include natural objects, such as:
1. Ravines.
2. Hills.
3. Reservoirs.
Zoning a summer cottage with a high curb
Paths will become an option for artificial demarcation.They must be planned in such a context to provide comfortable access to any part of the territory. This is done according to the principle of "folk trail". Go out into the territory and go to the given goal in the most comfortable way for you. Subsequently, you will lay an alley along this route.
The path divides the site into functional zones
Paths do not have to be straight. Their task is to bring you to the right point in the best way. A person walking along them should not have a desire to cut off the path, stomping directly through a flower bed or vegetable garden.
back to index ↑The nuances of drainage
An effective drainage system will be required for those areas where groundwater occurs at shallow depths or becomes so during the period of snowmelt and heavy rains. This issue cannot be ignored, since the increase in the load on the soil, which will certainly follow the construction of capital facilities, will lead to the fact that the latter will be constantly flooded.
Drainage plan
In order for drainage to suburban area 10 acres worked like clockwork, it is necessary:
1. Give the correct slope to drainage ditches or pipes, deepening them by 3 cm every 10 meters.
2. Do not make horizontal sections longer than 5 meters.
3. Avoid the formation of reverse currents.
Laying a drainage system at their summer cottage
Rainwater drainage will require the creation of a separate storm system, which is collected in parallel with the drainage. Make sure that it certainly covers the perimeter of a residential building and other buildings. Do not use metal to assemble the drainage; geotextiles and polyethylene pipes will be much more practical in this role.
Geotextile for laying drainage on the site
General planting plan
“The general document will give an idea of what your summer cottage of 10 acres will become after you “revive” it, that is, plant trees and shrubs”
Are you done with site planning and all subsequent work? We move on to the next stage - we begin to work on a planting plan. The general document will give an idea of what your summer cottage of 10 acres will become after you “revive” it, that is, plant trees. On the general sketch, the locations of flower beds, lawns, flower beds, arches and pergolas entwined with lianas will be determined.
General plan for landscaping a summer cottage
Make a list of plants that you would like to see on your own site, and review the conditions for their maintenance. Some species may not be suitable for climatic or soil characteristics. It is better to immediately remove them from the wish list, so as not to uproot the stumps later.
back to index ↑Detailed landscaping plan
After the general method of planting a summer cottage is clear, we begin its detailed study. We draw a scaled flower bed on graph paper and use colored pencils to mark in which part of it which plants will “live”. Each variety of seedlings receives its own number and appears on the plan as a number. Do not forget to calculate how many certain types of plants will be needed.
Detailed dendroplan of a summer cottage 10 acres
Is it easy to be a designer?
You may well try yourself in this role if you managed to draw up a planning project for the site. After all, you were able to correctly distribute objects throughout the territory and select plants that correspond to the climatic zone, so it remains only to decide on the stylistic concept.
Although a summer cottage of 10 acres seems like a huge space, it is quite possible to overload it with decorative elements, so keep it in moderation. The second point - do not strive for a variety of architectural and garden forms, because each plant or object will need care, and this is your time, effort and money. Do not rush to break the landscape in a couple of days. It is better to act gradually, systematically moving forward.
Perhaps an ordinary garden, like a standard garden, is of little interest to you and you want to have the surrounding landscape in an exotic form, stylized as some ultra-modern or, on the contrary, completely “wild” forms. This is where you need to enlist the help of a professional. It will help to realize the plan and monitor the correct formation of the landscape in the first years.
back to index ↑Interesting design ideas
Japanese garden
The design of the site, decorated in this style, is distinguished by its extraordinary beauty and balance. The Japanese garden is always calm and cozy. This is a great solution for active people whose lives are full of events and communication. Rest in such an environment will allow you to calm down, tune in to a philosophical wave, and give strength.
Sophisticated Japanese garden at their summer cottage
The composition is based on three "pillars". The ideological basis of the garden is a stone, which personifies invincibility and strength. Movement and dynamics are symbolized by water, and plants serve as a reminder of longevity and beauty.
Water symbolizes the movement of life
Sometimes it happens that even in a summer cottage of 10 acres it is very difficult to find a suitable place for a gazebo and a bridge that has spread over a pond, which are an integral compositional component of the design.
A bridge over a pond is a traditional element of a Japanese garden
When preparing a pit for a reservoir, do not throw away the soil. Make a hill out of it, on which a mountain pine or fern will grow. This will give the relief a natural look. Do not be discouraged if it is impossible to organize a natural pond or lake on your site. In the design of a Japanese garden, imitation of water is acceptable. You can make a "dry" stream by laying out its channel with small light pebbles.
With the help of soil, you can add naturalness to the relief
The Japanese garden is a unique place. In it you can always find a corner, both for solitude and for spending time together.
"Wild" garden
It is very good to create a bosom of real "wild" nature on that summer cottage of 10 acres, which is adjacent to the forest. The main thing here is to be able to harmonize the already existing flora with the one that you will enter on the squares of your territory. Before buying seedlings, take a closer look at how Mother Nature shaped the landscape.
Plant ferns under shady crowns, break up flower beds resembling meadows in open space, filling them with cornflowers, bluebells, daisies, forget-me-nots. Try to choose varieties of flowers in such a way that the composition remains relevant throughout the summer season.
In areas with a natural slope, it is possible to build terraces decorated with natural stone.
In such gardens, you can also include wooden gazebos, bridges, benches carved from tree trunks, a campfire zone.
Provence in the garden
“At the dacha, and on all 10 acres, attributes of rural life should appear”
Rustic garden decor is another natural landscape option. At the summer cottage, and on all 10 acres, the attributes of rural life should appear. It can be specific colorful equipment, a cart with hay, etc.
Garden in Provencal style at their summer cottage
Flower arrangements are created here in old tubs and wooden boxes. It is better to enclose the territory with wattle, on which pottery is hung out, and to furnish it with furniture from pallets.
Pallet furniture looks organic in a Provence-style garden
For this landscape style, the Moorish lawn, which is an imitation of a meadow, is very suitable. Its abundance of colors will please the eye from the first to the last warm days.
Moorish lawn will delight the eye all summer season
european garden
Ten acres is enough to recreate an English or French mini-garden on them. You can try to breathe the spirit of modernity into the atmosphere.It may not be possible to fully convey their beauty, because this is the prerogative of large territories, but with love for these areas, you can be satisfied with a small, but accurately reproduced in detail, piece.
Garden in the English style at their summer cottage 10 acres
Conclusion
A summer cottage of 10 acres is a considerable allotment of land where it is quite possible to implement almost any plans for a country holiday, and to do it quickly and relatively inexpensively. The main thing is patience and scrupulousness in trifles, because heavenly places for spiritual pastime are born only in this way!
Photo gallery - summer cottage of 10 acres
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