How to create a garden design mood board

02 Jul How to create a garden design mood board

Trying to decide how your new garden should be styled? A garden design mood board might help.

Designing a new garden is a major task.  When you hire a garden designer, he or she will ask lots of questions to help them make sure their design is perfect for you.

Apart from learning about the dimensions of your garden, and how you want to use the space, your garden designer will need to understand your personal style.  A mood board is in no way essential, but if you have the time and the inclination to create one, it will certainly help. Plus, it’s great fun to do and you can involve the whole family.

What is a garden design mood board?

A garden design mood board is a collection of images that in some way reflect your wish list.  It could include pictures of the seating you’d like, your favourite plants, gardens you admire and landscaping materials you love. It can even be as simple as colour swatches or a picture that inspires you.

Your own garden, will of course be unique to you and to the space you have. A garden design mood board is a loose wish list. Not everything on your mood board will necessarily appear in your garden. However your designer will use it to get a sense of the look and feel you are aiming for.

How to start creating a mood board

The best bit about creating a mood board, is gathering together all the images that appeal to you.  There are all sorts of ways to do that – and I would suggest you use as many different sources of material as you can.

Magazines – Clipping pictures from lifestyle magazines (or using a camera to photograph the image) is a great way to help your garden designer to imagine how your outdoor space could look.  

Visiting gardens – take your camera out and about with you and pay a visit to some of the many gardens in Essex and Suffolk that are open to the public.  Your local park, a tourist attraction, even the town centre can be a source of inspiration. Gardens to visit in East Anglia

Go online – Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Houzz are amazing sources of inspiration.  You could search for “gardens” or you could narrow your search to things like patios, pergolas and plants.

The Tapestry Design Studios team update our social media profiles on a regular basis.  Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for inspiring garden design images.

The garden centre – lets see some pictures of the plants and outdoor accessories that make you go “wow”

What to include on your mood board

An overview of one or more gardens you love. Perhaps you find the colours appealing, or the styling, or you like the features within it.  Could you imagine you, your family and friends enjoying a space like this?

Your favourite colours and colour combinations.  Perhaps you’ve been inspired by a holiday, a painting, interior design or a favourite outfit.  Show your designer some swatches of the colours you love 

Garden materials that appeal to you.  Do you prefer porcelain paving, clay pavers or decking?  Looking for a more rustic feel? Or would you like an ultra modern garden.  

Plants and flowers.  Every garden should have plants of some kind.  You may want borders stuffed full of blowsy flowers, you may fancy a tropical theme or perhaps you like a minimalist feel with just a few statement plants and trees.  Do you have a plant that reminds you of a special time, place or person? That’s an important thing to tell your garden designer.

Specific features.  Some garden designs are inspired by, and focus on one or two very specific features.  For example, you may have found a beautiful statue in a reclaim yard that deserves pride of place.  Or perhaps you’ve spotted your perfect pizza oven online and want it to be the focus of your garden. Pop and image (or two) on your mood board.

Go mad when gathering pictures, have fun with it. You will be able to pick your favourites in the next stage of the process.

How to display your mood board

There are a myriad of different ways to display your mood board. In my experience, it’s better to limit the number of pictures, otherwise it can get quite confused.  So by going through your pictures and selecting just the ones that you feel depict your wishes the best.  10 is a good number.

You could use good old fashioned scissors and glue to create a collage.  Try fixing images to an artist’s canvas (available from most art shops) or a piece of paper (old wallpaper is great). This is a great rainy day activity for adults or children.  Get the whole family on board and see what they come up with.

Constructing a digital mood board makes less mess and is great for sharing with your garden designer via email.

canva.com is a brilliant online resource which is just perfect for creating picture collages. You don’t need any special training to use it, and best of all, it’s free!

Finding a great garden designer to bring your mood board to life

Looking for a garden designer who can translate your garden wish list into a buildable design?  Look no further.  The team at Tapestry Design Studios are very experienced and very versatile.  We listen to your ideas, get to know your personal tastes and design a garden that is unique to you. Plus, we know exactly what information landscapers need to be able to source materials and build a garden. Our designs make the garden makeover journey so much easier.

Get in touch today for an informal chat

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