One of the starting points in contemporary garden design is to apply the 80-20 rule, which is a universal law that can be applied in one form or another to all natural events, including human activity. When applied to garden use, it simply states that 80% of your time in your garden will be spent within just 20% of it's whole area! This is great way to launch your garden design activity, because once you have identified the foremost thing you need from your garden, then it's generally quite easy to identify the 20% of the garden where most of the activity (or relaxation) will occur.
The area, shape and characteristics of the 20% area will help determine the various possibilities for populating with plants, deciding on any decor, and any other desirable facilities ...
Due to our changing life style, the focus of garden design has changed subtly over the last generation or two. Efficiency and ease of maintenance are foremost in our needs, particularly if we have a job leaving little time for yard work. Contemporary garden design has also different perspectives for country and city dwellers. The word 'contemporary' is a term we apply to all things that surround us in our present day culture, which also tend to reflect our mode of living.
The idea of a garden evokes very different images for different people, often featuring the idyllic gardens of our grandparent's time. Of course, we can still aim for the simple beauty of a flower or vegetable garden, but modern living has forced changes in our life style that inevitably induce changes in the way that we create and manage our garden space. In addition, we have a greater variety of products available to us than previous generations - these can either be an enormous help in contemporary garden design, or present so many possibilities that we have too many choices.
In our fast movng society, a garden needs to be a mulit-functional space. Of course, there will always be the traditional flower and vegetable patch, in fact it's highly desirable for balance and pest control, but the main theme of the garden area will depend upon you own needs. If you are an avid gardener, and don't have a big outdoor area, then a traditional layout outlined in the many excellent books about contemporary garden design is the one for you.
If you are more of a 'relaxer', and prefer to kick back with the family at the weekend, after working hard all week, the of course the garden area will include nice furniture, agreeable surroundings that don't need an enormous amount of care and perhaps a cooking area for that all-important barbeque.
